Director of Public Prosecutions v Allan
[2025] VCC 866
•20 June 2025
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA AT MELBOURNE CRIMINAL DIVISION | Revised Not Restricted Suitable for Publication |
CR-24-02219
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| v |
| SHAUN ALLAN |
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JUDGE: | HER HONOUR JUDGE RIDDELL | |
WHERE HELD: | Melbourne | |
DATE OF HEARING: | 14 June 2025 and 16 June 2025 | |
DATE OF SENTENCE: | 20 June 2025 | |
CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | DPP v Allan | |
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2025] VCC 866 | |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject:Sentence --- Armed Robbery
Catchwords: Armed Robbery --- Plea of Guilty --- Young victim in street --- Spontaneous offence --- Offender 25 years old --- Chronic Schizophrenic --- History of involuntary treatment --- At time of offence non-compliant with medication --- Homeless --- Drug affected --- Requires supervision and support --- Enhancement of community safety via supervision, medical treatment and drug rehabilitation
Legislation Cited:
Cases Cited:R v Verdins (2007) 16 VR 240 --- Boulton v The Queen (2014) 46 VR 308
Sentence: 249 Days Imprisonment --- 1 year Community Correction Order
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APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the DPP | Mr P. Russell | Office of Public Prosecutions |
| For the Accused | Mr N. Goulas | Chester Metcalfe & Co |
HER HONOUR:
1 Shaun Allan, you are a 26-year-old man with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. You committed the serious offence of armed robbery on 10 June 2024. At that time you were 25 years old. You were homeless, using illicit drugs, specifically methamphetamine, and your schizophrenia was largely untreated.
2 You have pleaded guilty to that offence and it is now my task to sentence you. The offence of armed robbery carries with it a maximum penalty of 25 years' imprisonment.
Summary of offending
3
The circumstances of that offence are as follows. At about 7.05 am on Monday, 10 June 2024 Mr Yihui Long, arrived at Frankston Railway Station. He was a
22-year-old university student on his way to Monash University Frankston campus. He first saw you in 7-Eleven where he described you acting ‘erratically’ and appearing drug-affected. He saw you take a packet of chips from the shelf and exit the store without paying for them before you threw the chips on the ground and walked away.
4 He left the store and walked to the bus stop, but having missed the bus he then crossed the road. You approached him from behind and he heard you yell something which he could not make out. He recognised you from the 7-Eleven. You continued to walk towards him and he stopped walking to try and figure out what you were saying. At that point you rushed towards him and as you did so you asked whether he wanted to fight. He did not know how to respond.
5 You then reached into your pocket and showed him a blue Stanley boxcutter before demanding his phone, stating, ‘Give me your phone, or I will stab you.’ You were standing directly in front of Mr Long when you made that threat. He said he was scared that he was going to be stabbed and for that reason he handed over his phone. You took it and walked away.
6 Your offending was recorded on CCTV which shows the incident lasted approximately 20 seconds.
7 Soon after walking away, you threw the phone on the ground where it smashed. You kept walking without picking it up.
8 Mr Long went to university and reported the incident to police in the evening.
9 You were arrested and interviewed on 14 June 2024. Initially you denied the offending, however soon after you made various admissions to having a box cutter, going to the shops, and smashing a phone. You stated, ‘I do remember smashing someone’s phone, I’m not proud of it, I’m guilty. I plead guilty of smashing someone’s phone, I just feel sorry, I’m sorry.’
10 You denied that you would pull a knife on anyone. However, on being shown the footage you made various comments about being proud of yourself. However, later you said, ‘I feel sorry, I feel very bad inside, like, I apologise. I don’t want to do it again’. You acknowledged the importance of the phone to Mr Long, stating, ‘That’s his life’. You also understood that your conduct would have made him feel ‘sad, and afraid’.
11 You entered a plea of guilty at the earliest opportunity. You receive the benefit of that plea. You have saved the victim having to relive this event, and you have saved the court and community the cost and time of a criminal trial.
12I can attribute some remorse also to you given the comments you made during your record of interview.
