The ABC has the news on the sentencing of a man who can’t be named because he was a juvenille when he brutally murdered Liang Zhao on Northbourne Avenue in 2011:
Today in the ACT Supreme Court, Acting Chief Justice Richard Refshauge sentenced the 19-year-old to 17 years jail.
But under ACT law he will be released after 10 years and six months, and placed on a six-and-a-half year good behaviour order.
Taylor Lewis Schmidt will be sentenced at the end of the month for his part.
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What’s Your opinion?
Northbourne murderer gets 10 years
Justice has been served albeit poorly. While I am disappointed, his life is pretty much ruined and I doubt he will ever get a decent job anywhere after he has come out of jail. He will live with this record and shame forever and one day, he will get what is coming to him as well. Karma sucks.
Objective said :
Not to shatter your bubble of faux sophistication but I would hazard a guess that your ignorance extends to the effect Liang Zhao’s murder had on his family. Sure they’ll be chuffed with Australian justice when they hear the human garbage that murdered their son will be out in a little more than 10 years.
Let’s not gloss over the details of just how we was murdered either:
“The attack was so brutal that the victim’s skull was broken and crushed, and the brain exposed. He also had multiple incised wounds to his head and arms.”
Really great decision to have this POS back on the streets in a bit over a decade.
When was the last time the prosecution appealed against a lenient sentence?
So you’re saying that a 17yo does not realise that beating a man to death with a baseball bat is wrong?
I’m saying you don’t understand a lot of things about (a) the law and (b) why it very rightly and properly treats juveniles differently. Perhaps you could go Google over at the AIC for a while. You might learn something about how the world really works. (A hint – the justice system is not a playground for you to act out your childish revenge fantasies because you think you know best.)
A murderer was sentenced in Queensland today. He got a head sentence of life imprisonment with a non-parole period of twenty years.
I would describe that as a woefully inadequate sentence….there is no word or phrase that can describe this joke perpetrated on the public by the ACT courts.
neanderthalsis said :
You know, I would wager that a juvenile could very easily intuitively understand why there is a differentiation between juvenile and adult sentencing. Perhaps you should look inwardly before making more spurious glib comments on the internet about situations and people you are completely ignorant of.
lostinbias said :
I just wish they’d gone with the whole 17. There’d be some poetic justice if he spent as long in prison as he’d spent on this Earth up until the time he committed the murder. Does anyone know what law means he has to be released after 10 years? 😮
Woody Mann-Caruso said :
So you’re saying that a 17yo does not realise that beating a man to death with a baseball bat is wrong?
neanderthalsis said :
Based on the history of sentencing in our ACT courts, i was surpised to hear he got a minimum of 10 years.
The most i was expecting was 40 hours community service and no conviction..
Allways someone willing to defend the indefensible
It’s called the rule of law. When you’re an adult, you’ll understand.
Allways someone willing to defend the indefensible good riddance to the human scum for at least 10 years
Why was he not tried and sentenced as an adult?
Because he was a juvenile.
He made an adult decision
Juveniles make juvenile decisions.
Why was he not tried and sentenced as an adult? He made an adult decision to beat a man to death for the sake of a few dollars, so he should face the consequences, preferably life with no parole.
Seems kind of an appropriate sentence given he was a juvenile at the time of the murder. I know some people will disagree with me on this guy but so long as Schmidt gets locked up for a long, long time then this sentence is okay by me.
I should hope they don’t have to let Schmidt out after 10 and a half years.
Fantastic. He’ll almost certainly be out in just over a decade to be a general drain on society and oxygen thief. Refshauge leaves us in suspense for eons and then produces this magnificent toilet paper material of a judgment.
A life ended and this cretin gets the murder equivalent of a slap on the wrist. We Riot Act taxpayers will be subsidising his computer lessons, art classes and rec activities at the AMC, too. Can’t wait to hear about him bashing some paedophile who isn’t segregated into the right medication line because he feels he’s soooooooooo morally superior and upstanding.
Does Refshauge turn 70 soon? He and Higgins should be playing bingo together somewhere in the Brindabellas.