Walton, Alastair --- "R v Steward Collin Mungkuri (and) Simon Nyaningu aka Peter Roger (Criminal law - manslaughter - sentencing -problems caused by alcohol)" [1985] AboriginalLawB 7; (1985) 1(12) Aboriginal Law Bulletin 11

• R V Steward Collin Mungkuri (And) Simon Nyaningu Aka Peter Roger
• Criminal Law-Manslaughter-Sentencing-Problems Caused By Alcohol.

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R v Steward Collin Mungkuri (and) Simon Nyaningu aka Peter Roger

Criminal law - manslaughter - sentencing -problems caused by alcohol.

R v Steward Collin Mungkuri (and) Simon Nyaningu aka Peter Roger.

The Supreme Court of the Northern Territory at Alice Springs (Muirhead J.)

1 August, 1984

Casenote by Alastair Walton

The defendants, two young Aboriginal men, appeared before the Supreme Court, on 1 August, 1984, for sentence. They had been charged with murder, of another young Aboriginal man, but pleaded guilty to manslaughter. The Crown accepted the pleas of manslaughter.

On 13 December, 1983, the defendants had been drinking and had assaulted and killed a young Aboriginal man, outside a bottle shop in Alice Springs, with wine flagons. Muirhead J. was satisfied the young man was attacked without cause.

When sentencing the defendants, Muirhead J. accepted that leniency was possible for 20-year-old Steward Collin Mungkuri because it was a first offence and out of character. Mungkuri's sentence was six years with hard labour with eligibility for parole after serving 3 years of that sentence.

Simon Nyaningu, 21 -years-old, however, had received a suspended sentence of imprisonment in the Court of Summary Jurisdiction, Alice Springs on 12 October, 1983. He had been charged with breaking, entering and stealing, in an apparent search for liquor. A condition of Nyaningu's release was that he would not visit Alice Springs for 6 months, except in the case of urgent medical treatment. Nyaningu subsequently received a sentence of 7 years hard labour with eligibility for parole after 3 years and 6 months.

In the course of his judgement, Muirhead J., had the following to say on the problem of alcohol, crime and Aborigines –

As is usual in this depressingly frequent type of offence, the root cause was alcohol. Forover10 years sitting in This Territory, I have endeavoured to draw attention to the need for something to be done about the marketing, the regulation and supply of alcohol, particularly to our Aboriginal community, the need for detoxification units, modern treatment and rehabilitation centres. I have not been alone in this exercise but it's been entirely fruitless. The courts can achieve little, if nothing. The Aboriginal councils appear to recognise the problem and it is the Aboriginal people who almost entirely suffer its consequences. One can only keep hoping that at national level there will be recognition of the seriousness and complexity of the problems coupled, I hope, with some action.

Mention was made in the course of submissions by counsel, referring to other elements in this case, the apparent failure to police the 2 kilometre law, the probable supply of liquor to young people who must have been obviously affected by liquor, the distribution of wine in glass rather than in plastic containers, flagons being by nature such a dangerous weapon and so often used as such. There is justification on the facts for these submissions. Such things can be said to be contributing factors often present in thistype of case but, as l have said, the fundamental reasons for alcohol abuse and consequential violence go much deeper. It is Australia's problem; it won't go away. It can't be dealt with solely by the people of Alice Springs or other townships and it cannot be dealt with by the Aboriginals themselves without a lot of support and action.