Blundell v The Queen

[2019] NSWCCA 3

Court of Criminal Appeal

Supreme Court

New South Wales

• Amendment notes

Medium Neutral Citation:	Blundell v R [2019] NSWCCA 3
Hearing dates:	26 September 2018
Decision date:	01 February 2019
Before:	Payne JA at [1] Johnson J at [2] N Adams J at [3]
Decision:	(1) To the extent that leave is required under Rule 4 of the Criminal Appeal Rules 1952 (NSW), such leave is granted. (2) The appeal is allowed. (3) A new trial is ordered. (4) The matter is listed for mention in the Supreme Court Arraignments List on 8 February 2019 or such other date as directed by the Criminal List Judge.
Catchwords:	CRIMINAL LAW – appeal against conviction – accessorial liability – Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) s 346 – where appellant convicted of accessory before the fact to murder – where appellant not present at murder scene – where appellant tried based on encouragement and assistance – where appellant sent threatening text messages to deceased – where evidence that appellant intended to encourage principal offender to cause really serious bodily injury to deceased – where appellant messaged principal offender “If you see [deceased] jump on his head”, “jus chop index n look” – where appellant’s defence was that deceased’s death was the result of principal offender’s spontaneous acts – where no alternate case relying on either joint criminal enterprise or extended joint criminal enterprise relied upon by the Crown – where trial judge used terms “enterprise” and “design” in context of summarising defence counsel’s closing address – whether trial judge erred in directing jury it was not necessary to prove actual encouragement of the principal offender – whether recklessness suffices – whether assisting and encouraging is a continuous act that persists until the substantive offence is committed – whether trial judge conflated concepts from joint criminal enterprise to directions to the jury on proof of accessorial liability   WORDS AND PHRASES – “linked in purpose” – “render more likely”
Legislation Cited:	Accessories and Abettors Act 1861 (UK), s 8 Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), ss 18, 52A, 346, 351 Criminal Appeal Act 1912 (NSW), s 5 Criminal Appeal Rules 1952 (NSW), r 4
Cases Cited:	ARS v R [2011] NSWCCA 266 Clayton v The Queen (2006) 81 ALJR 439; [2006] HCA 58 Giorgianni v R (1985) 156 CLR 473; [1985] HCA 29 Greenhalgh v R [2017] NSWCCA 94 Hadchiti v R (2016) 93 NSWLR 671; [2016] NSWCCA 63 Johns v The Queen (1980) 143 CLR 108; [1980] HCA 3 Johnson v Youden [1950] 1 KB 544 Likiardopoulos v R (2010) 30 VR 654; [2010] VSCA 344 Likiardopoulos v The Queen (2012) 247 CLR 265; [2012] HCA 37 McAuliffe v The Queen (1995) 183 CLR 108; [1995] HCA 37 Miller v The Queen (2016) 259 CLR 380; [2016] HCA 30 Obeid v R (2017) 96 NSWLR 155; [2017] NSWCCA 221 Osland v The Queen (1998) 197 CLR 316; [1998] HCA 75 R v Allan [1965] 1 QB 130; [1963] 3 WLR 677 R v Calhaem [1985] QB 808 R v Chai (2002) 187 ALR 436; [2002] HCA 12 R v Clarkson (1971) WLR 1402 R v Coney (1882) 8 QBD 534 R v Dookheea (2017) 91 ALJR 960; [2017] HCA 36 R v Jogee [2016] 2 WLR 681; [2016] 2 All ER 1; [2016] UKSC 8 R v Johns [1978] 1 NSWLR 282 R v Lam (2008) 185 A Crim R 453; [2008] VSCA 109 R v Lam (Ruling No 20) (2005) 159 A Crim R 448; [2005] VSC 294 R v Mendez [2011] QB 876 R v Phan (2001) 53 NSWLR 480; [2001] NSWCCA 29 R v Robert Millar (Contractors) Pty Ltd [1970] 2 QB 54; [1970] 1 All ER 577 R v Russell [1933] VLR 59 R v Spiteri-Ahern (No 11) [2017] NSWSC 1820 R v Stringer [2012] QB 160 Tierney v R [2016] NSWCCA 144 United States v Peoni (1938) 100 F.2d 401
Texts Cited:	AP Simester, “The Mental Element in Complicity” (2006) 122 Law Quarterly Review 578 Glanville Williams, Criminal Law, The General Part, (1961, 2nd ed) JC Smith, “Criminal Liability of Accessories: Law and Law Reform” (1997) 113 Law Quarterly Review 453 JW Cecil Turner, Russell on Crime (12th ed, 1964) New South Wales Law Reform Commission, “Complicity” (Report 129, December 2010) Professor Fisse, “Howard’s Criminal Law” (1990, 5th ed) Professor Gilles, “Criminal Law” (1997, 4th ed) Smith and Hogan, “Criminal Law” (1983, 5th ed)
Category:	Principal judgment
Parties:	Nathan John Blundell (Appellant) Regina (Crown)
Representation:	Counsel: G Bashir SC with A Bonner (Appellant) H Roberts (Crown)   Solicitors: Legal Aid Commission of NSW (Appellant) Solicitor for Public Prosecutions (Crown)
File Number(s):	2015/57978
Decision under appeal	Court or tribunal: Supreme Court of New South Wales Jurisdiction: Criminal Date of Decision: 14 December 2016 Before: Hall J File Number(s): 2015/57978

Judgment

1. PAYNE JA: I agree with N Adams J.

2. JOHNSON J: I agree with N Adams J.

3. N ADAMS J: On 18 October 2016, Nathan Blundell (“the appellant”) was convicted as an accessory before the fact to the murder of Corey Power (“the deceased”) following a jury trial before Hall J. He was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment with a non-parole period of 7 years. That sentence commenced on 7 July 2015.

4. Mr Power was killed on 29 August 2013 by Owen Fuller. Mr Fuller beat him to death with a tomahawk. The appellant was not present at the scene. Mr Fuller made admissions and was later convicted of the deceased’s murder. The appellant was tried based on his encouragement and assistance to Mr Fuller through words alone and in circumstances where he was not present at the scene.

5. The appellant appeals against his conviction under s 5(1) of the Criminal Appeal Act 1912 (NSW). He does not seek leave to appeal against the sentence imposed on him.

6. This appeal concerns what was described by senior counsel for the appellant at the hearing of this appeal as the “ill [sic-in] frequently visited shores of accessory before the fact”. It raises questions regarding the proper directions to be given to a jury when the Crown case relies upon principles of accessorial liability but disavows any reliance upon principles of joint criminal enterprise or extended joint criminal enterprise.

7. The appellant relies upon two grounds of appeal but Ground 1 has four sub-grounds such that there are in fact five separate complaints made. All five complaints pertain to the trial judge’s summing up and are as follows:

“Ground 1(a):   The trial judge erred in directing the jury that it was not necessary to prove that an accessory before the fact to murder said to have ‘encouraged’ the primary offender in fact encouraged the primary offender by his words or actions.

Ground 1(b):   The trial judge erred in failing to give proper directions on causation in an offence of accessory before the fact to murder.

Ground 1(c):   The trial judge erred in directing the jury that assisting and encouraging is a continuous act that persists until the substantive offence is committed.

Ground 1(d):   The trial judge erred in failing to give proper directions as to the knowledge required to be proved in an accessory before the fact to murder and further, in failing to direct the jury that recklessness would not suffice.

Ground 2:   The trial judge erred in his directions applying concepts from joint criminal enterprise to directions to the jury on proof of accessorial liability as an accessory before the fact to murder by encouraging and assisting a principal offender’s murder of the deceased.”

Rule 4 of the Criminal Appeal Rules

8. Not all of the grounds of appeal relied upon by the appellant were raised by trial counsel before Hall J and thus the application of Rule 4 of the Criminal Appeal Rules 1952 (NSW) arises for consideration.

9. The Crown did not contend that Rule 4 was enlivened with respect to grounds 1(a), (b) and (d) in view of the matters that trial counsel did raise which relate to these grounds. Leave was not opposed in any event in respect of Ground 1 given the nature of the alleged errors, namely, misdirections on an element of the offence: Obeid v R (2017) 96 NSWLR 155; [2017] NSWCCA 221 at [24]-[25] per Bathurst CJ.

10. The Crown contended that Rule 4 was enlivened in relation to Ground 2 and that leave should not be granted in relation to that ground. It was submitted that no complaints were made nor any redirection sought in relation to the complaints now made under Ground 2. This fact was relied upon by the Crown as a basis for concluding that counsel did not believe, in the atmosphere of the trial, that any infelicity of expression in the manner in which the trial judge expressed himself affected the interests of the accused adversely: Greenhalgh v R [2017] NSWCCA 94 (“Greenhalgh v R”) at [42] per Basten JA; ARS v R [2011] NSWCCA 266 (“ARS v R”) at [148]; R v Dookheea (2017) 91 ALJR 960; [2017] HCA 36 (“R v Dookheea”) at [37].

11. I am satisfied that Rule 4 is not enlivened in relation to Grounds 1(a), (b) and (d) and that, for reasons which appear below, leave should be granted to argue both Grounds 1(c) and 2. In those circumstances, I propose to refer to Mr Blundell as the “appellant” rather than the “applicant” in this judgment.

The indictment

12. The original indictment charged two counts – one for murder of the deceased and one for accessory before the fact to murder of the deceased. The indictment was amended and when presented at trial contained a single count of being an accessory before the fact to murder. It was in these terms:

“On 7 October 2016, the Director of Public Prosecutions on behalf of Her Majesty charges that

WHEREAS on 29 August 2013, at Young in the State of New South Wales, Owen Junior FULLER did murder Corey MARK POWER

NATHAN JOHN BLUNDELL

Between 15 August 2013 and 29 August 2013, at Young in the State of New South Wales, did counsel, procure and encourage Owen Junior FULLER to murder Corey Mark POWER.

S 18(1)(a) Crimes Act 1900 Law part code 2

S 346 Crimes Act 1900 Law part code 53065”

13. The indictment stated that the charge was brought under ss 18(1)(a) and 346 of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW). Section 18(1)(a) of the Crimes Act provides that:

“Murder shall be taken to have been committed where the act of the accused, or thing by him or her omitted to be done, causing the death charged, was done or omitted with reckless indifference to human life, or with intent to kill or inflict grievous bodily harm upon some person, or done in an attempt to commit, or during or immediately after the commission, by the accused, or some accomplice with him or her, of a crime punishable by imprisonment for life or for 25 years.”

14. Section 346 of the Crimes Act provides that:

“Accessories before the fact – How tried and Punished

Every accessory before the fact to a serious indictable offence may be indicted, convicted, and sentenced, either before or after the trial of the principal offender, or together with the principal offender, or indicted, convicted, and sentenced, as a principal in the offence, and shall be liable in either case to the same punishment to which the person would have been liable had the person been the principal offender, whether the principal offender has been tried or not, or is amenable to justice or not.”

15. Section 346 does not define the term “accessory before the fact” nor does it set out the elements of such an offence. By way of contrast, the Crimes Act describes the role of the accessory before the fact to “minor indictable offences” in s 351 (which is otherwise in similar terms to s 346) as follows:

“Any person who aids, abets, counsels, or procures, the commission of a minor indictable offence, whether the same is an offence at Common Law or by any statute, may be proceeded against and convicted together with or before or after the conviction of the principal offender and may be indicted, convicted, and punished as a principal offender.”

