Jason (the attacker) and Dwayne (the victim) were neighbours in a set of units. One night, Dwayne and his girlfriend were returning home to their unit and on their way they passed Jason's unit. Jason's dog started barking and Dwayne yelled “shut up” and then walked inside into his own unit with his girlfriend.

Jason’s step daughter, Jemma, walked out and over to Dwayne to confront him with a baseball bat. The two yelled at each other and soon after Jason walked over to Jemma and Dwayne with a 12gauge shotgun.

Jemma noticed the shotgun and then tried to remove it from Jason by pushing and pulling him and directing the gun downwards. During the physical struggle, the gun went off and shot Dwayne in the chest. Dwayne died from the gunshot.

Jason was charged with murder but offered a guilty plea of manslaughter. The prosecution accepted. In sentencing Jason, the court considered a range of factors. The factors which weighed against Jason included the fact that the gun was loaded and that he should have known this. Additionally, he should not have had a sawn-off shotgun in the first place. Lastly, the altercation took place in front of children.

Some factors which weighed in favour of Jason included the fact that he did not intentionally shoot Dwayne. While he acted dangerously by bringing a loaded gun, the struggle between Jemma and himself is what caused the gun to go off. Lastly, Jason pleaded guilty rather than going to trial and he expressed genuine remorse.

The maximum sentence for manslaughter is 20 years in prison and Jason was ordered to 6.

Further Reading

• Case Name: R v Ashman [2020] VSC 105

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