Zak Grieve: fixed terms a ‘silly nonsense’, says judge

The judge who sentenced Zak Grieve to a life says the laws that forced him to make that decision are a ‘nonsense’.

The judge who sentenced Zak Grieve to a life in prison has described­ the laws that forced him to make this decision as a “silly nonsense” which left him powerless to impose a jail term that was “just and fair”.

In 2013, in the Northern Territ­ory Supreme Court, judge Dean Mildren sentenced the 25-year-old Aboriginal man to a minimum 20-year sentence, despite­ saying in court that he believed Grieve was not there when the murder took place.

Speaking to The Australian, Justice Mildren said he regretted what happened in the case, and that he was compelled to jail Grieve in accordance with the mandatory sentencing laws in place in the Northern Territory.

‘I would have liked to have imposed sentences that were just and fair’: judge Dean Mildren had to give Grieve a life term. Photo: Glenn Hunt

“I would have liked to have imposed a sentence, sentences that were just and fair. I was prevente­d from doing so. So, yes, I do regret that,” he said.

Grieve was one of three men, along with Chris Malyschko and Darren Halfpenny, convicted of the 2011 murder, which took place in Katherine in the Northern Territory. The victim, a local man called Ray Niceforo, was beaten to death although there is conflicting evidence as to who physically took part in the attack.

Halfpenny, who agreed to co-operate with the prosecution in return for a possible discount on his sentence, said Grieve and Malyschko took part in the murder. Malyschko and Grieve both said Grieve pulled out at the last minute and went home.

While forensic evidence directly­ links Halfpenny and Malyschko to the murder, no such evidence was found in connectio­n to Grieve.

While Grieve was found guilty of the murder by a jury, Justice Mildren subsequently found he “pulled out at the last minute”.

“If I were free to do so, I would impose a lesser non-parole period­­” than that required by the mandatory sentencing legislation, in which politicians tell judges how to punish certain crimes, the judge told The Australian. “I feel very sad and dis­appointed that the system is left powerless to do anything about it. Grieve was the one who was the least to blame. By any moral standard, anyway.’’

Asked how it felt to work within the mandatory sentencing system, he replied: “All you can do is your job.

“You can express­ your dislike, which is what I generally do, in the hope that the people will take notice of it. And that we can stop this silly nonsense of mandatory minimum sentencing.”