R v Cooper [2019] NSWSC 1042

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: R v Cooper [2019] NSWSC 1042 Hearing dates: 29 July 2019 Date of orders: 16 August 2019 Decision date: 16 August 2019 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: Hidden AJ Decision: Sentenced to imprisonment for 13 and a half years, NPP 10 years, from 06/03/2017 Catchwords: CRIMINAL LAW – sentence – murder – heroin injection – mercy killing – impairment by abnormality of mind but not so substantial as to reduce murder to manslaughter Legislation Cited: Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), s 23A Cases Cited: R v Preuss (Barr J, unrep, 26 August 1997) R v Ritchie [2003] NSWSC 864 Category: Sentence Parties: Regina (Crown) Robert Ronald Cooper (Offender) Representation: Counsel: Mr R Herps (Crown) Mr R Wilson (Offender)

Solicitors: Solicitor for Public Prosecutions (Crown) Mr Payten (Offender) File Number(s): 2017/70045 Publication restriction: Nil

REASONS FOR SENTENCE 1. The offender, Robert Ronald Cooper, has pleaded guilty to the murder of his partner, Donna Green, at her home in Bankstown on 5 March 2017. In sentencing him for that offence I shall take into account on a Form 1 offences of stalking/intimidating with intent and contravening an apprehended domestic violence order (ADVO).

Facts 1. I have received a lengthy statement of agreed facts, which, to some extent, I shall summarise. 2. The offender was 44 years old at the time of the offences and his partner, Ms Green, was 55. They had been in an intimate relationship for about 2 years. During this time they lived separately, but he would sometimes stay at her home unit at Bankstown. 3. The relationship was volatile, unstable, characterised by co-dependence, drug use, heated arguments and some domestic violence. That violence was largely in the form of verbal abuse and threats by the offender during arguments. After an incident in August 2016, when he pushed her and threatened her, police obtained a provisional ADVO against him. He was charged with intimidation and common assault. While that ADVO did not prevent contact with her, any contact or approach was prohibited by a condition of bail which he was granted in the following month. 4. At times, the deceased told people that she was afraid of the offender and wanted to leave him. At other times she continued the relationship, knowing that to do so was in contravention of the terms of the offender's ADVO or his bail conditions. On two occasions in late 2016, the offender was charged with breaching his bail when police found the two of them together. 5. The deceased suffered from a number of chronic medical conditions: congestive cardiac failure with severely impaired left ventricular function, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, hypertension and depression. Over the period of about 13 months before her death, she was admitted to hospital on 24 occasions, sometimes being discharged the same day. Between mid-October 2016 and mid-January 2017 she spent about 30 days in hospital. 6. On 25 January 2017, the deceased was admitted to the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. On the following day the offender approached her there. He asked her for money, which she refused, and he abused her and threatened to stab her in front of hospital staff. This conduct gives rise to the offences on the Form 1. 7. On 27 January, the offender attended Redfern Police Station, where he was arrested and charged. Police obtained a variation of the ADVO precluding any contact between the two. On that same day the deceased was discharged from the hospital. 8. On 28 January 2017, the deceased was admitted to Bankstown Hospital with breathing difficulties. She was discharged on 2 February 2017. Following her discharge she stayed with a friend in Erskineville for about a week. During that time the offender and the deceased's son, Wayne Green, visited her. On a trip to check her unit in Bankstown, she asked the offender to get her some "ice" (methylamphetamine). He reluctantly did so, and they injected themselves with that drug. 9. In early February 2017, the deceased went to Coonabarabran to attend a funeral. On 10 February, she arrived at the house of a friend of hers in that town, Buddy Barker. On 7 February, being unable to locate her, the offender sent a text message to Mr Barker enquiring as to her whereabouts. The message is rather long and very affectionate. Put shortly, it asked Mr Barker to tell her how much he continued to love her, while acknowledging that she deserved better than him. Effectively, it conveyed that he would like her to assist him in relation to his prosecution for outstanding offences. He said that he needed to know that she was alright as he had been worried about her since her discharge from hospital. 10. After she arrived at Mr Barker's house the deceased was having trouble breathing, and her inhaler did not help. She complained of pains up one side of her body. She was taken to Coonabarabran Hospital, admitted overnight, and discharged the following day. She told Mr Barker that she intended to move back to her place, and that she wanted to get away from the offender. 11. While in Coonabarabran she stayed with her granddaughter, Shiara Green, for a couple of nights. Ms Green observed that she had "a bit of a cough and cramps in her legs". She attended Coonabarabran Hospital on 13 and 15 February, seeking admission and pain medication, but was not admitted. 12. On 13 February, the offender sent further text messages to Mr Barker expressing his concern for the deceased, saying that he was worried because he had not seen her for two weeks. He also conveyed the concern of her son, Wayne. He conveyed his belief that she was in hospital, but said that he was not going to ring around hospitals looking for her because that would be in breach of his AVO. 13. The deceased returned to Sydney on or after 15 February 2017. On that day the offender sent further messages to Mr Barker. Again, put shortly, he informed Mr Barker that he was attempting to re-establish his relationship with a former partner, Jaqulyne Hull, but that he would always love the deceased. He asked Mr Barker to tell her that she could contact him if anyone gave her a "hard time". He expressed his willingness to look after her son, Wayne, who apparently was in prison at the time. Again, he asked Mr Barker to pass on his request that she attend court and give evidence favourable to him in the outstanding prosecutions. 14. Also on the same day Ms Hull received messages from the offender. She described them as reading as though he was "rambling like he's drug affected or having some kind of mental psychosis". The messages referred to his mother being sick and that he did not want Ms Hull to go to the police about the messages because he was already in trouble. There was an ADVO in place preventing him from contacting Ms Hull. In a further message, he told Ms Hull that he wanted to grow old with her and that he loved her. She did not reply to these messages. 15. On 24 February 2017, Integrated Team Care (ITC), a support service for Indigenous Australians suffering medical conditions, received a referral from Bankstown Hospital about the deceased. ITC contacted her that day, and she told them she was living at home and that her partner, the offender, was not living with her. 16. On 26 February, she was again admitted to Bankstown Hospital with exacerbation of her chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and congestive heart failure. Ms Jacqueline Caton from ITC met her at the hospital to discuss a discharge plan with her. Ms Caton noted that her mood had lifted after they discussed several options to assist her. 17. On 2 March 2017, the deceased sent a message to Shiara Green telling her that she was still in hospital and was feeling a bit better, and conveying her love for her. 18. On 3 March 2017, the deceased was discharged from Bankstown Hospital and returned home in a taxi arranged for her by Ms Caton. An outreach worker from ITC was supposed to deliver some equipment to her that day, but was unable to do so. The equipment was a shower chair, bath board, nebuliser, food hamper, wheelie walker, non-slip shower mats and a shower hose. The worker arranged for the equipment to be dropped off the following morning.