R v Keli LANE [2011] NSWSC 289

R v Keli LANE [2011] NSWSC 289

The standard non-parole period regime did not apply because the murder was committed before the regime commenced and the 2007 child murder amendment was not intended to operate retrospectively to offences committed before the standard non-parole period regime. The murder was serious because it was the intentional killing of a two-day-old, defenceless child by her mother, involving abuse of a position of trust, but it was well below the most serious level: premeditation was only short, the act was relatively though not completely spontaneous, and the offender's desperation and disordered personality diminished culpability to some extent. The false swearing offences were serious but...

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
15 April 2011
Procedural Posture
Sentence / Remarks on Sentence After Jury Verdicts of Guilty for Murder and Three Alternate Charges of False Swearing
Outcome
Keli Lane was sentenced to imprisonment for three offences of false swearing and for the murder of Tegan Lane, with an overall murder sentence of 18 years and a non-parole period of 13 years and 5 months.
Legal Topics
['child Murder' 'false Swearing' 'adoption Proceedings' 'standard Non Parole Period Legislation' 'objective Seriousness' 'premeditation' 'personality Disorder' 'rehabilitation' 'delay in Prosecution' 'protective Custody' 'third Party Hardship']
['criminal Law' 'sentencing' 'statutory Interpretation'] ['child Murder' 'false Swearing' 'adoption Proceedings' 'standard Non Parole Period Legislation' 'objective Seriousness' 'premeditation' 'personality Disorder' 'rehabilitation' 'delay in Prosecution' 'protective Custody' 'third Party Hardship']

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Procedural Posture

Sentence / Remarks on Sentence After Jury Verdicts of Guilty for Murder and Three Alternate Charges of False Swearing

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ['What sentence should be imposed for the murder of Tegan Lane and for three offences of false swearing.' 'Whether the standard non-parole period legislation, including the 2007 child murder amendment, applied to an offence committed in 1996.' 'Whether the murder involved premeditation and where it fell on the scale of objective seriousness.' "Whether the offender's personality functioning, youth, rehabilitation, good character, delay, protective custody, media attention and hardship to her child mitigated sentence." 'Whether the false swearing sentences should be accumulated on the sentence for murder.' 'Whether special circumstances justified varying the statutory ratio between the non-parole period and balance of term.']

Ratio Decidendi

The standard non-parole period regime did not apply because the murder was committed before the regime commenced and the 2007 child murder amendment was not intended to operate retrospectively to offences committed before the standard non-parole period regime. The murder was serious because it was the intentional killing of a two-day-old, defenceless child by her mother, involving abuse of a position of trust, but it was well below the most serious level: premeditation was only short, the act was relatively though not completely spontaneous, and the offender's desperation and disordered personality diminished culpability to some extent. The false swearing offences were serious but...

Court Disposition

Keli Lane was sentenced to imprisonment for three offences of false swearing and for the murder of Tegan Lane, with an overall murder sentence of 18 years and a non-parole period of 13 years and 5 months.

Orders

  • ['For the offence of false swearing committed on 3rd April 1995, fixed term of imprisonment for 9 months, to date from 13th December 2010 and to expire on 12th September 2011.' 'For the offence of false swearing committed on or about 29th April 1995, fixed term of imprisonment for 9 months, to date from 13th...