R v Murray

[2013] NSWDC 339

District Court

New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation:	R v Murray [2013] NSWDC 339
Decision date:	07 August 2013
Jurisdiction:	Criminal
Before:	Conlon DCJ
Decision:	Sentence to a non parole period of 15 years to date from 16 February 2012 and to expire on 15 February 2027. Sentenced to an additional term of 5 years to expire on 15 February 2032.
Catchwords:	Discharging a firearm with intent to cause grievous bodily harm
Category:	Sentence
Parties:	Regina (Crown) Adam Murray (Offender)
Representation:	Counsel:     Solicitors:
File Number(s):	2012/50862

Judgment

The offender Adam Scott Murray appears for sentence following his plea of guilty to a charge of discharging a firearm with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. The offence is contrary to S 33A(1)(a) of the Crimes Act and carries a maximum penalty of twenty‑five years imprisonment. The agreed statement of facts is contained within the Crown bundle of documents, exhibit A, and they are as follows.

As of February 2012 the victim Renee Sullivan was then aged twenty‑one years and she was living with her partner Ronald Zammit and their four children including two month old twins at 44 Fowlers Road, Dapto. Ronald Zammit knew the offender from school days. Renee first met the offender around Christmas 2011. Earlier on 15 February 2012 Renee was at a local part with her daughter and her mother. At that time she saw the offender and one of his friends, a Michael Apps, carrying a case of beer.

At about 6.20pm that day Renee was at home with her partner and children. They were living in a townhouse that had a front wooden door and a screen security door. Next to the door was a window that was covered with a bed sheet. Renee and her partner were at the rear of their premises when they heard three loud knocks at the front door. The victim walked towards the front door and pulled aside the curtain at the front window to see who was there. She was immediately shot right between the eyes. She of course remembers nothing apart from later waking up in hospital.

The offender had discharged a firearm through the front window. Renee has sustained a single gunshot wound to the bridge of her nose between her eyes. Her partner ran to her assistance. She was saying she could not see. He saw blood running down her face and he observed a hole and a crack in the window. He contacted triple‑0 and it appears rather amazingly that Renee managed to talk to the operator. When her partner asked who it was she said, “It was Muzza”. That is a nickname by which the offender was commonly known.

The victim’s sister, Alyssa Sullivan, arrived before the ambulance. Renee told her that the person responsible was, “Adam Murray, Muzza, Adam”.

Following the attendance of police and ambulance the victim was flown by helicopter to St George Hospital where surgery was performed attempting to remove the bullet from her brain. She was later taken…