Director of Public Prosecutions v Abdullah, Ali / Assafiri, Ahmed Nouri

[2013] VCC 511

IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA Revised
(Not) Restricted
Suitable for Publication

AT MELBOURNE

CRIMINAL DIVISION

Case No.
CR-13-00244
CR-13-00127

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

ALI ABDULLAH
AHMED NOURI ASSAFIRI

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JUDGE:	HER HONOUR JUDGE WILMOTH
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:	26 April 2013
DATE OF SENTENCE:	26 April 2013
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Abdullah, Ali / Assafiri, Ahmed Nouri
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2013] VCC 511

REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject:     Pleaded guilty; armed robbery of  2 taxi drivers;
Sentence: 18 months detention in YJC              

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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the DPP	Mr T. Sherwood
For Accused Abdullah For Accused Assafiri	Mr K. McDonald Ms E. Turnball

HER HONOUR:

1       Ali Abdullah and Ahmed Nouri Assafiri have both pleaded guilty to two charges of armed robbery.  I shall briefly describe the circumstances of the offending and then I will address each of the accused separately.

2       The first offence occurred on 14 October 2012 in Coburg.  At about 2 am the two hailed a taxi driven by Gurbhej Singh, aged 23.  Mr Assafiri sat in the front seat and Mr Abdullah in the rear.

3       After the taxi had been driven only about 50 metres Mr Assafiri told the driver to pull over and he then produced a hunting knife with a curved blade, about 30 centimetres long, which he pointed towards the victim and said, "Give me whatever you have got.  Don't push any buttons and keep your hands on the steering wheel".  Mr Assafiri then passed the knife to Mr Abdullah in the rear seat, who held the knife close to the victim.  Mr Assafiri removed about $500 cash and some credit cards from the victim's wallet.  He demanded the victim's mobile phone but he said he did not have one.  Soon afterwards the offenders got out of the taxi and into a car which had pulled up nearby and left the scene.

4       The second incident took place two days later on 16 October at 2.45 am in Thomastown.  One of the offenders called a taxi from a public phone and soon afterwards a taxi driven by Ravinder Sharma arrived.  The driver took the offenders to a suburban address as directed, and there Mr Assafiri, seated in the front, produced a hunting knife about 30 centimetres long, which he held directly to the victim's chest and said, "Give me your money, your wallet, your phone and car keys".  Sharma handed over his wallet, containing about $200 cash, and some credit cards and the keys to another car.  He said he did not have a phone.  The offenders took coins from the console as well.

5       The victims in both incidents were very scared and feared for their safety.  Mr Singh has provided a victim impact statement, and I shall return to that later in these sentencing remarks.

6       Both offenders were arrested in November.  Mr Abdullah made full admissions when interviewed and Mr Assafiri declined to answer questions.

7       Mr Abdullah, I am now going to turn to your personal circumstances.

8       You were aged 18 at the time of the offending and you are still 18.  Clearly, the case has progressed through the system fairly quickly, partly owing to your early plea of guilty.  For that you are entitled to a discount on your sentence, as is Mr Assafiri as well, because of its assistance to the criminal justice system and also as an indication of remorse.  Your cooperation with the police by making full admissions when interviewed is also an indication of remorse.

9       After your release on bail you agreed to engage with a Youth Justice case manager, Ms Wells, who provided a report to the court.  She said in her report that after some hesitation you engaged well with the program and responded well to all your obligations.  Importantly, she said you have no problems with substance abuse and that you have continued to be employed.

10      Mr McDonald, who appeared for you, told me that you were at a loss to understand why you committed these offences, given that your father was at one time a taxi driver and would often tell you about the difficulties he encountered from passengers.  He was here in court today to support you, together with your girlfriend.

11      Your education has been very limited, as it seems you demonstrated little aptitude for learning while at school, but to your credit, you have enrolled in a plumbing apprenticeship and you are still a first year trainee, receiving an income through a Commonwealth scheme.  You have the support of your family and I am asked to give you some credit for admitting your role in committing these crimes when you could have made use of the fact that you have an identical twin brother.  Your image was captured on a security camera in the taxi on each occasion and I should make the comment that I do not place a great deal of weight upon that submission.

12      You were recently dealt with in the Children's Court for what was described as some hoon driving, including speeding and a police pursuit, when you were still aged 17 and you were placed on a good behaviour bond.  However, I note that since your arrest and release on bail you have successfully complied with strict bail conditions.

13      Mr Assafiri, I now turn to your personal circumstances.

14      You were aged 19 at the time of the offending and you are now 20.  You are also a first time offender, although apparently you have been spoken to by the police but not charged in relation to an allegation of driving whilst your licence was suspended.

