William Bugmy’s High Court case has shaped justice for the most vulnerable and deprived in NSW. Now he has been charged with a murder in Sydney’s inner west.
William David Bugmy rose from the drugs and violence of far west NSW to redefine the justice system’s understanding of disadvantage and Aboriginality. Now, a decade on, he has been charged with murder.
Lawyers, judges and magistrates cite Bugmy’s High Court case while sentencing people from damaged or disadvantaged histories – a common trait in criminal justice. Bugmy’s case allows courts to weigh any disadvantage against the “moral culpability” for their crimes. Lead appeals judge Justice Clifford Hoeben made one comment that came to define a debate about the experiences of Aboriginal people in Australia’s justice system.
“I would have thought people with legal minds would understand that the more an Aboriginal person is sentenced to jail time, the more their disadvantage increases,” Bellear said. “The experience of growing up in an environment surrounded by alcohol abuse and violence may leave its mark on a person throughout life,” the High Court found.
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