R v O’Connor [2018] NSWSC 1734

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: R v O'Connor [2018] NSWSC 1734 Hearing dates: 14 November 2018 Decision date: 15 November 2018 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: R A Hulme J Decision: Life imprisonment on each count Catchwords: SENTENCING – murder – offender shot three victims at close range with shotgun – body of one victim burned – female victim had left offender to commence relationship with a male victim – offender motivated by jealousy and humiliation – not guilty plea – whether life sentence should be imposed Legislation Cited: Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) s 19A(2) Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW) s 21A(5AA), Pt 4 Div 1A, s 61 Cases Cited: Adanguidi v R [2006] NSWCCA 404; 167 A Crim R 295 Dean v R [2015] NSWCCA 307 R v Stanford, Vincent [2016] NSWSC 1434 Category: Sentence Parties: Regina Allan Geoffrey O'Connor Representation: Counsel: Mr L Shaw (Crown) Mr I Nash with Mr J Kellaway (Offender)

Solicitors: Solicitor for Public Prosecutions Legal Aid NSW File Number(s): 2015/189599

Judgment 1. HIS HONOUR: Allan Geoffrey O'Connor is to be sentenced after a jury found him guilty of the murders of Rebecca Webb, Stephen Cumberland and Jacob Cumberland at Hermidale on the night of 25-26 June 2015. 2. Murder is the most serious crime known to the law. The maximum penalty is imprisonment for life. Unlike in some other jurisdictions, in New South Wales a person sentenced to imprisonment for life for the crime of murder is to serve that sentence for the term of the person's natural life: Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), s 19A(2). There is also prescribed (in the circumstances that apply to this case) a standard non-parole period of 20 years: Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW), Pt 4 Div 1A. 3. The Crown case was that Mr O'Connor became jealous and enraged when he found out on the evening of Thursday 25 June 2015 that his girlfriend, Rebecca Webb, had gone home with Stephen Cumberland after having spent some time with him at the local pub, the Hermidale Hotel. Mr O'Connor went to the property where Mr Cumberland, and his son Jacob, lived and shot all three with a shotgun. He shot Stephen Cumberland in the chest and Jacob Cumberland and Rebecca Webb in the head. Death was immediate. As a further indignity, Mr O'Connor set fire to the caravan in which Stephen Cumberland had been killed. There was very little left of his body after the fire had burned out. 4. The Crown case was a relatively strong one. The defence case involved a denial that the accused was the perpetrator and the advancement of various theories as to others who might have had a motive. None of the alternative theories had any merit; most were based upon little more than pure speculation. They all suffered from the problem of explaining why somebody else with a motive to kill would have chosen of all occasions the night of 25-26 June 2015 to act upon it, coincidentally the same night on which a motive arose in Mr O'Connor. 5. Before describing what occurred and why it occurred – where possible – I should stress that when I state findings that are adverse to the offender they are findings about which I am satisfied to the criminal standard of proof of beyond reasonable doubt. There are some aspects of this case for which findings to that standard are not possible. I will signify findings of that type which have not been taken into account to the offender's detriment by using terms such as "probably", "possibly", "likely", "may" and the like.