Eternalknight
First Post
I found this article in the paper this morning quite amusing, in a tragic, sad kind of way:
[bq] A MAN who claims he thought aliens had invaded Earth when he killed an elderly driver in a road smash has been jailed for at least 10 years.
Roderick Nigel Martin, 36, was driving a stolen tip-truck when it collided head-on with a car driven by Raymond Turner, 66, on the Western Highway near Ballarat in July 2003.
The Supreme Court heard police had pursued Martin for 60km along the highway as he veered the stolen truck at other cars.
Martin told the court he believed aliens had taken over Earth and he was the last surviving human.
He said he had been hearing voices and thought the planet was going to collide with Mars.
The jury found him guilty of Mr Turner's manslaughter and of reckless conduct endangering life.
Justice Bernard Bongiorno said Martin was "floridly psychotic" at the time but he could not rely on that as a mitigating factor in his behaviour.
The court heard Martin suffered psychosis only after smoking cannabis or taking other illicit drugs.
Justice Bongiorno said Martin had been warned if he continued to take drugs he would be a risk to himself and others.
"Your failure to heed the warnings given to you, so that you persisted in illegal drugs taking, was a direct cause of your committing these offences," he said.
"The fact that you voluntarily took illegal drugs such that they caused you to become dangerously psychotic . . . is an aggravating factor."
Martin, of Adelaide, was sentenced to 14 years' jail with a minimum of 10. [/bq]
The article itself is here: http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,17627003%5E2862,00.html
[bq] A MAN who claims he thought aliens had invaded Earth when he killed an elderly driver in a road smash has been jailed for at least 10 years.
Roderick Nigel Martin, 36, was driving a stolen tip-truck when it collided head-on with a car driven by Raymond Turner, 66, on the Western Highway near Ballarat in July 2003.
The Supreme Court heard police had pursued Martin for 60km along the highway as he veered the stolen truck at other cars.
Martin told the court he believed aliens had taken over Earth and he was the last surviving human.
He said he had been hearing voices and thought the planet was going to collide with Mars.
The jury found him guilty of Mr Turner's manslaughter and of reckless conduct endangering life.
Justice Bernard Bongiorno said Martin was "floridly psychotic" at the time but he could not rely on that as a mitigating factor in his behaviour.
The court heard Martin suffered psychosis only after smoking cannabis or taking other illicit drugs.
Justice Bongiorno said Martin had been warned if he continued to take drugs he would be a risk to himself and others.
"Your failure to heed the warnings given to you, so that you persisted in illegal drugs taking, was a direct cause of your committing these offences," he said.
"The fact that you voluntarily took illegal drugs such that they caused you to become dangerously psychotic . . . is an aggravating factor."
Martin, of Adelaide, was sentenced to 14 years' jail with a minimum of 10. [/bq]
The article itself is here: http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,17627003%5E2862,00.html
