R v Pitt [2012] VSC 591

2 This, like many other cases before this court, could be described as a tragedy for all involved. The circumstances relating to the offending are simple, but they need to be related. You had been married to a Mr Peter Pitt from June 1963 until 2002, there were three daughters from the marriage and the breakup between you and your former husband was quite amicable and, in fact, he gave evidence in support of you in this court.

3 The deceased, Peter Williams, had been in a relationship with a Ms Marlene Mills from approximately 1989 onwards which resulted in the birth of two daughters being Rachelle in 1991 and Emma in 1994.

4 You first met the deceased man when you worked together, some 30 years previously at Ford Motor factory, but had lost contact until you bumped into each other in approximately 2006, at a hotel. The two of you commenced a relationship that ultimately led to the deceased man moving into your unit at Craigieburn later in 2006. Peter Williams had previously been an accountant but, had of more recent time, set up his own IT electronic repair business and he operated that business out of the garage at your unit in Craigieburn, with one side of the garage being effectively converted to a home office.

5 Like most relationships, there was a degree of friction at times in your relationship with Peter Williams. He was described as possessive and secretive and there appeared to be some ongoing problem over an amount of $11,000 which had not been repaid by him, it being money you had lent to him earlier. The last 12 months of the relationship was a little more stressful than normal with you fearing that the deceased man had been lying to you about different things, none of which seemed to be of a significant nature. He spent most of his time out in the garage in his home office fixing items.

6 On the day in question, Peter Williams was out and about in relation to his work, that is on 26 March 2012. At approximately 4.30pm you started drinking a bottle of red wine, which was something you did about once a week, quite often, you would consume the whole of the bottle over a period of some hours, although I note, that you disputed that during the plea made on your behalf. Peter Williams at the end of work on that day had been to see his mother, Ms Keera Williams, to connect a DVD player for her, which took him about half-an-hour. He then headed home to Craigieburn. On that same evening, you rang Ms Keera Williams and spoke to her, principally, in respect of one of Mr Peter Williams' daughters with whom you did not have a good relationship. You became aware of some things that Peter Williams had not told you, and you became progressively angry about his failure to tell you about those things, that you considered were relevant information that he should have communicated to you. Ms Keera Williams told you those things in confidence and asked you, to promise to not let the deceased man know, that you were aware of the circumstances relating to his daughter Rachelle and her husband staying with her in her home. The phone call with Keera Williams went for 69 minutes, in which you did most of the talking and it would appear that your anger mounted and increased as you received this information.

7 Peter Williams' sister Kerrie Williams also spoke to him on that day, on his way home at 6.49pm. They discussed the problems that were arising between Peter's daughter Rachelle and her grandmother Keera, who was of course the mother of Kerrie and Peter. Peter Williams told Kerrie, that you had taken a strong view about parenting issues relating to Rachelle and her child Tehlea, who was aged about 2 and you had banned Rachelle, from attending at your premises in Craigieburn.

8 Peter Williams drove into the driveway at approximately 7.20pm and at that time you were still speaking to Keera Williams on the phone. You finished that call and placed the bottle of wine in a chiffonier, in the hallway, prior to the deceased man walking into the house. You went into the kitchen and commenced cooking dinner, the table was set and all was ready for the evening meal.

9 Peter Williams came into the house, to the kitchen via the garage, and you commenced to have a conversation. The conversation dealt with a number of issues, but turned to the fact that you had been drinking, which he appeared to express some unhappiness about. You became angry and responded about the fact that he was letting his daughter, Rachelle, live with his mother who was then 83 years of age. He apparently denied that, to which you responded 'don't deny it, I've been talking to your mother'. This conversation went on for some five minutes or so, with you saying to the police in your record of interview that you were becoming angrier and more upset over these issues, particularly about the fact that he was continuing to lie to you about the situation.

10 Whilst you were in the state that you described as 'pretty wild' and which others may describe quite clearly as angry, you said to Peter Williams 'get away or I'll get this knife and I'll get you'. At that point, you were some three feet away from him, at the kitchen bench area, with a knife block which was located near to where you were standing, preparing the meal. You then reached over and pulled out a knife with your right hand - Peter Williams was still moving towards you - and you stabbed him once. That was in the upper chest and this blow was a forceful blow, sufficient to go through the ribs themselves and pierce from one side of his heart through to the other.

11 Peter Williams put his hand on his chest and said to you, 'you hurt me, you hurt me'. He left the kitchen walking down the hall towards the garage, out into the garage where he collapsed and ultimately died.

12 After he left the kitchen you put the knife in the sink and washed it. When the police arrived later the knife was still in the sink. No attempt had been made to hide it, or destroy the evidence.

