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Original Source
Malcom Quekett - The West Australian
Monday, 26th July, 2010
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Original Source
http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/killer-of-woodvale-teenager-steven-rowe-avoids-jail-after-self-defence-plea-accepted/story-e6frg13u-1225809535497
Todd Cardy - Sunday Times
Friday, 11th Dec, 2009
Killer of Woodvale teenager Steven Rowe avoids jail after self-defence plea accepted
A bullied teenager who fatally hit Woodvale youth Steven Rowe with a stake - breaking it in two - has been spared a prison sentence.
Steven, 17, died in hospital five days after being struck in the head with a wooden stake by the teenager near Timberlane Park in Woodvale on Halloween night, October 31 last year.
The two met during a confrontation between two groups of teenagers who had gathered in the park.
At trial in October the teenager pleaded not guilty to murder, testifying that he acted in self-defence against Steven, who was threatening and about to punch a friend.
The jury acquitted him of murder and manslaughter but convicted him of unlawful assault causing death - a new law introduced last year after a spate of acquittals in “one punch” trials.
Supreme Court Justice Eric Heenan accepted the plea via the teenager's defence lawyer, Bob Richardson, for a suspended sentence, saying that while he did use excessive force, he did not intend to kill Steven and had acted in self-defence.
“He struck this boy out of fear, fear for his friend and fear for himself about what he thought might happen,” Justice Heenan said.
“He was not looking for a fight that evening - quite the opposite.”
The court heard the teenager had been severely bullied at high school, which he left after he was punched in the head during an attack which was filmed and uploaded onto the internet.
Justice Heenan said he was imposing a suspended sentence of two years jail, suspended for two years, because he did not believe the teenager posed a risk to the community or was likely to reoffend.
Steven’s family, who are relatives of Bill Rowe, killed when he was hit with a cricket bat on Geraldton's Sunset Beach on Christmas Day 2007, were upset by the sentence.
Some people sitting in the court’s packed public gallery said as the court adjourned: “this is not justice”.
Outside court Steven’s father, John Rowe, who was joined in court by his wife Veronica Rowe and his cousin Ellen Rowe, said he was speechless.
``There is just no justice,’’ Mr Rowe said.
``We expect to get truth and justice in the legal system and so far removed from that, it was just so biased, so one-way.
"We know what our son was like, and he has been branded something that he wasn’t.
"I had so much I wanted to say but we are just devastated.’’
Asked what they would say to the teenager if they saw him, Mrs Rowe said: ``We have already faced that’’.
``He was at my shopping centre,’’ she said.
``I have been face to face with him. It’s revolting, it’s horrifying, it’s harrowing, it’s reliving the pain all over again and yet he can do that, we have no protection.’’
The teenager will walk free from the Supreme Court today.
Click on the link below to view Justice Heenan's full remarks
http://decisions.justice.wa.gov.au/supreme/supSR.nsf/PDFJudgments-WebVw/2009WASC0204/$FILE/2009WASC0204.pdf
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Original Source
http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,26446287-5017004,00.html
Nicole Cox, police reporter
Victims of crime demand criminal injuries law change
December 05, 2009 07:00pm
Victims of crime have demanded an overhaul of WA's criminal injuries compensation laws, calling for payouts regardless of whether attackers are convicted.
The call comes after Queensland this week adopted new laws that allow all victims of serious and violent crimes can claim up to $100,000 even if a court has not recorded a conviction against an alleged perpetrator.
It comes in the wake of controversial acquittals, including those of Robert, Scott and Barry McLeod in March over an attack that left Constable Matt Butcher partially paralysed and ineligible for criminal injuries compensation.
Constable Butcher suffered life-changing injuries when Barry McLeod felled him with a ``flying headbutt'' during a brawl in Joondalup, an act recorded by a bystander on mobile phone video.
Yesterday, victims of crime advocates called on the WA Government to adopt a similar scheme to Queensland's new Victim Assist, which came into effect this month.
It comes as the WA Police Union confirmed that it had commissioned lawyer Tim Kucera to investigate possible avenues for a civil action for Constable Butcher.