The evidence at trial

The Crown case

16. Much of the evidence in the Crown case was not in dispute. The majority of it comprised a printout of a series of text messages and Facebook messages between the appellant and the deceased, the appellant and Mr Fuller, and Mr Fuller and the deceased. The appellant made a voluntary statement to police on 30 August 2013 and participated in three electronically recorded interviews with suspected persons (“ERISPs”). A statement of agreed facts signed by the appellant became Exhibit D. The Crown case can be summarised as follows.

17. As at late July or early August 2013, the appellant, the deceased and Mr Fuller all resided in Young. They were three young men who were using illicit drugs and seeking to obtain money to buy drugs.

18. In late July or early August 2013, the appellant purchased a white Suzuki Swift from the deceased for $600. About two days later, the appellant attempted to return the vehicle to the deceased. The deceased took the vehicle back and agreed to reimburse the appellant by supplying him with drugs to the value of $600. He failed to do so.

19. On or around 8 August 2013, the appellant and Mr Fuller committed a break and enter at a business in Young and stole a utility truck and a trailer which contained tools and machinery. The appellant, Mr Fuller and the deceased agreed that the deceased would take the goods on consignment which would be on-sold for money or drugs and that the deceased would give the appellant and Mr Fuller $2,000 of the total proceeds. The deceased went to Canberra and disposed of the stolen goods but did not provide any money or drugs to the appellant or Mr Fuller after his return from Canberra.

20. On 16 August 2013, the appellant enquired of the deceased by way of Facebook message, “[h]ow’d ya go with that coin”. The deceased responded that the stolen goods were still in his car. On the morning of 19 August 2013, the appellant said that he needed “at least 200 of that coin by tomorrow”. The deceased had not replied by mid-afternoon. The appellant sent the deceased another message telling him that he would come and find him on the weekend. It is from this point that the threatening discourse between the parties escalated, with the following exchange taking place at a time when the deceased was still in Canberra:

Deceased:   “see ya then”

Deceased:   “trying to threaten me are we I will jump all over your fucken head u little wannabe come get ya generatorn t aint worth shit without the immobiliser”

Appellant:   “Well I ain’t fuckin happy look how long ya takin n u can’t even reply to say wats going on I been trying to get hold of you so either start payin up or bring the shit back”

Appellant:   “N u took the cunt there u bring it back”

Deceased:   “u comin over so u can get it then aye im not a little punk u think u can talk shit to buddy so if ya wanna staunch up bring it”

Appellant:   “Yea in wat car fuckhead u fucked it n dnt worry were comin for ya cunt u fuckd more ppl than me around ey”

Appellant:   “I wnt even touch ya the boys will have fun kickin the cunt outta ya n I dnt need no generator lol us boys work together Owens already got a down payment bud so one way or another were getting paid our 600”

Deceased:   “bring it ya cumstains I hope yous are ready owen tried last time this time I be ready make me laugh cunt I be waiting and I be alone cause I don’t need boys ha ha ha got 1 for each of ya and another 20 rounds so see ya soon buddy”

Appellant:   “Lol talk shit only needa knock u on the head like the dog u are”

Appellant:   “I ain’t getting my money on here so jus fuck up n wait till we see yay u toothless fuck”

Deceased:   “ha ha u wont do shit cause you’re a skinny junky bitch gotta get boys to do your shit cause u aint got no balls ya little boy and now u wanna bring my teeth into it im gonna knock yours out start playing with men you gonna get flogged like one I know where u are u wont see it comin but u will know when its done”

Deceased:   “We aye I got boys to fuckwit so be careful what u say buddy cause I have my boys come see you and it wont be pretty and I not talking no more I see you very soon mate”

Appellant:    “Yea n ill be getting u first cunt ur a cretin junky with debts all over town u deserve everyting u get cunt”

Appellant:   “Now fuck off ya scummy piece of shit”

Deceased:   “pfft don’t matter what happens mate im gonna get you so u be ready mate”

21. Between 20 August and 22 August 2013 there were further similar threatening message exchanges between the appellant and the deceased. The last of those messages was sent at 3:20pm on 22 August 2013.

22. After the last of the messages between the appellant and the deceased, the appellant made a brief telephone call to Mr Fuller (which was not recorded) after which time Mr Fuller and the appellant had the following exchange over text message between 6:16pm and 6:38pm:

Mr Fuller:   “I’m thinking if he comes we take this shit to a hole new level that this town hasn’t seen before and end the shit tonight I’ll do it but I need you there”

Appellant:    “Yea or just make him remember it”

Mr Fuller:    “Yeah remember the look in my eyes and knowing that he will never be able to fuck over any cunt again”

Appellant:   “Na u save that for later in life we will jus chop index n look”

Mr Fuller:    “Yeah we’ll maybe I shouldn’t come aye cause I don’t know man my head just ticking”

Appellant:    “Ur right ill sort him if I need back up I’ll ring ya”

Mr Fuller   “I’ll come brah cause its mine and your life he playing with bout time we started playing with his and got him into the state that he does his self saves us”

Appellant:   “Yea we will talk when we together pigs could be anywhere”

Mr Fuller:   “Yeah I no man I can’t trust no cunt bro I’m counting on you here man”

Appellant:   “Ur right bro we will get through it or we will go to the home of the best bud sa”

Mr Fuller:   “Yeah or straight through man”

Appellant:   “Yeah make it worth it if we doin that”

(emphasis added)

23. The following exchange then took place between 10:28pm and 11:34pm on 22 August 2013:

Appellant:   “We right bro, u know, that every cunt spinning, but u the only one I can trust we in it together trying to be quiet ears everywhere.”

Mr Fuller:   “Yeah ducking oath give me a yell straight up before anything happens and Ill be there.”

Appellant:   “U right bro nothing will happen.”Mr Fuller:   “Aye you heard woof from the dog lol”

Appellant:   “Lol yeah no bite”

Mr Fuller:   “He shoulda been born a catdog lol”

Appellant:   “Haha all meow no bite cant even come see me”

24. There was no evidence adduced at the trial of any other relevant exchanges between either the appellant and Mr Fuller or the appellant and the deceased until 28 August 2013. The evidence disclosed that, on or about that day, the deceased returned to Young from Canberra.

25. On 28 August 2013, the following text message exchange took place between the appellant and Mr Fuller between 8:28am and 11:55am:

Appellant:    “Corey in town bol keep an eye out. If you see him, jump on his head”

Appellant:   “I nearly got him last night but was gone before I clicked onto wat was happening n who it was”

Mr Fuller:   “Yeah sweet. Make sure you ring me when you find him”

Appellant:   “Yeah, he at Marras so jus hopin he leaves sometime soon”

(emphasis added)

26. The reference to “Marras” in the above exchange is a reference to “Tammarra Horne” who gave evidence at the trial. She and the deceased had a young daughter together.

27. The last time that the appellant made contact with Mr Fuller prior to the deceased’s murder was this message at 11:55am on 28 August 2013. However, later that date Mr Fuller sent another message to the appellant: “Is he walking”. Then at 2:49pm, Mr Fuller called the appellant who did not answer. He then sent the appellant a further message saying “It’s Owen” followed by a further unanswered call. At 2:54pm, Mr Fuller again called the appellant but received no answer. This was the last time that Mr Fuller attempted to contact the appellant prior to the murder.

28. The appellant’s former girlfriend, Samantha Martin, gave evidence that the appellant stayed with her on the night of the deceased’s death (28/29 August 2013) and had slept until the morning. This evidence was not challenged by the Crown in cross-examination.

29. In the early hours of 29 August 2013, Mr Fuller woke up and logged onto the Facebook account of his former girlfriend, Amelia-Rose Luke-Browning. He noticed that the deceased had sent a message to her Facebook account whilst Mr Fuller was logged in. Mr Fuller decided to impersonate Ms Luke-Browning so as to lure the deceased to a remote location. When the deceased went to that location, Mr Fuller beat him to death with a tomahawk.

26. Two unanswered calls were made by Mr Fuller at 4:18am and 4:20am on 29 August 2013 respectively followed by a text message to the appellant which said “Oi bro I got Corey answer”.

27. Ms Martin’s evidence was that when she woke up on 29 August 2013 (about an hour and a half before the appellant) she went on Facebook and saw that a dead man had been discovered in Young. She told this to the appellant when he woke up to which he said, “I wonder who it is?” The appellant then charged his phone at a neighbour’s house and when he returned he showed Ms Martin the “Oi bro I got Corey answer” message sent by Mr Fuller (although she did not remember the precise wording). Ms Martin gave evidence that the appellant was worried and told her he was stressing “about Corey”. The appellant did not leave Ms Martin’s residence until 11:00am on 29 August 2013.

28. Mr Fuller made full admissions that he had attacked the deceased. He was later convicted of the deceased’s murder. Mr Fuller did not give evidence at the appellant’s trial. His ERISP was not played to the jury nor was the transcript of it provided to them. Defence counsel had sought to put before the jury the following question and answer from Mr Fuller’s interview:

“Q. 1296: so did you speak to anyone at or before the murder?

A. I didn’t even know it was going to happen like.”

33. The trial judge told defence counsel that there was already sufficient evidence before the court to enable the appellant to make the point that Mr Fuller acted unilaterally and with spontaneity and therefore this question and answer was not put before the jury.

34. The appellant made a voluntary statement to police on 30 August 2013 (Exhibit C) and participated in three ERISPs: Exhibits J, K and L respectively. Those three ERISPs took place on 30 October 2013, 7 November 2013 and 24 February 2015.

35. In the first ERISP on 30 October 2013, the appellant told police that the deceased had not paid him the outstanding $600 and that he had intended to “flog him when I seen him but not kill him”. He asked police “why would I kill him? Then I can’t get my $600.” He said that had he found the deceased he “probably would’ve had a few words and if he got lippy back, probably would’ve punched him in the mouth”. He denied that he was involved in the murder. He said that he had informed people that he wanted to get the deceased, that he asked them to send him a message if they saw the deceased and that he wanted to fight the deceased as he owed him $600. He also said that the deceased was a mate and did not deserve to die like that. The appellant did not deny that he had messaged Mr Fuller in the weeks prior to the deceased’s death and had asked Mr Fuller to inform him if he got hold of the deceased. The appellant said that the last message to the deceased was that he was “going to flog the fuck out of you when I see you, cunt”, but reiterated that the deceased was a good mate. He denied involvement in the murder.

36. During the appellant’s second ERISP on 7 November 2013 he said that the deceased owed Mr Fuller money for the stolen generator. He did not deny that he told the deceased several times that he was going to “bash him” in relation to the outstanding $600.

37. During the third ERISP on 24 February 2015, the appellant said that he had not told police “the whole truth” because he feared for his safety. He then informed police that it was Mr Fuller who sent the message saying “Oi bro I got Corey answer” and that the deceased owed him and Mr Fuller $2,000 ($1,000 each) with respect to the stolen generator and tools and that this was the basis for the messages he had sent. The appellant said that he sent messages on 19 August 2013 to the deceased with the intention of “just geeing him up”. He said that he had shown Mr Fuller the messages exchanged between him and the deceased “all the way through”. He said that the last messages between him and the deceased were exchanged a week before the deceased had been killed. The appellant denied that he had told Mr Fuller to kill the deceased or that he arranged it.

38. The appellant said that he had received a message from Mr Fuller a week prior to the murder and thought it said that Mr Fuller was “going to kill him” (the deceased) but that he thought Mr Fuller was “just talking it up”. He said that he did not remember writing the text which read “jus chop index n look”. The appellant said that Mr Fuller had found a tomahawk one day and said words to the effect of “I just want to hit someone with this”. However, the appellant told him “don’t do that you mad cunt you’ll end up killing some cunt” and that Mr Fuller had thrown the tomahawk away later that day.

