Arthurell (Supreme Court of New South Wales, 3 October 1997, unrep). The offender's culpability is correspondingly high and the community's interest in retribution and punishment is very significant indeed.
120 I have also recorded my conclusion that the offender's moral culpability for the offence is undiminished. There is nothing in the offender's subjective case that can detract from that conclusion. He bears the full weight of responsibility for what he did. These conclusions also point to the strong community interest in heavy punishment and retribution being visited on the offender.
121 Although it is not possible to make a firm prediction, I have earlier observed that the evidence establishes that there is a risk of future offending, and thus community protection is a relevant consideration.
122 The nature of the offence, the absence of any remorse for it, and the offender's failure to take advantage of the opportunities for rehabilitation that have been repeatedly extended to him in the past, all point to the need for the sentence to function as a significant deterrent to the offender. General deterrence has a role to play in preventing others from committing such grave crimes.
123 Having considered the evidence and the competing submissions, I accept the Crown's submission that this is a matter where s 61 is enlivened. The evidence establishes that the community interest in retribution, punishment, deterrence, and its future protection can only be met through the imposition of the maximum penalty, which is thus mandated. Given that conclusion, there is no real utility in accumulating the penalty upon any part of the time spent by the offender serving the balance of his parole for the Code offence.
ORDERS
124 The orders of the Court are as follows:
(1) The charge of interfering with a corpse is marked as having been withdrawn by the Crown. Insofar as it is necessary to order it, the charge is dismissed.
(2) For the murder of Charlise Mutten, on or about 12 January 2022, Justin Laurens Stein is sentenced to imprisonment for life, commencing on 18 January 2022.
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