R v Jackson
[2002] VSC 437
•14 October 2002
| IN THE SUPREME COURT OF VICTORIA | Not Restricted |
AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL DIVISION
No. 1531 of 2001
| THE QUEEN |
| v |
| MICHELLE ANNE JACKSON |
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JUDGE: | TEAGUE J | |
WHERE HELD: | Melbourne | |
DATE OF HEARING: | 28 June & 11 October 2002 | |
DATE OF SENTENCE: | 14 October 2002 | |
CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | R v Michelle Anne Jackson | |
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2002] VSC 437 | |
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Criminal Law – Sentencing – Manslaughter by unlawful and dangerous act – Taking part in a payback assault – prisoner prepared to give evidence against co-accused charged with murder – many other mitigating considerations - Prison for 4 years – Non-parole period of 2 years.
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APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the Crown | Mr R Elston | Office of Public Prosecutions |
| For the Accused | Mr G Thomas | Victoria Legal Aid |
HIS HONOUR:
Michelle Jackson. You have pleaded guilty to the crime of manslaughter. Katriana Smyth was killed at Little River on 16 February 2001. Shortly after Katriana Smyth’s death you were charged with her murder. Natasha Morgan and Emma Tamme were also charged with her murder. The trial of the murder charge against the other two is due to start later this week. The media will be aware of the contempt implications as to the publishing of a report of this sentence.
In February 2001, you were working in the sex industry. So too were Smyth, Morgan and Tamme. In late 2000, you were on good terms with Natasha Morgan. You were then living at a flat in Fawkner with her. You had some contact with each of Smyth and Tamme. On at least one occasion, you had brought Smyth back to the Fawkner flat. On one such occasion, Smyth was there with you and Morgan and a mutual friend. The friend accused Smyth in the presence of you and Morgan of being an informer. Smyth denied that that was so, but the accusation created a concern. The friend warned you both not to trust Smyth.
In January 2001, Natasha Morgan suffered an injury that led to her being hospitalised. After she returned to the Fawkner flat, you and she had a falling out. She told you to find another place to live. You rang Katriana Smyth. You and she made plans for you to move into accommodation with her. Smyth did not go ahead with those plans. She chose to go with a male friend instead. That caused you inconvenience. For a time, you were living in hotel rooms. You then moved back to the Fawkner flat with Morgan. You felt displeased with Smyth as to the accommodation incident. You felt concerned as to the informer accusation. You knew that Morgan was aware of both the accusation and the incident.
In the early hours of Thursday 15 February 2001, you met up with Emma Tamme. You invited her back to the Fawkner flat. There, later in the morning, you introduced her to Natasha Morgan. During that afternoon you bought a bottle of wine. It was a Jacob’s Creek red. The contents were consumed at the flat. During that day, you, Morgan and Tamme talked about Smyth. There was talk about the informer accusation and about the accommodation incident. That talk led to the discussion of arranging a meeting with Smyth. You wanted to ask Smyth questions as to why, regarding the accommodation, she had let you down. Why she had said one thing and had done another. There was talk about getting Smyth to get into a car with the three of you. You discussed telling Smyth a lie about a job in Geelong that night which would mean good pay and drugs for all four of you. After this discussion, Smyth was telephoned. It was arranged that the three of you would meet her at her flat. Before you met up, there was some illegal drug use. Some marijuana was consumed. So too was some cocaine and some ecstasy.
The three of you went in Morgan’s car to Katriana Smyth’s Frankston flat. There, there was more talk, and more drugs were consumed. The four of you left from Frankston. The talk was of heading for Geelong. As you travelled along, Tamme and Morgan let Smyth know that she was in trouble. At one point, one said to Smyth that she was an informer and that she was not going home that night. The other agreed. You knew then, if you had not known earlier, that Smyth was to be assaulted.
