Darwin mass shooter Benjamin Hoffmann has told the Northern Territory Supreme Court he feels “horrible” for killing four people in a drug bust, but has refused to accept ultimate responsibility for his actions.
Hassan Baydoun, Michael Sisois, Robert Courtney and Nigel Hellings were killed during the shooting across the Northern Territory capital on June 4, 2019.
Hoffmann last year pleaded guilty to three counts of murder and one count of manslaughter in the deaths, midway through what was expected to be a nine-week trial.
His sentencing has faced long delays after he repeatedly fired his legal team and made unfounded allegations that his lawyers were working against him.
During his trial, Hoffmann made allegations of corruption and coercion, delivering handwritten letters to the Supreme Court judge presiding over his case.
Before sentencing, despite pleas from his legal representative not to, Hoffmann took the stand to testify.
Benjamin Hoffmann has been in custody since his arrest in June 2019. (Supplied)
Hoffmann told the court he felt remorse for his actions and had experienced psychotic delusions and heard voices during the incident.
“I’m very upset, I hate what’s happened, and if I could take it all back I would,” he said.
However, when prosecutor Lloyd Babb SC asked who was “mainly responsible” for killing four people that night, Hoffmann sat in silence for a long period.
“That’s a very good question,” he said finally.
“There were many contributing factors.”
Hoffmann said factors such as the visions he claimed to have experienced, the man who gave him the gun and the fact that he had not received psychiatric help also contributed to responsibility for the shootings.
Babb argued that Hoffmann was not genuinely remorseful and was manufacturing a psychotic break to reduce his culpability for the deaths.
“The offender, according to the Crown, carried out a plan that he had been verbalizing for days and weeks prior to the crime, that is, he was stalking and seeking revenge. [on someone].”
“It was a deliberate decision on the defendant’s part to take the drugs to develop the anger and bravado that he knew came from taking those drugs in the past.”
(Clockwise from top left) Shooting victims Robert Courtney, Hassan Baydoun, Michael Sisois and Nigel Hellings. (Supplied)
Judgment to be given “at a later date”
Speaking outside court, Hoffman’s legal representative said she believed he was genuinely remorseful and suffered from undiagnosed cognitive and mental issues.
He said he realized that disregarding legal advice had once again been a mistake.
“Mr. Hoffmann just told me, ‘I’m so sorry, I should have listened to you, and what I did was stupid,’ and he didn’t get an argument from me,” Dr. Patricia Peterson said.
Judge John Burns will hand down his sentence at a later date.