AAP
The family of a police officer shot during a Sydney drugs raid says the jail term given to the man responsible for his death is "nothing" compared to their own sentence as a result of his actions.
Philip Nguyen, 57, was sentenced to a minimum term of seven years and a maximum of nine-and-a-half on Friday for the shooting death of trainee detective Constable Bill Crews in a basement carpark in Bankstown on September 8, 2010.
In handing down the sentence in a courtroom packed with Const Crews' family, friends and colleagues, Supreme Court judge Elizabeth Fullerton described the 26-year-old as "a son, brother, uncle and a mentor".
"I accept without qualification that they feel their loss on a daily basis and that there is no lessening of their grief," Justice Fullerton said.
Nguyen pleaded guilty to manslaughter and to wounding Const Crews with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
The court heard that on the day of the shooting, Const Crews along with seven other officers - some in plain clothes - went to the Bankstown car park in the unit block where Nguyen lived to carry out a search warrant.
"Const Crews was armed. The operation, however, was deemed to be of low risk," Justice Fullerton said.
But, as Const Crews and another officer moved towards the garage, Const Crews was heard yelling: "Gun, he has a gun".
"What followed was a sequence of five shots fired from three guns in the space of seconds," Justice Fullerton said, with Nguyen firing the first shot, hitting Const Crews in the arm.
In return, Const Crews fired three shots before a fellow detective fired once, accidentally shooting him in the neck.
Justice Fullerton said although Nguyen "didn't fire the shot that killed him, he caused his death."
The court heard Nguyen believed Const Crews and the other officers were robbers.
But Justice Fullerton said although she accepted this claim, it would also have been "reasonable" for him to have thought they were police because they identified themselves when entering the car park.
She said Nguyen, a Vietnamese refugee, turned to drugs after his first wife's death and that although he had expressed genuine remorse for Const Crews' death, he had shown "determination to continue to involve himself in some way with a drug milieu".
She was unable to find he had positive prospects of rehabilitation.
Speaking outside the court, Const Crews' father Kelvin said he was disappointed at the sentence.
"It doesn't seem to us to be appropriate for our family, for the police, for the community," Mr Crews, who also served in the force, told reporters.
"He has given his life in the line of duty. We have been sentenced to life.
"(It) has been nothing to what we have been sentenced to."
Noting community concerns, Attorney-General Greg Smith SC said he would ask the Director of Public Prosecutions to examine Justice Fullerton's sentencing and consider if an appeal should be lodged.
NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said Det Const Crews would be sorely missed by his police family.
"My thoughts are that if somebody injures or kills a police officer they should go to prison for a very long time," he said.
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