15      When released on bail after your arrest you were placed on a program under the supervision of Mr Bell, a youth officer at the Magistrates' Court, and his evidence today was that you have done well.  In fact your attendance both with him and Ms Albrecht at YSAS has been outstanding.  Mr Bell said you were genuinely remorseful and ashamed and that you have developed some insight, although you still face some hurdles as far as your emotional maturity is concerned.

16      Unfortunately, you have not had the benefit of having your father in your life when you were growing up.  Your only recollection of him had been a brief contact when you were four years old.  He contacted you unexpectedly last year and asked you to visit him in Sydney.  Your discussions with your mother and siblings about this caused a significant disagreement, resulting in you leaving home and remaining out of contact with your family for some time, including the time of these offences.  You were using drugs at the time, in particular, the drug known as ice, and your need for funds for drugs was behind the motive to commit the crimes.

17      Since then you and your family have reflected on your relationship and on your plans for the future.  You have written a letter to the court in which you apologised to the drivers whom you robbed and you acknowledged responsibility for your actions.

18      You left school during Year 12, having been asked to leave because you were not performing well.  This was apparently because you were using cannabis.  You commenced a TAFE course, which you did not complete, and eventually you obtained a job as a baggage handler at the airport through the assistance of your brother, who has been employed in that capacity for some time and is apparently very well regarded.

19      Further to my earlier comment about the seriousness of these charges, it should also be noted that the crimes were not spontaneous in that although the execution of the robberies lacked sophistication there was an element of planning involved.  On each occasion you both wore hooded jackets or tops to minimise recognition and you had arranged for a car to be waiting for you to transport you quickly from the scene.  You used a particularly dangerous looking knife with which to threaten the drivers, not a knife such as could be obtained spontaneously from a kitchen, for example.  I have been able to ascertain this from the very clear photographs produced from the security camera in the taxis.  Furthermore, there were two of you, which would have made the experience more frightening for the drivers, with each incident occurring late at night and in a remote suburban location.

20      Mr Singh, the first taxi driver, has provided a statement describing the impact of the robbery upon him.  The frightening experience caused him a great deal of stress, as did the loss of several hundred dollars upon which he was relying to pay his living expenses.  Unlike both of you, he has no family or other supports in this country and the impact upon him was enormous.  Fortunately, neither of the drivers were physically harmed.

21      It must be made very clear to both of you that people should feel safe when going about their work and that when they are threatened and frightened, as these men were, the community rightly expects the courts to punish offenders appropriately, and in such a way as to discourage others from offending similarly, and to carry the weight of the court's condemnation of such serious criminality.  That is an important part of the sentencing process.

22      The maximum penalty for armed robbery is 25 years' imprisonment.  It is a very serious offence, all the more so when the victims are what are commonly called “soft targets”.  Taxi drivers are vulnerable in the sense that they offer services to members of the public at all times of the day and night and have little or no means of protecting themselves from those who threaten and subject them to possible harm.

23      Today I am sentencing two young men, neither of whom has any prior convictions and with very limited experience of the courts and the justice system.  Because of your ages you are each classified as youthful offenders and so your rehabilitation is of greater importance than the need for general deterrence.  It was urged upon me to have you assessed as to your suitability for a Community Corrections Order but I take the view that the offending is too serious and that you should spend some time in a Youth Justice Centre.  Adult prison is not appropriate given your ages and that you are first time offenders.  You both have good prospects of rehabilitation, good family support and indications that you are each capable of hard work, of focussing on your employment and of becoming good citizens.  Those qualities will place you in a good position to do well once you are living in the community again.

24      For a combination of all the reasons I have explained, I had you assessed as to your suitability for detention and it has been determined that you are both suitable.  I am grateful to Ms Wells and Mr Bell for providing their helpful reports in such a timely fashion.

25      I will ask you to stand now, please.

26      The sentences for each of you are the same.  For each charge you are sentenced to 12 months' detention in a Youth Justice Centre.  Six months of the sentence for Charge 2 is to be served in cumulation upon the sentence for Charge 1, resulting in a total effective sentence of 18 months.  If you had pleaded not guilty to these charges I would have sentenced you to two years in a Youth Justice Centre.

27 The prosecution has asked for orders under s.464ZF of the Crimes Act that forensic samples of saliva be obtained from you.  Through your counsel you, Mr Abdullah, have consented to the order being made, and you, Mr Assafiri, do not oppose it.  Therefore I make the orders and must advise you that the police have the power to use reasonable force to obtain those samples if necessary but I trust that will not be necessary.

28      In respect of Mr Abdullah there were eight days' pre-sentence detention, which I note.  That will be put on the record.  In terms of a Youth Justice Detention Order, I am not sure that that is reckoned as already served but in case it is I will make that order. 

29      (Discussion ensued)

30      HER HONOUR:  I will put it on the court record in any event.

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