39. There was no dispute at the trial as to the manner and cause of the death of Mr Power. The sole issue at trial was the role, if any, the appellant played in his death.

40. Tammarra Horne gave evidence that she had been in a relationship with the deceased from 2005 to the end of 2011 and they had a daughter together who was born in May 2009. She had remained on friendly terms with the deceased and he would visit from time to time. At some point in August 2013 the deceased stayed with her as he was having issues with his girlfriend, Debbie Nasser. He was staying at her house at the time of his death.

41. During the time that the deceased stayed with Ms Horne, she, Ethan Ritchens (her new boyfriend) and the appellant were at her home. Mr Fuller showed up and when the deceased answered the door, Mr Fuller punched him. Ms Horne witnessed this from the kitchen. A fight between Mr Fuller and the deceased ensued in the front yard and Mr Ritchens broke them up. She recalled the deceased and Mr Fuller talking thereafter and shaking hands before Mr Fuller left. The appellant was not present at that time.

42. Ms Horne gave evidence that a couple of days after the fight between Mr Fuller and the deceased the appellant attended her home and informed her that he and Mr Fuller had stolen the generator and tools. She said that a week or so later the appellant again attended her house and told her that the deceased had not paid them for the generator. The appellant said that they were going to send some boys over to Canberra but did not go into detail about that.

43. The mother of Ms Horne’s ex-partner, Sophie Anderson, gave evidence. She recalled the appellant telling her that the deceased owed him “about $600 for something that was stolen” and that he was “going to get the cunt”.

44. Ms Nasser, the deceased’s former partner from Canberra, also gave evidence. She said that during a trip on 10 August 2013 (she had picked up the deceased from Young and they were heading back to Canberra), the deceased told her “that apparently Owen and Nathan had done an armed robbery at the Caltex Service Station and that Owen had confronted him because he’d been telling people about things about what they’d been doing around town, and Owen had punched him in the face and that Nathan and him had been exchanging messages, and Nathan wasn’t happy about… what was happening…”. At a later occasion the deceased told her he had received messages of a threatening nature from the appellant but that he put it down to them being “just little smart mouths”.

45. Ms Martin also gave evidence that she remembered having a conversation with the appellant about three weeks prior to the murder of the deceased during which the appellant said that the deceased owed him money for some tools and that after a few weeks “he got angry about it and said he was going to bash him”. She was “reasonably sure” that the words used were “I’m going to bash that cunt”. Ms Martin agreed that the appellant said to her on 29 July 2013 that he was stressed. She said that appellant had told her he was stressing about the deceased because he had sent messages to him saying that he was going to get someone to “bash” him if he did not give him money for the tools.

46. The Crown relied upon the evidence that the appellant knew Mr Fuller had access to a tomahawk. There was a message from the appellant to Mr Fuller that “If you see him jump on his head” and a message “chop index n look”. There was thus evidence that the appellant intended to encourage Mr Fuller to cause really serious bodily injury to the deceased. In terms of assistance, the Crown’s case was that the appellant assisted Mr Fuller by telling him that the deceased was back in Young and then later that day telling him that the deceased was at a particular place at a particular time.

The defence case

47. The appellant did not give evidence at trial. He relied upon the answers given in his ERISP. The defence case was that although the appellant encouraged Mr Fuller to engage in anti-social behaviour towards the deceased, he did not encourage him to commit grievous bodily harm against the deceased. He was not aware of all of the essential facts that would have made him privy to Mr Fuller’s intention to cause grievous bodily harm to the deceased at the time of his encouragement, including the fact that he would strike him with a tomahawk or the day or time of the attack.

48. In his closing address defence counsel relied on the evidence of the appellant’s reaction when he got the text message from Mr Fuller that he had “got Corey.” It was said to show that the appellant did not intend grievous bodily harm to be carried out. Rather, he wanted to confront the deceased and fight him. The defence case was that the events on the morning of 29 August 2013 were the result of Mr Fuller’s own spontaneous folly and the appellant could not have foreseen them. In this way, Mr Fuller was not encouraged or assisted by the appellant when he murdered the deceased.

49. It was submitted that the messages between the appellant and the deceased did not establish the appellant’s intent for murder. They showed anger but the appellant’s words were hollow as he in fact failed to do the things he said he would.

The elements of the offence

50. During the opening address on 10 October 2016, the Crown Prosecutor told the jury that the elements of an accessory before the fact to murder were: that the death was in fact a murder; that the accused “intentionally encouraged the commission of the offence and/or intentionally set out to assist in preparations in the offender to commit that offence”; that “the crime that was committed was one that [the appellant] intended would be committed or was within the scope of what he believed would be committed”; and that before the crime by Mr Fuller was committed, the appellant had neither a genuine change of mind nor expressly instructed Mr Fuller not to commit the offence.

51. The Crown Prosecutor also told the jury that to “counsel” is to “order, advise, encourage or persuade” and that to “procure” means “to intentionally take steps to ensure that an offence was completed by the principal.” The Crown case, as opened to the jury, was that the appellant “assisted, encouraged or procured” Mr Fuller to inflict grievous bodily harm on the deceased.

52. Defence counsel disagreed with the Crown’s formulation of the elements of the offence and, in his opening address, informed the jury that the trial judge would correct this. He identified in his opening that the three real issues in the trial were whether the appellant intentionally encouraged Mr Fuller to commit the murder; whether the crime that was committed was one that the appellant had intended; and whether the appellant knew the essential facts of what made up the crime that Mr Fuller committed.

53. The disagreement as to the elements of the offence arose again throughout the trial. One of the areas of dispute was the question of whether it was correct to describe the crime committed as being within the “scope of what he believed would be committed” as opposed to the appellant intending that a certain offence would be committed and encouraging Mr Fuller to carry it out.

54. The transcript reflects that on 13 October 2016, defence counsel submitted that a case alleging an accessory before the fact to murder could not be proved through principles of joint criminal enterprise and extended joint criminal enterprise. It was submitted that terms like “scope” and “contemplation” were inapplicable. The transcript reflects that his Honour accepted this at that time.

55. In his closing address, the Crown Prosecutor stated that the fundamental question was whether the appellant had encouraged or assisted Mr Fuller to assault the deceased and, if so, whether he intended by that encouragement or assistance that Mr Fuller would inflict very serious bodily injury upon the deceased. Despite the Crown Prosecutor opening on a case of, inter alia, “procuring” the murder, there was no reference to procuring in the closing address.

56. The trial judge ultimately directed the jury that the Crown case was one of encouragement (in that the appellant had used words like “jump on his head” and “chop index”) and/or assistance (in that the appellant told Mr Fuller that the deceased was back in town and that he was at “Marra’s”). No objection was made to the Crown case being left to the jury on that basis and it is not the subject of any ground of appeal.

The summing up

57. The complaints made about the summing up are all directed at the elements of the offence and the conflation of the relevant principles with those of joint criminal enterprise and extended joint criminal enterprise. His Honour directed the jury as to the charge brought against the appellant in these terms: “…the charge against the accused is, as you have heard, to the effect that he was an accessory before the fact of murder. That is to say, that he assisted and encouraged Owen Fuller to commit a crime against Corey Power, and the Crown alleges in this case, that he encouraged and assisted in the offence of assault to inflict grievous bodily harm upon Corey Power” (emphasis added).

58. In the context of explaining the concept of circumstantial evidence to the jury, his Honour told the jury:

“The Crown has invited you to infer from what was said, knowledge in the accused, knowledge of what Mr Fuller intended to do to Mr Power, the deceased. That, you well (sic) infer the Crown says, that he had state of mind to encourage him to assist him to that end, to inflict grievous bodily for reasons the Crown says is associated with this money issue, and the failure by the deceased to come good with his part of the deal and so on.”

59. Shortly afterwards, in the context of directing the jury as to what they had to be satisfied of beyond reasonable doubt, his Honour stated:

“That is to say, as to the accused’s alleged participation which is spoken of as being encouraging and assisting in bringing about the infliction of grievous bodily harm upon the deceased.”

60. His Honour provided the jury with written directions entitled “Elements of the Offence”. This document was marked “MFI 12”. Before reading it to the jury his Honour stated:

“It is also important that you pay some attention to what I say orally. As you would expect, the summary document doesn’t tell you everything that you need to know, it simply summarises the essential parts of it. So you will need to have some regard to both the document itself and to what I say by way of further oral directions.”

61. His Honour then read MFI 12 to the jury. It was in these terms:

“The accused is charged with the offence of being an accessory before the fact, namely, that between 15 August 2013 and 29 August 2013 at Young, he assisted and encouraged Owen Junior Fuller to murder Corey Mark Power.

The elements of the offence are:

1) That the offence of murder was committed by the principal offender.

2) That the accused knew all the essential elements and circumstances necessary to show that the principal intended to assault and inflict upon the victim, grievous bodily harm, meaning really serious bodily injury.

3) That the accused, by his conduct and/or words, intentionally assisted or encouraged the principal offender to commit the crime.

The Crown [is] required to prove beyond reasonable doubt each of and all of the elements 1, 2 and 3 above.”

62. In terms of the first element set out in MFI 12, his Honour explained that it was common ground that the offence of murder was committed and that they were to “take that element as established beyond reasonable doubt”.

63. His Honour then directed the jury about the remaining two elements:

“One is that the Crown has to prove the conduct, whether by words and/or by actions, of the accused, and the second element or limb, that he did so, if you find he did, undertake such conduct or act with a state of mind, state of mind being knowledge, firstly, of all the essential facts and circumstances; knowledge to show that the principal offender intended to assault and inflict upon the victim, grievous bodily harm.

That’s element 2, and in that second limb as well with intention – with the intention to assist and/or encourage the offender to commit the crime.

So in most criminal offences… there are two aspects to be proven by the Crown beyond a reasonable doubt; the acts or the conduct. In this case, the alleged encouragement, the alleged assistance and secondly, the state of mind that, if those acts you find were committed, that they were done with an intention; state of mind, intention to assist, to encourage and/or encourage the offender, in this case Owen Fuller, to inflict grievous bodily harm…” 

64. His Honour then went on to describe “the first limb” being “the acts, the conduct”. His Honour said as follows:

“Members of the jury, let me deal a bit more with the first limb that I’ve just referred to, the acts, the conduct. So you examine the evidence to determine what, on the evidence, you find was the alleged conduct, and/or words spoken by the accused to Owen Fuller. Do you find that the evidence established beyond reasonable doubt that he said things to Owen Fuller that amounted to him giving him assistance to assault Mr Power with a view to inflicting grievous bodily harm upon him? Do you consider that the evidence establishes beyond reasonable doubt that the accused said words to Mr Fuller that constituted encouragement to Mr Fuller to physically assault Mr Power with a view to inflicting grievous bodily harm upon him?

Do you consider the evidence establishes both such assistance and encouragement, or one or the other, or alternatively, as I’ve said, either of those? Or do you find that the evidence does not establish beyond reasonable doubt that he gave any assistance? Or do you find on the evidence, that the accused did not provide any encouragement to Owen Fuller to do that act, that crime of assaulting Mr Power with a view to inflicting grievous bodily harm upon him?

So you will need to examine the evidence to see what did he do. Did he assist Mr Fuller in his intention to inflict grievous bodily harm? What did he say? Well you need to look at the documents to look at the evidence to determine what he said, and is what he said in your finding beyond reasonable doubt, an encouragement by the accused of Owen Fuller to do just that, to assault with a view to inflicting grievous bodily harm upon Mr Power?”

