R v Farhad Qaumi, Mumtaz Qaumi & Jamil Qaumi (Sentence) [2017] NSWSC 774

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: R v Farhad Qaumi, Mumtaz Qaumi & Jamil Qaumi (Sentence) [2017] NSWSC 774 Hearing dates: 3, 6, 7 and 26 April 2017, 23 May 2017, 13 June 2017 Date of orders: 16 June 2017 Decision date: 16 June 2017 Before: Hamill J Decision: Jamil Qaumi sentenced to imprisonment for 31 years with a non-parole period of 21 years. Mumtaz Qaumi sentenced to imprisonment for 50 years and 10 months with a non-parole period of 36 years and 10 months. Farhad Qaumi sentenced to imprisonment for 60 years with a non-parole period of 43 years. Catchwords: CRIMINAL LAW – sentence – gangland violence – gun violence – Brothers for Life – spate of shootings arising out of "war" with rival chapter of BFL – "I'm at war" – wanton lawlessness – manslaughter where jury accepted excessive self-defence – hit list – series of attempted murders – shooting in or near people's homes and in public places – multiple victims – "how hard is it to shoot somebody?" – harebrained plan – shootings in peoples' homes – shootings in public places – multiple victims – whether maximum penalty appropriate – mitigating features – where offenders scarred by exposure to violence in Afghanistan – psychiatric impact

CRIMINAL LAW – sentence – cold blooded contract killing – whether life sentence without parole appropriate – whether two stage test required by statute – where moral culpability reduced by evidence of traumatic and dislocated childhood experience and evidence of psychiatric conditions – community interest in community protection – where lengthy determinate sentence may be effective life sentence – where offender not eligible for release to parole until his mid-seventies – life sentence not the only way community interest can be met