Director of Public Prosecutions v Bell
[2025] VCC 292
•14 March 2025
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA | Revised Not Restricted Suitable for Publication |
AT BENDIGO
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION
CR-24-01920
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| v |
| PHILLIP BELL |
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JUDGE: | HIS HONOUR JUDGE MAIDMENT |
WHERE HELD: | Bendigo |
DATE OF HEARING: | 17 February 2025 |
DATE OF SENTENCE: | 14 March 2025 |
CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | DPP v Bell |
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2025] VCC 292 |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject:Plea - sentencing
Catchwords: Armed robbery - prohibited person in possession of imitation firearm
Legislation Cited:
Cases Cited:
Sentence:18 months’ imprisonment (205 days’ time served) plus 18-month CCO
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APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the Director of Public Prosecutions | Mr J. Vassis | Office of Public Prosecutions |
For the Accused | Mr H. Lewis | Docherty Legal |
HIS HONOUR:
1Phillip Bell, you have pleaded guilty to an offence of armed robbery and an offence of being a prohibited person in possession of an imitation firearm. The first of those offences carries a maximum penalty of imprisonment for 25 years and the second offence carries a maximum penalty of imprisonment for 10 years.
2You have admitted a number of prior convictions going back many years now to 2002. Some of those convictions have been in New South Wales and the majority in Victoria. Generally speaking, your convictions are for dishonesty offences. There are some offences which involve violence, but generally it is not a record that is characterised by offending of violence or of the nature of the armed robbery offence.
3The prosecution tendered and read the summary of prosecution opening for the plea which is dated 13 January 2025 and that was Exhibit A on the plea. It indicates that on 11 August of last year at about 4.35 pm, you rode your mountain bike into McKinnon Arcade, Echuca. You left it and entered a shop called 'Just You Nails & Spa' carrying with you a silver-barrelled imitation revolver which you waved in a threatening manner at the storekeeper and her friend who was present in the store at that time, demanding that they do not move and indicate where the cash was to be found.
4You went to the front counter, opened the cash register, removed about $700 in cash, placed the money into the pocket of your hoodie and threw the cash register compartment to the floor before fleeing the store. You then got back on your bike and were seen riding away. You were the subject of an unrelated search warrant at your home address the following day and it was noted that there was property there which was consistent with the clothing that you wore during the course of the armed robbery the day before.
5On 21 August 2024 in the morning, you were arrested at your home address. A further search warrant was executed at the property and police retrieved a number of items which were consistent with your clothing and attendance at the scene of the armed robbery on 11 August. You were taken to Echuca police station and interviewed by police. You made admissions to being in the arcade on 11 August 2024 and to possessing a silver-barrelled imitation revolver, but you made no admissions concerning the offence of armed robbery. You were charged and remanded in custody. You have been in custody since that date.
6I was shown CCTV footage which became Exhibit B at the plea hearing and it confirms the description of the events on that day that was outlined by the prosecution. Although the firearm was an imitation, it would not necessarily have appeared that way to a person who had been terrorised by the production of the weapon and placed in fear in the way that your victims were threatened by you on that occasion.
7Your counsel provided me with plea submissions dated 10 February 2025 which became Exhibit 1; a supplementary written submission dated 17 February 2025 which became Exhibit 1A; a psychological report from Mr Warren Simmons dated 7 December 2023 which became Exhibit 2 and a psychological report from Mr Jeffrey Cummins dated 4 February 2025 which became Exhibit 3. There was some debate at the hearing as to whether your somewhat deprived background, characterised as it was by verbal and physical abuse and the somewhat chaotic lifestyle and lack of education, gave rise to the application of principles known as the Bugmy principles or whether the degree of deprivation fell short of the application of those principles.
8There was some debate also as to the application of Verdins principles. I think it is not necessary for me to make a final decision as to precisely which side of the line those submissions should be resolved; however it seems to me clear that you had a deprived background. You got into substance abuse at an early age. Although you have had periods of working and periods of abstinence, or relative abstinence, from substance abuse, your life has generally been characterised by substance abuse from a very early age. That has been a blight on your life.
9It is impossible to divorce the influence of substances from your various psychological characteristics. The presence of possible post-traumatic stress disorder, ADHD and various personality disorders that you were either diagnosed with or showed some symptomology of are highly relevant to sentence in a number of respects. One is that there is no doubt you did have a deprived background. There is no doubt that you have come from a position of disadvantage. It is very likely that you would in those circumstances, with peer group pressure, give in to substance abuse. Once you get into substance abuse, it would have been very difficult for you to have broken the habit without assistance.
10You have had prior opportunities through community correction orders to have received help and perhaps to some extent that has assisted you. But it has unfortunately not broken the habit of use of drugs, in particular methamphetamine. You were apparently under the influence of methamphetamine at the time these offences were committed. It is likely that you committed the offences for the purposes of obtaining money to support your habit. It is a spiral that is very difficult to break and will remain a continuing downward spiral unless you are able to break it.
11You have had an opportunity now of being in custody for quite some time and you look as though you are better than you would have been at the time of your arrest. I know you have been provided with buprenorphine I think on a regular basis, but it may be assumed that you are either abstinent or almost abstinent from drugs and that you now have the opportunity of building something from that and taking that forward into a community correction order once you have completed your sentence.
