Director of Public Prosecutions v Atkinson

[2015] VCC 627

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

AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

CR-15-00538

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

BRETT ATKINSON

---

JUDGE:	HIS HONOUR JUDGE JORDAN
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:	13 May 2015
DATE OF SENTENCE:	14 May 2015
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v ATKINSON
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2015] VCC 627

REASONS FOR SENTENCE
---

Subject:
Catchwords:
Legislation Cited:
Cases Cited:
Sentence:

---

APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the Director of Public Prosecutions	Ms S. Holmes	Office of Public Prosecutions
For the Offender	Mr L. Hartnett	Victoria Legal Aid

HIS HONOUR: 

1Mr Brett Atkinson.  You have pleaded guilty to one charge of armed robbery.  The maximum penalty is 25 years' imprisonment. 

2You pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.  I take that into account. 

3The circumstances of your offending are set out in the prosecution opening, Exhibit A, the facts of which are admitted by you.  The CCTV footage, Exhibit B, also shows the circumstances of the offence. 

4The facts need no great comment.  They speak for themselves.  You and three other men robbed the male pedestrian in Collins Street late at night on 26 December 2014.  He was not physically injured but you produced a knife, although perhaps fortunately for you, the victim thought it was only a pen.  The victim's mobile phone, bag and his wallet were taken from him.  Almost immediately, the police were on the scene and you were arrested.  The other three offenders have pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of robbery. 

5All of the victim's property was recovered.  He elected not to provide a victim impact statement. 

6The offence is serious.  It was late at night.  You were with three other males.  The circumstances were inevitably very frightening for the victim, although there is no evidence before the court of any ongoing consequences for him. 

7At age 21, your criminal record is very extensive.  It discloses court appearances from the Children's Court in 2008 through to 2014 appearances.  The offences include dishonesty, armed robbery, robbery and other violent offending.  You have been imprisoned on a number of occasions, as well as had Community Corrections Orders, a Youth Supervision Order and other dispositions set out in the admitted criminal history report. 

8Your personal history is a very sad and deprived one.  You suffer great disadvantage.  You have been effectively homeless for some time with nowhere to go.  I accept at your age, nevertheless, there are prospects of rehabilitation.  You are realistically facing your current predicament.  Through your counsel, your instructions were that you desired to go back to prison.  It was indicated you were drug and alcohol free there and working your way forward to try and better prepare yourself when released eventually.  In prison, you can avail yourself of drug and counselling assistance you have enrolled in, as well as a literary course and grief counselling.  You wish to continue your work as a billet in the laundry. 

9You have no family support.  You were raised by your grandmother in Echuca but are estranged from her.  Your father is in prison.  You have not seen your mother for years.  Your lack of support outside institutional life has seen you with nowhere to go and no one to rely on, leading to your falling into bad habits with respect of alcohol and then further offending. 

10You seem to have used your time in custody to at least adopt some positivity about preparing for your future.  There are no references or reports tendered on your behalf.  Given your very young age, I have some optimism for your rehabilitation. 

11In mitigation, you pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.  That indicates remorse in your case.  It has the obvious utilitarian benefits.  There is no need to elaborate separately on the objective and subjective criteria of those benefits, but you have saved witnesses and the time and expense involved in a trial.  All the victim's property was recovered.  There was no evidence he was injured physically or harmed mentally. 

12Your counsel submitted and the Crown agreed that an immediate custodial sentence was the appropriate disposition.  I also agree. 

13As well as personal matters, I must also take into account other relevant sentencing considerations.  General and specific deterrence must be given weight in the sentence I impose.  The community cannot and will not tolerate the right of citizens to feel safe walking in city streets to be compromised.  The message must be clear and consistent, that appropriate punishment will result in these circumstances.  Your sentence must manifest the community's denunciation of your conduct and impose just punishment.  I must protect the community from any repetition of this type of offending.  I must seek to deter you and others from such offending. 

14In the circumstances, you are convicted and sentenced to three years' imprisonment.  I direct that you serve two years before being eligible for parole. 

15I declare 139 days pre-sentence detention, pursuant to s.18 of the Sentencing Act 1991.

16Pursuant to s.6AAA of the Act, I declare that but for your plea of guilty, I would have imposed a sentence of four years' imprisonment and that you serve three years before being eligible for parole. 

17I will make the ancillary orders that you have consented to.  These are a Restitution Order pursuant to s.84(1)(c) of the Act in regard to the $70 recovered, and a Disposal Order pursuant to s.78(1) of the Confiscation Act 1997 with respect to the knife.

18Anything else required?

19COUNSEL:  No, Your Honour.

20HIS HONOUR:  Thank you, Mr Atkinson.

21OFFENDER:  No problem, thanks. 

22HIS HONOUR:  10.30 for us. 

‑ ‑ ‑