Bayswater North man Benjamin Coman has lost his appeal against his jail term of up to 25 years for murdering his partner in 2021.
On Tuesday, 2 December, the Court of Appeal dismissed his argument for a reduced sentence due to his mental state at the time of the incident.
Coman fatally stabbed his pregnant former partner multiple times with a kitchen knife.
He later sought additional time to file an appeal, arguing that the sentencing judge failed to properly consider his psychiatric illness in assessing his moral culpability.
Coman and his former partner shared two children, with a third on the way at the time of her death.
The judge stated the crime was shaped by the breakdown of their troubled relationship.
The couple had been separated for several weeks, and on the morning of the murder, Coman was observed by a friend as appearing ‘normal’ and ‘not affected by drugs.’
In interviews with forensic psychiatrist Dr Andrew Carroll, Coman described his anger and resentment.
Initially he planned to harm himself in front of his partner to ‘traumatise’ her, he impulsively decided to kill her instead.
Coman admitted to hearing voices but acknowledged that his anger, not the hallucinations, led to the murder.
Dr Carroll diagnosed Coman with psychotic depression and a long-standing delusional disorder, but emphasised that Coman understood the wrongfulness of his actions.
The court agreed, and found that Coman was not acting under a delusion that prevented him from understanding the severity of his actions.
The sentencing judge accepted Dr Carroll’s diagnosis but concluded that the crime was primarily driven by personal anger, including jealousy and resentment.
While the psychiatric condition may have intensified his emotions, it did not impair his ability to reason or foresee the consequences.
As a result, the judge applied only a modest reduction in moral culpability.
On appeal, Coman argued that the sentencing judge had improperly emphasised his awareness of wrongfulness.
The Court of Appeal rejected this, stating that the judge had conducted a thorough assessment of Coman’s mental illness and its limited effect on his reasoning.
The Court upheld the judge’s decision and found no error in the modest reduction in culpability, and therefore, denied Coman’s request for additional time to appeal.
