Supreme Court
COPS Report
R v Martin BRYANT
Cox C J
22-Nov-1996
Comments on Passing Sentence:
In consequence of the tragic events at Port Arthur on 28 and 29 April of this year and of his plea of guilty to
the unprecedented list of crimes contained in the indictment before me, the prisoner stands for sentence in
respect of
* the murder of no less than thirty-five persons;
* of twenty attempts to murder others;
* of the infliction of grievous bodily harm on yet three more; and
* of the infliction of wounds upon a further eight persons.
In addition, he is to be sentenced for
* four counts of aggravated assault;
* one count of unlawfully setting fire to property, namely a motor vehicle which he seized at gun point
from its rightful occupants, all of whom he murdered;
* and for the arson of a building known as "Seascape", the owners of which he had likewise murdered the
previous day.
After having heard the unchallenged account of these terrible events narrated by the learned Director of
Public Prosecution and his Junior, an account painstakingly prepared by them from the materials diligently
assembled by the team of police and forensic investigators charged with that task, it is unnecessary for me to
repeat it in detail or to attempt more than a brief summary. The prisoner, it is clear, a lengthy period of time
before the day on which it was carried into effect, formed the intention of causing the deaths of Mr and Mrs
Martin against whom he had long harboured a grudge and at the very least of causing mayhem among the
large group of residents and visitors he anticipated would be present at the Port Arthur Historic Site, by
shooting at them. Indeed he seems to have contemplated mayhem of such a drastic kind that it would in all
probability provoke a response which would result in his own death. In furtherance of his intention, he
acquired high powered weapons and embarked with three of them, a very large supply of ammunition and
accessories such as a sports bag to conceal the weapons, a hunting knife, two sets of handcuffs and rope. In
addition he carried large quantities of petrol in containers, fire starters and acquired a cigarette lighter en
route. As he was not a smoker, the inference is that he intended to arm himself with the means of igniting the
petrol and that this was intended to be used in unlawfully causing damage to some property in the course of
his expedition.
Arrived at the Martins' home, he shot both of them dead and continued on to Port Arthur. There, at the Broad
Arrow Cafe, he consumed a meal on the balcony outside and then, re-entering the cafe, placed the bag on an
unoccupied table. He produced from the bag an AR15 rifle fitted with a 30-shot magazine and commenced
to fire at close range at patrons who were complete strangers to him. In the first 15 seconds he discharged 17
rounds, thereby causing the deaths of twelve people, the infliction of grievous bodily harm to a thirteenth;
wounds to five more; and injuries to an additional four whom he attempted unsuccessfully to murder.
Moving through the cafe to the gift shop annexed to it, he continued to discharge the weapon a close quarters
before leaving the premises approximately 1½ minutes after firing the first shot. In that period of 90 seconds,
29 rounds were fired causing the deaths of twenty people and injuries, many of them severe, to another twelve
who fortunately escaped with their lives. In addition, the spectators who escaped physical injury were
subjected to emotional trauma of the most stressful kind. Although not the subject of any count in the
indictment, this form of injury was clearly a by-product of the prisoner's wrongful conduct.
In the cafe he changed magazines and leaving it, he fired indiscriminately at various parts of the historic site
intending to hit and kill those who were within range. In the car park, where there were a number of buses,
he shot the driver of one in the back, killing him; and fired at groups of people seeking shelter in them or in
their vicinity. Here he killed another person and caused injuries to a further three. He then exchanged the
Armalite rifle for a semi-automatic .308 FN rifle or SLR which was in the boot of his car parked nearby and
fired across the water towards the ruins and back towards the cafe. Still in the car park, the prisoner killed
two further visitors and by firing at them shots which, in some cases, connected, attempted to murder six
others. From here he moved up the road in his car and en route encountered Mrs Mikac and her two
daughters, murdering all three in the heart rending circumstances already described by the Director of Public
Prosecutions.
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