Director of Public Prosecutions v Bell
[2017] VCC 1952
•18 December 2017
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA AT MELBOURNE CRIMINAL DIVISION | Revised (Not) Restricted Suitable for Publication |
CR-17-00516
CR-17-00515
CR-17-00514
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| v |
| PETER BELL KELVIN YATES LAHNII WOOD |
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JUDGE: | HIS HONOUR JUDGE RYAN | |
WHERE HELD: | Melbourne | |
DATE OF HEARING: | 18 December 2017 | |
DATE OF SENTENCE: | 18 December 2017 | |
CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | DPP v Bell & Ors | |
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2017] VCC 1952 | |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject: CRIMINAL LAW
Catchwords: Sentence – Plea of Guilty – Aggravated burglary – Causing injury recklessly – Common assault – Criminal damage – Theft
Legislation Cited: Sentencing Act 1991
Sentence: BELL: 4 years and 5 months imprisonment with a non-parole period of 2 years and 6 months imprisonment; Section 6AAA declaration: 6 years and 6 months imprisonment with a non-parole period of 4 years and 6 months imprisonment. YATES: 2 years and 7 months imprisonment with a non-parole period of 15 months imprisonment; Section 6AAA declaration 4 years and 6 months imprisonment with a non-parole period of 2 years and 6 months imprisonment. WOOD: 3 years and 2 months imprisonment with a non-parole period of 19 months imprisonment; Section 6AAA declaration 5 years imprisonment with a non-parole period of 2 years and 6 months imprisonment. 464ZF orders. 25 days pre-sentence detention.
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APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the Director of Public Prosecutions | John Saunders | Mr A Foster Office of Public Prosecutions |
| For the Accused | Mr J. Lavery (Bell) Ms H. Kelly (Yates) Ms N. Kaddeche (Wood) | Stuthridge Legal Doogue and George Stary Norton Halphen |
HIS HONOUR:
1 Peter Bell, Kelvin Yates, and Lahnii Wood, on 23 November 2017 you each pleaded guilty to charges contained in Indictment C1611038. In your case, Mr Bell, you pleaded guilty to Charges 1, 3, 4, and 5, being a charge of aggravated burglary, involving entry of 43 Caitlyn Drive, Melton West on 18 December 2016, intending to assault, and at the time you had with you an offensive weapon, namely a metal pole, Charge 1. Together with Nick Gruevski and Kelvin Yates, you caused injury recklessly to Damian Leckie, Charge 3. Together with Nick Gruevski, Kelvin Yates, and Lahnii Wood, you assaulted Benjamin Salt, Charge 4. Finally, you damaged a motor vehicle belonging to Benjamin Salt, Charge 5.
2
Kelvin Yates, you pleaded guilty to Charges 2, 3, 4, and 6. In respect of
Charge 2, you are charged jointly with Nick Gruevski and Lahnii Wood, with aggravated burglary involving entry of 43 Caitlyn Drive, Melton West on 18 December 2016, intending to commit an assault. Charges 3 and 4 are common to Mr Bell. Charge 6 is a charge of theft of property belonging to Benjamin Salt.
3
Lahnii Wood, you pleaded guilty to Charge 2, aggravated burglary, with your co-offenders Nick Gruevski and Kelvin Yates. As well, you pleaded guilty to Charge 4, common assault on Benjamin Salt in company with Peter Bell,
Nick Gruevski, and Kelvin Yates.
4
The maximum penalties that apply to the charges are aggravated burglary,
25 years’ imprisonment; causing injury recklessly, common law assault, and damaging property, five years’ imprisonment; and theft, ten years’ imprisonment.
5 Mr Bell, you admitted your prior criminal history, while you Mr Yates and Ms Wood, are without prior conviction.
6 Tendered as Exhibit A on the plea and read aloud in Court was the summary of prosecution opening. The circumstances of your offending require some explanation. On 15 July 2016, the principle victim in this matter, Benjamin Salt, was involved in an incident at Mac’s Hotel in Melton, where he assaulted Brittany Bell, your daughter, Mr Bell. You, Ms Wood, were present during the incident. Mr Salt was arrested, interviewed under caution, and released pending summons.
