Family murder plot: son jailed for 30 years for killing his father
August 11, 2008 - 11:58
Murdered ... Ernest Clark.
A man who plotted with his son to murder his elderly father has been jailed for at least 24 years by a Sydney court.
August 11, 2008 - 11:58
Murdered ... Ernest Clark.
A man who plotted with his son to murder his elderly father has been jailed for at least 24 years by a Sydney court.
In the NSW Supreme Court today, Justice David Kirby set a maximum term of 30 years for Michael Rex Clark.
Clark, 45, of Faulconbridge in the NSW Blue Mountains, was found guilty last May of murdering his father, Ernest 'Dick" Clark, 74.
He was shot dead in the home he shared with his girlfriend at Bexley in Sydney's south in April 2005.
Last year, Michael Clark's 24-year-old son, Ben, admitted gunning down his grandfather, and was jailed for a minimum of 14 years for the murder, with a maximum term of 20 years.
Justice Kirby today concluded that part of Michael Clark's motivation for the murder plot was to secure his inheritance.
But he also found there was an "emotional dimension" to his actions, referring to undercurrents of resentment and dissatisfaction in his relationship with his father.
The judge rejected a crown call for Clark to receive a life term.
"Without diminishing the callous and brutal nature of this crime, which was certainly committed partly for financial gain and with no regard to the sanctity of human life, I believe that a determinate sentence is appropriate," he said.
Outside the court, Clark's lawyer Simon Joyner said he would be appealing against the murder conviction.
"My client states, his instructions are, that Ben Clark acted alone and that is what we maintained throughout the trial, and unfortunately the jury did not accept that," he said.
Much of the evidence at the trial related to the contents of secretly recorded tapes of conversations between Clark and his son Ben, at times after the shooting.
Mr Joyner said Clark maintained that in the tapes he was only stating things his son had told him, and he had been doing his best to protect his son.
Ben Clark gave evidence before the jury that he acted alone and out of fear, after he had been assaulted by his grandfather.
AAP
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