I have 3 days to get to grips with the sentencing of Vincent.
A life sentence is the maximum.. there is no factor that would permit a judge to veer off this maximum , in this case... the hoo haa about the amateur diagnosis of Autism doesn't appear to have any legs to run with, notwithstanding the 'letters from Holland' in regard to Vincent's schooldays.. . he may very well have been merely an obstructive and defiant student. This is not a mental health issue, but a personality defect.
20 years before being allowed to apply for parole is the usual. . .. 25 if the victim was a child. .. I just cant see any reason a judge could have for moving this non parole amount to a lesser number of years.. it was premeditated, even if the victim was not particularly the chosen one pre -murder, the preparation infers that murder was the desired outcome . It was not a spontaneous unforeseen murder.
and then there is the real bastardry , in this case, of pleading guilty, after all the trouble Vincent went to hide himself, and his actions, to avoid detection, etc.. .. his guilty plea will reward him with a discount on the non parole element of his sentence.. not the life sentence, that isn't any part of the discount that a guilty plea attracts..
The problem I have is, this discount is , in a whole lot of ways, subject to the perspective of the judge. He/she will be bound by certain parameters, and expectations, but there is plenty of elbow room in that element of the sentencing that has me grinding my teeth with rage. It is possible, I don't say probable, that Vincent could get a non parole sentence of only 10 years, .. I cant bear it, and think that is horrific but it is possible. It would be based on his age and his potential for rehabilitation.. ( I say his potential for rehab is slim, in the light of the long , relentless planning, his execution of his crime, and his behavior after it, it all points to a barely functioning human being, . .. a chosen path, not an involuntary one. ) ..
There is provision for the judge to edge into the opposite point of view, a non parole sentence of 30 years isn't unheard of, but this will be , like any sentencing, up to the judge, but the provision is certainly there in NSW law , nothing to prevent it, and lots to expect it, considering this crime. I am expecting it at the very least, but .. I expected a lot more loaded onto Marcus.. .I have to come to some compromise ....
