R v Ryan (No 3) [2020] NSWSC 1421

R v Ryan (No 3) [2020] NSWSC 1421

The accused admitted, and the Court was satisfied, that the elements of murder were proved beyond reasonable doubt, including an intention to kill. Although the accused had alcohol-induced brain damage and a mood disorder causing some impairment of his capacity to understand events and to control himself, he did not establish on the balance of probabilities that either impairment was substantial. In any event, even assuming substantial impairment, the ferocious fatal domestic violence stabbing, committed in defiance of an AVO and in response to the deceased seeking to leave and pursue another relationship, was not such that community standards warranted reducing liability from murder to...

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
15 October 2020
Procedural Posture
Criminal Trial for Murder by Judge Alone / Verdict After Trial
Outcome
Verdict of guilty of murder
Legal Topics
['murder' 'manslaughter' 'partial Defence of Substantial Impairment' 'judge Alone Trial' 'fatal Domestic Violence' 'apprehended Violence Order' 'intention to Kill']
['criminal Law'] ['murder' 'manslaughter' 'partial Defence of Substantial Impairment' 'judge Alone Trial' 'fatal Domestic Violence' 'apprehended Violence Order' 'intention to Kill']

Case Brief

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Procedural Posture

Criminal Trial for Murder by Judge Alone / Verdict After Trial

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ['Whether the Crown proved the elements of murder beyond reasonable doubt.' 'Whether the accused established on the balance of probabilities that an abnormality of mind substantially impaired his capacity to understand events at the time of the fatal stabbing.' 'Whether the accused established on the balance of probabilities that an abnormality of mind substantially impaired his capacity to control himself at the time of the fatal stabbing.' 'If substantial impairment were established, whether the impairment was so substantial as to warrant liability for murder being reduced to manslaughter.']

Ratio Decidendi

The accused admitted, and the Court was satisfied, that the elements of murder were proved beyond reasonable doubt, including an intention to kill. Although the accused had alcohol-induced brain damage and a mood disorder causing some impairment of his capacity to understand events and to control himself, he did not establish on the balance of probabilities that either impairment was substantial. In any event, even assuming substantial impairment, the ferocious fatal domestic violence stabbing, committed in defiance of an AVO and in response to the deceased seeking to leave and pursue another relationship, was not such that community standards warranted reducing liability from murder to...

Court Disposition

Verdict of guilty of murder

Orders

  • ['The Court returned a verdict of guilty of murder on the indictment alleging that on 12 November 2018 Paul Thomas Ryan murdered Maree Van Beers.']