(emphasis added)

65. The trial judge referred to the necessity for the Crown to establish that the appellant encouraged Mr Fuller with “a view to inflicting grievous bodily harm” upon the deceased five times during his summing up. All five references were made during the directions given to the jury about the elements of the offence. Four of these references are extracted in the previous paragraph and the fifth is extracted below at [68].

66. His Honour then moved to the element concerning the appellant’s “mental state”:

“When I’m talking about mental state, as you’ve already gathered, what I’m talking about is knowledge of facts, intention of mind or belief as to what Mr Owen Fuller intended to do. These words ‘knowledge’, ‘intention’ and ‘belief’ concern what I’ve referred to as the mental element of the offence of the accessory before the fact to the offence of murder. The Crown must prove beyond reasonable doubt as one of the elements of the offence charged that the accused, Mr Blundell, had knowledge of all the essential facts necessary to constitute the commission of the offence by the accused.”

67. In this respect, his Honour set out the Crown case as follows:

“The Crown says he had knowledge that Owen Fuller was set upon intending to – was going to assault Mr Power, and assault him so badly as to inflict grievous bodily harm upon him of some form or another… and it’s a matter for you to assess the evidence as to whether… you are not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that he had knowledge of all the necessary facts that this is what Fuller was intent on doing, was going to do, and to assist him and encourage him.

If you find that he didn’t set out to do any acts by way of assistance or give words of encouragement, as I have said, that would be the end of it. If he did, did he have knowledge of the essential facts and circumstances to show what Fuller intended to do as per element number 2 on document MFI 12. To have committed the offence charged, the accused must have intentionally participated in the offence committed by Owen Fuller, and accordingly, he must have had knowledge of the essential matters which went to make up the offence of murder committed by Mr Fuller, whether or not he knew those matters amounted in law to the offence of murder.”

(emphasis added)

68. In terms of the requisite knowledge, the trial judge repeated that the Crown had to establish that the appellant knew the essential facts – “that Fuller was going to assault Mr Power with a view to inflicting on him grievous bodily harm” (emphasis added). His Honour then went on to state:

“…So in summary, assisting or counselling or encouraging the commission of an offence requires the intentional assistance or encouragement of doing those things. The intention by Owen Fuller to inflict really serious injury upon Mr Power, where the accused has knowledge that the former intends to do so.

It is not necessary for the Crown to prove that the accused, Mr Blundell, knew that the assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm in law, amounted to the offence of murder, as I have earlier indicated, as a result of death resulting from really serious bodily injury. The necessary intent or state of mind is absent if the accused lacked the knowledge that Owen Fuller was going to do something which amounts to assault to inflict really serious bodily injury upon Mr Power.” 

(emphasis added)

69. His Honour then went on to discuss the evidence given at trial. It was during this section of his summing up that his Honour first used the term “design”:

“Members of the jury, it’s a matter for your assessment as to whether you read these communications as falling into segments, whether they are to be viewed as a whole showing an ongoing theme, or whether there’s some twists and turns and stops and then restarting communications or whether it forms a pattern or part of a design, if you like.” 

(emphasis added)

70. As will be extracted below, the term “design” was then used a further six times by his Honour, all in the context of summarising the defence counsel’s closing address.

71. During the trial judge’s summary of the defence closing address, his Honour referred to the submission made that there were unforeseen events that occurred after the appellant’s last communication with Mr Fuller and that they were a result of Mr Fuller’s own folly that night and not encouraged by the appellant. Those events were Mr Fuller logging onto his former girlfriend’s Facebook, the deceased messaging that account, Mr Fuller impersonating her and luring the deceased to pick “her” up. That submission was summarised by the trial judge in these terms:

“Were these events something Owen Fuller decided upon and they (sic) not part of the design intentionally encouraged by the accused, Mr Higgins asked.”

72. His Honour then gave further directions in the context of summarising the defence closing address which incorporated the term “enterprise” (mentioned five times) along with “design.” His Honour directed the jury in relation to that issue that they must consider “whether later events, occurring whether opportunistically or not, may still remain part of the design of some enterprise that an accused person encouraged in the first place and/or assisted”. His Honour went on, to state:

“In other words, if there were additional opportunistic matters, were they separate and apart and a completely new design and the original enterprise, which was encouraged, has ceased? Or if there are these new additional facts, merely additional facts as to what was encouraged and not some independent influence causing Fuller to act.

Members of the jury, it is possibly putting it in somewhat complex [sic] but it just raises the question again, as jurors who have been paying attention to the case, to the submissions, and indeed to what I have been saying, you use your common sense. You look at the evidence and see whether or not you are satisfied that whatever enterprise Fuller embarked upon in assaulting Power, was that something new and separate and different from the enterprise that he and Mr Blundell had been discussing in the lead-up to the tragic event.

In other words, are the [inaudible] still operating or is the original design the primary driving force? If it was and if you do find there was encouragement and/or assistance, then you have heard what the Crown case is. If you were to find that that were not the case, and that it was something completely separate and different, then that would be otherwise, that would not have been part of the enterprise that was encouraged and part of the original design.”

(emphasis added)

73. After summarising the remainder of defence counsel’s closing address, the trial judge then provided the jury with a document entitled “Legal Principles” which was marked “MFI 14”. That document was in these terms:

“1. It is not necessary, in cases where the accused “encouraged” the primary offender, for the Crown to prove that he was actually encouraged by the accused’s words or actions.

2. The accused’s state of mind is to be assessed at the time he gave the relevant encouragement or assistance, rather than at the time of the offence.

3. It is not necessary to prove knowledge of the particular time and place where the crime was to be committed.

4. There is no requirement that the Crown show that the accused contemplated as a possibility the particular way in which [the victim] was to be harmed, or that any particular weapon was to be used, for that purpose.

5. Assisting and encouraging is a continuous act and persists until the substantive offence is committed at which time the accessory’s offence is also committed.”

74. After handing copies of MFI 14 to the jury his Honour then stated:

“Members of the jury, they are principles which apply in a case such as this. They may or may not have relevance depending upon your assessment. Members of the jury, I will have handed down another document. Just before I go to that, there is one other matter I wanted to mention. Members of the jury, I said in the course of my summing up about the requisite intention of the accused that must be proved. It is dealt with in the elements document but I will just make clear that the accessory’s knowledge or awareness of the principal offender’s intention, that is Mr Fuller’s intention to do an act with a particular state of mind is the relevant point in time. That is, it is appropriate to speak of the accessory’s knowledge, that is, the accused’s knowledge or awareness of Mr Fuller’s intention to do an act with a particular state of mind at the time when the accessory, that is the accused in this case, assists or encourages.”

75. His Honour then provided a copy of “MFI 15” to the jury (an index) and concluded his summing up.

GENERAL PRINCIPLES

76. Before turning to consider the grounds of appeal it is necessary to identify the relevant principles applicable to the prosecution of a person charged with being an accessory before the fact in circumstances where no alternate case relying on either joint criminal enterprise or extended joint criminal enterprise is relied upon by the Crown. A survey of the relevant decisions from which the principles concerning accessorial liability are to be derived reveals that it has become increasingly uncommon for a case to be brought against an accused person solely on the basis of accessorial liability. It is of interest to note that, although the High Court has considered the scope of accessorial liability and joint criminal enterprise on a number of occasions, some of the questions raised in this appeal have never been considered by the High Court.

77. The appellant does not contend that MFI 12 and the elements documents were wrong per se. Rather, the complaint is that the directions in MFI 12 were insufficient and that two of the directions in MFI 14 were wrong at law. The appellant’s arguments traced the relevant common law principles derived from decisions in both Australia and in the United Kingdom. In order to understand the parties’ submissions, it is necessary to first set out the relevant passages from a number of the decisions relied upon.

78. The relevant difference between primary liability (joint criminal enterprise) and derivative liability (accessorial liability) was explained by McHugh J in Osland v The Queen (1998) 197 CLR 316; [1998] HCA 75 (“Osland”) as set out below at [111] do not consider it necessary for the purpose of this appeal to consider in any detail the principles of joint criminal enterprise and extended joint criminal enterprise. It is sufficient that I extract the relevant passage from the decision of the High Court in McAuliffe v The Queen (1995) 183 CLR 108; [1995] HCA 37 (“McAuliffe”).

79. The Court in McAuliffe (Brennan CJ, Deane, Dawson, Toohey and Gummow JJ) stated the relevant principles to be as follows:

“The doctrine of common purpose applies where a venture is undertaken by more than one person acting in concert in pursuit of a common criminal design. Such a venture may be described as a joint criminal enterprise. Those terms - common purpose, common design, concert, joint criminal enterprise - are used more or less interchangeably to invoke the doctrine which provides a means, often an additional means, of establishing the complicity of a secondary party in the commission of a crime. The liability which attaches to the traditional classifications of accessory before the fact and principal in the second degree may be enough to establish the guilt of a secondary party: in the case of an accessory before the fact where that party counsels or procures the commission of the crime and in the case of a principal in the second degree where that party, being present at the scene, aids or abets its commission. But the complicity of a secondary party may also be established by reason of a common purpose shared with the principal offender or with that offender and others. Such a common purpose arises where a person reaches an understanding or arrangement amounting to an agreement between that person and another or others that they will commit a crime. The understanding or arrangement need not be express and may be inferred from all the circumstances. If one or other of the parties to the understanding or arrangement does, or they do between them, in accordance with the continuing understanding or arrangement, all those things which are necessary to constitute the crime, they are all equally guilty of the crime regardless of the part played by each in its commission.

Not only that, but each of the parties to the arrangement or understanding is guilty of any other crime falling within the scope of the common purpose which is committed in carrying out that purpose. Initially the test of what fell within the scope of the common purpose was determined objectively so that liability was imposed for other crimes committed as a consequence of the commission of the crime which was the primary object of the criminal venture, whether or not those other crimes were contemplated by the parties to that venture. However, in accordance with the emphasis which the law now places upon the actual state of mind of an accused person, the test has become a subjective one and the scope of the common purpose is to be determined by what was contemplated by the parties sharing that purpose.”

(footnotes omitted)

accessorial liability

80. The grounds of appeal in this matter raise questions concerning causation, knowledge, recklessness, the “continuous” nature of any encouragement or assistance and the potential conflation at the appellant’s trial between principles of accessorial liability as opposed to principals of joint criminal enterprise/extended joint criminal enterprise.

81. The cases concerning accessorial liability use language such as principals in the first and second degree and accessories before and at the fact. Although the latter description is somewhat outdated, I propose to adopt it for ease of reference.

Australian Decisions

R v Russell

82. An early Australian decision that considered the mental element for accessorial liability was R v Russell [1933] VLR 59 (“R v Russell”). That case concerned the criminal liability of an accused who stood by while his wife drowned their children and herself. In considering the liability of a principal in the second degree, Cussen ACJ said as follows (at 67):

“A principal in the second degree is sometimes defined as a person present aiding or abetting, but in this context each of these words has, as I have indicated, a wide meaning. A common dictionary meaning of ‘abetting’ is ‘encouraging,’ or ‘countenancing’; and this is to be remembered when the words ‘aiding or abetting’ alone are used. All the words - abovementioned are, I think, instances of one general idea, that the person charged as a principal in the second degree is in some way linked in purpose with the person actually committing the crime, and is by his words or conduct doing something to bring about, or rendering more likely, such commission.”

