Regina v Robert Theo Sievers - [2002] NSWSC 1257

CITATION: Regina v Robert Theo Sievers [2002] NSWSC 1257

FILE NUMBER(S): SC 70037/02

HEARING DATE(S): 6 and 13 December 2002

JUDGMENT DATE: 18 December 2002

PARTIES :

Regina
Robert Theo Sievers

JUDGMENT OF: Sully J at 1

COUNSEL : D. Howard - Crown
P. Winch/T. Keaney - Prisoner

SOLICITORS: S. E. O'Connor - Crown
William Dickens - Prisoner

LEGISLATION CITED: Crimes Act 1900 (NSW)
Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW)

CASES CITED: Reg v Harris (2000) 50 NSWLR 409
R v Baker, unreported, NSWCCA 20/9/95
R v Twala, unreported, NSWCCA, 4/11/84
Veen v The Queen (No. 2) (1988) 164 CLR 465
Miles (2002) NSWCCA 276
Barac (1999) NSWSC 61

DECISION: Sentenced to life imprisonment

IN THE SUPREME COURT
OF NEW SOUTH WALES
CRIMINAL DIVISION

SULLY J

Wenesday 18 December 2002

70037/02 – REGINA v ROBERT THEO SIEVERS
ON SENTECE

1 HIS HONOUR: On 21 October 2002, the prisoner, Mr Robert Theo Sievers, was presented in this Court for trial upon an indictment charging him with having murdered, on 4 July 2000, Michelle Campbell, a young woman with whom he had been living in an intimate relationship.

2 The prisoner pleaded that he was not guilty of murder, but that he was guilty of manslaughter. The Crown declined to accept the manslaughter plea. A jury was thereupon empanelled. The prisoner, upon arraignment before the jury, pleaded not guilty and he stood thereupon, trial by jury. On 31 October 2002, the jury found the prisoner guilty of murder. I formally convicted him and remanded him until 6 December instant for the hearing of evidence and submissions on sentence. Those proceedings on sentence concluded on Friday last, 13 December instant.

3 The relevant facts can be shortly stated, not least because they were at trial, and are, largely, uncontroversial. On the material evening, the prisoner and the victim had an argument. According to the prisoner, the victim approached him holding a small kitchen knife. He took the knife from her; folded his arms about her in order to quieten her down; struggled with her; "totally lost it", to use his own words; and stabbed her fatally with the knife.

4 In the immediate aftermath of the stabbing, and again using his own words, the prisoner sat down "basically staring at the wall". He stirred himself eventually, and wrapped the dead body in a sheet of black plastic. He placed the body, thus concealed, into the boot of his motorcar, where it remained for the remainder of 4 July and most of 5 July.

5 On 5 July, the prisoner drew an amount of money out of the victim's bank account, and then drove to his brother's home at Kurri Kurri. From there, he went to Raymond Terrace or Maitland, bought a mobile phone and then, in his own words, "just started riding up the coast". He drove to a lay-by on the side of the road at a lonely and deserted point on a back road. He said in evidence that he had…

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.

Continue reading Regina v Robert Theo Sievers

Details

AGLC: Regina v Robert Theo Sievers [2002] NSWSC 1257
Case: [2002] NSWSC 1257
Decision Date: 18 December 2002

CaseChat Overview and Summary

In Regina v Robert Theo Sievers, the Supreme Court of New South Wales sentenced Robert Theo Sievers to life imprisonment for the murder of Michelle Campbell. Sievers had been found guilty of murder by a jury after pleading not guilty to the charge. The court examined the nature and circumstances of the murder, which involved Sievers stabbing Campbell multiple times after an argument, and concluded that the level of culpability was extremely high. The court also considered Sievers' criminal history, which included a previous conviction for murder, and found that his potential for future dangerousness was significant, particularly in the context of intimate relationships. The court applied the provisions of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) and the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW), and determined that the maximum penalty of life imprisonment was warranted given the extreme culpability and the need to protect the public.

Orders