REGINA v SLATER [2008] NSWSC 591

New South Wales Supreme Court

CITATION : REGINA v SLATER [2008] NSWSC 591

HEARING DATE(S) : 5 & 6 June 2008 JURISDICTION : Common Law

JUDGMENT OF : Adams J at 1

EX TEMPORE JUDGMENT DATE : 6 June 2008

DECISION : Not guilty by virtue of mental illness. Mr Slater be detained in such place and in such manner as is provided by law until he is fit to be released.

CATCHWORDS : Criminal law - mental illness defence - appropriate orders.

LEGISLATION CITED : Mental Health (Criminal Procedure) Act 1990 ss38, 39

CATEGORY : Sentence

Regina PARTIES : v Shaun Troy SLATER

FILE NUMBER(S) : SC 2008/00001

COUNSEL : Mr T Hoyle SC (Crown) Mr J Doris (Mr Slater)

SOLICITORS : S Kavanagh (Crown) Neil J O'Connor & Associates (Mr Slater)

THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES COMMON LAW DIVISION CRIMINAL LIST

ADAMS J

FRIDAY 6 JUNE 2008

2008/01 - Regina v Shaun Troy SLATER

SENTENCE

1 HIS HONOUR: The accused is charged with the murder of Rodney Graham Smith on 23 March 2007. To that charge he has pleaded not guilty. There is no doubt, and the accused has from the beginning admitted, that he killed Mr Smith intending to do so. The question is whether he is not guilty by virtue of his mental illness. 2 Psychiatric evidence has been led in the form of reports by both the Crown and the defence. The doctors, all of whom are experienced forensic psychiatrists, well-aware of the elements of the defence, have concluded with certainty that at the time he killed Mr Smith the accused was mentally ill in the sense that he was unable to understand that his actions were wrong. It is necessary to refer briefly to the facts and to the medical opinions but the question is not susceptible of doubt: the facts tragically reflect that Mr Smith was killed when and because the accused was gravely mentally disturbed, suffering from delusions including paranoia and a psychotic state which completely prevented him from having any rational understanding of the moral quality of what he was doing. This does not mean that he was altogether devoid of reason; for example, he was aware that his acts would have the effect of killing Mr Smith; he was aware after Mr Smith's death that he should contact the police; he was aware that it would be distressing for Mr Smith's young son, who was at school at the time, to come home and see his father's body. But the awareness of these things existed in what in lay terms I might say was a mad world created by his illness and linked only tenuously to the reality of what he had done. 3 The killing was discovered by police following a telephone call at 9.15am on 23 March 2007 made by the accused from the deceased's home. That conversation is in the following terms: "Accused: 'I have just killed someone at 51 King Creek Road, Wauchope. I will wait for the police.'