(emphasis added)

83. The phrase “linked in purpose” in R v Russell has been adopted in a number of subsequent decisions.

Johns v The Queen

84. The decision in Johns v The Queen (1980) 143 CLR 108; [1980] HCA 3 (“Johns”) concerned whether the doctrine of joint criminal enterprise could attach liability to an accessory before the fact. The phrase “accessory before the fact” is used by the court in that decision to describe the participant in the joint criminal enterprise not present at the scene. Although it is a decision concerned with joint criminal enterprise and “common purpose” (extended joint criminal enterprise) it was held in Johns that there is no practical difference between an accessory before the fact and an accessory at the fact besides the presence of the offender, and also that a person not present at the scene can nonetheless be liable as a principal as part of a joint criminal enterprise/common purpose.

85. The appellant in Johns was the driver of a car used in an attempted robbery. He had waited for the principal offenders knowing that one of them carried a pistol, was quick-tempered and capable of becoming violent. The attempted robbery took a bad turn and, in the absence of the appellant, the victim was shot and killed. The appellant was indicted for murder on the basis that he was engaged in a joint criminal enterprise with the principal offenders.

86. Two questions arose in Johns concerning the doctrine of “common purpose”. The first was whether the doctrine of common purpose could extend to accessories before the fact. The plurality held that the doctrine of common purpose did extend to an accessory before the fact and that it was not necessary for a party to be present at the scene of an offence to be acting in pursuit of a common purpose with others who were present (see Mason, Murphy and Wilson JJ at 130-1 and Barwick CJ at 112). Barwick CJ held at 112:

“As a separate submission, it was said that in any case an accessory before the fact could not be convicted merely on the basis of his participation in a joint enterprise or common design. In my opinion, these submissions are clearly unacceptable. In the first place, there is no reason in principle why the participant in a common design or joint enterprise cannot be held as responsible as other participants simply because he remains an accessory before the fact and does not actively participate in the execution of the enterprise to which he has agreed or encouraged. Nor was any authority produced, whether in text book or reported decision, to support the proposition. In my opinion, the participant in a joint enterprise or common design is liable for all that occurs in the course of its execution which is of a kind which fairly falls within the ambit of the enterprise or design, though he is not present at its execution and is only sought to be made liable as an accessory before the fact. The responsibility for acts done within the ambit of the enterprise or design cannot be confined to those who actively participate in or are present at the performance of those acts.”

(emphasis added)

87. Mason, Murphy and Wilson JJ said at 125-6:

“True it is that the common law distinguishes for the purposes of classification between the accessory before the fact and the principal in the second degree, but this classification is quite unrelated to the doctrine of common purpose. The object of the doctrine is to fix with complicity for the crime committed by the perpetrator those persons who encouraged, aided or assisted him, whether they be accessories or principals. Broadly speaking, the doctrine looks to the scope of the common purpose or design as the gravamen of complicity and criminal liability. There is nothing in this to suggest that the criterion of complicity and liability should differ as between accessory and principal in the second degree. If they are both parties to the same purpose or design and that purpose or design is the only basis of complicity relied upon against each of them, there is no evident reason why one should he held liable and the other not. In each case liability must depend on the scope of the common purpose. Did it extend to the commission of the act constituting the offence charged? This is the critical question. It would make nonsense to say that the common purpose included the commission of the act in the case of the principal in the second degree but that the same common purpose did not include the commission of the same act in the case of the accessory before the fact. Yet this is precisely what the appellant’s submission does say.”

(emphasis added)

88. The High Court adopted the statement of principle of Street CJ in R v Johns [1978] 1 NSWLR 282 at 289, where his Honour quoted JW Cecil Turner, Russell on Crime (12th ed, 1964) (“Russell on Crime”) at 289 as follows:

“Nowadays, it is submitted, the test should be subjective and the person charged as accessory should not be held liable for anything but what he either expressly commanded or realised might be involved in the performance of the project agreed upon. It would, on this principle, therefore be a question of evidence to satisfy the jury that the accused did contemplate the prospect of what the principal has in fact done.”

89. Their Honours continued at 130-1:

“In our opinion these decisions support the conclusion reached by Street C.J., namely, ‘that an accessory before the fact bears, as does a principal in the second degree, a criminal liability for an act which was within the contemplation of both himself and the principal in the first degree as an act which might be done in the course of carrying out the primary criminal intention - an act contemplated as a possible incident of the originally planned particular venture’. Such an act is one which falls within the parties’ own purpose and design precisely because it is within their contemplation and is foreseen as a possible incident of the execution of their planned enterprise.”

(emphasis added)

90. Their Honours then described s 346 of the Crimes Act as manifesting a legislative intention that an accessory before the fact be treated as a principal (at 133):

“The appellant’s argument flies in the face of the legislative intention manifested in s. 346. The intention there expressed is that the accessory is liable to the same punishment as the principal. The punishment prescribed for the principal is the mandatory sentence of penal servitude for life. Yet the effect of the appellant’s argument is that the accessory may be sentenced to a lesser punishment. It is an argument that is not only at odds with the specific provision relating to punishment in s. 346 but it is also at variance with the intention, plainly expressed in the section, that an accessory before the fact is to be treated in all respects as a principal.”

Giorgianni v The Queen

91. The appellant placed significant weight on the decision of Giorgianni v R (1985) 156 CLR 473; [1985] HCA 29 (“Giorgianni”). That case did concern a case of an accessory before the fact in which there was no reliance by the Crown upon principles of joint criminal enterprise. The appellant had leased a truck which was driven by his employee. The truck collided with other vehicles when its brakes failed which caused the death of multiple persons. The appellant was not present at the time of collision however he was convicted of culpable driving causing death. The charge had been brought on the basis that the appellant and his employee had worked on the truck 10 days prior to the collision and that the appellant ought to have known of the defects.

92. There were two issues before the Court. First, whether a person could be liable as an accessory before the fact to the strict liability offence of dangerous driving occasioning death. Second, whether recklessness (as opposed to actual knowledge) as to the existence of facts and circumstances which would render the driving dangerous was sufficient to constitute criminal liability.

93. In relation to the first issue Gibbs CJ made the following observations (at 478):

“There is no reason why a person who counsels or procures another to drive a vehicle, knowing that the person persuaded to drive the vehicle is drunk, or that the vehicle is so defective as to be dangerous, should not be liable, in accordance with the ordinary principles embodied in s.351 of the Crimes Act, if the vehicle is involved in a collision causing death. This view is supported by Reg. v. Robert Millar Ltd. (1970) 2 QB 54, where it was held that an employer who instructed an employee to drive a vehicle, knowing it to be in a dangerously defective condition, was guilty of the offence of dangerous driving causing death.”

94. His Honour then went on to consider the second question of whether it was necessary to prove that the accessory before the fact knew all the circumstances which made what was done an offence or whether recklessness was sufficient. His Honour considered the terms of s 52A of the Crimes Act and observed that:

“The very words used in s.351, and the synonyms which express their meanings – eg. help, encourage, advise, persuade, induce, bring about by effort – indicate that a particular state of mind is essential before a person can become liable as a secondary party for the commission of the offence, even if the offence is one of strict liability.”

95. Gibbs CJ went on to refer to the observations of Judge Learned Hand in United States v Peoni (1938) 100 F.(2d) 401 (“United States v Peoni”) where his Honour referred to a number of statutory definitions and then stated:

“It will be observed that all these definitions have nothing whatever to do with the probability that the forbidden result would follow upon the accessory's conduct; and [that] they all demand that he in some sort associate himself with the venture, that he participate in it as in something that he wishes to bring about, that he seek by his action to make it succeed. All the words used - even the most colourless ‘abet’ - carry an implication of purposive attitude towards it.”

96. Gibbs CJ went on to state (at 480):

“In other words, the person charged as a secondary party should in some way be ‘linked in purpose with the person actually committing the crime ...’: R. v. Russell (16), per Cussen A.C.J.”

97. His Honour next noted that s 351 of the Crimes Act is based on s 8 of the Accessories and Abettors Act 1861 (UK) which was declaratory of the common law on the subject (at 480). His Honour went on to state (at 480):

“Although it was said, in Attorney-General’s Reference (No. 1 of 1975) [1975] EWCA Crim 1; (1975) Q.B. 773, at p.779, that there is a difference between the four words (aids, abets, counsels, procures) used in the section, and that each word must be given its ordinary meaning, it is apparent that the ordinary meanings of some at least of those words overlap and that sometimes the words are used in particular combinations or as a phrase which is to be considered as a whole: In re Charles Smith (1858) 3 H& N 227, at pp 237-238 [1858] EngR 533; (157 ER 455, at p 459); A-G v. Able (1983) 3 WLR 845, at p 855; (1984) 1 All ER 277, at p 285. When used in relation to felonies, the words ‘aid and abet’ described the action of a person who was present at the commission of the offence and took some part therein (who was called a principal in the second degree as well as an ‘aider and abettor’), whereas ‘counsel and procure’ described an accessory before the fact who was not present at the commission of the offence: cf. Ferguson v. Weaving (1951) 1 KB 814, at pp 818-819. The usage was not always uniform or discriminating. The distinction between principals in the first and second degree and between principals and accessories now generally has no legal importance: see Johns(T.S.) v. The Queen [1980] HCA 3; (1980) 143 CLR 108, at p 117 and ss.345-347 of the Crimes Act.”

(emphasis added)

98. Gibbs CJ went on to state:

“No similar distinction was drawn in the case of misdemeanours, and at common law, in cases of misdemeanour, anyone who, in the case of a felony, would have been a principal in the second degree, or an accessory, was a principal offender and was treated as if he had taken the same part as the active perpetrator of the facts constituting the offence: Gould & Co. v. Houghton (1921) 1 KB 509, at p 516. The reason for mentioning those matters, which are now largely of historical interest, is that statements in the authorities regarding the mental state necessary to constitute a person an accessory before the fact in the case of a felony will apply equally to a person who has counselled or procured the commission of a misdemeanour. Further it will be found that statements which refer to the knowledge and intention necessary to make a person an aider and abettor will often be equally applicable to a person who has counselled or procured the commission of the offence.”

99. In further considering the question of whether knowledge (as opposed to recklessness) is sufficient to convict an accessory before the fact, Gibbs CJ made the following observations at 481 (a passage relied upon by the appellant in this matter):

“Russell on Crime, 12th ed. (1964), p151, states that ‘the bare minimum’ which is necessary to constitute a person an accessory before the fact is that his conduct should indicate ‘(a) that he knew that the particular deed was contemplated, and (b) that he approved of or assented to it, and (c) that his attitude in respect of it in fact encouraged the principal offender to perform the deed’. The passage is cited with approval in Attorney-General v Able [1984] W.B., at p. 809. There is a strong body of authority which supports the view that knowledge of the facts is necessary before a person can be made liable as a secondary party for the commission of an offence. In Johnson v. Youden (1950) 1 K.B. 544 at p. 546, Lord Goddard C.J. stated the position in relation to aiders and abettors as follows:

‘Before a person can be convicted of aiding and abetting the commission of an offence he must at least know the essential matters which constitute that offence. He need not actually know that an offence has been committed, because he may not know that the facts constitute an offence and ignorance of the law is not a defence.’

This statement has been frequently cited with approval, and not only in relation to the case of aiders and abettors…”

100. Gibbs CJ (at 482) then referred to numerous other cases that stand as authority for the general principle that “a person can be convicted as a secondary party only if he had knowledge of the essential circumstances.” In terms of wilful blindness his Honour then observed (at 482) that:

“One qualification that must be accepted is that wilful blindness, the deliberate shutting of one’s eyes to what is going on, is equivalent to knowledge.”

101. His Honour also noted that:

“…the person charged must have intended to help, encourage or induce the principal offender to bring about the forbidden result. In other words, both knowledge of the circumstances and intention to aid, abet, counsel or procure are necessary to render a person liable as a secondary party…”

(citations and footnotes omitted)

102. In terms of recklessness, Gibbs CJ held (at 487) that:

“…it is not correct to say that a person may be convicted of aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring the commission of an offence simply because he has acted recklessly.”

103. His Honour summarised the relevant legal principles as follows (at 487-8):

“My view of the law may be summed up very shortly. No one may be convicted of aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring the commission of an offence unless, knowing all the essential facts which made what was done a crime, he intentionally aided, abetted, counselled or procured the acts of the principal offender. Wilful blindness, in the sense that I have described, is treated as equivalent to knowledge but neither negligence nor recklessness is sufficient.”

104. Justice Mason explained the use of the terms “aid”, “abet”, “counsel” and “procure” at common law and observed that there is no legal distinction between an accessory before the fact and a principal in the second degree beyond presence. His Honour stated (at 492):

“In felony at common law the terms ‘aid’ and ‘abet’ are generally used to refer to the conduct of a principal in the second degree, or one who is present at the commission of the offence by the principal offender, while the terms ‘counsel’ or ‘procure’ are generally used in relation to the conduct of an accessory before the fact, or one who is absent at the time of the commission of the offence: 4 BI. Comm. 34-36; Ferguson v. Weaving [1951] 1 K.B. 814, at pp. 818-819. In substance, however, there appears to be no distinction between a principal in the second degree and an accessory before the fact beyond the question of presence.”

(emphasis added)

105. His Honour discussed the “doctrine of secondary participation to statutory offences involving no mental element”, as considered in a number of cases, and then said (at 494):

“In general, the absence of intention as an element of the substantive offence has not been regarded as obviating the necessity for knowledge on the part of the secondary party of the essential facts constituting the offence. The ‘link in purpose’ between the secondary party and the principal offender is not established where a person does something to bring about, or render more likely, the commission of an offence by another in circumstances in which, through ignorance of the facts, it appears to him to be an innocent act.”

(emphasis added)

106. This passage from the judgment of Mason J was also relied upon by the appellant; in particular the need for the jury to be told that there must be a link in purpose between the secondary party and the principal offender and that the secondary party must do something to “bring about, or render more likely” the offence.

107. In their joint judgment in Giorgianni, Wilson, Deane and Dawson JJ held at 505 (referring to cases such as Johnson v Youden [1950] 1 KB 544), that:

“Aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring the commission of an offence requires the intentional assistance or encouragement of the doing of those things which go to make up the offence. The necessary intent is absent if the person alleged to be a secondary participant lacks knowledge that the principal offender is doing something or is about to do something which amounts to an offence.”

(emphasis added)

108. In terms of whether recklessness could apply to an offence of aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring, their Honours said (at 506-7):

“For the purposes of many offences it may be true to say that if an act is done with foresight of its probable consequences, there is sufficient intent in law even if such intent may more properly be described as a form of recklessness. There are, however, offences in which it is not possible to speak of recklessness as constituting a sufficient intent. Attempt is one and conspiracy is another. And we think the offences of aiding and abetting and counselling and procuring are others. Those offences require intentional participation in a crime by lending assistance or encouragement. They do not, of course, require knowledge of the law and it is necessary to distinguish between knowledge of or belief in the existence of facts which constitute a criminal offence and knowledge or belief that those facts are made a criminal offence under the law. The necessary intent is absent if the person alleged to be a secondary participant does not know or believe that what he is assisting or encouraging is something which goes to make up the facts which constitute the commission of the relevant criminal offence. He need not recognize the criminal offence as such, but his participation must be intentionally aimed at the commission of the acts which constitute it. It is not sufficient if his knowledge or belief extends only to the possibility or even probability that the acts which he is assisting or encouraging are such, whether he realizes it or not, as to constitute the factual ingredients of a crime. If that were sufficient, a person might be guilty of aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring the commission of an offence which formed no part of his design. Intent is required and it is an intent which must be based upon knowledge or belief of the necessary facts.”

(emphasis added)

Osland v The Queen

109. Osland v The Queen is a decision of the High Court concerned with principles of joint criminal enterprise rather than those of accessorial liability. However, relevantly for present purposes, the Court in that matter considered the differences between primary and derivative liability. Mrs Osland and her son were charged with murdering Frank Osland. The Crown case was that Mrs Osland mixed sedatives into the deceased’s dinner and, while he was sleeping, her son fatally struck him with an iron pipe in the presence of the appellant.

110. The appellant and her son were tried together and neither disputed that they had killed the deceased. Rather, each of them relied on provocation and self-defence on the basis of years of violent abuse. The appellant was convicted of murder but the jury was hung with respect to her son. The son was later re-tried and ultimately acquitted.

111. The appellant and her son were charged with murder on the basis that they were parties to a joint criminal enterprise to murder the deceased. The main issue for the High Court was whether the verdicts between the appellant and her son were logically inconsistent. In his judgment dismissing the appeal, McHugh J looked at the nature of different types of criminal liability and complicity as follows (at 341 to 343):

“At common law, a person who commits the acts which form the whole or part of the actus reus of the crime is known as a ‘principal in the first degree’. There can be more than one principal in the first degree. However, a person may incur criminal liability not only for his or her own acts that constitute the whole or part of the actus reus of a crime but also for the acts of others that do so. The liability may be primary or derivative…

Those who aided the commission of a crime but were not present at the scene of the crime were regarded as accessories before the fact or principals in the third degree. Their liability was purely derivative and was dependent upon the guilt of the person who had been aided and abetted in committing the crime. Those who were merely present, encouraging but not participating physically, or whose acts were not a substantial cause of death, were regarded as principals in the second degree. They could only be convicted of the crime of which the principal offender was found guilty. If that person was not guilty, the principal in the second degree could not be guilty. Their liability was, accordingly, also derivative.

However, there is a third category where a person was not only present at the scene with the person who committed the acts alleged to constitute the crime but was there by reason of a pre-concert or agreement with that person to commit the crime. In that category, the liability of each person present as the result of the concert is not derivative but primary. He or she is a principal in the first degree. In that category each of the persons acting in concert is equally responsible for the acts of the other or others. The general principle was clearly stated in R v Lowery and King [No 2] by Smith J…”

(footnotes omitted)

112. His Honour then went on to consider the principles of joint and extended joint criminal enterprise which are not presently relevant.

113. Justice Callinan similarly described the difference between primary and derivative liability at 400 as follows:

“The common law originally divided all crimes into three categories: treasons, felonies and misdemeanours. It was only in relation to felonies that there were different levels of participation recognised by law. Originally, the categories of participation were principals, accessories before the fact, accessories at the fact and accessories after the fact. The reason for the lack of differentiation between the parties in misdemeanours and treasons was said to be that treasons were regarded as too serious, and misdemeanours as not serious enough, to justify such fine distinctions.

The distinguishing feature of accessories at the fact was their presence at the commission of the crime. Accessories at the fact were described as ‘aiding and abetting’ the commission of the crime. Accessories before the fact were referred to as having ‘counselled or procured’ the crime. Different penalties were typically imposed for the various classifications of participation.

These classifications also had important procedural implications. Accessory liability was in essence derivative. This necessitated conviction of the principal to ground a case against other participants. Further, there were important implications for jurisdiction.”

R v Phan

114. Principles of accessorial liability were considered by this Court in R v Phan (2001) 53 NSWLR 480; [2001] NSWCCA 29 (“Phan”) but that was not a case concerned with an accessory before the fact either. Rather, that case concerned a principal in the second degree who was present at the scene of the offence. This Court held that the instruction given by the trial judge did not sufficiently address the matters required to be proven to establish the liability of the appellant in circumstances where he asserted that his presence at the scene was accidental, that he was unconscious at the time of the shooting, and that he did not provide any encouragement or assistance to the shooter. In that context, Wood CJ at CL (with whom McClellan and Smart JJ agreed) stated:

“[69] Moreover, mere acquiescence or assent to a crime does not make a person liable as a principal in the second degree. What was needed in such a case is proof that the principal in the second degree was linked in purpose with the person actually committing the crime, and was by his or her words or conduct doing something to bring about, or rendering more likely, through encouragement or assistance, its commission.

183. Although I am not satisfied that, in cases where the accused is said to have “encouraged” the primary offender, the Crown must prove that the primary offender was actually encouraged by the accused’s words or actions, I am nonetheless satisfied that the written direction in MFI 14 should have been explained to the jury in the context of what the jury did have to be satisfied of beyond reasonable doubt. While the jury was instructed that it had to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that there was intentional encouragement of Mr Fuller, that direction did not form part of the written directions in MFI 12. Nor was the jury instructed at any stage as to the meaning of encouragement or that the words of the appellant had to be capable of encouraging Mr Fuller.

184. In assessing whether the direction was inadequate, it is relevant to note that the Crown Prosecutor at the trial requested that the direction at point 1 of MFI 14 be given because, as he said, “it rebuts, if that is the right word, the contention… the submission by [defence counsel] of this opportunistic, that what was done was done as a result of a number of unforeseen circumstances. It goes to that aspect.” Although I am satisfied that the Crown does not need to establish beyond reasonable doubt that the principal offender was in fact encouraged, the fact that the Crown sought this direction to close off an aspect of the defence case illustrates why it was incumbent upon the trial judge to balance this direction with a direction as to the meaning of encouragement and that the words of the appellant had to be capable of encouraging Mr Fuller to inflict grievous bodily harm upon the deceased.

185. In these circumstances, although I am not satisfied that any additional element needs to be proved in a case of accessory before the fact to the extent of any causation, I am satisfied that the relevant directions in this matter concerning the element of encouragement/assistance were inadequate in the way described above at [176], [184] and [185].

186. I would not allow Ground 1(a) but I would allow Ground 1(b).

Ground 1(c):   The trial judge erred in directing the jury that assisting and encouraging is a continuous act that persists until the substantive offence is committed.

Appellant’s submissions

188. It was submitted that this direction effectively removed from the jury’s consideration an integral part of the defence and directed them to be satisfied that the encouragement continued and was operable at the time that Mr Fuller murdered the deceased and that this was a misdirection in a written direction which caused the trial to miscarry.

Crown submissions

189. The respondent accepted that R v Robert Millar (Contractors) Pty Ltd [1970] 2 QB 54; [1970] 1 All ER 577 (“R v Robert Millar”) does not necessarily provide authority for the proposition that encouraging and assisting are always continuous until the crime is committed.

190. The Crown did not accept that the direction was necessarily productive of a miscarriage of justice in the appellant’s trial. It was submitted that the question for the jury was whether the appellant, with the requisite state of knowledge, intentionally encouraged or intentionally assisted Mr Fuller to murder Corey Power. The crime was not complete unless and until the murder took place but the question of whether the appellant’s statements constituted intentional encouragement and/or intentional assistance had to be determined at the time that they were made.

Consideration

191. The jury was told at point 5 of MFI 14 that “Assisting and encouraging is a continuous act and persists until the substantive offence is committed at which time the accessory’s offence is also committed.” As I have already observed, after reading MFI 14 to the jury, it was not otherwise explained to the jury by the trial judge.

192. The Crown Prosecutor at the trial had sought this direction from Hall J based on the decision in R v Robert Millar. He submitted at trial that the decision in R v Robert Millar was authority for the proposition that assisting and encouraging is a continuous act and persists until the substantive offence is committed.