7 About a week later, Nick Gruevski, Brittany Bell’s partner, asked her if she knew Mr Salt’s address. Ms Bell did not disclose Mr Salt’s address because she did not wish anything to happen to him, as she feared that Mr Gruevski would retaliate and harm Mr Salt. Further, Ms Bell urged you, Ms Wood, not to disclose Mr Salt’s address to Mr Gruevski because of her fears.
8 In early October 2016, Ms Bell told the police she did not wish to proceed with the charges against Mr Salt, and on 20 October 2016, the brief of evidence against him was not authorised.
9
On Sunday 18 December 2016, you, Mr Bell together with Mr Gruevski, you, Mr Yates and you, Ms Wood were at Brittany Bell’s home in Melton South, drinking alcohol, and it is apparent that by the end of proceedings, Mr Bell,
Mr Gruevski, and Ms Wood were adversely affected by alcohol.
10 Brittany Bell went to bed and you three, together with Mr Gruevski, decided to attend at Mr Salt’s address to "Scare" him. Ms Wood, you knew Mr Salt’s address and at about 7.30 pm, acted as navigator for your co‑offenders, as Mr Yates drove you all to Mr Salt’s home. Mr Yates, you parked your vehicle two houses down from Mr Salt’s home and you, Ms Wood, stayed in the vehicle for a period of time whilst Messrs Bell, Gruevski, and Yates entered Mr Salt’s home. You, Mr Bell, were armed with a metal pipe about half a metre long and together with Mr Gruevski and Mr Yates, you entered Mr Salt’s home through an unlocked front door. Mr Salt was in his bedroom playing X‑Box through the network with his housemate, Damian Leckie, who was in his bedroom. Mr Salt’s younger brother, Mitchell, was also present in his bedroom.
11 Mr Gruevski and you, Mr Yates, entered into Benjamin Salt’s bedroom and asked if he was Ben, to which he replied, "No". You, Mr Yates, told Mr Salt to stop in his bedroom and you walked out of his bedroom and you, Mr Yates, shut the bedroom door behind you. Mr Salt opened the door and tried to get past you, Mr Yates, but you pushed him.
12
Mr Gruevski approached Mitchell Salt in his bedroom and asked,
"Are you Ben?" to which he replied, "No". Mr Gruevski and you, Mr Bell, walked out of Mitchell Salt’s bedroom with you, Mr Yates, standing at the bedroom door, preventing Mitchell Salt from coming out. Mr Gruevski and you, Mr Bell, approached Mr Leckie, who, by this stage, was in the lounge room and you asked, "Where's Ben?" to which Leckie replied, "Why?"
13 You, Mr Bell, and Mr Gruevski became angry and replied to Mr Leckie’s question by saying, "He likes to glass girls". Benjamin Salt walked past you, Mr Yates, into the hallway where Mr Gruevski punched him in the face twice and a scuffle broke out between them. You, Mr Bell, swung the metal pipe at Mr Leckie which he partially blocked and a scuffle broke out between you. During the scuffle, you Mr Bell, having got the worst of it, grabbed a black handled steak knife from a table next to the couch, and Mr Leckie retreated behind the couch. Mr Gruevski approached Mr Leckie and punched him in the face with a closed fist, causing him to bleed.
14 While the scuffles were taking place, you, Ms Wood, entered the house and identified Mr Salt to Mr Gruevski and Mr Bell, and said, "He bashes girls" referring to Mr Salt. Mr Gruevski and you, Mr Bell, approached Benjamin Salt, and took him into the kitchen area, where you further assaulted him. You, Ms Wood, were in the kitchen whilst this happened. Benjamin Salt describes you, Ms Wood, as yelling at him the whole time, whilst he was assaulted in the kitchen.
