Cop killer Jacobs given mandatory life sentence
Michael Jacobs has become the first man given a mandatory life term for murdering Tamworth police officer David Rixon.
Rixon's widow and six children sat stoic and proud as the sentence was delivered, just five metres behind the accused.
Outside court Fiona Rixon thanked the community of Tamworth and the NSW Police Force for their relentless support.
David Rixon's family emerged from the Supreme Court through guard of honour from his Tamworth comrades.
"[It's] an emotional day for the police family", NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said.
Before sentencing, Justice Richard Button described at length the seriousness of murdering a police officer, saying it was more serious than killing a civilian.
"The murder of a police officer is a direct assault on our system of parliamentary democracy," he said.
Justice Button also said he was "satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that... he intended to kill him".
Jacobs' lawyer had argued that the killing of highway patrolman Rixon was "spontaneous" and his client should not have be given life imprisonment.
Michael Allan Jacobs, 49, did not intend to kill the highway patrol officer when he gunned him down at West Tamworth on March 2 last year, defence barrister Tim Hoyle, SC, told the Supreme Court during his sentence hearing.
"Rather than being predicated by an intention to kill, it was predicated by a spontaneous, reactive action on his part," Mr Hoyle said.
"This whole tragedy occurred in the space of a matter of seconds.
"The decision by Mr Jacobs to pull that weapon out and point it and pull the trigger was a spontaneous action."
It took a jury took less than an hour to find Jacobs guilty.
The trial heard he shot Senior Constable Rixon in the chest after he was pulled over for a random breath test.
Sen Const Rixon returned fire, hitting Jacobs in the abdomen, leg and shoulder.
Jacobs could then be heard screaming, "Die, I'm sorry. Sorry sir, sorry".
Sen Const Rixon died at the scene while Jacobs later underwent life-saving surgery.
During his trial, Jacobs tried to pin the blame on a local drug dealer, Terry Price, but this was rejected by the jury.
Mr Hoyle said Jacobs was under the influence of drugs when he shot Sen Const Rixon, and he was upset at what he felt had been unfair treatment at the hands of another Tamworth police officer.
Jacobs had been warned he would be placed under arrest if he was caught driving whilst disqualified again.
Crown prosecutor Pat Barrett submitted Jacob's murder was a "rare and unusual" offence.
He said the murder was in the worst case category, that Jacobs did intend to kill the police officer and he should be given life imprisonment.
Justice Richard Button said he couldn't think of a case in the last 25 years where a criminal was given life imprisonment following a finding they did not intend to kill their victim.
"I don't think there's a single one," he said.
It was initially proposed that Jacobs should be sentenced on September 27, but the court heard that was Police Remembrance Day.
"It could be exceptionally painful for the family of the deceased," Justice Button said.
In 2011, the NSW government passed a law to make life sentences mandatory for people who murder police officers.
The Police Association of NSW welcomed the life sentence handed to Jacobs.
"This is about ensuring the strongest possible message - those who murder police will be locked up for life," the association's president said in a statement.
Mr Weber said the sentence had "been a long time coming".
"It highlights that David Rixon did not give his life in vain," he said.
"The life sentence given to Jacobs doesn't take away the pain and senseless waste of the life he so callously took, we all feel the loss."