193. The principal offender in R v Robert Millar was an employee of a company who drove a lorry knowing that the front offside tyre was in a “defective and dangerous” condition. The tyre blew out and caused a head-on collision which killed six persons. The appellant was the director of the company who had instructed the driver to drive the lorry knowing its defective condition. The journey commenced in Scotland and the deaths occurred in England. The appellant was convicted as an accessory before the fact to the dangerous driving.

194. The issue for consideration in R v Robert Millar was whether the charge had been brought in the proper jurisdiction given that the journey commenced in Scotland and the offence was charged as having been committed In England. It was in that context that the Court (Fenton Atkinson and Megaw L.JJ and Crichton J) held (at 73):

“We are quite satisfied that it is not right on the facts of this case to say that the counselling and procuring was complete, over and done with at the moment that Hart drove his lorry out of the garage at Bridge of Weir [in Scotland]. The counselling and procuring was a continuous act which persisted so long as Hart, in pursuance of his employer’s orders, was driving the vehicle on this particular trip in its known dangerous condition on the road. In our view, at the moment this accident happened in Lancashire the appellants were still counselling and procuring the dangerous driving by Hart which brought about this disaster.”

195. I am satisfied that the statement in R v Robert Millar is not one of general application and that it should not have been given in the written direction in MFI 14 or at all.

196. Nor am I able to accept the Crown submission that this written direction in MFI 14 was just another way of directing the jury that the question of whether the appellant’s words were in fact acts of encouragement is to be assessed at the time they were spoken and not some later time. If that was what his Honour had intended to convey with this written direction then there would have been no need for the direction at point 2 in MFI 14 which clearly stated that “the accused’s state of mind is to be assessed at the time he gave the relevant encouragement or assistance, rather than at the time of the offence”. The addition of a direction that “assisting and encouraging” is a “continuous act” and persists until the offence is complete must have meant to convey something more than this.

197. The appellant’s defence at trial was that the death of the deceased was the result of Mr Fuller’s spontaneous acts and the appellant could not have foreseen that he would have had the opportunity to log on to his former girlfriend’s Facebook account, pretend to be her, lure the deceased to a secluded spot and then beat the deceased to death with a tomahawk. This was the key issue at the trial. A direction that the appellant’s words were “continuous” without further explanation was apt to undermine that defence.

198. I am satisfied that the judge erred in giving the direction in this matter and that it caused unfairness to the appellant. The question of whether the encouragement “was operative” at the time of the murder was critical to the appellant’s defence.

199. I have considered the fact that the appellant’s trial counsel expressly opposed the jury being directed that the prosecution must prove that the accused did not “withdraw” the encouragement or assistance at any time before the murder was committed. It is well established that even if a person has agreed with others to commit an offence, he or she may withdraw from that enterprise or agreement. If he or she does so, then they cease to be criminally responsible for the crime if the others who are party to the agreement go on to commit the crime after the withdrawal. These principles were considered by this court in Tierney v R [2016] NSWCCA 144 at [17]-[21]. Defence counsel at trial opposed any such direction being given in the appellant’s trial on the basis that this was not a case of joint criminal enterprise nor extended joint criminal enterprise and thus the principles were not applicable.

200. In circumstances where the principles pertaining to withdrawal from an enterprise only apply where there has been an agreement in the first place, I do not believe that any criticism can be levelled at defence counsel for resisting such a direction in the circumstances. It was correct at law. Although the Crown relies upon this forensic decision by defence counsel in support of its contention that no error occurred in relation to this ground, I do not accept that to be the case. I consider this general issue further below under Ground 2.

201. I would allow Ground 1(c) as well.

Ground 1(d):   The trial judge erred in failing to give proper directions as to the knowledge required to be proved in an accessory before the fact to murder and further, in failing to direct the jury that recklessness would not suffice.

Appellant’s submissions

202. This ground complained that the trial judge failed to adequately direct the jury in relation to knowledge. First, there was no direction that the appellant would “not have sufficient knowledge and hence the necessary intent if the participant does not know that the principal offender was about to do or was doing something which amounted to the alleged offence”: Giorgianni at 505, applied in Lam (VSCA) at 465 [89] and Phan at [77]. Second, there was no direction given, consistent with the decision in Giorgianni, that recklessness would not suffice.

Crown Submissions

203. The Crown submitted that the trial judge gave the jury clear and correct directions concerning the requirement of knowledge. Consistent with Giorgianni, the jury was directed in MFI 12 that it was necessary for the Crown to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the accused knew all the essential facts and circumstances necessary to show that the principal offender intended to assault and inflict upon the victim grievous bodily harm.

204. It was submitted that when the summing up is read as a whole alongside the written directions, the jury was clearly and correctly directed that it must be satisfied that the appellant had knowledge that what Mr Fuller intended, upon locating the deceased, to assault him with the intention of inflicting grievous bodily harm upon him. With that knowledge, the appellant provided the alleged assistance and/or encouragement.

205. It was further submitted that it was not necessary to direct the jury that recklessness would not suffice on the facts of this case. The jury was directed in terms of actual knowledge. There was nothing to suggest that the jury would have proceeded on the basis that the appellant was reckless as to the facts constituting the offence. The fact that no request was made by trial counsel for such a direction lends support to that contention.

Consideration

206. The jury was directed in MFI 12 that the Crown had to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the appellant knew all the essential facts and circumstances “necessary to show that the principal offender intended to assault and inflict upon the victim grievous bodily harm”. The written direction on the elements was supplemented by oral directions by the trial judge which I have already extracted above at [63]-[68]. Those extracts show that the trial judge told the jury that the Crown case was that the appellant had knowledge that Mr Fuller intended to assault Mr Power so badly as to inflict grievous bodily harm upon him, that he was “going to” do this, and that, with such knowledge, the appellant encouraged and/or assisted him to do so.

207. The High Court held in Giorgianni that the relevant knowledge to be proved beyond reasonable doubt is that the accessory before the fact knew that the principal was “doing something or is about to do something.” The closest the trial judge came to giving this direction was where his Honour directed the jury that “[t]he necessary intent or state of mind is absent if the accused lacked the knowledge that Owen Fuller was going to do something which amounts to assault to inflict really serious bodily injury upon Mr Power.” This direction was not repeated nor did it form part of the written direction. As this Court held in Hadchiti v R (2016) 93 NSWLR 671; [2016] NSWCCA 63 at [70], written directions are likely to “decisively frame the jurors’ deliberations, as opposed to the jurors’ recollections of a lengthy oral address.”

208. I am unable to accept the Crown submission that the failure of the trial judge to direct the jury consistent with Giorgianni may have been because it was considered by his Honour to not be apt for the circumstances of this case. The unusual facts of this matter required such a direction.

209. There was no reference in any of the exchanges between the appellant and Mr Fuller as to when or how any assault would take place and most of the exchanges are suggestive of the assault taking place when both of Mr Fuller and the appellant were present. In the context of the evidence at trial, I am satisfied that it was not sufficient that the jury only be told that they needed to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the appellant knew “all the essential facts and circumstances necessary to show that Mr Fuller intended to assault and inflict upon the victim grievous bodily harm”. The jury ought to have been fully directed, consistent with Giorgianni (as applied in Phan), that the Crown needed to establish beyond reasonable doubt that the appellant knew that Mr Fuller was going to intentionally inflict grievous bodily harm on the deceased.

210. I turn next to consider the complaint that no “recklessness” direction was given. I note that, although the position of the Crown in written submissions was that the need for such a direction had not been raised by trial counsel, it was accepted during the hearing of this appeal that that had in fact impliedly occurred.

211. The principal submission of the Crown in relation to the need for a recklessness direction was that the trial judge was only required to direct the jury on the principles of law necessary to resolve those matters which arise for their determination in a particular trial: R v Chai (2002) 187 ALR 436; [2002] HCA 12 at [18]. It was submitted that there is often no need to give a recklessness direction if it has been properly explained to the jury what is meant by “intention” and that such a direction was given in this case.

212. The nature of the “encouragement and/or assistance” relied upon by the Crown at trial was words alone gleaned from Facebook and text messages which suggest that what was being discussed was whether the two men would assault the deceased when they were together. The exchanges extracted above show that what the appellant wanted to do was something to make the deceased “remember” it. When Mr Fuller suggested that he wanted the deceased to remember the look in his eyes and know that he would “never be able to fuck over any cunt again” the appellant replied “Na u save that for later in life we will jus chop index n look.” Mr Fuller then stated that perhaps he should not come with the appellant when he confronted the deceased, writing: “cause I don’t know man my head just ticking”. The appellant responded “Ur right ill sort him if I need back up I’ll ring ya.” Despite the appellant stating that he would meet the deceased on his own, Mr Fuller responded “I’ll come brah cause its mine and your life he playing with bout time we started playing with his and got him into the state that he does his self saves us.”

213. The High Court in Giorgianni clearly stated that recklessness is an insufficient state of knowledge to implicate an accessory before the fact. As the extracts above show, the Crown case in this matter relied upon non-specific, generalised talk over a period of time about wanting to assault the deceased. The high point of such assault rising to the level of intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm, was the combination of the appellant suggesting to Mr Fuller that if he saw the deceased he should “jump on his head” and the appellant’s earlier reference to chopping (presumably “off”) the deceased’s index finger. After these discussions in which it was suggested that the two men would assault the deceased together, Mr Fuller beat the deceased to death with a tomahawk 24 hours later on his own. This evidence relied upon by the Crown left open the question of whether the appellant was simply reckless as to what Mr Fuller might do.

214. On the facts in this case, I am satisfied that a recklessness direction ought to have been given along the lines of:

“It is insufficient that the [accused] realised that Mr Fuller may possibly intentionally inflict grievous bodily harm upon the deceased. The Crown must prove beyond reasonable doubt that the [accused] knew that Mr Fuller was going to intentionally inflict grievous bodily harm upon the deceased.”

215. It is well established that the only difference between the elements of the offence for an accessory before the fact and an accessory at the fact is the element of presence. Thus, the requisite knowledge of the actions of the principal offender is the same for a person such as the appellant (not present at the scene) and a person present at the scene who is able to see precisely what actions the principal is taking: see Giorgianni per Mason J at 492. This highlights the importance of a very clear direction in relation to the necessary knowledge in a case such as the present where the appellant was not present with Mr Fuller when the killing occurred.

216. Before leaving this ground of appeal, I wish to make an additional observation regarding the Crown case as to the appellant’s knowledge of what Mr Fuller was going to do. The written “elements” direction, MFI 12, contained as the relevant element that the appellant knew “all the essential elements and circumstances necessary to show that the principal intended to assault and inflict upon the victim, grievous bodily harm, meaning really serious bodily injury.” As stated above, the Crown relied upon the appellant’s messages to Mr Fuller that he should “chop index” and some time later, that he should “jump on his head.” There is a degree of ambiguity concerning the expression, “jump on his head”. It could either be describing a general assault or that he meant for Mr Fuller to literally jump on the deceased’s head. Reliance was no doubt placed on the appellant’s suggestion that they should “chop index” because if a person’s index finger was chopped off then that would amount to grievous bodily harm. The difficulty I have with reliance upon a suggestion that the deceased’s index finger should be chopped is that it is difficult to envisage a situation whereby cutting off a person’s index finger could ever lead to their death.

217. In Mendez, Toulson LJ observed the following regarding the history of the common law mental element for murder at [27]-[30], albeit in the context of exploring principles of extended joint criminal enterprise:

“[27] There is evidence that in former times grievous bodily harm was understood as being synonymous with life-threatening harm.