15 Mr Leckie in his deposition describes you, Ms Wood, as "Walking like she was the boss running the whole thing."
16 Eventually you all left. Mr Gruevski and you, Mr Bell, told Benjamin Salt and Mr Leckie not to tell anyone, and not to report the matter to the police or you would return with guns.
17 Mitchell Salt describes his experience being held in his room, and swears that when he tried to come out "The guy", being you, Mr Yates, pushed him back again. He described you, Ms Wood, as his older brother Billy’s ex-girlfriend, and deposed in his statement that you came into his room, and said you were sorry that that you and your co-offenders were there. But if he called the cops they would be back with guns. You then left his room. I accept this statement beyond reasonable doubt.
18 At some stage either prior to entering Mr Salt’s premises or upon leaving them, you, Mr Bell, damaged the right hand tail light of Mr Salt’s red Holden Cruze motor vehicle. You, Mr Yates, on leaving, took the opportunity to steal from Mr Benjamin Salt’s bedroom his X-Box and controller.
19 In his statement, Mr Benjamin Salt, says:
"I was hit multiple times to the face. My arm was hit by blocking the baseball bat. I have no visible injuries. The whole time I was telling them to leave the house."
20 Mr Leckie described his injuries in the following terms:
"I have a sore right wrist from being struck with the metal pole and my nose is slightly sore from being punched by the man in the blue jumper
(Mr Gruevski). I have red marks on my upper chest area which I think are from the silver haired man grabbing me whilst we were wrestling for the pole."
21 Whilst each of your victims’ injuries are at the lower end of the scale, this is a result of good luck, rather than good management, and that they proved to be a match for you when you invaded the privacy of their home.
22 Tendered as Exhibit B were the victim impact statements of Messrs Salt and Leckie. Mr Salt suffers from anxiety when alone in his own home, constantly checking that the locks in his home are locked. There are some nights when he cannot sleep. He declines invitations to go out for fear of who he may encounter. Mr Leckie writes in almost identical terms. By your conduct, you have adversely affected the lives of your victims.
23 Mr Bell, your counsel took no issue with the matters outlined in the prosecution opening. You were arrested on 9 January 2017 and predominantly remained mute during the course of the record of interview. You are 47 years of age and were educated to Year 9 level at Lalor High School. You found education difficult, experiencing problems with reading and writing. After leaving school, you worked in factories and thereafter, worked as a truck driver. In the last three years you have worked casually as a truck driver in Echuca, where you live, delivering ice for Rich River Ice. You do seasonal work and are otherwise in receipt of Newstart Allowance.
24 Your parents are still together after almost 60 years of marriage. Their health is problematic, which is evidenced by the contents of a reference written by your aunt that forms part of Exhibit 2. You have three older siblings. Your childhood was described as "Good".
25 During your adult years, you developed a significant heroin habit and are presently on 50 milligrams of Methadone per day.
26 You have had two significant relationships. From each relationship, you have one child, Brittany, now aged 23, and Blake, aged ten. You live in Echuca to be close to your son, who lives there with his mother.
27 It was put on your behalf that it was the incident at the Mac’s Hotel that precipitated the instant offending. Your conduct is an example of vigilantism.
28
You do not have an extensive criminal history, and you completed a
Community Correction Order in 2005 and 2006, in respect of violent offending.
29 You pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity and are entitled to the benefits that flow from that plea, being that it is some evidence of your remorse, and that it has utilitarian benefit. Tendered as Exhibit 1 on your plea was the report of psychologist, Warren Simmons, dated 10 July 2017. It sets out many of the matters put on your behalf by your counsel. There is no suggestion that you suffer from any psychological illness, and accordingly, you are an appropriate vehicle for the application of the principle of general deterrence. I regard your prospects for rehabilitation as guarded.
30 Tendered as Exhibit 2 on the plea was letter of apology by you, your résumé, various references from previous employers, and a document dated 13 November 2017 from Echuca Regional Health, in respect to your attempts to minimise your use of alcohol.
