ACT Supreme Court sentences Reatile Ncube for being accessory to Glenn Walewicz murder

Dunlop man Reatile Ncube, 19, was sentenced in the ACT Supreme Court on Friday to two years in jail for being an accessory to the June 2021 murder of Glenn Walewicz.

Acting Justice Peter Berman ordered that the remainder of the sentence be suspended after 187 days, which Ncube had already served behind bars on remand.

The judge described the death of Mr Walewicz, 48, as "a tragedy" made even sadder than it would otherwise have been by the fact he was an "entirely innocent" victim.

He said Ncube, the first person to be sentenced over his role in the murder, had met up with his co-offenders at a home in the Belconnen area on the night in question.

Three people got into Ncube's car and told him to drive to Mansfield Place in Phillip, where the 19-year-old understood the others were going to demand money from drug dealers.

Ncube stayed in the car as his co-offenders accidentally went to the unit occupied by Mr Walewicz instead of the one where the drug dealers lived.

"[Mr Walewicz] was not their intended target," Acting Justice Berman said.

"In response to a knock at the door, he opened it and was shot in the neck, dying shortly thereafter."

After this happened, the co-offenders returned to the car and Ncube drove them away at "considerable speed", running a red light at once stage with his vehicle's headlights off.

Ncube learned while driving that someone had been shot, but he did not discover until some days later that the person had died.

While this was significant in that it reduced the maximum penalty of Ncube's offence, Acting Justice Berman noted the teenager had still done "most of what he did knowing that someone had been shot".

"It is not surprising in those circumstances that the offender is remorseful for what he did and has had no further contact with the people he assisted," the judge said.

"He has expressed his remorse in a letter to me saying that he takes full responsibility for his actions, and that he cannot blame anyone else for what he did.

"He now understands that even the smallest actions can have catastrophic consequences such as these."

The court previously heard Ncube had been long-term friends with the person who shot Mr Walewicz, and that the pair had shared an interest in drugs.

Ncube, who pleaded guilty, was under the influence at the time of his crime and there remain some concerns about his drug use.

But Acting Justice Berman said the time the teenager had spent behind bars had "obviously been something of an eye-opening experience, meeting boys and men in prison who spend most of their life there because of the choices they make".

"[Ncube] doesn't want to make the same choices," the judge said.

Acting Justice Berman was ultimately satisfied Ncube, who moved to Australia from Zimbabwe at the age of three, had good prospects for rehabilitation.

"It is important to note that although I am imposing a sentence upon the offender which should see him serve no time in actual custody in the future, that is because he has already spent 187 days in jail," the judge said.

"Had that not been the case, I would not have imposed the sentence I am about to announce."

While the remainder of his jail sentence is suspended, Ncube will be required to abide by the terms of a good behaviour order that includes supervision by ACT Corrective Services.

Four other people charged over Mr Walewicz's death remain before the courts.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: