In sentencing, Justice Ellis noted that Frost had harboured resentment toward his father over separating from his mother, and had been left a “ticking time bomb” by his use of drugs and alcohol. In the High Court, defence counsel Paul Keegan described his client as a “young, emotionally-damaged man”, and told the court how, at one point, he’d acknowledged that his actions were “disgusting” and that he’d “acted like a monster”. “The order that Mr Frost serve a minimum period of imprisonment of 20 years is set aside and substituted with an order that Mr Frost serve a minimum period of imprisonment of 18 years.” “On that basis, we allow Mr Frost’s appeal and substitute an MPI of 18 years in place of the 20-year MPI set by the High Court,” the Appeal Court justices said. These included his previous lack of convictions, his life experiences since witnessing his mother’s death at the age of 16, heavy alcohol use, and complex mental health issues.Ĭlinical reports had raised the possibility of an emerging or underlying psychiatric or psychotic illness. They said a further discount of three years would recognise his “personal mitigating circumstances”. They said a two-year discount, from the starting point of 23 years, would be an appropriate recognition of Frost’s guilty pleas. “Given the different factors which apply to a guilty plea discount, and discounts for personal mitigating factors, we consider it is preferable for a judge to separately identify those components,” the Court of Appeal justices said. She did not identify what part of that overall discount was a response to Frost’s guilty plea, and what part responded to personal mitigating factors that had been reported to the court. In sentencing Frost, Justice Ellis calculated the minimum non-parole period by deducting three years from a starting point of 23 years. Justice Rebecca Ellis presided over Frost's High Court sentencing.
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