R v Cooper [2019] NSWSC 1042

R v Cooper [2019] NSWSC 1042

The offender intentionally killed the deceased by injecting her with a lethal dose of heroin, but the Court accepted that the deceased said something to the effect that she wanted heroin to put herself to sleep for good and that the offender acted in what he saw as an act of love. His schizophrenia affected judgment and rational decision-making, reducing moral culpability and the need for denunciation and general deterrence, while the breach of bail and ADVO and Form 1 offences still had to be reflected. The offence was assessed as in the low range of objective gravity, warranting a starting point of 18 years' imprisonment reduced by 25 per cent for the guilty plea to 13 and a half years,...

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
16 August 2019
Procedural Posture
Criminal Sentence for Murder / Sentence After Guilty Plea
Outcome
Robert Ronald Cooper was sentenced for murder to imprisonment for 13 and a half years with a non-parole period of 10 years.
Legal Topics
['murder' 'mercy Killing' 'heroin Injection' 'substantial Impairment by Abnormality of Mind' 'domestic Violence Order Breach' 'form 1 Offences' 'guilty Plea Discount']
['criminal Law' 'sentencing'] ['murder' 'mercy Killing' 'heroin Injection' 'substantial Impairment by Abnormality of Mind' 'domestic Violence Order Breach' 'form 1 Offences' 'guilty Plea Discount']

Case Brief

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Procedural Posture

Criminal Sentence for Murder / Sentence After Guilty Plea

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ["Whether the deceased told the offender that she wished to die by a heroin overdose or whether that belief arose from the offender's own mental processes." 'The objective gravity and moral culpability of the murder in circumstances described as a mercy killing.' "The relevance of the offender's schizophrenia, substance use disorder, remorse, guilty plea, criminal history, breach of bail and ADVO, and Form 1 offences to sentence." 'Whether special circumstances warranted departure from the statutory proportion between sentence and non-parole period.']

Ratio Decidendi

The offender intentionally killed the deceased by injecting her with a lethal dose of heroin, but the Court accepted that the deceased said something to the effect that she wanted heroin to put herself to sleep for good and that the offender acted in what he saw as an act of love. His schizophrenia affected judgment and rational decision-making, reducing moral culpability and the need for denunciation and general deterrence, while the breach of bail and ADVO and Form 1 offences still had to be reflected. The offence was assessed as in the low range of objective gravity, warranting a starting point of 18 years' imprisonment reduced by 25 per cent for the guilty plea to 13 and a half years,...

Court Disposition

Robert Ronald Cooper was sentenced for murder to imprisonment for 13 and a half years with a non-parole period of 10 years.

Orders

  • ['For the murder of Donna Green, taking into account the offences on the Form 1, Robert Ronald Cooper is sentenced to a non-parole period of 10 years commencing on 6 March 2017 and expiring on 5 March 2027.' 'Robert Ronald Cooper is sentenced to a balance of term of 3 years and 6 months commencing on 6 March 2027...