Aaron Michael Lord was found not criminally responsible for the murder of Ray McCormack at Wollongong train station due to mental health issues. Justice Deborah Sweeney ordered Lord to remain in custody and be referred to a mental health tribunal. The victim, a 68-year-old homeless man, was killed in the stairwell of the station's car park in May 2024.
)Aaron Michael Lord, 38, has been found not criminally responsible due to mental health impairment for the murder of Ray McCormack. Mr McCormack, 68, was killed inside the stairwell of Wollongong train station's multi-level car park in May 2024.
Justice Deborah Sweeney ordered Mr Lord to remain in custody and be referred to the mental health review tribunal.Share article The New South Wales Supreme Court has found a man not criminally responsible for murdering rough sleeper Ray McCormack near Wollongong train station. The body of the 68-year-old grandfather was discovered inside the stairwell of Wollongong Station's multi-level car park on the morning of May 12, 2024. Aaron Michael Lord, 38, pleaded not guilty to one count of murder and successfully applied for a judge-only trial on the grounds of mental health impairment. During a sentencing hearing before Justice Deborah Sweeney in thew NSW Supreme Court on Wednesday, the court heard Mr Lord and the victim were both homeless, living on opposite ends of the public car park. Seventeen minutes of security vision was played in court, showing Mr Lord shove Mr McCormack against a small retaining wall outside the car park in the early hours of May 12, 2024, before both men entered the stairwell.ABC Illawarra: Penny BurfittMr Lord was shown moments later using a fire reel to hose down the inside of the stairwell where Mr McCormack's body was later found. The court heard Mr McCormack had died as a result of blunt force trauma to his head as well as a number of other injuries. "What a terrible and lonely situation it was to die in those circumstances," Justice Sweeney said while noting that the victim's son and daughter-in-law were present in the court.Mr McCormack's son Jason read victim impact statements on behalf of his two brothers expressing their grief over their father's death."He was very different people living in the same body," son Michael said in a statement.ABC Illawarra: Tim Fernandez"One side was a loving and devoted father who never missed a moment to take me to sport ... the other was someone who struggled with mental health issues." Jason told the court he would often see his father at Wollongong train station on his way to work "with cuts, bruises and a permanent limp which worsened over time". "The first time I saw him homeless, it felt like I'd been stabbed ... with a wave of shock and confusion,"Ray McCormack's death in Wollongong's CBD sent shock waves through the community."The hope I had of getting my father back ... all came crashing down ," Jason said. "I've also become increasingly worried about the homeless and drug epidemic ... and intend to give back to the organisation who helped my father." All three sons told the court that due to the nature of their father's death, they struggled to use the multi-level car park and public stairwells.Two psychological reports were read to the court by Justice Sweeney, with both diagnosing Mr Lord with schizophrenia. The court heard Mr Lord had been hearing voices in his head for up to 15 years, "believed the victim was a demon ... and that he was the archangel Michael who fights demons".ABC Illawarra: Penny BurfittJustice Sweeney told the court Mr Lord abused drugs, but that both psychologists found while it may have "worsened symptoms ... it was likely not the sole cause" of his behaviour."In accordance to Section 31 of the mental health impairment act, I find the killing of Mr McCormack proven but that Mr Lord is not criminally responsible for those acts."ABC Illawarra -- local news in your inbox
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