Mark Charles Stanley pleads guilty to 2021 Wellington murder

A man has pleaded guilty to murdering another man during a failed armed robbery in the NSW Central West, despite his lawyer stating his client “did not pull the trigger”.

The sentence hearing took place at a Supreme Court at Orange Local Court. Picture: Dylan Robinson

The lawyer of a man who pleaded guilty to murdering a man during a botched armed robbery in the NSW Central West told a court his client didn’t have the gun.

Mark Charles Stanley, 22, faced a Supreme Court in Orange on Thursday for a sentencing hearing after pleading guilty to the murder of 58-year-old Paul Jacques in 2021.

He also pleaded guilty to assault with an intention to rob while armed with a dangerous weapon.

On August 2 2021, Stanley, Titan Gilkes, 23, and Brandon Madden attempted to rob the house of Mr Jacques on Gisborne St, Wellington in the early hours of the morning.

However, the attempt went south when Titan Gilkes, who was 19 at the time, shot Mr Jacques through a door.

Paul Jacques had been shot in his home on Gisborne St back in 2021. Picture: Google Maps

Mr Jacques had been behind the door, which neither Gilkes nor Stanley were aware of at the time, and was hit by shotgun pellets in his leg.

Emergency services had been called to the property, with Mr Jacques being treated at the scene.

The sentence hearing happened over two days at the Orange Local Court.

Mr Jacques went into cardiac arrest on the way to the Orange Base Hospital and died.

As a result of the incident, Strike Force Clavert was established and Stanley was arrested and charged on May 29 2023, and Gilkes on June 7 2023.

Gilkes pleaded guilty to the murder and was sentenced in February to 14 years and three months’ jail, with a non-parole period of 9 years and 6 months.

Madden, who is now deceased, was never charged for the incident prior to his death.

In court on Thursday, Stanley’s lawyer, Nicholas Broadbent SC told the court that although his client had pleaded guilty to the murder, he pointed out he “did not pull the trigger”.

“That is obviously the most substantial aspect,” Mr Broadbent said.

“Ultimately, what went wrong and led to what Justice Hamill described as the tragic outcome for everybody involved in this case was the discharge of the weapon.”

Mr Broadbent also submitted that Stanley’s moral culpability was reduced by a combination of his age, immaturity, his mental health, his “severely disadvantaged upbringing” and substance use.

He also pointed out how remorseful his client was that the robbery ended in a death.

“Mr Stanley quite plainly says in his letter. He says ‘I feel so bad about what happened. I never intended (for) anybody to get hurt. If I could change the past, I would but I can’t and I just have to live with it’,” Mr Broadbent said.

The crown prosecutor argued that while Mr Jacques’s death was a “tragic and senseless loss of life” and “unintended”, Stanley was still part of it.

“The crown contends that the offender, together with Mr Gilkes and Mr Madden, went to 46 Gisborne St loaded with a firearm with the intention of committing a robbery of either drugs or money or both,” she said.

“When that did not go as planned, when they could not get through the door, though they tried, that Mr Gilkes fired through the door in a downward motion … encouraged by the offender.”

The matter has been adjourned and Stanley will return to the same court on July 15 for sentencing.