R v Ogborne

[2006] QCA 236

SUPREME COURT OF QUEENSLAND

CITATION:

R v Ogborne [2006] QCA 236

PARTIES:

R
v
OGBORNE, William James
(applicant)

FILE NO/S:

CA No 232 of 2005
SC No 133 of 2005

DIVISION:

Court of Appeal

PROCEEDING:

Sentence Application

ORIGINATING COURT:

Supreme Court at Brisbane

DELIVERED ON:

23 June 2006

DELIVERED AT:

Brisbane

HEARING DATE:

7 June 2006

JUDGES:

de Jersey CJ, McMurdo P and Keane JA
Separate reasons for judgment of each member of the Court, all concurring as to the order made

ORDER:

Application for leave to appeal against sentence refused

CATCHWORDS:

CRIMINAL LAW – JURISDICTION, PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – JUDGMENT AND PUNISHMENT – SENTENCE – APPLICATION TO REDUCE SENTENCE – cumulative 14 year term of imprisonment for manslaughter – brutal killing by mature man with relevant past history – absence of remorse – absence of explanation for killing – whether sufficient recognition for plea of guilty

R v Bates; R v Baker [2002] QCA 174; CA No 295 of 2001; CA No 329 of 2001, 17 May 2002, cited
Cameron v The Queen (2002) 209 CLR 339, cited
R v Corry [2006] QCA 203; CA No 263 of 2005, 9 June 2006, cited
R v Kelly [1998] QCA 340; CA No 167 of 1998, 6 August 1998, cited
Veen v The Queen(No 2) (1988) 164 CLR 465, cited

COUNSEL:

A J Rafter SC for the applicant
R G Martin SC for the respondent

SOLICITORS:

Legal Aid Queensland for the applicant
Director of Public Prosecutions (Queensland) for the respondent

1. de JERSEY CJ:  The applicant was originally charged with the murder of Mr Rieck.  On the morning of the first day set for trial, he pleaded guilty to manslaughter, which the Crown accepted in discharge of the indictment.  That occurred on 2 March 2005.  His sentencing was then adjourned at his request:  there was a suggestion psychiatric evidence would be obtained.

1. The sentencing resumed on 12 August 2005.  The applicant had terminated his lawyers’ instructions, so that counsel withdrew.  The applicant informed the Judge he would represent himself.  In the course of his subsequent submissions to the Judge, the applicant denied responsibility for the death of the deceased.  But he did not seek to withdraw his plea of guilty to manslaughter, and the Judge proceeded to sentence him.  No complaint is now made about that.

1. The applicant was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment, to be served cumulatively upon a four year nine month term which had been imposed upon him in the District Court on 20 September 2002 for an offence of doing grievous bodily harm committed on 21 March 2001.  (He was also then sentenced to two years imprisonment for burglary, to be served concurrently.)  The learned District Court Judge, sentencing the applicant for the offence of doing grievous bodily harm, rightly described it as a very severe assault, in which the victim very nearly died of the injuries brutally inflicted upon him by the applicant.  The applicant went to the home of a…