R v Reid HC Auckland CRI-2008-090-2203

[2011] NZHC 21

IN THE HIGH COURT OF NEW ZEALAND AUCKLAND REGISTRY

CRI-2008-090-2203

THE QUEEN

v

WAYNE JOHN REID

Charge:          Murder

Plea:               Not Guilty

Counsel:         J C Gordon SC and G R Kayes for Crown

P J B Winter and J J Corby for Prisoner

Sentenced:     4 February 2011

10 years imprisonment

SENTENCING NOTES OF BREWER J

SOLICITORS

Meredith Connell (Auckland) for Crown

Peter Winter and John Corby (Auckland) for Prisoner

R V REID HC AK CRI-2008-090-2203 [4 February 2011]

Introduction

[1]      Mr Reid, a jury has found you guilty of the murder of Mrs Beryl Campbell. My task on behalf of society is to impose a sentence on you for that murder which is in accordance with the law.

[2]      I say at once that the sentence I will impose is not meant to be, because it could never be, to make up for what you have done.  You have heard today from Mrs Campbell's family.  Their anger and their grief must be apparent to you.  They have lost a beloved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.   It is clear that Mrs Campbell was one of those loving people who despite advancing age was still a parent, mentor and friend to her family.  She was actively involved in the community and in particular in charitable causes.  She was at the time of her death a vibrant and participating member of our society, and you deliberately took her life.

[3]      The value of Mrs Campbell's life was incalculable and no sentence that I can impose can compensate for its loss.  Instead what I have to do is to give society's response to your actions in accordance with the law which binds me, and indeed all of us.

Background

[4]      You and Mrs Campbell had been neighbours for about 15 years.  You shared a two unit block which had its own body corporate which you administered. You did not live in  each  others'  pockets  but  you  got  on  alright  and  there  were no  real difficulties between you.

[5]      In February 2008 Mrs Campbell was 84 and you were 57.  Mrs Campbell was getting on with her life as usual but you were in the grip of a major psychiatric illness.  The three psychiatrists who gave evidence at your trial all agreed that you had  major  depression  and  that  that  was  accompanied  by  psychotic  delusions. Because of this illness you came to believe that Mrs Campbell was spying on you. You connected this with troubles that you were having at work. You thought she was

gathering evidence against you by taking photographs of you.  That, of course, was all a product of your delusions.

[6]      You decided to confront Mrs Campbell with your beliefs.  You went to her unit using the excuse that you needed to talk to her about body corporate matters. Once there you accused Mrs Campbell of spying on you.  Of course, Mrs Campbell was  taken  aback  and  she denied it.   You  then snapped  and  attacked  her.   You strangled her with your hands and then with a piece of towel until Mrs Campbell was dead.

[7]      Mr  Reid,  I accept  that  you  did  not  go  to  Mrs Campbell's  unit  with  the intention of killing her; for example, you took no weapon with you.  You were going to confront her and I accept that it was her natural denial of your delusions that led to you attacking her.  Nevertheless, the jury, as it was entitled to do, found that even though your mental illness caused you to attack Mrs Campbell, it also found that you were not insane. You did intend to kill Mrs Campbell and you did that knowing that what you were doing was wrong. That is my judgment of the evidence.

[8]      Afterwards  you  arranged  Mrs Campbell's  body  so  that  it  would  look  as though she had died naturally while watching television.   You took her cameras, convinced that they had photographs of you, and you disposed of them.   When Mrs Campbell's body was discovered the next day by neighbours the authorities in fact assumed that she had died of natural causes.   Her body was released to the undertaker and was embalmed and if you had kept silent it is very likely that your crime would never have been discovered.   But you did not keep silent. You were horrified by what you had done.  You told members of your family and you then made a very serious attempt at suicide.  You were saved only by the narrowest of margins.

Life Imprisonment

[9]      Since February 2008 you have spent three years being treated for your psychiatric condition.  You have been detained for most of that period at the Mason Clinic and since December 2010 in prison.

[10]     Mr Reid, the law is that a person convicted of murder must be sentenced to life imprisonment unless, given the circumstances of the offence and the offender, that sentence would be manifestly unjust.   In other words, if a person murders another then it will only be in an exceptional case that he or she is not sentenced to life imprisonment.  It is a very high threshold and it is crossed only rarely.  In your case this is an issue I must consider.

[11]     You have heard the submissions of the Crown and of Mr Winter in  this regard.  I make the point that what they have said today is only to highlight aspects of the very full and careful written submissions which they filed in advance of the hearing.  In addition, there has been a further psychiatric report by Dr Heed and a pre-sentence report.

[12]     I have reached the conclusion that because of the extent of your psychiatric illness at the time of the homicide, and because of other factors which I will describe shortly, in this case it would be manifestly unjust to sentence you to life imprisonment.  I have no doubt that you would not have killed Mrs Campbell but for your illness.   That illness had been growing and growing over time and was not recognised and you were not being treated for it.   Since you have been receiving treatment your mental condition has improved considerably and you are no longer a risk to  yourself and others, although  you have a long-term need for continuing treatment.  The attack on Mrs Campbell was entirely out of character.  It was against your entire life's pattern.

[13]     Against those factors  I do not consider that the needs to denounce your offending and to deter others from offending require a sentence of life imprisonment to be imposed on you.

Finite Sentence

[14]     I therefore have to determine what is the appropriate period of imprisonment having regard to the purposes and principles set out in the Sentencing Act 2002.

[15]     As to the offence, there is no doubt that Mrs Campbell was vulnerable; she lived  alone;  she  was  elderly;  you  deliberately  killed  her  and  then  you  tried  to disguise what you had done.  You, on the other hand, have no previous convictions or any history of violence.  The offence was discovered only by your own confession and your remorse is demonstrated by your attempted suicide.  Your motivation for the murder was solely as a result of your mental illness.

[16]     That mental illness is now under control and the latest psychiatric report I have, prepared on 15 January 2011 by Dr Heed, tells me that  I do not  have to consider imposing orders under the various mental health legislation.  You do need long-term assertive psychiatric follow-up treatment and that will happen automatically so long as you are incarcerated.

[17]     I have listened carefully to the submissions of your lawyer, Mr Winter, today. He has urged upon me the option of a relatively short period of imprisonment but coupled  with  an  order  under  s 34(1)(a)(i)  of  the  Criminal  Procedure  (Mentally Impaired Persons) Act 2003.  Translated what that means is that Mr Winter is urging upon me a short period of imprisonment coupled with an order making you a special patient.  That would mean that you would be essentially treated as a person with a mental illness and your rehabilitation and release into the community would be determined largely by reference to your psychiatric health.

[18]     The Crown, on the other hand, has urged me to impose a lengthy term of imprisonment and under those circumstances, because of the psychiatric care that you would receive in prison, the order under s 34(1)(a)(i) would not be necessary or appropriate.

[19]     In your case, Mr Reid, although I have found that it would be manifestly unjust to sentence you to life imprisonment, I must still hold you accountable for what you have done.  I must still take into account that although the mental condition motivated the killing, you nevertheless intended to take Mrs Campbell's life and you did so knowing it was wrong to take her life.  I must still look to the protection of the public by ensuring that you get the continuing treatment that you need, and I must also look to your rehabilitation and eventual reintegration into the community.

[20]     Accordingly, I sentence you to imprisonment for a term of 10 years.  That is the term of minimum non parole which would generally accompany a sentence of life imprisonment.   However, the standard parole provisions will apply and so the Parole Board will determine the actual period you serve having regard to the usual criteria, including the state of your psychiatric health and the safety of the public.

Stand down.

Brewer J