R v Hutchison & Wilkinson [2018] NSWSC 1759

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: R v Hutchison & Wilkinson [2018] NSWSC 1759 Hearing dates: 13 August 2018 - 20 August 2018; 24 September 2018 - 24 October 2018 Date of orders: 16 November 2018 Decision date: 16 November 2018 Jurisdiction: Common Law - Criminal Before: Hamill J Decision: (1) Hutchison, verdict of not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter. (2) Wilkinson, verdict of not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter. Catchwords: CRIMINAL LAW – trial by Judge alone – killing by ex-wife following bitter family law dispute – reasons for decision – relevant legal principles – where deceased hoodwinked and ambushed – where allegations of child abuse made to accused – where accused survivor of childhood sexual assault – where accused not believed as a child – attempt to extract confession by violent means – where accused suffered various mental conditions – where conditions arose out of abuse – self-defence – defence of others – substantial impairment – loss of self-control – community standards – community understanding of impact of child sexual abuse – motive – where obscene text messages showed considerable animosity towards deceased – love/hate – unfiltered stream of consciousness – whether hatred and disappointment true motivation for killing – whether defence of children and substantial impairment used as a convenient excuse to kill a man she hated

CRIMINAL LAW – weird aspects of evidence – exorcism – flying saucers – where deceased a demonologist, exorcist and ghost hunter – whether exposing young children to bizarre paranormal activity – discombobulating for a child – whether relevant to mother's claim of defence of others – where accused said to be "pagan white witch" – voodoo doll – spells