Australia, Aug. 26 -- New South Wales Land and Environment Court issued text of the following judgement on July 25:
1. On 13 April 2023, the offender, Joshua David Wright, shot and killed John Simpson at Laguna in New South Wales.
2. Pursuant to an indictment filed on 31 March 2025, the offender was charged with the murder of Mr Simpson contrary to s 18(1)(a) of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW).
3. The offender was further charged that between 12 April 2023 and 18 July 2023, at Laguna in the State of New South Wales, he did possess a stolen firearm, namely a .223 Remington calibre Savage model rifle contrary to s 51H(1) of the Firearms Act 1996 (NSW) (the firearms offence).
4. On 4 April 2024, he was arraigned and entered pleas of guilty to those offences.
5. There are a further four charges to be dealt with on the Form 1, being:
1) H80619383/2 - Possess unauthorised firearm, namely a .177 calibre Gamo Model Spectra single shot air rifle - contrary to s 7A(1), Firearms Act;
2) H80619383/3 - Possess unauthorised firearm, namely a Chinese manufacture single shot air pistol - contrary to s 7A(1), Firearms Act;
3) H80619383/4 - Possess unauthorised firearm, namely a .177 air rifle calibre Diana model 24 single shot air rifle - contrary to s 7A(1), Firearms Act; and
4) H80619383/6 - Possess ammunition without holding licence/permit/authority - contrary to s 65(3), Firearms Act.
6. The offender was committed for sentence on 5 March 2025. The sentencing hearing took place between 10 and 13 June 2025. The offender was represented by Mr Krisenthal of Counsel.
7. This is the sentencing judgment.
8. The offence of murder carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. There is a standard non-parole period of 20 years (Part 4, Division 1A, Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW) ("Sentencing Procedure Act")). The firearms offence carries a maximum penalty of 14 years' imprisonment.
9. The maximum term of imprisonment and the standard non-parole period are guideposts to which the Court must have regard to when imposing a sentence (Muldrock v The Queen (2011) 244 CLR 120; [2011] HCA 39 at [27] per French CJ, Gummow, Hayne, Heydon, Crennan, Kiefel and Bell JJ).
10. The determination of the appropriate sentence necessarily requires consideration of many factors, including the purposes of sentencing as set out in s 3A of the Sentencing Procedure Act, the seriousness of the offending and the offender's subjective circumstances.
*Rest of the document can be viewed at: (https://www.caselaw.nsw.gov.au/decision/1983f4a666b568ca1a523971)
Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.
