NEW SOUTH WALES COURT ISSUES JUDGEMENT FOR REX V/S CONNOR FULLER CASE

Australia, April 8 -- New South Wales Land and Environment Court issued text of the following judgement on March 7:

1. HIS HONOUR: The offender, Connor Fuller, is to be sentenced for two offences. The more serious is the offence of murder, namely, that on 28 July 2021 at South West Rocks, he murdered Mark Tozer, contrary to s 18(1)(a) of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW). He was convicted of that offence at a trial by a judge alone before me, on 12 November 2024: R v Fuller (No 4) [2024] NSWSC 1420 (the verdict judgment). At his arraignment on 23 September 2024, the offender entered a plea of guilty to an alternative charge of the manslaughter of Mark Tozer, which was consistent with his defence to the murder charge of excessive self-defence, as provided by s 418(2) of the Crimes Act. That plea was rejected by the Crown. The maximum penalty for the offence of murder is life imprisonment. If a determinate sentence is imposed, it has a standard non-parole period, in the circumstances of this case, of 20 years imprisonment.

2. At his arraignment, the offender entered a plea of guilty to a second count on the indictment, which was that on the same date, at South West Rocks and elsewhere, he intimidated Gregory Hunt, with the intention of causing him to fear physical or mental harm, contrary to s 13(1) of the Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Act 2007 (NSW) (the intimidation offence). That offence has a maximum penalty of 5 years imprisonment or 50 penalty points, or both.

3. The facts of the offences are canvassed in the verdict judgment. Briefly stated, they are as follows.

4. As to the intimidation offence, on the afternoon of 28 July 2021, the offender, who lived at South West Rocks with his mother, drove to West Kempsey where he visited a friend, Khan Mills, at his home. According to a statement made by Mr Mills to police the following evening, the offender left Mr Mills' home between 4pm and 5pm, saying he was driving home.

5. About 6:05pm, approximately 13km short of South West Rocks, the offender, who was driving alone, drew up in an intersection. Mr Hunt, who was also on his way to South West Rocks where he resided, drove past shortly afterwards. He was also driving alone. The two men did not know each other. Mr Hunt noticed the offender's car was parked so that it blocked a side road in the intersection. Mr Hunt's headlights were on high beam as he approached. They illuminated the offender, standing on the road side of his vehicle, urinating. He dipped his lights to low beam to give the offender some privacy, slowed down as he passed, and then continued on his way.

6. For an unknown reason, the offender drove after Mr Hunt and tailgated him all the way to South West Rocks. A light bar attached to the front of the offender's car was switched on over that journey. Mr Hunt was alarmed and drove directly to South West Rocks Police Station, which was a further 3km on in the downtown area. The police station was unattended at night. Mr Hunt pulled up out the front of it at 6:19pm. The offender drew alongside and called out to him, "You're fucked. I'll be back with my Rottweiler". The offender drove away and Mr Hunt drove home. These are the facts for sentence for the intimidation offence, although the evidence as to what the offender did in an attempt to make good his threat, is also relevant to the sentencing exercise.

7. In that regard, the offender drove home and picked up the family dog, which was a Rottweiler. As he got back into his car and drove away from his home, he was captured by a nearby CCTV audio yelling to himself, "Jump on his head right now before he gets home to his wife ... let's go" and "Before he gets home to his wife". When the offender arrived back at the police station at 6:28pm and saw that Mr Hunt's vehicle was no longer outside, he drove around the downtown area. I am satisfied that he was looking for Mr Hunt: see [363] of the verdict judgment.

8. The murder offence was committed in the following half-hour. The facts, briefly stated, are as follows. The offender pulled up alongside a bottle shop at 6:29pm and purchased six cans of pre-mixed bourbon and cola. Covid-19 pandemic restrictions applied at the time. He entered the bottle shop not wearing a mask and was told to wait outside while staff got his order. He repeatedly tried to enter the shop and when rebuffed by staff, threatened to report the shop to the local Council, saying he had seen customers previously enter without masks. Based on the accounts of the staff as to their observations of the offender, I conclude that his behaviour was somewhat menacing.

9. The offender drove off. He initially, again, circled through the downtown area and then drove towards his home. His route took him at 6:38pm past the service station, where Mr Tozer had just finished work. Mr Tozer, who was aged 61, and the offender also did not know each other. Mr Tozer's car was parked on the road adjacent to the service station. Mr Tozer was in the driver's seat, about to drive home, when the offender drove past him. The offender drifted to the left out of his own lane and into the parking lane. His near-side car mirror impacted and knocked off the off-side mirror of Mr Tozer's vehicle. As I found in the verdict judgment at [369]-[374], I am satisfied that the offender knew immediately that he had impacted Mr Tozer's vehicle and decided to not stop. He continued to drive home and Mr Tozer gave chase. Approximately three minutes after the impact, at 6:41pm and 20 seconds, the offender pulled up in the driveway of his own home, quickly followed by Mr Tozer.

10. Mr Tozer alighted from his vehicle and is captured by the CCTV audio saying to the offender, in a questioning but firm tone, "What the fuck is your problem? Why'd you get my ... Why'd ... dipstick". Mr Tozer walked up the driveway towards the offender, who shouted aggressively at him, "Don't be jumping up to my face cunt I'll knock you clean the fuck out". That is followed by the sound of an impact. The movement of figures thereafter, that can vaguely be seen on another CCTV, is consistent with Mr Tozer walking back down the driveway, closely followed by the offender. I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that those movements by the two men occurred.

*Rest of the document and Footnotes can be viewed at: (https://www.caselaw.nsw.gov.au/decision/1951ba685ec6884b628c8540)

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