R v Shephard [2020] NSWSC 141

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: R v Shephard [2020] NSWSC 141 Hearing dates: 3 February 2020 Decision date: 28 February 2020 Jurisdiction: Common Law - Criminal Before: Button J Decision: (1) Convicted of the offence of murder. (2) Further convicted of the offence of supplying a large commercial quantity of the prohibited drug methylamphetamine. (3) For the drug offence, I impose a non-parole period of 5 years 8 months, to commence on 27 October 2017. That will be followed by a parole period of 1 year 11 months, which will expire on 26 May 2025. (4) For the murder, I impose a non-parole period of 17 years 8 months, to commence on 27 October 2020. That will be followed by a parole period of 6 years 11 months, which will expire on 26 May 2045. (5) To express my sentences another way, I have imposed a total head sentence of imprisonment for 27 years 7 months, with a non-parole period of 20 years 8 months, with a full backdate. (6) The first date upon which it appears that the offender will be eligible for possible release to parole is 26 June 2038. Catchwords: CRIMINAL LAW – sentence – murder – supply large commercial quantity of methylamphetamine – proceeds of crime offence on Form 1 – guilty pleas at arraignment – handgun used to shoot deceased several times – offence neither spontaneous nor caused by explosion of emotion - obvious intention to kill – body of the deceased never found – no subjective material tendered by offender – no evidence of remorse – prior offence of possessing unauthorised firearm – partial accumulation and concurrence between the two sentences – sentences imposed Category: Sentence Parties: Regina (Crown) Samuel John Shephard (Offender) Representation: Counsel: T R Bailey (Crown) E Wilson SC (Offender)