[28] In 1839 the Criminal Law Commissioners remarked in their Fourth Report (168) XIX 235 xx, xxiv, that

‘Neither is there any difference between the direct intention to kill and the intention to do some great bodily harm short of death,…as no one can wilfully do great bodily harm without putting life in jeopardy.’

and that

‘It is the wilful exposure of life to peril that constitutes the crime.’

[29] The Indian Penal Code, introduced in 1860, was intended to reflect English law. Section 300 provides that culpable homicide is murder

‘…if the act by which the death is caused is done with the intention of causing death, or secondly, if it is done with the intention of causing such bodily injury as the offender knows to be likely to cause the death of the person to whom the harm is caused, or thirdly, if it is done with the intention of causing bodily injury to any person and the bodily injury intended to be inflicted is sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause death, or fourthly, if the person committing the act knows that it is so imminently dangerous that it must, in all probability, cause death, or such bodily injury as is likely to cause death…’

[30] Lord Goddard, CJ, expressed the view to the Royal Commission on Capital Punishment 1949-1953 that ‘a person ought not to be liable to be convicted of murder unless he has intentionally or knowingly endangered life’, and said he would direct a jury to the effect that anyone who inflicts grievous bodily harm ‘must know that he is likely to cause death’ (1953, Cmnd 8932, paragraphs 106, 472). However, the Court of Criminal Appeal held otherwise in Vickers [1957] 2 QB 664. Delivering the judgment of the court, Lord Goddard described as impeccable the direction given by the trial judge in which he said:

‘The grievous bodily harm need not be permanent, but it must be serious, and it is serious or grievous if it is such as seriously and grievously to interfere with the health or comfort of the victim…’

Vickers was approved by the House of Lords in Cunningham [1983] AC 566.”

218. Although it is to be accepted on the current state of the law that an intention to chop off an index finger is capable of constituting the mental element for murder, the facts in this case illustrate how remote such an intention could be from an intention to kill. Given that no submissions were directed to this issue at the hearing in this matter and also given that the relevant principles are well established, I do not propose to consider that issue any further.

219. I would allow Ground 1(d) of this appeal as well.

Ground 2:   The trial judge erred in his directions applying concepts from joint criminal enterprise to directions to the jury on proof of accessorial liability as an accessory before the fact to murder by encouraging and assisting a principal offender’s murder of the deceased.

Appellant’s submissions

220. Defence counsel from the outset of the trial made submissions that it was necessary for the trial judge to avoid notions of “contemplation” and “scope” which were relevant to joint criminal enterprise reasoning rather than accessorial liability.

221. While it was accepted that defence counsel had used the word “design” in his closing address, it was submitted he did so in the sense of “intent” as that word was used in Giorgianni at 507. That is, his address to the jury was that the offence formed no part of the appellant’s intent.

222. It was submitted that the trial judge erred by introducing concepts of joint enterprise, equating this to “design” and describing the “enterprise” as embarking on an assault. Nor was there any obligation for the jury to find positively that there was “something completely separate” that occurred. The Crown had to eliminate beyond reasonable doubt the reasonable possibility that Mr Fuller was acting on his own and the reasonable possibility that the appellant did not intend to encourage or assist him in the murder of the deceased by Mr Fuller’s intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm.

Crown submissions

223. The Crown relied upon the fact that the term “design” was introduced by defence counsel in his closing address, when he said to the jury:

“Dealing with this first one, and this coming together of some unforeseen events and whether those unforeseen events are the consequence of Owen Fuller opportunistically deciding whether he was going to take advantage of this in-box or not, whether that was Owen Fuller deciding what he wanted to do or whether it was part of the design intentionally encouraged by Mr Blundell.”

224. It was observed that the trial judge used a variety of language throughout his summing up in seeking to integrate the evidence in the trial, the parties’ respective cases, and the legal issues that the jury was required to decide. Despite this, it was submitted that his Honour’s directions were clear and the jury was not misled. Reliance was placed on the fact that the impugned expressions were not part of the written directions provided to the jury.

225. The Crown objected to leave being granted in order to argue Ground 2 as no objection was taken at trial nor was a redirection sought. Reliance was placed upon this as a basis for concluding that counsel did not believe, in the atmosphere of the trial, that any infelicity of expression in the manner in which the trial judge expressed himself affected the interests of the accused adversely: Greenhalgh v R at [42] per Basten JA; ARS v R at [148]; R v Dookheea at [37]. On that basis, it was submitted that leave should not be granted to argue this ground.

Consideration

226. In circumstances where I am already satisfied that the other grounds should be upheld, there is on one view no need to consider this ground as well. Despite this, I propose to do so given that there is some overlap between this ground and some of the other grounds. Although defence counsel made no express complaint about these aspects of the summing up, I am nonetheless satisfied that from the outset defence counsel endeavoured to make clear that this was not a case of extended joint criminal enterprise. He raised this issue at the start of the trial after the Crown suggested that it was an element of the offence that the crime that was committed was one that the appellant “intended would be committed or was within the scope of what he believed would be committed”. He raised it again in the context of the admissibility of Mr Fuller’s ERISP. I am satisfied that the general issue was raised during the trial and thus Rule 4 is not enlivened.

227. There are four separate instances during the summing up at which time the trial judge used language more closely associated with principles of joint criminal enterprise/extended joint criminal enterprise than accessorial liability. Those four instances were: his Honour’s use of the word “design”; his Honour’s use of the word “enterprise”; his Honour’s description of the offence is one of an assault “with a view” to inflicting grievous bodily harm; and his Honour’s suggestion that there were different segments in the evidence.

228. His Honour summed up to the jury on multiple occasions on the basis that the essential facts were whether “Fuller was going to assault Mr Power with a view to inflicting on him grievous bodily harm” (emphasis added). It was submitted by the appellant that it is possible that the jury may have concluded that all that was necessary for the Crown to prove beyond reasonable doubt was that the appellant knew Mr Fuller intended simply to “assault” the deceased “with a view to” inflicting grievous bodily harm. Although Mr Fuller may have “had a view” to inflicting grievous bodily harm, that would not have meant that grievous bodily harm was actually intended.

229. A real question arises as to whether the jury would have understood that they each had to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the appellant knew that Mr Fuller intended to inflict grievous bodily harm on the deceased rather than intending to assault him with the possibility or probability of grievous bodily harm being inflicted.

230. As for the use of the word “design” in the summing up, it is to be accepted that of the five occasions during the summing up when the trial judge used the word “design”, four of them were when his Honour was repeating the closing address of defence counsel. But I accept the appellant’s submission in this Court that, when his Honour repeated that part of defence counsel’s closing address, he did not use the word “design” as meaning “intention” (as defence counsel had). Rather, his Honour used the word in a way so as to suggest that the case was one of an agreement of enterprise. Whereas defence counsel had asked the jury to consider whether the unforeseen events were the consequence of Owen Fuller acting opportunistically and independently “or whether it was part of the design intentionally encouraged by Mr Blundell” (emphasis added), his Honour repeated that submission as whether “...later events, occurring whether opportunistically or not, may still remain part of the design of some enterprise that an accused person encouraged in the first place and/or assisted” (emphasis added). His Honour then gave the direction I have extracted at [72] above.

231. His Honour had earlier told the jury that it was a matter for their assessment as to whether the communications fell into segments, or whether “it forms a pattern or part of a design” (see above at [69]).

232. I accept the Crown submission that, as a general rule, a trial judge cannot be criticised for simply repeating a word introduced by defence counsel in his or her closing address, but defence counsel had used the word “design” in his closing address in the sense of “intent” as that word was used in Giorgianni at 507 where Wilson, Deane and Dawson JJ had observed that:

“It is not sufficient if his knowledge or belief extends only to the possibility or even probability that the acts which he is assisting or encouraging are such, whether he realizes it or not, as to constitute the factual ingredients of a crime. If that were sufficient, a person might be guilty of aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring the commission of an offence which formed no part of his design. Intent is required and it is an intent which must be based upon knowledge or belief of the necessary facts.”

(emphasis added)

233. It was not only the reference to the word “design” that was apt to confuse in the summing up in any event. His Honour also used words such as “enterprise” and “scope” in his summing up. It was submitted by the appellant that the direction invited the jury to speculate as to what “enterprise” Mr Fuller embarked upon with his “assault” of the deceased, again suggesting that knowledge of an intentional assault potentially sufficed and that an agreement or “enterprise” prior to the crime existed.

234. It was submitted on behalf of the Crown during the hearing of this appeal that the jury would not have known about the language of joint criminal enterprise liability such that a lay listener would not hear the words in the same way as a criminal lawyer who knows the origin of those terms. It was submitted that the trial judge was simply telling the jury that it need to be satisfied whether the “enterprise”, meaning the “confluence of unforeseen events”, was something that was foreseen by the accused. But that is not what his Honour told the jury. Rather, his Honour gave the jury a description of enterprises and new enterprises which did not relate to the written elements of the offence in MFI 12.

235. It was not the Crown case that Mr Fuller and the appellant had any enterprise or agreement to assault the deceased. Nor was it the case that they were working together and that the liability of Mr Fuller could be imputed to the appellant as it would to a participant in an extended joint enterprise. A possible reason for this may have been the difficulty in gleaning from the Facebook and text messages the terms of the agreement between the two of them as to what would be done. If any agreement can be inferred from those messages, it was that there would be an agreement that the two men would assault the deceased together, which clearly did not occur. As French CJ, Kiefel, Bell, Nettle, Gordon JJ observed in Miller v The Queen at [34]:

“…The wrong in the case of the aider and abettor is grounded in his or her contribution to the principal’s crime. The wrong in the case of the party to the joint criminal enterprise lies in the mutual embarkation on a crime with the awareness that the incidental crime may be committed in executing their agreement.”

236. As a general rule, principles of extended joint criminal enterprise cast a wider net than principles of accessorial liability. However, in this trial, the Crown case was brought on principles of accessorial liability. As stated above under the consideration of ground 1(c), the Crown’s disavowal of reliance upon principles of joint criminal enterprise or extended joint criminal enterprise meant that any direction about a “withdrawal” was inappropriate. This fact only compounds the potential for unfairness created by these references to an “enterprise”. The question for the jury was whether the appellant had contributed to Mr Fuller’s crime, not whether the two men had mutually embarked on the crime.

237. I am satisfied that the use of the words “enterprise”, “design” and the assault being “with a view” to inflicting grievous bodily harm were all apt to confuse in the circumstances of the summing up overall. It does not fall for a jury in a case of accessorial liability such as this to determine whether or not there were separate “enterprises” or an original “design” and any possible subsequent “design” or “participation”.

238. I would allow Ground 2.

CONCLUSION

239. I would allow all of the grounds of appeal save for Ground 1(a).

240. The facts in this case were such that they raised issues as to the extent to which a person may be liable for murder as a secondary offender. In such circumstances it was necessary to provide the jury with clear directions concerning the appellant’s criminal liability. For the reasons provided above, I am not satisfied that this occurred at the appellant’s trial and the trial miscarried as a result.

ORDERS

241. I would propose the following orders:

1. To the extent that leave is required under Rule 4 of the Criminal Appeal Rules 1952 (NSW), such leave is granted.

2. The appeal is allowed.

3. A new trial is ordered.

4. The matter is listed for mention in the Supreme Court Arraignments List on 8 February 2019 or such other date as directed by the Criminal List Judge.

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Amendments

09 May 2019 - Publication restricted lifted.

Decision last updated: 09 May 2019