R v Singh

[2014] NZHC 1246

IN THE HIGH COURT OF NEW ZEALAND WELLINGTON REGISTRY

CRI 2013-085-13080 [2014] NZHC 1246

THE QUEEN

v

RAJESHWAR SINGH

Hearing:	5 June 2014
Counsel:	I R Murray for Crown R Stevens and M Paish for Defendant
Sentence:	5 June 2014

SENTENCE OF RONALD YOUNG J

[1]      Mr Singh before I give my sentencing remarks I need to give you a warning under the three strikes law.  Given your conviction for murder you are now subject to the three strikes law and I am going to give you a warning of the consequences of another serious violent conviction. You will also be given written notice of this.

[2]      If  you  are  convicted  of  any  serious  violent  offences  other  than  murder committed after this warning and if a Judge imposes a sentence of imprisonment then you will serve that sentence without parole and without early release.

[3]      If you are convicted of murder after this warning then you must be sentenced to life imprisonment and that will be served  without parole unless it would be manifestly unjust to do so.  In that event the Judge must sentence you to a minimum

term of imprisonment.

R v SINGH [2014] NZHC 1246 [5 June 2014]

[4]      I now turn to my sentencing remarks.  Mr Singh you are for sentence having pleaded guilty to murder and two charges of breaches of a protection order.   You pleaded guilty after a sentence indication.

[5]      You killed your wife on 25 November 2013.  The two of you were married in

1991 and came to New Zealand in 1998.  Initially you were a builder but later you became a taxi driver. Your only child tragically died in 2011.

[6]      A protection order was obtained by your wife in 2008.  There were breaches of the order when you made a number of telephone calls to your wife.  It seems that in October 2013 you began thinking about killing your wife and yourself when bail conditions prevented you from seeing her.   The bail conditions arose from the protection order breaches.

[7]      From  mid  November  onwards  the  GPS  in  your  taxi  showed  you  were regularly around and near your wife’s address.  By mid to late November you began making concrete plans to kill your wife and yourself.  You prepared a note in which you confessed to the killing.   You purchased a rope and a cook’s knife with a

20 centimetre blade.

[8]      On the day of the killing, 25 November, prior to the killing you consumed some kava.  You then took the rope and the knife and went to your wife’s address. You smashed a glass pane to enter the house.  Of course that was in breach of the protection order and in breach of your bail conditions.  Your wife had been afraid of you.  She had changed the locks in the house.  But that did not stop you.

[9]      When your wife heard the breaking of glass she rang the emergency number and the police.   You then began stabbing her.   There were a number of serious defensive wounds to her hands and arms.  There were a number of deep stab wounds to her body, several of which were deep enough to have caused her death.  You then used the rope to hang yourself in an attempt to commit suicide.  However, the police arrived and prevented your death.

[10]     A probation report has been obtained.  It notes that you do have a conviction for previously assaulting your wife although it could not be said there was serious violence on that occasion.  Your explanation to the probation officer for the killing shows a deeply worrying attitude to women.  Your wife made it clear she did not wish to be with you.  She wanted an independent life but you could not accept that. You considered that you were entitled to kill her as the probation officer said – you had  a callous  disregard  for  your wife and  her  family and  the probation  officer considered that you had no real remorse for the killing.

[11]     I have read the victim impact reports from your wife’s family.  They are of course deeply shocked by this killing and they understandably have struggled to cope with her death.  I wish to acknowledge today their deep hurt.

[12]     The Crown say in their submissions that there are three or four factors which would justify a minimum starting period of at least 17 years.  They say in fact the proper starting point is between 19 and 21 years.  They accept that your early guilty plea should be given consideration by me and that there should be a discount to reflect that plea.  But they say the final minimum period of imprisonment should not be below 17 years coupled with a life imprisonment sentence.

[13]     I have read and taken into account your counsel submissions.   They stress your early guilty plea.  I acknowledge that plea.  It is significant although the case against you was overwhelming.

[14]     The other factor your counsel says should reduce your responsibility for this murder are the reports obtained by a psychologist and psychiatrists.   I have all of those reports including the most recent updated reports. The most recent report notes that your current mental health has improved from the time of the killing.

[15]     The report says that you feel remorse about the killing.  It confirms that at the time of the offending you were anxious, distressed, low in mood and depressed. You acknowledge though in that report that you were angry at your wife who had left you and who had obtained the protection order.   I accept the most recent reports, particularly, do illustrate perhaps the beginning of a realisation of what you have

done but I do not accept that the remorse expressed in the most recent report is of a nature that would justify a reduction in sentence.

[16]     Nor do I consider that these reports reduce your responsibility such that a lower starting minimum sentence would be justified.  I accept that you were deeply affected by the death of your child.  But ultimately it seems to me that it was your attitude to your wife that drove this killing. You simply could not accept that she had the right to decide not to be with you.

[17]     I am satisfied that s 104 of the Sentencing Act 2002 applies here, at least for two reasons:

(a)      first, this murder was planned.  You began thinking about your wife’s killing weeks before the actual killing.   There was an element of stalking in your actions as revealed by the GPS information.   You purchased the rope and knife before the killing and your note with your confession and suicide note illustrates the planning;

(b)second, there is, in this case, an element of home invasion.  You went to your wife’s house and that was in breach of a protection order and it was in breach of the terms of bail. You broke into your wife’s house when you knew that she did not want you there and the Court’s had prohibited you from going there.   You went there for the express purpose of killing her.

[18]      I repeat what I have said earlier Mr Singh. You killed your wife because she would not do as you wanted.  In your discussion with the probation officer at least you did not seem to understand or fully appreciate that men do not control women, you wife was perfectly entitled to chose not to live with you.

[19]     In my view the appropriate start minimum period of imprisonment for the killing is 18 years.  I am satisfied that it would be manifestly unjust not to give at least some modest effect to your early guilty plea.  From that start sentence given

that early guilty plea, I deduct two years to lead a minimum period of imprisonment of 16 years.

[20]     You are, therefore, sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum period of imprisonment of 16 years.  On the breaches of protection order you are sentenced to

concurrent sentences of three months’ imprisonment.

Ronald Young J

Solicitors:

Luke Cunningham & Clere, Crown Solicitors, Wellington

Public Defence Service, Wellington