Teen charged with killing 10-year-old cousin pleads mental illness

A teenager accused of murdering her 10-year-old cousin at a property near Gunnedah in the state’s north-west should be treated under new laws that allow a court to find that the act was proven, but the perpetrator was not criminally responsible, the NSW Supreme Court has heard.

Gunnedah is a rich agricultural region on the Liverpool Plains in north-west NSW.Credit:Paul Mathews

The now 15-year-old girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded not guilty to murder in a judge alone trial before acting Justice Caroline Simpson on Monday morning. She was arrested in July last year, days after her cousin was found dead at a farmhouse.

The Crown has previously rejected her offer to plead guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter. But Crown prosecutor Lee Carr, SC, told the court he had been instructed to proceed subject to the Mental Health and Cognitive Impairment Forensic Provisions Act, which would allow for a verdict to be entered that acknowledged the accused had caused the girl’s death but was not responsible for it.

Psychiatrists on both sides of the case have agreed that the accused girl was affected by an impairment at the time she allegedly murdered her cousin.

There is no dispute about identity or what physical acts caused the girl to die.

No witnesses are expected to be called. The evidence will be presented as documentation and agreed facts.

However, it is not clear which laws should apply to the verdict, following changes to the legislation between the time of the alleged murder and the commencement of criminal proceedings.

Under the old act, the accused might have been found not guilty by reason of mental illness, whereas the new legislation, which came into force in March this year, allows the court to enter a special verdict of “act proven but not criminally responsible” if both sides agree on the impairment.

Mr Carr agreed it was confusing as to which legal instrument should apply. Three other cases in similar circumstances have been dealt with under the new laws.

“I’m not saying it’s brilliantly drafted,” Mr Carr said.

Justice Simpson adjourned until Tuesday to consider the application.

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