13
You have been in custody since the day of your remand which is approximately
12 months, although that term has been interrupted by a four-month term of imprisonment imposed in October 2024 for further offending including affray, theft, criminal damage, aggravated assault of a female, unlawful assault, stalking, and use of abusive and insulting words.
[3] Boulton v The Queen (2014) 46 VR 308
14 I take that matter from October 2024 into account as an aspect of totality. That is, I cannot order any concurrency with the sentence I am about to impose.
15 You have a short but relevant prior criminal history. That history is most concerning given it involves offences of violence, drugs and weapons offences and dishonesty. This however is the longest period of time you have spent in custody, although you were sentenced to a three-month sentence in 2023 for a raft of quite serious, relevant offences of dishonesty and violence including make threat to kill, unlawful assault, prohibited person in possession of a firearm, burglary, theft and various offences relating to a personal safety order.
16 You were released in approximately late December having served the three months imprisonment. It was a straight sentence and it is apparent there was no supervision or structure around you after your release.
17 You became homeless, living between couches or sleeping rough. Your schizophrenia was untreated and you resorted to illicit drug use.
18 Your schizophrenia seems to have developed or at least revealed itself in the context of your early cannabis use when you were 16 years of age.
19 Your personal history is outlined in the report of Dr Mathew Staios, Clinical Neuropsychologist[1]. In short, you were born in Malaysia, coming to Australia with your parents and sister when you were at secondary school age. You adjusted well and completed school to Year 10.
[1] Dated 28 November 2024
20 However, you started smoking cannabis and ultimately using methamphetamine.
21 Your relationship with your family ultimately has become estranged on account of your drug use.
22 You have had various interactions with mental health services including seven admissions to the Frankston Hospital adult acute inpatient unit including one for approximately two and a half weeks in mid-2023.
23 You have had four mental health registrations including with the Alfred Hospital psychiatry unit, two youth residential placements in 2018 and 2020, and nine episodes under the Mental Health Act 2014, including an inpatient temporary treatment order which was ultimately revoked by the Frankston Area Mental Health Service on 5 June 2023.
24 Your diagnoses have included schizophrenia, paranoid schizophrenia, delusional disorder, mental and behavioural disorder due to drug use and use of other psychoactive substances, anxiety disorder and a depressive episode.
25 Homelessness and non-compliance with medical treatment and regimen appear to be chronic problems.
26
You have previously been managed as a voluntary client with Frankston
Youth Mental Health Program and it is apparent from your prior criminal history that you have you also been a client of Headspace Youth Early Psychosis Program. Unfortunately, that program ceases to be applicable to a person once they attain 25 years of age.
27 Armed robbery, as I have said, is a serious offence reflected in the maximum penalty. Although I have no victim impact statement from Mr Long, I can conclude from his statement that when you brandished the knife and made the threat it was frightening for him. I cannot draw any conclusion about ongoing issues, however it is reasonable to conclude he would have been affected as he went about his daily business for at least some time. Common features for victims of this type of offending include anxiety, inability to trust strangers, difficulty moving about in public and being hypervigilant.
28 Without in any way detracting from Mr Long’s likely experience and given the wide variety of circumstances in which an armed robbery can occur, I do accept however that this is a lower end example of that offence. That is so given it was a fortunately a brief encounter, it was spontaneous and not planned in any way. It was committed in daylight and although the boxcutter is indeed a weapon that can cause serious injury, it was not thrust towards him or brandished in that way. Rather, you simply revealed it in your pocket.
29 A sentence for armed robbery must take into account considerations of just punishment, denunciation, and deterrence. In your case it must also reflect specific deterrence.
30 However, in my view your chronic and serious psychiatric condition tempers those considerations to an extent, despite the fact you were also clearly affected by illicit drug use.
31 Drug use however does not eliminate the existence of an underlying psychiatric disorder and I must of course take that into account. Drug use does however reduce the amount of moderation I can apply. Although in my view I have to consider that your drug use itself is likely stemming from your chronic mental impairment.
