Benjamin Hoffmann sentenced for killing Hassan Baydoun, Michael Sisois, Rob Courtney, Nigel Hellings

Darwin killer Benjamin Hoffmann has been sentenced for killing Hassan Baydoun, Michael Sisois, Rob Courtney and Nigel Hellings. But closure for their families is fragile - see why here.

“Your personality cannot be cured.”

With these words, a judge ordered brutal “egocentric and cowardly” Benjamin Hoffmann to serve life in prison for the cold-blooded slaughter of four innocent men in Darwin’s CBD in 2019.

More than three years after Hoffmann’s murderous rampage shocked Australia, the families of Hassan Baydoun, Michael Sisois, Rob Courtney and Nigel Hellings have been given closure - for now.

But that closure hangs in the balance with confirmation the mass killer will appeal his sentence.

(Clockwise from top left) Nigel Hellings, Hassan Baydoun, Rob Courtney and Michael Sisois were killed by Benjamin Hoffmann on June 4, 2019. Picture: Supplied

On Thursday in the Supreme Court, where the events of June 4, 2019 have been replayed time and time again, Hoffmann, 48, was sentenced to life imprisonment with no parole for each murder.

“You engaged in a deliberate course of seeking out those who you felt had wronged you”, Justice John Burns said in his sentencing remarks.

“As it turned out you killed four innocent people. These were men who had family and friends, people whose lives have been altered forever by your cowardly, egocentric behaviour.

“The victim impact statements tendered by the Crown speak of the ongoing pain felt by the families and friends of those that you killed.

Darwin mass-murderer Benjamin Hoffmann was sentenced to life in prison with no parole in the Supreme Court on Thursday. Sketch: Stuart Thornton

“Your conduct was brazen with you committing these offences openly and in the vicinity of witnesses. You deliberately used a lethal weapon because your intention was to kill.

“You committed these offences after using methamphetamine, a substance you knew had the effect of making you prone to commit violent crimes.

“Your level of culpability is so extreme that you should be required to suffer the maximum penalty available for the offences of murder.”

In his sentencing, Justice Burns described Hoffmann’s victims as “entirely innocent” and “effectively defenceless”.

Darwin murderer Ben Hoffmann has been sentenced to life in prison but will appeal.

Hoffmann pleaded guilty four weeks into his trial in November last year to the murders of Mr Baydoun, Mr Sisois and Mr Courtney, as well as the manslaughter of Mr Hellings.

About two weeks after his plea, he sacked his second legal team.

Justice Burns described the murder of Mr Baydoun as a “brutal killing in which you shot the victim four times - twice to the right arm, once to the chest and finally to the left side of his head”.

“This final shot was fired when the victim was already dead and establishes beyond any doubt, if any such doubt could exist, that it was your intention to kill Mr Baydoun,” he said.

Ben Hoffmann outside NT Police's Peter McAulay Centre during his murderous shotgun rampage in June 2019. Picture: Supplied/Courts NT

Justice Burns said in murdering Mr Sisois, Hoffmann “took advantage” of the relationship with his victim to lure him to the Buff Club, where he used his “physical advantage” to knock Mr Sisous to the ground and “incapacitate” him before he shot him in the head at “close range”.

Justice Burns said the murder of Mr Courtney, who had 36 stab wounds, was “prolonged and vicious”.

“The victim was shot and stabbed and had at least 69 observed injuries,” he said.

“There can be no doubt that you intended to kill the victim.”

Justice Burns said Hoffmann, who crossed himself as his sentencing began, would be “a threat to members of the community” for the rest of his life.

“Your personality cannot be cured,” he said.

“I am satisfied that it is a near certainty that you return to the use of methamphetamine if you were released and it was primarily the effect of this drug that led to you committing the present offences.

“Your tendency to resort to the use of lethal weapons to commit violent offences means that even advancing age will not reduce to an acceptable level the threat that you present to others.”

Ben Hoffmann is treated by staff at Royal Darwin Hospital after his arrest on June 4, 2019. Picture: Supplied

The court heard Hoffmann told doctors he believed he was poisoned before his killing spree and he had received threats from bikies, including jailed Mongols member Shane Mulhall and former president of the Darwin chapter of the Hells Angles Ian “Krane” Hogan.

Outside the Supreme Court following Hoffmann’s sentence, Damita Jerome, who was shot in the legs by Hoffmann during his killing spree, said she was “glad that justice had finally been served after three years and four months”.

“I haven’t really recovered,” she said.

“I’m still dealing with the injuries that I have to my knees, legs, but I suppose there’s not much I can do about that.

“I’ve been waiting such a long time and finally it’s been dealt with.”

Benjamin Hoffmann's lawyer Dr Patricia Petersen said her client would appeal his sentence.

Hoffmann’s lawyer, Patricia Petersen, said her client would appeal his sentence.

”I think Mr Hoffmann’s very much in shock and is equally surprised by the sentence,” Dr Petersen said.

Earlier outside of court, she said Hoffmann’s mental health had “significantly deteriorated” over the past week.

“He prays for the victims, he cries for the victims, he feels sick to his stomach about what he’s done,” she said.

Originally published as Benjamin Hoffmann sentenced for killing Hassan Baydoun, Michael Sisois, Rob Courtney, Nigel Hellings