An intellectually disabled woman found guilty of a Dapto man’s manslaughter would spend two and a half years in prison, were her crimes not instead to be dealt with under mental health legislation, a judge has determined.
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Pearl Wilson, then 59, repeatedly doused 46-year-old Jason Shepstone in scalding water in the hours leading to his February 12, 2013, death.
Beset by mental impairments, Wilson was declared unfit for trial by jury. Instead she faced a special hearing in the NSW Supreme Court before Judge Monika Schmidt.
The judge accepted Wilson was in an abusive relationship with Mr Shepstone, and that his violence toward her had contributed to her loss of self-control the day of his death.
Justice Schmidt found Wilson not guilty of murder, but guilty of manslaughter, in December last year.
In a judgement handed down on Friday, the judge nominated a “limiting term” – two years and six months – as the period of imprisonment Wilson would have faced, in regular court proceedings.
But it will now be for the quasi-judicial Mental Health Review Tribunal to decide whether Wilson spends the term in a mental health facility, or elsewhere.
She has been granted bail to live at a Dapto address, meantime.
The judge noted Wilson has been receiving “extensive treatment” in the community as her legal case progressed.
The court earlier heard Wilson, an Aboriginal woman, had lived a life of “extremely difficult personal circumstances” and a “background of profound deprivation”. Her childhood was marred by her parents’ heavy drinking and as a child she was abused at home and strangled until she passed out. She was placed in care and was never taught to read or write.
She had a non-abusive relationship with a man for 21 years before she began living with Mr Shepstone.
She was assessed as having an IQ of just 63 and suffered a mild intellectual impairment and PTSD, vascular dementia, heart disease, diabetes and substance use disorder. She had suffered a small vessel ischemia, infarct haemorrhage and cognitive problems, the court heard.
The judge considered a victim impact statement from Mr Shepstone’s mother, which detailed his own diminished intellectual capacity – a result of oxygen deprivation during his premature birth – and his mother’s devastation at his death.
The Mental Health Review Tribunal is tasked with balancing the rights of the individual – for liberty, safety, treatment, freedom from unnecessary intervention – against the community’s right to safety and protection.
Angela Thompson
Proudly Illawarra Mercury since 2008; these days covering crime and justice issues. UOW alum. Thrilled by the chase and sobered by some of the things I see and hear when I stand still - sometimes in the same day. ang.thompson@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Proudly Illawarra Mercury since 2008; these days covering crime and justice issues. UOW alum. Thrilled by the chase and sobered by some of the things I see and hear when I stand still - sometimes in the same day. ang.thompson@austcommunitymedia.com.au