13 It would appear that it was at least some five minutes before you went out to check on Peter Williams, obviously expecting to find him alive and angry, as you took a meat clever with you to protect yourself, but instead found Peter lying on the floor of the garage and when you checked upon him, found him to be dead.

14 Your next actions, seemed somewhat bizarre, in that you started to clean up some of the blood that was in the area between the kitchen and the garage, it was a fairly futile effort. You then went to the next door neighbours and spoke to your neighbour, who called an ambulance and the police. You went back to the garage, followed by your neighbour Mr Nguyen and two other neighbours, Tania and Renee Dunn, who also had arrived at the scene. Renee Dunn was a nurse, who made observations that Peter Williams was dead but, nonetheless, applied CPR. You were at that stage, significantly upset by what you had done. You kept saying that you had done it, that you'd stabbed him, but that you did not mean to do this. Unfortunately, Peter Williams died quickly, as a result of very severe blood loss.

15 You were taken to the Broadmeadow's Police Station, where you were interviewed and you admitted all of the material to which I have referred. You did not suggest to the police that you were acting in self-defence, you did not indicate that he'd been violent towards you, or that you feared that he was going to be violent in any way. What you described to the police was, that he was in your personal space, getting in your face, and that he was doing that to upset you.

16 Whilst that is a short summary of the offence, it in no way really encapsulates the loss of the life of a human being. One of the true, true tragedies is that, this is a case where I do accept, you actually did love Peter Williams and that you had no intention at all, of trying to kill him. What you were attempting to do, I don't know or understand, neither does anyone in this courtroom, including, I would think, Mr Williams' family, who are lost and bereft as they have lost their brother, son and father.

17 The victim impact statements in this case were read aloud for two of them and another two tendered. The tragedy of their loss is mirrored in those statements. You can see the pain and the anguish which will never go away. In relation to Mr Williams' family, I need to stress to them that the sentence I am going to impose upon you Ms Pitt, is not a reflection of the worth or the value of Peter Williams' life, that is not how our system of justice works. I am bound by Parliament and the laws they make and the guidelines they present in the Sentencing Act to impose a sentence that takes into account many, many, matters, only one of which is the victim impact statements. Every human being is priceless and the loss of a life, is a loss of a little bit of the whole community's humanity. For each of Mr. Williams family, it is a loss of someone you loved unreservedly, the value of his life can be reflected in only one thing, that is the love and affection in which you all held him. His death is a tragedy for each and every one of you, but being the person that you have described, I am confident that, what he would like you to do is remember him with love and talk about him with love, rather than remember him with sorrow at the manner in which he died. It is most important that if it is possible, you celebrate the joy of him being here, rather than the sorrow of him passing. You may or may not be able to do that, with time, but I hope for his sake that you can.

18 Josina Pitt, I also have to take into account your personal circumstances. As I indicated, you are 68 years of age without any prior criminal history. You have lived what could be described, as a decent law abiding and caring life. You are and have been a hard worker, a good mother and grandmother. As I indicated, Ms Pitt, you were born in Holland and came to Australia with your parents and five siblings when you were aged 11 years of age. Your parents, in a similar fashion to you, separated after some 42 years of marriage, you nursed both of them, in respect of the last stages of their lives. Your mother returned to live in Holland and died at the age of 93, in 2010. You went to Holland and helped to nurse her. Your father died in Melbourne of lung cancer, in about 2000, and you also nursed him, in the latter stages of his life. Your siblings still alive are, a 62 year old brother living in Queensland, a 64 year old widowed sister in Holland and a 74 year old brother in Cockatoo; two other brothers having died in their 60s.

19 You were unable to speak English when you came to Australia and you started school at the Kent Road State School, Pascoe Vale, from there to Pascoe Vale Girls High School until obtaining your intermediate certificate at the age of 17. You met your husband at that young age, whilst you were working in a stationers office job. You were married when you were 18-and-a-half and you were a mother by the age of 19. As I indicated, that marriage ended very similarly to your parents, after 42 years of marriage. You have three daughters aged 48, 46 and 36. You have five grandchildren, none of your children have been in trouble with the law and you are described as being close to all of your daughters, they were all present in court. Your ex-husband, Peter Pitt, was in court to support you. He has his own engineering factory and is now semi-retired.

20 When you left your husband, you moved to Port Douglas and lived in a de facto relationship with a close family friend, which lasted a short time, approximately 18 months. You missed your children and returned to Melbourne and, upon your return, you resided at the family home. You shared that home with your former husband Mr Pitt and you shared, under the one roof, for some time. That property was sold and then with the funds from the sale of the property, or your share of them, you bought your current unit in Craigieburn approximately 8 years ago. You had met Mr Williams when you worked at Ford approximately 35 years earlier.