R v Verdins
32 In relation to R v Verdins[2], I accept that the principles enunciated in that case apply to you. In particular, in reduction to some extent of your moral culpability and in applying some moderation of the principles of deterrence. It is leading from those principles that I have taken a view that a disposition which might not ordinarily apply is applicable in your case.
[2] R v Verdins (2007) 16 VR 240
33 Your diagnosis of schizophrenia, your relatively young age, your early plea of guilty and expressions of remorse and some insight about the impact on the victim, along with your plea of guilty, lead me to conclude that a term of imprisonment in combination with a CCO is the appropriate sentence here.
34 In making that decision I have considered the current sentencing practices which are of course but one matter I must take into account. Armed robbery is an offence committed in a range of ways and with varying consequences. It is apparent that armed robbery can be met by a combination sentence or a sentence of imprisonment with a short non parole period. I should say armed robbery in the nature of the one committed by you.
35 The difference in terms of disposition largely seems to centre on the personal circumstances of the offender. In your case it is your personal circumstances and in particular your serious and lifelong mental health condition and the way in which that impacted you which is prominent in sentencing you. That does not eclipse the seriousness of the offending or the need for community protection, but it is a unique feature in sentencing you.
36 As with all cases, comparisons are limited by the nature of the offence and the circumstances of the offender. So while I have considered other cases, ultimately I am required to impose a just sentence in all the circumstances and that is what I have endeavoured to do.
37
In concluding that the appropriate disposition here is one of imprisonment in combination with the CCO, I am mindful of the Court of Appeal's comments in
The Queen v Bolton[3]regarding the appropriateness of a CCO in the right case. In your case releasing you to a CCO guarantees your release to structured supervision and treatment and to a regime where I can monitor your progress. A combination sentence also addresses the applicable sentencing consideration of deterrence and aims to achieve community protection. To my mind that combination should enhance your prospects of rehabilitation and ultimately community protection.
38 I have had you assessed by way of an extended pre-sentence report. That report assessed as you as unsuitable for a Community Correction Order. That was given a number of the comments that you have made during that assessment which reflect a pro-criminal attitude and a disinterest in completing a Community Correction Order.
39 In my view, while concerning, I must view those comments through the prism of your serious mental health condition. The report assessor also found you a high risk of general re-offending given those factors. I accept that you are a high risk of re-offending.
40 In relation to your substance use, the report writer concludes that your resort to substance use is as a means of coping with instability in your life and an attempt to self-manage your chronic mental health concerns.
41 The key concern identified is that of housing. While the report does highlight that you are in a fortunate position to have a long-term tenancy with DFFH funded housing in Frankston, that accommodation is not without its risks. The report writer notes that your housing was recently overtaken by a female associate and her boyfriend. However, I was told earlier this week that those persons are being moved on and I anticipate as at today the accommodation is again vacant and waiting for you.
42 Critically, the report writer concludes that if your housing situation can be stabilised, a return to stable housing and living independently will serve as a protective factor against your risk of re-offending. Further, the report writer does note that you have sought support for your mental health in the past and that you have previously engaged with those community support services such as Homelessness to a Home, Headspace, Peninsula Health Mental Health Service and Frankston Community Centre before your current remand. Those matters are positive.
43 Your prospects of rehabilitation clearly centre on the stability of your mental health and your abstinence from drug use. In my view, a Community Correction Order in place upon your release will support those aims. While I accept it will be difficult for Community Corrections, given they will need to work with you despite your comments, that is what I intend to impose.
44 You, Mr Allan, will need to commit to that Community Correction Order before I can release you to it.
Sentence
45 In all the circumstances of your case what I propose on the charge of armed robbery is to sentence you to a term of 249 days imprisonment, plus a Community Correction Order of 15 months' duration. Listen to the conditions of that order, Mr Allan, because I need to ask you whether you will agree to undertake that order.
46 The conditions will be:
(a) that you will be under supervision by Corrections Victoria so you will need to attend for supervision appointments with a case manager.
(b) that you are attend and submit to testing and treatment for drug use as directed by them and
(c) that you are to attend for assessment and treatment in relation to your mental health as directed by them. They will tell you whether you need to go and find a doctor who can make a referral for mental health treatment.