Young Australian of the Year and anti-violence campaigner Jonty Bush, who lobbied for changes in Queensland, said Constable Butcher's case was an ``incredible'' example of where gaps in the system had inflamed pain and suffering.
``The case of Matt Butcher was absolutely horrific,'' Ms Bush said yesterday. ``It adds insult to injury that there is no provision for him to seek any kind of compensation.
In WA, victims are generally only eligible for compensation when a court records a guilty verdict.
Payouts up to $75,000 to victims are available without conviction in some cases, including those of a person acquitted on the grounds of being of unsound mind, unfit to stand trial, a withdrawn charge or if the court does not return a verdict.
Compensation also can be awarded if no one is charged with an offence or the accused is acquitted, but the assessor is satisfied the offence occurred and was committed by another person.
Constable Butcher, who now works three half-days a week, yesterday declined to comment about WA's criminal injuries compensation scheme or pending civil action.
The Sunday Times understands that any consideration by Attorney-General Christian Porter for an ex-gratia payment to Constable Butcher would only occur after civil court action had been finalised.
WA Homicide Victims Support Group spokesman Simon Barr echoed Ms Bush's call, demanding an urgent overhaul of criminal injuries compensation laws so victims were better accommodated.
``The circumstances like Matt's highlight the need for reform,'' said Mr Barr.
``When there is an obvious offence and it has caused an obvious injury to a person ... the criminal compensation should still apply.
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Trends & Issues
The Australian Institute of Criminology has just ( Nov 2009) released a paper titled " Confidence In The Justice System"
> Click Here To View It <:
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Original Source
http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=77&ContentID=112764
Truth-in-sentencing laws scrapped
11th December 2008, 17:00 WST
Western Australian judges will soon no longer be forced to reduce jail sentences by a third after State Parliament today scrapped the controversial truth-in-sentencing laws.
The Liberal Party have adhered to a promise they made during the State election campaign to scrap the truth-in-sentencing laws, introduced by Shadow Attorney-General Jim McGinty in 2003, within their first 100 days in government and before Parliament adjourned for the summer break.
The new legislation offers judges the option of maximum sentences for the first time since the 1960s.
Attorney-General Christian Porter said while he was unhappy with having to include a recent Opposition amendment to the new law, he conceded it was necessary in order to scrap the truth-in-sentencing legislation before the Christmas break.
“What they’re (the Opposition) trying to do is save a bit of face and be part of the solution after having been the problem for five years,” Mr Porter said.
“What the amendment says is that judges should be able to impose up to the maximum.
“Now, I am confident that by getting rid of the one-third discount they can do that in any event.
“It really does pollute what was a rather simple and elegant legislation, but I’ve got no choice but to accept it.”
The new law follows outrage after a WA Supreme Court judge recently sentenced the man who killed Bill Rowe with a cricket bat on a Geraldton beach last Christmas to five years in prison.
After the sentencing, Mr Porter conceded Mr Rowe’s widow Ellen must be devastated by the sentence, which could see Mathew Roy McDonald walk free from jail in less than three years after the judge chose to sentence him to just over one-third of the maximum prison term allowed by law.
The new bill will have one commencement date, which means that from that particular date, everyone sentenced in the State will be sentenced under the new regime, including appeals, no matter what their lead-up to sentencing was.
It is expected the new law will be in place sometime in January.
PERTH
JAYNE RICKARD
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Original Source
http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=9&ContentID=112253
Sentencing debate just goes round and round
9th December 2008, 15:00 WST
The sentencing debate in WA is a never-ending merry-go-round ride that no one enjoys. The latest cycle has been sparked by community outrage over the lenient sentence handed out to a repeat offender who killed farmer Bill Rowe by striking him with his own cricket bat in front of his family on Christmas Day.
That such a brutal killer could be free in less than three years is simply horrifying to anyone interested in the concept of justice.
paul.murray@wanews.com.au
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Original Source
http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=77&ContentID=111235
Robbed of her husband, faith
3rd December 2008, 7:00 WST
The man who killed Ellen Rowe’s husband could be free to resume a normal life in less than three years. But for Mrs Rowe and her family, the horrific punishment dealt to them by one thug will last a lifetime, she said last night.
PHILIPPA PERRY
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