31 Your counsel submitted that the appropriate sentencing disposition in all the circumstances was a Community Correction Order; failing that, a short term of imprisonment, combined with a Community Correction Order, he submitted, served all of the purposes of sentencing appropriate to you. I cannot agree. In an alcohol-affected state, in company, and seeking revenge against Benjamin Salt for his conduct towards your daughter, Brittany, you committed a confrontational aggravated burglary. You were armed at the time that you entered your victim’s home. To add insult to injury, you damaged your victim’s motor vehicle, perhaps as a Parthian shot.
32 Kelvin Yates, you are 28 years of age. You were arrested and interviewed under caution on 29 December 2016, and made full admissions.
33 You grew up in a family of five and you are the middle child between two sisters. You grew up in Hoppers Crossing and your parents worked throughout your childhood; your father as a machine operator, and your mother as a cleaner. Your childhood was uneventful, and you left school at the end of Year 10 to commence full time work. You have been employed on a full time basis ever since, apart from a period of nine months or so, when you cared for your grandfather who was ill when living in Traralgon.
34 You have two sons, twins now aged four years. Their mother is your co‑offender, Ms Wood. You separated from Ms Wood in 2015, and she retained custody of the children until February of this year, when she found herself unable to care for the children, and you became their primary carer.
35 You live at home with your mother and father, and it would appear that your mother has taken on the role of the principal carer for your children during the daylight hours when you are at work, and then she attends work at night as a cleaner.
36 You are currently employed on a full time basis by Cleminger International Logistics in their warehouse. You have been employed by that organisation for something in excess of three years and you work from 7.30 am until 4.00 pm, five days per week.
37 Tendered on your behalf was a reference from Mr William Chau, a person who described himself as the 2-I-C warehouse manager at Cleminger International Logistics, located in Tottenham. He describes you as a hard worker and that during your period of time working for Cleminger International, you have risen from an entry level picker and packer, to the role of team leader, and now acting 2-I-C warehouse supervisor. Prior to being remanded in custody you were the company’s occupational health and safety officer and fire warden, as well as being appointed the quarantine accredited and biosecurity agent. I was informed by counsel, and it appears within the reference from Mr Chau, that you received no additional pay for these additional duties.
38 Mr Chau indicated that his employer’s employment policy forbids the employment of people with criminal histories, and that he could not guarantee your re-employment if you were imprisoned.
39 Additionally, relied on as part of Exhibit 10, was a reference from your mother and a letter from you. Your mother writes as to your work ethic, and that there was a period of time in which she was unwell and you, despite working days, took over her night job as a cleaner for a period of six months or so. When this information is combined with the care that you gave your grandfather, it is plain that you are man who is devoted to his family. Your mother describes your sons as having behavioural problems and since they have come under your care, they have improved. It is plain from her reference that she loves you dearly.
40 In your letter to the Court, you wrote that you are unable to find a reason or justification or excuse for your criminal conduct. You express remorse for your conduct, and the effects that your conduct has had upon your victims. You now realise that you will have a criminal record and that this will affect every aspect of your life into your future. You acknowledge that there will come a time when you will have to explain to your sons how it is you find yourself in your present predicament. In your letter, you write that you have recently met with management who suggested you could be a candidate to manage a new warehouse that your employer has in Queensland. Because of your present predicament, you were unable to commit to your employer your readiness to fulfil this role. You profess to being rehabilitated. To my mind, you are simply sorry for the position in which you find yourself.
41 As to your offending, you drove your co‑offenders to your victim’s home. You were sober and do not have the excuse of the effects of alcohol on your decision- making processes to explain your conduct. Your role within the house was to ensure that Mitchell Salt remained in his bedroom. It was put on your behalf that this had a benevolent aspect to it in that you were requested to perform this function by your former partner, Ms Wood, so that Mitchell Salt would not be hurt. The alternate view is that you simply kept Mitchell Salt out of the fray, allowing your co‑offenders to go about their criminal conduct. I find myself unable to determine the motivation for that role, and accordingly make no favourable or adverse finding against you. However, what is plain is that whilst keeping Mitchell Salt in his room, you observed the conduct of your co‑offenders, and did nothing to stop it. Additionally, you drove them away from the scene.
