Likiardopoulos v. The Queen

Lower Court Judgment

17/12/2010 Supreme Court of Victoria (Court of Appeal) (Buchanan, Ashley, and Tate JJA)

[2010 ] VSCA 344

Catchwords

Criminal law — Homicide — Murder — Joint criminal enterprise — Counselling and procuring — Deceased victim an intellectually disabled 22 year old — Victim was missing for several months before body found — Applicant and others were charged with murder — Evidence demonstrated that applicant and co-accused engaged in sustained assault over the course of several days on the victim — Crown accepted pleas of lesser offences by applicant's co-accused namely manslaughter and being an accessory after the fact to manslaughter — Applicant found guilty of murder — Whether it is an abuse of process for the Crown to present a case based on the allegation that an accused has counselled or procured another or others to commit murder (a derivative form of liability) when none of the alleged principals had been convicted of murder — Whether the trial judge erred in leaving to the jury the accused's liability for counselling or procuring another or others to commit murder when none of the alleged principals had been convicted of murder.

Short Particulars