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In July 2006, Timothy Nam pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Michael Pestano and maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm to Frank Cocker and Ronald Howell. These offences respectively carry maximum sentences of twenty five years and seven years imprisonment. The offence occurred in July 2004 at the property that the Nams were living on. They had an agreement with the Taylor family to live on their property but after the families fell out the Taylors wanted the Nams to move out. The Taylors used Michael Pestano, who was known to police as a standover man and extortionist, to forcibly remove the Nams. Pestano and his associates terrorized the Nam family to such an extent that they were in fear for their lives. The family was verbally assaulted, their windows were smashed, their power cut, their water supply lost and access to their vehicle removed.
Because of the gross provocation that the Nam family was subjected to Justice Adams significantly reduced Timothy Nam’s culpability. Nam was sentenced to the minimum custodial sentence possible. (Two years for manslaughter and eighteen months for assault.) He was released on 1 September 2006, as the Parole Board had to make an order for his release and did not do so until a month after the sentence.
R v Nam [2006] NSWSC 802; 2 August 2006.
1. Newspaper articles on Proquest ANZ Newsstand, available remotely to registered clients of the State Library of NSW. Type in pestano and nam.
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Michael Pestano
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