42 You are a young man without prior convictions. You are the father and carer to two young children. After having left school, you have always worked hard, and presently hold down a responsible position with Cleminger International Logistics. You were cooperative with police when interviewed, and you entered your pleas of guilty at the earliest opportunity, and are entitled to the benefits that flow to you from those pleas, being that they are some evidence of your remorse, and that they have utilitarian benefit.
43 As against that, on the evening of 18 December 2016, you agreed with your co‑offenders to attend at your victim’s home to "Scare" him. Whilst directed by Ms Wood, your former partner, you drove your co‑offenders to your victim’s home. You entered that residence with the intention of assaulting Mr Benjamin Salt. Whilst your physical contact with Mr Salt was that of pushing him, and you did not physically lay hands on Mr Leckie, you are equally culpable at law with your co‑offenders, Mr Bell and Mr Gruevski. However, your role must be considered as at a much lesser level than theirs. I find that you have good prospects for rehabilitation.
44 Of concern is the gratuitous crime of theft that you committed on leaving your victim’s home; that is, the stealing of his X-Box and other paraphernalia. To my mind, this gives true insight into your attitude to your victim, Mr Salt, and your own conduct at the time of your offending.
45 As previously stated, aggravated burglary is a serious offence, punishable by 25 years’ imprisonment. Theft is punishable by a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment. You involved yourself in a confrontational aggravated burglary whilst sober, the motive for the aggravated burglary being one of revenge.
46 Whilst I accept that specific deterrence has little role to play in the proper exercise of my sentencing discretion, you are an appropriate vehicle for the application of general deterrence, and your conduct must be denounced, and you must be justly punished.
47
Ms Wood, you are 24 years of age and are without prior conviction. Whilst adversely affected by alcohol, and despite the entreaties of your friend,
Brittany Bell, the only person with a grievance against Benjamin Salt, you directed your co‑offenders to Mr Salt’s home, in the knowledge that they were going to assault him in his own home. You guided the driver, Mr Yates, your former partner, and father of your two children, to the address and watched your male co‑offenders enter Mr Salt’s home, and thereafter you joined them, identifying Benjamin Salt and accepting the contents of the statement of Benjamin Salt and Mr Leckie, you intentionally assisted and encouraged your co‑offenders, Mr Bell and Mr Gruevski, to assault Benjamin Salt in the kitchen. Likewise, I accept that you threatened Mitchell Salt, that should he go to authorities, that your co-offenders would return with a gun.
48 You were arrested and interviewed under caution on 22 December 2016 and made full admissions.
49 Tendered as Exhibit 12 were two psychological reports, one from Mrs Lee, dated 15 November 2017 and another from Mr Peter Hanley, dated 6 November 2017.
50 You are the only child to your parents. Your mother had a previous relationship and you have two older half-siblings; you told Mr Hanley that you relate to them. Your parents never married and separated when you were approximately five years of age. You described your father as "An aggressive drunk", who was regularly violent towards your mother. You told Mr Hanley that you were afraid of your father as a child. Despite this, in your teens you went to live with your father from time to time, after having been kicked out of your mother’s home. Effectively, you had transient and unstable living arrangements throughout your adolescence.
51
You are presently living in Melton with your mother and your partner,
Paul Ferguson.
52 You attended three primary schools in Deer Park, Hoppers Crossing, and Wyndham Vale. You exhibited behavioural problems, both at primary and secondary school, and described to Mr Hanley several instances of disruptive and violent behaviour, whilst acting with your best friend, Brittany Bell. One such incident included setting a girl’s hair on fire. You completed the equivalent of Year 10 at an institution called The Laurels in Bacchus Marsh. You told Mr Hanley that you had a Certificate III in Warehousing, and a Certificate II in Animal Studies.
