The Australian Crime Commission: the sentencing of offenders in the New South Wales criminal justice system Cases: - R v Dean [2013] NSWSC 1027 - R v David John STEVENS [2014] NSWDC 197 Section One Case 1: R v Dean [2013] Elements of the offence: Actus Reus: Roger Dean pleaded guilty to eleven counts of murder by way of reckless indifference to human life, and eight counts of recklessly causing grievous bodily harm ( s 18 and s 35 (2) Crimes Act 1990) . The offence occurred in the early hours of November 18th , 2011. The actus reus of the offender, Roger Dean has been proved by the prosecution upon the investigation of the case. CCTV footage from the Quaker’s Hill Nursing Home shows Roger Dean repeatedly walking in and out of multiple …show more content…
Dean had the capacity to make sophisticated and complex decisions, accentuated by Senior Crown Prosecutor Mark Tedeschi, who explicitly affirms “ Dean knew people would die when he set the Quakers Hill Nursing Home on fire in 2011”. This indicates his reckless indifference for human life. To this, Justice Latham said that there had been “premeditation and planning” on Deans behalf when lighting the fire in order to cover up the evidence that he committed larceny, under section 125 of the CRIMES ACT 1900. This reinforces that he was exceeding aware of the associated …show more content…
Dean posed a risk to the community as he would continue to put his needs above the rights of others as a repercussion of his narcissism. This is supported by Senior Crown Prosecutor Mark Tedeschi, who stressed that “community protection and deterrence can only be met through the imposition of a life sentence.” Therefore, it must be said that section 3A (c) of The Crimes (Sentencing Procedure Act) 1999 NSW has been effectively applied to case as the legalisation states that the ‘purposes of punishment is to protect the community from