R v Qaumi [2017] NSWSC 774
1 judgment
R v Qaumi [2017] NSWSC 774
ChapterManslaughter; Conspiracy murder; Solicit murder; Intent to murder – gangland violence – exposure to violence in Afghanistan – refugee background – Bugmy v The Queen (2013) 249 CLR 571
Coram: Hamill J
- Refugee background: at [86]; [212]. Life of dislocation and trauma provides context in which offending to be evaluated. Involvement in crime and willingness to resort to violence, particularly gun violence, cannot be divorced from personal histories and exposure to violence in formative years: at [73].
- Exposure to violence and dislocated family life caused psychiatric conditions; explains conduct and diminishes moral culpability to a degree: at [83].
- Such history may mitigate sentence because “a background of that kind may compromise the person’s capacity to mature and to learn from experience. It is a feature of the person’s make-up and remains relevant to the determination of the appropriate sentence, notwithstanding that the person has a long history of offending”: at [124]-[125]; Bugmy v The Queen (2013) 249 CLR 571 at [37], [43].
- “Social disadvantage … frequently … precedes the commission of crime.” (Bugmy at [37] citing Simpson J in Kennedy v The Queen [2010] NSWCCA 260 at [53].) The same is true of exposure to war, violence and dislocation. These matters, and their psychiatric impact, diminish culpability: at [213].
- History and psychological impact may diminish general deterrence and impact on an assessment of moral culpability, but also heightens need for protection of the community: at [208], [83], [98]; R v Engert (1995) 84 A Crim R 67.
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