(d) You will also come back to me for Judicial Monitoring so that I can hear about your progress.
47 You will be mandated to attend mental health treatment and drug treatment. I hope that Corrections Victoria will be in a position to communicate with your area mental health service and or psychiatrist.
48 I also encourage an application to be made for a National Disability Insurance support package.
49 I am also going to impose judicial monitoring which means that you will come back to me and I will hear how you are progressing on the Community Correction Order. Do you agree to undertake that order upon your release from imprisonment?
50 OFFENDER: Yes.
51 HER HONOUR: Do you understand that if you do not comply, if you do not do that Community Correction Order, you will be in breach and you will come back to me for re-sentencing? Do you understand that?
52 OFFENDER: No, I don't need to.
53 HER HONOUR: I am sorry, I cannot hear you.
54 OFFENDER: I do. Yes, I do.
55 HER HONOUR: You do, all right. And do you understand that a breach could be either because you re-offend in any way?
56 OFFENDER: Yeah.
57 HER HONOUR: Or because you're not doing the conditions of the order? So when they say come for supervision, if you are failing to attend that would be a breach of the order.
58 OFFENDER: (Indistinct words).
59 HER HONOUR: I am sorry?
60 OFFENDER: (Indistinct words).
61 HER HONOUR: That will be a discussion that you have with Corrections Victoria, when you go to the Community Centre, Community Corrections Centre. So they will tell you when you need to come for supervision. They will tell you whether you need to go to an appointment for drug testing or assessment. They will tell you whether you need to go and find a doctor who can make a referral for mental health treatment. Those are the types of things that they would instruct you, Mr Allan. Do you understand that? Do you understand that?
62 OFFENDER: Yes.
63 HER HONOUR: All right. Do you agree to do the conditions of the Community Correction Order?
64 OFFENDER: Yes.
65 HER HONOUR: All right. You understand that if you breach the order you will likely be looking at more gaol time?
66 OFFENDER: Yes, I know.
67
HER HONOUR: But for your plea of guilty, so if you had not pleaded guilty to the armed robbery, the sentence I would have imposed would have been one of
12 months' imprisonment with a two-year community correction order.
Pre-Sentence Detention
68 I declare that you served 249 days pre-sentence detention and that that should be reckoned as having been served under this sentence.
Ancillary Orders
69 Were there any ancillary orders, Mr Russell?
70 MR RUSSELL: No, Your Honour.
71 HER HONOUR: All right, thank you. Mr Goulas, my associates will send the Community Correction Order to you and your instructor. Mr Allan's verbal consent is sufficient but I think it would be helpful that that be given to him as soon as possible.
72 MR GOULAS: Yes, Your Honour.
73 HER HONOUR: All right, thanks. I will leave the Bench and I will leave you on the link with Mr Allan, so you can just have a chat and make he understands that he will be released today to that order and no doubt there will be the two day reporting condition and I think the recommendation - just let me make sure the correct Community Correction Office is Frankston. So he will need to report to Frankston within two days.
74 MR GOULAS: Yes, Your Honour.
75 HER HONOUR: All right. Any matters to raise, counsel?
76 MR RUSSELL: No, Your Honour.
77 HER HONOUR: All right. Thanks very much for your assistance. Thank you. Sorry, judicial monitoring date, I did not set that. I intended to come back in three months. I am going to make that - Mr Allan.
78 OFFENDER: Yeah.
79 HER HONOUR: I am going to have you back so that I can hear how you are going, on Thursday, 11 September at 9.30 am. If everything is going well then you will be able to appear from the Corrections Office.
80 OFFENDER: Okay.
81 HER HONOUR: All right. Mr Goulas will have a chat with you about that. All right.
82 MR RUSSELL: Your Honour, if I could be excused if I'm unavailable?
83 HER HONOUR: Yes.
84 MR RUSSELL: Someone will be here.
85 HER HONOUR: The OPP won't need to be unless there are issues, so that's fine.
86 MR RUSSELL: Yes, thank you.
87 HER HONOUR: Thanks, Mr Russell, for your assistance. Thanks, Mr Goulas. All right, we'll stand down.
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