At Werribee, the car was driven off the Geelong Road. Just outside the small township of Little River, the car was driven onto the wide grassy verge of a back road. You remained at first in the car, while Katriana Smyth was pulled out. There was argument and shouting and a struggle. When you got out, Smyth was on the ground. The other two were punching Smyth around the face and the top of her body. Smyth was calling for help. You went over to Smyth. You said to the others that you would hold her down, and you did. You then saw a knife and asked for it. You did not use it to stab Smyth. You stabbed the knife into the ground, next to the head of Smyth. The other two pushed you to one side. They started hitting her again. You heard the sound of smashing glass. You saw a piece of broken bottle thrust into the face of the deceased. You saw enough of the knife to know that it was a kitchen knife from the Fawkner flat. You saw enough of the bottle to know that it was of a Jacob’s Creek red. The other two picked up Smyth and put her in the boot of the car. The car was driven off. You heard noises. It sounded like the noises came from the boot. The noises were drowned out by turning the music up.
The car was driven back to Fawkner. You checked the boot. You confirmed that Smyth was dead. You spoke with the other two as to who had done what. Both were alternatively crying and casual. At home, there was talk about torching the car and the body. You went to the car again. You cleaned out belongings. You cleaned blood from the back. Later in the day, the three of you drove out of town in the car. You drove off the Kilmore-Wandong Road onto a dirt track, and stopped near a dry creek. The body of Smyth was removed from the boot. The body was dumped nearby. The three of you then drove back to the Fawkner flat.
On the Saturday, the three of you went in different directions. You went to a local motel. There you were arrested by the police on the Sunday afternoon. You told the police that you had wanted to contact your father before contacting the police. From the time of your arrest, you co-operated with the police. For some hours on the Sunday night and into Monday morning, you answered questions. And you went to the Little River area with police.
You did not plan or intend to kill Smyth or to cause her really serious injury. But you knew that Smyth was to be bashed, that she was to be assaulted. You knew that she was to be the subject of an unlawful and dangerous act. You took a part in that assault. In the course of that assault, she was killed. This is a serious instance of a serious crime. It was committed against the background of considerable illegal drug consumption by a group of hedonists to whom the notion of a physically administered payback for apparent misdeeds was considered appropriate. I accept that your role in the worst parts of what occurred was a very limited one, and that the others were more involved, and more dominant than you. I also accept that there are several mitigating considerations operating in your favour. I will come back to them.
I have read the victim impact statement of the mother of the deceased. She has been shattered by the death of her daughter. She writes of the devastating consequences to herself. She writes too of the consequences of the death for the daughter and son of Katriana Smyth, who was born Meaghan Smith. The daughter is now aged 13 and the son is aged 10. The lives of all three have been greatly adversely affected by the untimely and callous death of their daughter and mother.
You are 27 years of age. You were born in January 1975. It is an understatement to say that there were major problems within the environment in which you were raised. Details of the problems with parents and relationships and illegal drug use are set out in the report of Elizabeth Warren. I have noted the historical details and reflected upon the opinions in that report. Your parents separated when you were 11. You learned to live independently by the age of 16. You gave birth to a daughter who is now aged 7. That daughter lives interstate with her father. Your use of cannabis and amphetamines is of concern without being excessively so.
The prospects of your rehabilitation appear to be reasonably good. There are some indicators each way. On the one hand, you have minimal support in the community. You have received a suspended sentence for a driving offence. On the other hand, you have a good intellect. You have been undergoing appropriate courses in prison. You have shown the capacity to go about seeking support through the Salvation Army. Moreover, as a teenager, you completed a lengthy course in hospitality, which has equipped you to do a better class of work as a waitress. And you have had some considerable experience at work in selling and as a waitress.
All the evidence, from how you first dealt with the police to your plea of guilty, points to your being genuinely remorseful.
Your plea of guilty facilitates the course of justice. You have co-operated with the police from the start. You forthrightly provided details of what took place before, on, and after 16 February. You have provided means of gaining access to further information which might be used in a prosecution of those responsible for the death of Katriana Smyth. You have signed a statement prepared by the police. You have undertaken on oath to give evidence in accordance with that statement, if and when called upon to do so. I must and will allow for that in more than one way. Your co-operation means that you are directly facilitating the processes of the law. Your treatment in custody to date has been, and into the future will continue to be, the more onerous because of your being co-operative. Your preparedness to provide the statement and to give the undertaking to give evidence is of very considerable significance. The sentence I impose will be substantially less than that I would have imposed if there had not been that co-operation.
You have served to today, 14 October 2002, 604 days by way of pre-sentence detention. I direct that that be entered in the court records. I impose a sentence of imprisonment of four years. I fix a non-parole period of two years.
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