Conspiracy to murder

If you agree that you have committed the offence and the police are able to prove all the elements of the offence, it is best to plead guilty at an early opportunity to receive the maximum discount. Currently the maximum discount available for an early plea of guilty is 25% of the sentence.

Furthermore, the early guilty plea shows the Court that you have remorse and contrition for your actions.

Our Lawyers at National Criminal Lawyers work closely with you to ensure that we obtain all necessary paper work to get you the best result.

For offenders of conspiracy to murder the maximum penalty is imprisonment for 25 years.

Please note these penalties are reserved for the worst kind of offending and are unlikely to be what you would receive.

If you decide to plead not guilty you will need to prepare to go to a Defended Hearing.

A defended hearing is where all the witnesses of that case are called to give evidence. The witnesses are both examined by the prosecution and tested by your defence lawyers.

National Criminal Lawyers have defended several Conspiracy to murder charges and are experts at these hearings.

Some of the possible defences available for those charged with Conspiracy to murder can include;

• • To argue that you did not solicit, encourage, propose, persuade or endeavour to persuade someone;
  • To argue that what you solicited, encouraged, proposed to do, persuaded or endeavoured to persuade someone to do was not to commit murder; or
  • To argue that you did not conspire or agree with another person;
  • To argue that what you conspired or agreed to do was not to commit murder;
  • If you were compelled to act in a certain way due to the circumstances, or the threats of another you may be able to argue “Duress”;
  • If your actions were necessary to prevent a greater harm from occurring, you may have the defence of “Necessity” or
  • If you were defending yourself or another OR yours or another’s property you may have a Defence of Self-Defence. Many people misunderstand what the limits of Self-defence can be. Most think it is simply outlined in section 418 of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), however, there is lawful authority to argue self-defence even in situations where “Pre-Emptive Force” is used. Moreover, at times there “No duties or need to retreat”.

In NSW, a court can impose any of the following penalties for a Conspiracy to murder charge.

• • • Prison sentence;
    • Home Detention;
    • Intensive correction order (previously periodic detention);
    • Suspended sentence;
    • Community service order (CSO);

However, from the 24 September 2018 new penalty’s will be replacing the above. They are as follows:

• • • Full time Imprisonment;
    • New ICO (ICO) with a home detention condition available;
    • New Community Correction Order (CCO);