R v Jermaine BOLT [2013] NSWSC 895

R v Jermaine BOLT [2013] NSWSC 895

The offender murdered his partner during a serious domestic violence assault involving significant violence and multiple injuries, but the Court found that he intended to occasion grievous bodily harm rather than to kill, that the intention was momentary and spontaneous, that there was some provocation, that gratuitous cruelty was not established, and that his dysfunctional childhood and exposure to extreme domestic violence reduced his moral responsibility to a limited extent. Balancing those matters with his early guilty plea, remorse, prior violence, conditional liberty, need for punishment and deterrence, and some prospects of rehabilitation, the objective gravity was assessed as...

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
05 July 2013
Procedural Posture
Criminal Sentence for Murder / Remarks on Sentence Following Guilty Plea
Outcome
The offender was convicted of murder and sentenced to imprisonment with a non-parole period of 12 years and a further term of 6 years.
Legal Topics
['murder' 'domestic Violence' 'intention to Inflict Grievous Bodily Harm' 'guilty Plea' 'remorse' 'provocation' 'dysfunctional Childhood' 'fernando Principles' 'non Parole Period']
['criminal Law' 'sentencing'] ['murder' 'domestic Violence' 'intention to Inflict Grievous Bodily Harm' 'guilty Plea' 'remorse' 'provocation' 'dysfunctional Childhood' 'fernando Principles' 'non Parole Period']

Case Brief

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Procedural Posture

Criminal Sentence for Murder / Remarks on Sentence Following Guilty Plea

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ["What sentence should be imposed for the offender's murder of his domestic partner after a guilty plea at the earliest opportunity." 'Whether the offender intended to kill or intended to occasion grievous bodily harm.' "How the offender's dysfunctional childhood, exposure to domestic violence, intoxication, remorse, prior offences and prospects of rehabilitation affected sentence." 'Whether the offence involved gratuitous cruelty.' 'Whether special circumstances warranted a longer period of supervision in the community.']

Ratio Decidendi

The offender murdered his partner during a serious domestic violence assault involving significant violence and multiple injuries, but the Court found that he intended to occasion grievous bodily harm rather than to kill, that the intention was momentary and spontaneous, that there was some provocation, that gratuitous cruelty was not established, and that his dysfunctional childhood and exposure to extreme domestic violence reduced his moral responsibility to a limited extent. Balancing those matters with his early guilty plea, remorse, prior violence, conditional liberty, need for punishment and deterrence, and some prospects of rehabilitation, the objective gravity was assessed as...

Court Disposition

The offender was convicted of murder and sentenced to imprisonment with a non-parole period of 12 years and a further term of 6 years.

Orders

  • ['The offender is convicted of murder in that on 15 October 2011 at Ballina in the State of New South Wales he murdered Tanya Murray.' "The offender is sentenced to a non-parole period of 12 years' imprisonment, commencing 15 October 2011 and concluding 14 October 2023." "The offender is sentenced to a remainder of...