DANCE STEP INTO THE LIGHT, SHARE YOUR GIFTS AND TALENTS WITH THE WORLD.

July 07, 2004
THE widow of a murdered New South Wales taxi driver today said justice was not served by the 12-year jail term given to her husband's killer.

Kevin Lester, 55, was fatally stabbed near the south coast town of Nowra on the eve of his son's wedding five years ago.

Today the NSW Supreme Court jailed his killer, Shannon Blake Wilson, for a maximum 12 years.

With time already served, Wilson will be eligible for parole in October 2007.

Outside court, Lorraine Lester said her family was disappointed with the sentence.









"Justice has not been served as far as we're concerned," she said.

NSW Opposition Leader John Brogden today echoed the family's hopes that the Director of Public Prosecutions would appeal against the leniency of the sentence.

"Twelve years dishonours (Mr Lester's) name and more particularly it's an insult to the family he's left behind," Mr Brogden said.

Mr Lester was murdered on October 15, 1999 after driving Wilson to bushland on Nowra's outskirts, where they argued because Wilson had no money for the fare.

Wilson stabbed Mr Lester in the chest with a knife he habitually carried and stole the cabbie's takings.

He later hid the knife, threw away the car keys and torched the taxi in an effort to destroy the evidence.

Wilson was arrested a week later but the Mental Health Tribunal found him unfit to face an ordinary trial because of depression.

After a special hearing in 2002, in which a jury found Wilson was responsible for killing Mr Lester, NSW Supreme Court Justice James Wood imposed a "limiting term" of 18 years on Wilson.

But a subsequent tribunal review determined Wilson was fit to be tried and this year he pleaded guilty to murder.

Justice Carolyn Simpson today jailed the 23-year-old for 12 years, with an eight-year non-parole period.

She said she was "well aware that this sentence may appear lenient", but trusted those who thought so to understand the reasons which informed her decision.

Justice Simpson said Wilson, a man of low intelligence with no previous criminal history, was "genuinely remorseful and contrite".

She also took into account his guilty plea, "seriously disadvantaged start in life, and his genuine and successful efforts towards rehabilitation".

"Four-and-a-half years in custody have worked what may fairly be described as a remarkable transformation," she said.

She balanced these mitigating factors against the seriousness of the crime, including Wilson's use of a knife and the fact that Mr Lester's occupation made him vulnerable to violence.

But the judge was not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Wilson committed the murder in the course of a premeditated robbery.

Justice Simpson said she had "at all times borne in mind that a human life has been senselessly taken", and the impact on Mr Lester's family.

"I have not overlooked the tragic loss of Mr Lester's life or Mr Wilson's clear culpability," Justice Simpson said.

The DPP, Nicholas Cowdery, QC, was unavailable for comment today.

I THINK NICK COWDERY HAS A LOT TO ANSWER FOR.