R v Ethan McKellar; R v Bevan McKellar [2014] NSWSC 1243

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: R v Ethan McKellar; R v Bevan McKellar [2014] NSWSC 1243 Hearing dates: 16 May; 5 September 2014 Decision date: 05 September 2014 Before: R A Hulme J Decision: Ethan McKellar - Imprisonment for 24 years with a non-parole period of 18 years Bevan McKellar - Imprisonment for 24 years with a non-parole period of 18 years Catchwords: CRIMINAL LAW - sentence - murder - wounding with intent - armed assault with intent to rob - impaired mental functioning - general deterrence of limited significance - moderate need for specific deterrence - no statutory mitigating factors - background of social disadvantage - less than usual moral culpability Legislation Cited: Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) Category: Sentence Parties: Regina Ethan Wayne McKellar Bevan Dean McKellar Representation: Counsel: Mr T Bailey (Crown) Mr I Wallach (Ethan McKellar) Mr P Young SC (Bevan McKellar) Solicitors: Solicitor for Public Prosecutions Lawyers Corp Mark Rumore File Number(s): 2011/144687; 2011/144786

Judgment 1R A HULME J: On 11 March 2014 Ethan McKellar and Bevan McKellar were arraigned along with Douglas Dennis and Luke Elwood on an indictment charging that on 1 May 2011 at Ashmont, a suburb of Wagga Wagga, they murdered John Gjedsted, wounded JG with intent to cause him grievous bodily harm, and assaulted John Gjedsted with intent to rob him whilst armed with an offensive weapon. 2On 9 April 2014 the jury returned with the following verdicts: Ethan McKellar: Guilty of murder, wounding with intent, armed assault with intent to rob. Bevan McKellar: Guilty of murder, wounding with intent, armed assault with intent to rob. Douglas Dennis: Not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter, not guilty of wounding with intent and of armed assault with intent to rob. Luke Elwood: Not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter, not guilty of wounding with intent, and guilty of armed assault with intent to rob. 3I am proceeding to sentence the offenders Ethan McKellar and Bevan McKellar before I have embarked upon hearing the case on sentence concerning the other two offenders. That is for reasons which are not presently known to me but I am assured that it is not material to the present proceedings. I trust it will become clearer when I embark upon the sentencing proceedings for the other offenders.