12You would understand that this is a serious offence that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 25 years. So I have to sentence you in a way which reflects the seriousness of the offending. However, it has to be kept in proportion because there are many worse offences of armed robbery and there was never any attempt actually to hurt anybody in the course of the armed robbery, although of course putting a person in fear is itself a psychological injury which people have difficulty in overcoming. So it is still a serious offence, but there are many offences of this kind that are more serious.
13Now I need to say all that because it needs to be put on the record as to what my reasons are for coming to the conclusion as to the appropriate sentence. It is necessary for the court to impose a sentence that has the capacity to deter others from committing offences of this kind and to punish you adequately for your offending conduct as well as deterring you from committing further like offences. However, you have reached a point in your life where perhaps you can show you are capable of staying out of trouble for a period of time, as you did between 2019 and 2023, and it seems that you are capable of holding down a job.
14So your prospects of rehabilitation are not hopeless by any means, and I think that the fact that you were interested in and participated in the Koori Court process is a step in the right direction and supports the contention that you have shown some signs of remorse for your offending. In those circumstances, I have concluded that the best order that the court can make, not just for the community but in order to assist you to continue with your rehabilitation, is to give you a straight sentence, in other words not one which would enable you to get parole, but which is tailored to have you released at a time which would enable you to have the benefit of a community correction order.
15You are familiar enough with community correction orders. I cannot impose a community correction order upon you unless you consent to it. I have no doubt that you have discussed all that with your counsel and that you understand what that means, but I need to go through the terms of the proposed order now with you to see whether you are prepared to consent to an order in these terms. So bear with me for a few minutes.
16The order will come into effect upon your completion of your term of imprisonment and will run for 18 months. You will be required to report to the Bendigo Community Correctional Services in Bendigo, at an address which will be on the order, within two clear working days after the commencement of the order.
17There are a number of terms of the order which apply to all community correction orders, the first of which is that you must not commit another offence for which you could be imprisoned during the time that the order is in place. You must comply with any obligation or requirement under the Sentencing Regulations and that would include not turning up to supervision appointments either drug-affected or drunk and complying generally and co-operating with the community corrections officers who are responsible for administering the order.
18You must report to and receive visits from the Secretary of the Department of Justice or his or her delegate. You must let a community corrections officer know within two clear working days of you changing your address or your job. You must not leave Victoria without first getting permission to do so from the Secretary of the Department of Justice or his or her delegate and you must obey all lawful instructions from and directions of the Secretary of the Department of Justice or his or her delegate.
19I should warn you that if you do commit an offence punishable by imprisonment during the time of the order or if you are otherwise in breach of the order, then you could be brought back before this court and sentenced for breaching the order for a period of up to three months just for the breach and you could be re-sentenced on these offences. So it is in your interests not to breach the terms of the order and particularly not to breach it by committing further offences punishable by imprisonment.
20In addition to those terms, I would impose the following terms subject to your consent.
21You must perform 150 hours of unpaid community work over the period of the order as directed by the regional manager. However, all of those hours may be undertaken by completing treatment and rehabilitation programs and doing that in a satisfactory manner. So all of the 150 hours can be completed by your completing an equivalent number of hours of rehabilitation in accordance with the directions under the order.
22If you fail to comply with that order, that is the order requiring you to perform 150 hours of unpaid community work, the Secretary of the Department of Justice or his or her delegate may give you a direction to perform additional hours of unpaid community work.
23You must be under the supervision of a community corrections officer for the period of the order, 18 months.
24You must undergo assessment and treatment, including testing for drug abuse or dependency, as directed by the regional manager.
25You must undergo any mental health assessment and treatment that may include psychological, neuropsychological, psychiatric or treatment in a hospital or residential facility as directed by the regional manager.
26You must participate in programs and/or courses that address factors relating to the offending as directed by the regional manager.
27You must reappear at court for a review of your compliance with the order as directed by the court, and the first occasion upon which you would be required to do that will be on 3 June 2026 at 9.30 am at the Bendigo County Court.
28Now you will get a copy of this in due course, but first of all do you understand what I have just read to you and told you about?
29OFFENDER: Yes, Your Honour.
30HIS HONOUR: Are you willing to comply with the terms of the order that I have just read out?
31OFFENDER: Yes, Your Honour.
32HIS HONOUR: I will come back to that in a minute, but I am going on now to pronounce the sentence that I intend to impose.
33In relation to Charge 1 on the indictment of armed robbery, you are convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for 18 months.
34On Charge 2 of being a prohibited person in possession of an imitation firearm, you are convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for six months.
35Those sentences will run concurrently, making a total effective sentence of imprisonment for 18 months.
36I declare 205 days' presentence detention as time to be reckoned as served on the sentence that I have imposed.
37In addition, I order that you be the subject of a community correction order for a period of 18 months in the terms that I have just read out to you.
38I make orders for compensation in the sum of $700 and for forfeiture and disposal of property in accordance with the drafts that have been prepared by the prosecution.
39But for your pleas of guilty to these offences, I would have sentenced you to imprisonment for a period of three years with a non-parole period of two years.
40The community correction order will be provided to you. At the moment I have the order in front of me and you have indicated your agreement and consent to comply with the terms of that order. Do you confirm that?
41OFFENDER: Yes, Your Honour.
42HIS HONOUR: I will therefore treat the order as having been signed and approved by you and I will sign the order now which will bring the order into force, and you will get a copy of that.
43Are there any other matters, counsel.
44COUNSEL: No, Your Honour.
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