R v Graham Keys SMITH [2012] NSWSC 1565

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: R v Graham Keys SMITH [2012] NSWSC 1565 Hearing dates: 20-24/08/2012, 27-31/08/2012, 03-06/09/2012, 11-14/09/2012, 19/09/2012, 30/09/2012 Decision date: 14 December 2012 Jurisdiction: Common Law - Criminal Before: Rothman J Decision: For the offence of intentionally destroying the dwelling house by fire, sentenced to 2 years' fixed imprisonment, commencing 19 October 2010 and concluding 18 October 2012. And for the offence of murder, sentenced to a non-parole period of 10 years, commencing 19 April 2011 and concluding 18 April 2021, with a remainder of term of 4 years' imprisonment concluding 18 April 2025. First eligible for release on parole on 18 April 2021. Catchwords: CRIMINAL LAW - sentence - murder - extended joint criminal enterprise - no issue of principle - arson - sentence imposed Legislation Cited: Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 Cases Cited: Veen v R (No 2) [1988] HCA 14; (1988) 164 CLR 465 Category: Sentence Parties: Regina (Crown) Graham Keys Smith (Offender) Representation: Counsel: J McLennan (Crown) P Bodor QC (Offender) Solicitors: Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Crown) Universal Law (Offender) File Number(s): 2010/153003

REMARKS ON SENTENCE 1HIS HONOUR: A jury of twelve has found Graham Keys Smith guilty of the murder of Luke Charles Ogilvie and intentionally destroying the deceased's dwelling house by fire. I shall refer to each charge as the murder and the arson, respectively. Mr Smith pleaded not guilty to each of those charges. 2Criminal culpability for the murder conviction depended on extended joint criminal enterprise and, for the arson, depended on accessorial liability. It is necessary to summarise the facts and, in so doing, outline Mr Smith's involvement in each crime.