R v Askarou

[2020] NSWDC 68

District Court

New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation:	R v Askarou [2020] NSWDC 68
Hearing dates:	23/7/19-21/8/19, 15/11/19, 10/12/19, 16/12/19, 6/3/20
Date of orders:	06 March 2020
Decision date:	06 March 2020
Jurisdiction:	Criminal
Before:	Bourke SC DCJ
Decision:	Sentenced to imprisonment for 15 years 6 months with a NPP of 10 years 6 months.
Catchwords:	Crime – Sentence – Shoot with intent to murder
Legislation Cited:	Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999
Cases Cited:	R v Gonzales [2004] NSW SC 822
Category:	Sentence
Parties:	DPP (Crown) Naramsin Askarou (Offender)
Representation:	Counsel: Mr M Paish for the Crown Mr T Hughes for the Offender
File Number(s):	2018/12583

Judgment

1. HIS HONOUR: On 21 August 2019, the offender, Mr Naramsin Askarou, after a trial lasting twenty-two days, was found guilty by a jury of an offence of shoot with intent to murder. The maximum penalty for that offence is twenty-five years imprisonment and the offence is subject to a standard non-parole period of ten years.

2. I am required to find facts which are consistent with the verdict of the jury. Any facts adverse to the offender must be established beyond reasonable doubt, however matters in mitigation need only be proved on the balance of probabilities.

3. The facts about which I am satisfied are as follows. At the time of the offence the victim, Mr Zia Kryo and the offender had known each other for around fourteen years, the offender having been in the year above Mr Kryo at a high school in Greenfield Park. The two young men became friends, and remained friends for a period of time after leaving high school. However, according to the victim, they drifted apart from about 2012 and apart from an encounter in 2014 they saw little or nothing of each other thereafter.

4. On 28 July 2016 the victim arrived at his home at 5 Nugent Place, Prairiewood, about 5pm or shortly thereafter. Some time later he left the premises. While there was a good deal of cross-examination about his movements thereafter, during the trial, there is no doubt that at about 10.20pm that evening he reversed his Toyota Hi-Lux into the driveway of number 5 Nugent Place. Shortly after, Mr Kryo got out of his Toyota and approached the front door of his house. As he did so the offender, wearing a black face covering, approached the victim and shot at him three times from close range before running away. The victim was struck by one bullet which entered the left side of his body. The victim’s mother, Mrs Janine Kryo was in the garage of the premises at the time and immediately ran to her son. Multiple witnesses in nearby houses contacted emergency services after hearing gunshots. A triple-0 call by Mr Roni Audisho was made at about 10.26pm which is consistent with the shooting occurring at about 10.20pm. After New South Wales Police and ambulance services arrived, a crime scene was established. At the scene police found a number of bullet fragments. Mr Kryo…