Disgraced former detectives Roger Rogerson and Glen McNamara have been jailed for life for the cold-blooded execution of Sydney student and drug dealer Jamie Gao.
There were gasps and cheers from the public gallery of the NSW Supreme Court at Darlinghurst on Friday as Justice Geoffrey Bellew sentenced Rogerson, 75, and McNamara, 57, for a crime that was "extensive in its planning, brutal in its execution, and callous in its aftermath".
As the prisoners were led down to the cells McNamara urged his family to "be strong, be strong".
In a marathon decision handed down over two and a half hours, Justice Bellew told how the two men had used the skills and knowledge honed over their years as sworn NSW police officers to gain Mr Gao's trust, lure him to a darkened storage shed in the city's south and shoot him dead in May 2014, before attempting to cover their tracks by dumping the 20-year-old's body at sea.
"It is clear that the offenders acted with complete disregard for the life of another human being," Justice Bellew said.
"The offenders put to use, for all the wrong reasons, knowledge and experience that they gained as a consequence of their investigation of criminal offences when they were members of the police force."
In addition to the life sentences he imposed, Justice Bellew ordered that both men spend at least nine years behind bars for stealing 2.78 kilograms of methamphetamine with a street value of up to $19 million from Mr Gao.
Justice Bellew said he was satisfied that McNamara and Rogerson had hatched their plan "well in advance" of the murder inside storage unit 803 at the Padstow Rent A Space storage centre, and that the men intended to commit further serious crimes so that they could profit from the man's death by on-selling the stolen drugs.
"The deceased was executed in cold blood, just as the offenders had planned," Justice Bellew said.
He added that Rogerson's stated disdain for drug dealers was "dripping with hypocrisy".
Justice Bellew said that although gunshot residue found on Rogerson's clothing pointed to the possibility he was the triggerman, he could not be sure who fired the fatal shots.
The dead man's loved ones said the sentences imposed on Friday were the best outcome they could have hoped for.
"To have these two men, who took Jamie from us, sentenced to essentially die in jail, is absolutely fitting," the Gao family said in a statement.
"The courts can't lessen the term of Jamie's death or the impact that his death, the investigation and ensuing trial has had on our family. Unfortunately, there is no opportunity for a lesser sentence for Jamie or for those of us left behind."
Both Rogerson and McNamara have flagged possible appeals.
"We're considering our position in relation to the sentence," Rogerson's barrister George Thomas told reporters as he left court.
"We'll go over to see him and have a sensible discussion."
McNamara's solicitor Ali Abbas said he would file a notice of intention to appeal on Monday, telling reporters: "Mr McNamara continues to maintain his innocence."
