Martin Leach

Case record

Martin Leach (born 11 January 1959 in New Zealand) was a convicted rapist and was convicted of double murder. He was imprisoned at the Alice Springs Correctional Centre and served three consecutive life sentences without parole.

Background

Leach met his wife when aged sixteen and they married in 1979. In 1978, Leach was involved in a serious motor vehicle accident near Mataranka which left him seriously injured.

The offence

Rape

In 1979, Leach raped a woman at knifepoint after breaking into her house. He was sentenced to three years imprisonment.

Double murder

On 20 June 1983, an eighteen year old local woman, Janice Carnegie, and her fifteen year old cousin, Charmaine Aviet, were swimming at a popular recreational waterhole at Berry Springs. Leach watched the girls for some time before forcing them at knifepoint to accompany him to a nearby gully. He stabbed Janice in the stomach when she attempted to reach for Leach's knife. Following the stabbing, he then raped her. He stabbed and killed Charmaine, then stabbed Janice in the neck; a pathologist testified it probably took her 5 to 10 minutes to die. Their naked bodies were later found bound and gagged in a shallow grave.

A pathologist also testified it probably took her five to 10 minutes to die.

Investigation

Leach was convicted of abducting two teenaged girls, raping one and stabbing both to death.

Trial

On 10 May 1984, Leach was charged with two counts of murder and one count of rape by Northern Territory Police. Six days later, he was convicted by a jury on all three counts.

Justice Muirhead sentenced Leach to imprisonment for life on each count. The life sentences were to run consecutively with each other and with a three-month sentence for assaulting a prison officer while on remand.

At the time he was sentenced for murdering the two girls, there was no power to fix a non-parole period for life sentences in the Northern Territory and the only possibility of release was executive clemency.

Sentencing

Justice Muirhead sentenced Leach to imprisonment for life on each count, to run consecutively with each other and with a three-month sentence for assaulting a prison officer while on remand.

Appeals

In 2004, legislation came into effect providing for non-parole periods for life sentences for murder after that date. For an offender already serving life sentence(s), a section provided that the sentence be taken to include a 20 year non-parole period, or 25 years for those jailed for aggravated murder; on that basis, Leach would have been eligible for parole in 2009.

Less than a month after the law took effect, the DPP made an application to revoke Leach's non-parole period and order that he spend the remainder of his life in jail. The application was granted by Chief Justice Brian Martin.

The decision was upheld in a majority decision by the NT Court of Criminal Appeal. The Court of Criminal Appeal ruled that Leach's culpability was so extreme that the community's interest could only be served if he was imprisoned for the term of his natural life without the possibility of release on parole.

The dissenting judge, Justice Stephen Southwood, said that he would have fixed a non-parole period of 40 years, making Leach eligible for parole in 2024 at the age of 65.

Leach appealed to the High Court arguing that Chief Justice Martin had not shown he was satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Leach's culpability was so extreme as to require a life sentence without parole. High Court judges found Chief Justice Martin had applied the correct tests.

High Court Chief Justice Murray Gleeson remarked:

"He considered each of the specific aspects of community interest ... and ultimately came to the conclusion that he should refuse to fix a non-parole period"

The High Court judges described Leach's crimes as "horrific" and said he had shown no remorse.

Leach exhausted all avenues of appeal.

Outcome

The High Court ruled unanimously that the Northern Territory court had not erred in deciding that Martin Leach, convicted of abducting two teenaged girls, raping one and stabbing both to death, should stay in prison for life with no chance of parole.

Aftermath

Leach was described as one of, if not the Northern Territory's worst killer and as the longest serving prisoner in the Northern Territory. He would die in jail.

Other details

Leach had a record of violent conduct. In May 1979, he broke into a Darwin house and raped a female resident at knifepoint. He was jailed for three years and released in June 1982. At the time he was sentenced for murdering the two girls, NT courts had no power to fix a non-parole period for life sentences and the only possibility of release was executive clemency.

The court was told Leach abducted the two young women, aged 15 and 18, from a bushland swimming pool on June 23, 1983. He forced them at knifepoint to accompany him to a nearby gully. He cut off their clothing and used it to bind and gag the 15-year-old. He then stabbed the 18-year-old and, with the knife still embedded in her, bound, gagged and raped her. He stabbed and killed the younger girl, then stabbed the older teenager a second time. Leach was then aged about 24 and living in Darwin.

In December 1982, Leach was made redundant. Apart from employment for a period of one week in March 1983, he remained unemployed, while his wife was in full time employment.