around Mr and Mrs Mutten of the absence of their greatly loved granddaughter. Even the sound, audible from their home, of the bell ringing each morning at Charlise's school to summon the children to class, brings grief. They torment themselves with thoughts of Charlise's last moments and feel deep sorrow and guilt for having allowed her to go to Sydney to spend time with her mother. Family relationships have fractured because of what occurred, and Mr and Mrs Mutten have been left sometimes feeling that their lives are not worth living.
61 Mr Mutten read a letter he had received from people unknown to him who had met Charlise in Mount Wilson, and who wanted to say how impressed by her they had been. They described her as a "very special young girl" who was a credit to her grandparents. Mr Mutten also described Charlise as a "special little girl", telling the Court about her aspirations to be a vet because of her love of animals and her desire to help others. It is clear that, with Charlise's death, her family and the community are much the poorer. I extend my sympathies to Mr and Mrs Mutten and, respectfully, the observation that responsibility and blame for Charlise's death rests with only one individual, the offender.
62 The Crown asks the Court to take the statements so movingly given by Mr Mutten and Ms Mutten into account in connection with the determination of the punishment to be imposed upon the offender pursuant to s 30E(3) of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act. I will return to that aspect of the matter shortly.
The Subjective Case
63 The offender's case is minimal. He did not give evidence. Instead, he tendered a report from Dr Olav Nielssen dated 18 August 2024, admitted into evidence as Ex. S1, with one excision. Dr Nielssen saw the offender via audio-visual link on two occasions, 29 July 2024 and what I take to be 11 August 2024, although the report records this date as 11 August 2022.
64 The offender said nothing to Dr Nielssen about his crime, other than giving the partially inaccurate report that "he and Ms Mutten accused each other of the offence".[1] The offender gave an account of commencing his relationship with Ms Mutten, blaming her for his "occasional" use of cannabis and "brief lapses"
- ↑ Ex. S1, p 2.
