Subjective case:
6 The offender was twenty-nine years old at the time of the offence and is now thirty-two. He has a criminal record, the only entries of significance being convictions for assault occasioning actual bodily harm in 1996, for which he was placed on a bond, and maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm in 1997, for which he was sentenced to twelve months imprisonment. The victim of both offences was Ms Gordon. On the first occasion he struck her on the face with his open hand during an argument. The second occasion was a serious assault, causing injuries which required her admission to hospital. The offender admitted that offence, although he disputed Ms Gordon's account of how the assault was perpetrated and what led to it. Ms Gordon said that he attacked her because he believed that she was having an affair, whereas he claimed that he was enraged by discreditable behaviour on her part, the nature of which I need not describe.
7 The offender was charged with three other offences alleged to have been committed against Ms Gordon in March and April 1999. He was found guilty of two of those offences at a trial in May 2000, but those convictions were later set aside by the Court of Criminal Appeal: Reg v McNamara [2002] NSWCCA 248. The only relevance of this for present purposes is that he was on bail, awaiting his trial in respect of those offences, at the time of the killing. He was not arrested for this matter until 19 December 2000. He has been in custody since and it is common ground that the sentence I pass should date from that day.
8 The offender has two older brothers and three older sisters. Before he killed his mother his relationship with his siblings was strained, as he felt that they also tended to side with Ms Gordon in disputes arising from their relationship. Since his arrest for this offence he has maintained contact with one of his sisters, who appears to be supportive of him. I imagine that his relationship with his other siblings has been irreparably damaged.
9 His parents separated when he was only two years old and he was brought up by his mother. He had limited contact with his father, who was killed in a car accident in 1993. He was educated to year 10 standard and, putting aside periods in custody, was employed somewhat irregularly in unskilled positions.
10 Although not himself a member of any bikers' gang, he appears to have had some association with bikers over the years. He gave an account of this to Dr Stephen Allnutt, psychiatrist, who prepared a report for the purpose of sentence, and there was some evidence about it in the trial. He told Dr Allnutt that a friend of his was murdered by bikers in the early 1990's, and that he assisted the authorities in the prosecution of that case. Thereafter, he said, he was assaulted and threatened by bikers. Because of this, he tended in more recent years to live what Dr Allnutt described as "a relatively itinerant lifestyle", so as to conceal his whereabouts. Dr Allnutt considered whether this account was delusional but concluded that it was not, particularly as it found some support in the evidence of witnesses in the trial. I accept that he was under some kind of threat from bikers, whatever the reason might have been, and that this was a stressor in his life at the time he killed his mother. However, of itself, this is a matter of limited significance for the purpose of sentence.
11 After a careful consideration of the material provided to him and the history furnished by the offender, Dr Allnutt did not diagnose a mental illness or an anti-social personality disorder. Nevertheless, he recognised what he termed the "risk factors associated with violent recidivism": in particular, the offender's history of violence towards Ms Gordon, his tendency to impulsive behaviour, his anti-social associates and his itinerant lifestyle. To address that risk the doctor recommended anger management counselling. He also recommended drug and alcohol counselling, although the offender's history does not disclose a significant problem of substance abuse.