R v McNellee, Tucker and Dalley - [2000] NSWSC 1154

CITATION: Regina v McNellee, Tucker and Dalley [2000] NSWSC 1154

FILE NUMBER(S): SC 70025/99; 70207/99; 70045/99

HEARING DATE(S): 26/04/00, 28/04/00, 01/05/00, 02/05/00, 03/05/00 04/05/00, 05/05/00, 08/05/00, 09/05/00, 10/05/00, 11/05/00, 27/10/00

JUDGMENT DATE: 8 December 2000

PARTIES :

Regina
Richard Charles McNellee
Jeffrey Wayne Tucker
Rodney Joel Dalley

JUDGMENT OF: Bell J at 1

COUNSEL : Mr L Gray - Crown
Mr M Austin - McNellee
Mr R Greenwood, QC - Tucker
S Russell - Dalley

SOLICITORS: Matthew Coates - Crown
Mr G Adler, Legal Aid Commission of NSW - McNellee
George Sten & Co - Tucker
Nyman Gibson & Co - Dalley

LEGISLATION CITED: Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999
Children (Criminal Proceedings) Act 1987

CASES CITED: R v Thompson and Houlton [2000] NSWCCA 183
R v GDP (unreported) NSWCCA 22.04.91
R v Pham (1991) 55 A Crim R 128

DECISION: Richard Charles McNellee - sentenced to a term of 14 years imprisonment deemed to have commenced on 03.01.99 - non-parole period of 10 years and 6 months specified - first date eligible for release on parole 02.07.09.; Jeffrey Wayne Tucker - sentenced to a term of 13 years imprisonment deemed to have commenced on 03.01.99 - non-parole period of 9 years specified - first date eligible for release on parole 02.01.08.; Rodney Joel Dalley - sentenced to a term of 10 years imnprisonment deemed to have commenced on 03.01.99 - non-parole period of 6 years specified - first date eligible for release on parole 02.01.05 - direct pursuant to s 19 of the Children (Criminal Proceedings) Act 1987 whole of sentence to be served in a detention centre.

THE SUPREME COURT
OF NEW SOUTH WALES
CRIMINAL DIVISION

BELL J

Friday, 8 December, 2000

070025/99 - REGINA -v- Richard Charles McNELLEE
070207/99 - REGINA -v- Jeffrey Wayne TUCKER
070045/99 - REGINA -v- Rodney Joel DALLEY

SENTENCE
1    HER HONOUR: Richard Charles McNellee, Jeffrey Wayne Tucker and Rodney Joel Dalley each stand convicted of the murder of Glen Reay at Kamarah on 2 January 1999. A fourth man, Frederick Keith Brewer, pleaded guilty to the murder of Glen Reay on Thursday, 30 November 2000 on the fourth day of his trial before me and a jury. The sentence proceedings involving the prisoner Brewer have been stood over to 9 February 2001.
2    It is the Crown case that each of the four prisoners was a party to a common purpose to rob Glen Reay of a quantity of cannabis while they were armed variously with knives, a mattock handle and a machete. In the course of the robbery Glen Reay was stabbed twenty one times and died shortly thereafter. It is not said that any of the three prisoners standing for sentence today inflicted any of those wounds.
3    Richard Charles McNellee pleaded guilty upon his arraignment in this court on 17 September 1999. The matter came before me on 31 March 2000 when evidence was tendered and I heard submissions on sentence. I stood the matter over without passing sentence until…

Grounds of appeal

[14] The appellant contends that the primary judge erred in finding that the respondent had discharged the onus of establishing the matters required under the relevant provision.

[15] It was submitted that his Honour failed to give adequate weight to the evidence of the second witness, and that the findings of fact were not reasonably open on the material before the Court.

[16] The respondent, for its part, submits that no error is disclosed, and that the conclusions reached were well within the range of outcomes available to the primary judge.

Consideration

[17] It is convenient to deal first with the question of construction, as the resolution of that issue informs the remaining grounds advanced by the appellant.

[18] For the reasons that follow, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed in part and the matter remitted for further determination.

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Details

Case: [2000] NSWSC 1154
Decision Date: 8 December 2000

CaseChat Overview and Summary

In Regina v McNellee, Tucker and Dalley, the Supreme Court of New South Wales, Criminal Division, handed down its judgment on 8 December 2000. The case involved the sentencing of Richard Charles McNellee, Jeffrey Wayne Tucker, and Rodney Joel Dalley, who were convicted of the murder of Glen Reay at Kamarah on 2 January 1999. The court heard the case over multiple hearing dates from April to May 2000. The case against the defendants was that they were part of a common purpose to rob Glen Reay of cannabis while armed with knives, a mattock handle, and a machete. Glen Reay was stabbed multiple times during the incident and died. The defendants did not inflict any of the wounds.

Richard Charles McNellee pleaded guilty to the charge, while Tucker and Dalley were found guilty by a jury. The court assessed various factors in determining the sentences, including the defendants' roles in the crime, their backgrounds, and their expressions of remorse. McNellee was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment with a non-parole period of 10 years and 6 months. Tucker was sentenced to 13 years imprisonment with a non-parole period of 9 years, and Dalley, being a juvenile at the time of the offence, was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment with a non-parole period of 6 years, to be served in a detention centre.

Orders