Mum who killed three children’s jail sentence slash under review
A DECISION to slash the sentence of a woman who drove four of her children into a lake, killing three of them, is being reviewed by the Director of Public Prosecutions.
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A DECISION to slash the sentence of a woman who drove four of her children into a lake, killing three of them, is being reviewed by the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Akon Guode, 39, on Thursday had her 26½-year sentence reduced to 18 years, with a minimum of 14, for the infanticide of son Bol, 17 months old, the murders of twins Hangar and Madit, 4, and the attempted murder of daughter Aluel, 5.
The new non-parole term of 14 years is equal to about 4½ years’ jail for each of the three children she killed.
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The mother of seven, who drove into Lake Gladman at Wyndham Vale on April 8, 2015, with the four children in her 4WD, pleaded guilty.
The full bench of the Court of Appeal said Guode’s sentence was manifestly excessive, particularly given that her mind was disturbed at the time.
Chief Justice Anne Ferguson and Justices Phillip Priest and David Beach said in reaching their decision, they had been mindful that three vulnerable children had lost their lives and a fourth nearly did. “Adjectives such as ‘tragic’ are inadequate to convey the depth of emotional response provoked by the destruction of such innocent lives,” their decision says.
“But it must also be remembered … (Guode’s) capacity to make calm and rational decisions was severely compromised by a mental condition not of her own making.”
Danielle Alosi, of the Office of Public Prosecutions, told the Herald Sun: “The DPP is carefully reviewing the judgment delivered by the Court of Appeal to determine whether the decision is appealable.”
Victims of Crime Commissioner Greg Davies said nothing would bring back the three children. “She will probably be out of prison in 11 years (with time already served) … three babies murdered. It will raise a few eyebrows and have people wondering why all of a sudden in the 21st century life appears to be so cheap,” he said.
Guode was the first woman to be jailed for infanticide in Victoria. She originally received a year for that offence, 22 years for each murder and six years for attempted murder. The infanticide sentence is unchanged; the sentence for each murder has been reduced to 16 years’ jail, and the attempted murder to four years.
After orders for concurrency were made, Guode was originally sentenced to a total of 26½ years’ jail with a minimum non-parole term of 20 years.
Julian McMahon, SC, for Guode, had told the court his client should have received a shorter jail term because she had been mentally disturbed.
A woman is guilty of infanticide if she kills a child aged up to two in circumstances that would constitute murder, but does so while mentally unbalanced from the effects of the child’s birth.
Mr McMahon argued that the crimes had been committed as a single act, and the acceptance that Guode’s “balance of mind was disturbed” meant that the “merciful disposition” in the sentencing for infanticide must apply to the sentences for the other crimes.
The Crown argued the sentencing judge had taken account of her mental state.
Guode, who survived war in Sudan, suffered from post-natal depression and had been faced with growing debts.
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