21 In a report tendered as Exhibit 3 from Mr Jeffrey Cummins, forensic psychologist, you described the relationship between yourself and Peter Williams in the following way:

... then about eight years ago I was reintroduced to Peter Williams. He was then separated and living with his mother. We started dating. We lived together for about the last six-and-a-half years. He had never been in trouble with the law. His ex apparently got an intervention order against him and threw him out of the home about 12 years ago. They had two children. He was very controlling. Although his father was an alcoholic, he was just a light social drinker of alcohol. Peter and I never separated but I asked him to leave the house on lots of occasions. There was some physical abuse. He'd push and shove me and sometimes I had bruises. He'd intimidate me. He wouldn't leave me alone. He'd just keep asking me where I was and what time did I do this and that. He had very few friends and he'd follow me. He'd phone me and say where are you? Then he'd say he's just around the corner and wanted to drop in and see me. My friends would comment on this and ask how I put up with this.

22 In your interview with Mr Cummins, you stated that you would describe yourself as a binge drinker of alcohol, but insisted, that you would only consume alcohol about once every three weeks, not every one week. Your major complaint in respect of Mr Williams appeared to be two-fold in what you said to Mr Cummins. The first was that he was suffocating you and, second, that he was not truthful in his dealings with you. Whilst there is some useful material contained in the report of Mr Cummins, it was clearly written in respect of a bail application to be made in April and not for the purposes of this plea. The major impact of the report is, that you have no psychological or mental health problems that have contributed in any way to your actions on this day.

23 You have worked virtually your whole married life. You worked initially at Ford in Craigieburn, then when the family moved to Greensborough, when the eldest child was about to start school, you worked in a butchers shop in the local shopping centre for approximately seven years, then at Myer Doncaster for between 11-12 years and then part-time cleaning for friends and neighbours. Even after you moved to Port Douglas you continued working, doing cleaning work, until you were eligible for the old age pension. You've had knee surgery as a result of a bad knee and you've had some past mild depression, which has resolved.

24 As indicated, you thereafter met Mr Peter Williams. Despite the descriptions given, it appears that there were a number of very enjoyable and happy aspects of your relationship, whilst some were problematic. He was very private about his own affairs, but very inquisitive about yours. Arguments would flare up that resulted in pushing and shoving and, although he had hit you on previous occasions, you would not, you said, describe him as a violent man.

25 I received a large number of testimonials as to your character, as a helpful neighbour, friend, colleague and parent. There is no doubt that you have been a helpful, useful, caring and contributing member of our community over the period of your life. It is a tragedy for Mr Williams' family that they have lost the son, father and brother that they love. It is also a tragedy, that to a very large degree your family, friends and grandchildren will lose the mother, grandmother, neighbour and sister that they love, as a result of your actions on this day.

26 People do not seem to understand how devastating a knife can be. You had no intention to kill Peter Williams and you wouldn't have killed him, if you hadn't picked up a knife. It appears to be the weapon of choice, for young men and often those involved in domestic disputes, simply because in those cases, its there and available. That your momentary anger has allowed this to engulf you all, is so sad for every person in this courtroom, but the community values the lives of its citizens and, accordingly, the maximum penalty for this offence, even where there is no intent to kill, is a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment.

27 You have a number of things that are significantly mitigating factors, and that the law says are mitigating factors, they include your plea of guilty and the very early stage at which it was indicated; your obvious remorse, which I accept totally; your prospects of rehabilitation, which are excellent; your lack of prior offending in your 68 previous years; the positive good works that you have done through those 68 years of your life, together with the fact that this death resulted from only one blow - but that needs to be balanced against a number of other factors, including the communities' need for a just and appropriate punishment. The need for general deterrence, which is of importance in your case, whilst I do not think there is any real significance to be attached to personal deterrence, domestic relationships and violence within them, are matters of significant community concern. No one is entitled to kill their partner, because of unhappiness or an anger. Domestic violence goes both ways and the punishment must be equal. Men kill women in domestic settings, and it is no less grave a crime, when women kill men in the same circumstances.

28 Whilst I do take into account your age, as a relevant sentencing factor, and I am bound to not impose a crushing sentence in light of that age, equally I cannot impose an inappropriate sentence, simply because you are aged 68 years.

29 Accordingly, for the charge of manslaughter of Peter Williams, you are convicted and sentenced to be imprisoned for a period of seven years. I direct that you are to serve a period of four years and six months before becoming eligible for parole. Pursuant to s 6AAA, I declare that the period that would have been imposed, but for your plea of guilty, would have been a sentence of eight years six months with a minimum of six years.