R v Delaney [2026] NSWSC 1003

R v Delaney [2026] NSWSC 1003 concerned a s 31 hearing after the Court of Criminal Appeal quashed Lucas Delaney’s murder conviction. The Court found that Delaney killed his sister, Gabriella, by repeatedly striking her with a hammer. The key issue was whether his mental health impairment was excluded because drug ingestion triggered his psychosis. Dhanji J accepted that Delaney suffered from schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and did not know his act was wrong. As an underlying psychotic illness was also causally operative, intoxication was not the sole cause. The Court returned a special verdict of act proven but not criminally responsible, ordered detention and referred Delaney to the Mental Health Review Tribunal.