STATE OF TASMANIA v TAMARA NICOLE ADAMS 5 APRIL 2023
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE BLOW CJ
Ms Adams has pleaded guilty to a charge of attempting to murder her father. She suffers from schizophrenia. She was a registered firearms owner.
This crime was committed on the evening of Friday 24 June 2022. At about 8.15pm, Ms Adams drove to her parents’ home in New Norfolk. She took with her a rifle that she owned, loaded with two magazines, as well as a kitchen knife. She had wrapped the knife in a tea towel and placed it in her back pocket.
Her parents were in their kitchen with a visitor, Ms Davis. Ms Adams entered the house, went into the kitchen, placed the rifle on the kitchen bench, and crouched down so that she was looking over the top of the barrel. She aimed the rifle at her father and swore at him. She said, “This is the last time you will lord it over me again you bastard.” He twice asked what was going on and what was the matter. He recalls Ms Adams mumbling a response. Then she fired a single shot, which hit him to the side of the face. He placed his hand over the wound to try to stop the bleeding, and stumbled backwards to the floor. Mrs Adams and Ms Davis fled and phoned the police.
Mr Adams remained on the floor. He again asked his daughter what was going on and what was the matter. He recalls that she was raving. She took the knife from her back pocket, and stabbed her father multiple times to his neck, chest and arm. He tried to get her to talk to him but she did not respond. She ceased her attack, removed her shoes, and stayed with her father until the police arrived. She let them in and said words to the effect of, “I shot him and stabbed him but I couldn’t finish the job.”
Ms Adams was arrested and has been in custody ever since. A blood sample was taken from her. It revealed that there were no illicit substances present in her blood. She took part in a police interview and made full admissions. She said that she wanted to kill her father and understood that her actions could have led to his death. She said she did not want to discuss the reasons for her actions.
The complainant was taken to the Royal Hobart Hospital. His injuries consisted of a large wound to the right cheek involving a comminuted fracture of the mandible, and multiple neck wounds. The cheek wound contained multiple small metal fragments. The less complex wounds were repaired using sutures and staples. The mandible was repaired using a bone graft harvested from Mr Adams’ right hip. Plates and screws had to be inserted. The wound over the mandible was too large to be repaired with sutures. A muscle and a flap of overlying skin were shifted into position to close that wound. A surgical tracheotomy was performed to assist with Mr Adams’ breathing. The bullet was close to his spine, and was therefore not removed from his body. That bullet may cause significant medical problems for him in the future. He remained in hospital for five weeks. Until his discharge his tracheotomy was in place and he was not able to eat.
Mr Adams had a stroke about 14 months before this incident. His rehabilitation had been going well before he was attacked. His wounds prevented him from walking, talking or eating. He now has a tendency to choke on food. There was an incident during November when a paramedic had to dislodge food from his windpipe and administer CPR. His facial disfigurement is significant. He has ongoing psychological symptoms and is heartbroken about what his daughter did to him. He is sad all the time and becomes upset very easily.
The incident also had a significant psychological impact on Ms Adams’ mother. She has experienced a range of psychological symptoms and has received counselling. The incident has also had a significant psychological impact on Ms Davis, and has interfered with her relationship with Mr and Mrs Adams. Ms Adams has a sister who lives in another State. She has made a large number of trips to Tasmania to provide support for her parents.
Ms Adams was 47 years old when she committed this crime and is now 48. She has a number of minor convictions for driving and firearms offences. In 1997 she was given a wholly suspended sentence of four months’ imprisonment in relation to an attempted $28,000 insurance fraud.
I have been provided with a thorough report by a forensic psychiatrist. It is clear that Ms Adams was suffering from schizophrenia and that her commission of this crime was related to that mental illness. She was diagnosed with schizophrenia as long ago as 1998. Her condition has been unusually difficult to treat. That is not because of any unwillingness about compliance with treatment, but she has needed medication that is normally the medication of last resort and even then it has not entirely relieved her symptoms. In 2020 that medication was reduced. It appears that at the time of this crime she was taking medication as prescribed but was taking it at a sub-therapeutic level. She was experiencing auditory hallucinations. She committed this crime as a result of a paranoid psychotic delusion. She believed that her father was going to kill her and reacted on the sudden by setting out with a knife to kill him so that he would not kill her. As she was leaving her home it occurred to her that it might be a good idea to take her firearm, and she did.
There are a couple of other matters that need to be mentioned that are minor relevant mitigating circumstances. She cooperated fully with the police and she made admissions at an early stage. She pleaded guilty at an early stage. She was living in rented accommodation and has lost that accommodation as a result of being detained in custody. Her relationship with both parents has come to an end. She was leading a very isolated existence before this crime and now, once she is released from prison, she will probably lead an even more isolated existence because of her relationship with family members having come to an end.
But the most significant mitigating factor is that she committed this crime as a result of her mental illness. There is no suggestion that her mental illness affected her to such an extent that she could be found not guilty on the ground of insanity, but because of the significant contribution of her mental illness to the commission of this crime I am going to impose a more lenient sentence than I would otherwise impose, suspend part of it, and fix the shortest possible non-parole period. In relation to the suspension of the sentence I have decided that I should impose conditions requiring her to cooperate with Community Forensic Mental Health Services so that if she does not cooperate with that agency an application can be made for her to be dealt with for breaching the conditions of her suspended sentence.
Tamara Nicole Adams, I convict you and sentence you to 6 years’ imprisonment with effect from 24 June 2022. I suspend two years of that sentence on conditions that, for 4 years after release from prison:
- You must not commit any offence punishable by imprisonment.
- You must not take any illicit drugs.
- You must obtain treatment from Community Forensic Mental Health Services.
- You must take medication as prescribed for you.
- You must submit to supervision, management, monitoring of medication adherence, and drug testing by officers and nominees of Community Forensic Mental Health Services.
You will not be eligible for parole until you have served two years of this sentence.