53 You instructed Mr Hanley that you had a sporadic work history from 14 years of age, undertaking various casual positions, with the longest period of employment being 11 months at Hungry Jack’s, when you were 17 years old.
54 You have had three long term relationships; the first when you were 14 years of age; the second with Mr Yates, the father of your children. You described your most recent relationship to Mr Hanley, as being with a man named Matt, who had drug problems and who was currently in prison. Plainly, this is not the man with whom you presently live, Mr Ferguson, who is the author of a reference tendered on your behalf, as part of Exhibit 13.
55
You have had a long standing problem with alcohol, and were adversely affected by alcohol at the time of the commission of the instant offences. The report of Mrs Lee, psychologist, which forms part of Exhibit 12, indicates that you have completed three sessions with her in respect to your
"Alcohol use disorder"; those sessions commenced on 10 October 2017, some six weeks or so prior to your appearance before me.
56 Mr Hanley opined that there was no indication that you were suffering from a thought disorder or any form of psychosis, and that he estimated your intelligence to be within the "Low-average" range. Accordingly, you are an appropriate vehicle for the application of the principle of general deterrence.
57 Your instructions to Mr Hanley about your life and self and his analysis of your upbringing and personality, sit in stark contrast to the person described by your various referees whose references form Exhibit 13. Your sister-in-law describes you as being remorseful, that you understand your actions were wrong, and that they should not have taken place. You have recently gained employment, and are making positive changes in your life. Your sister-in-law speaks of your love of horses, and of your devotion to rescuing and rehabilitating and re-homing horses. Your family friend, Jacqueline Martin, speaks in similar terms in respect of your love for horses. Your current partner of some five months or so, Mr Ferguson, speaks of your understanding of the wrongfulness of your decisions, and the effect that alcohol played on them.
58 I was told you are presently employed in warehousing at the Reject Shop distribution centre and that you have developed an appropriate level of insight into the stupidity and wrongfulness of your actions.
59 It was submitted on your behalf that a Community Correction Order would meet all of the sentencing purposes appropriate to you and your offending. I do not agree.
60 Whilst adversely affected by alcohol, having been warned not to involve yourself with Mr Benjamin Salt as a result of his conduct some months earlier, you acted as navigator to your co‑offenders, taking them to Mr Salt’s home. You did so knowing that they intended to go into his home to assault him. You entered the house yourself, and identified Benjamin Salt to your co‑offenders and were present and actively so, in my view, when he was assaulted in the kitchen by Mr Bell and Mr Gruevski.
61 You are a young person and have no prior convictions. You are in employment. You have a stable home life and a new partner. You were cooperative with police and entered your pleas of guilty at the earliest opportunity. You are entitled to the benefits that flow to you from your pleas, being that they are some evidence of your remorse and they have utilitarian benefit. I note that whilst you were on remand, you have undertaken a number of courses, and the certificates in respect of those courses form Exhibit 14 on this plea. I view your prospects for rehabilitation as being dependent upon you being abstinent from alcohol, and as to this, there is insufficient material to form a view.
62 Would you all please stand.
63 Doing the best I can, taking into account each of your personal circumstances and the objective circumstances of your offending and applying sentencing principle, Mr Bell, I sentence you as follows:
On Charge 1 – four years’ imprisonment,
On Charge 3 – six months’ imprisonment,
On Charge 4 – six months’ imprisonment,
On Charge 5 – three months’ imprisonment.
64 I order that two months of the sentences imposed on Charges 3 and 4, together with one month of the sentence imposed on Charge 5, be served cumulatively upon each other, and upon the sentence imposed on Charge 1. This results in a total effective sentence of four years' and five months' imprisonment, and I set the period of two years and six months, as being the period of imprisonment that you must serve before you will become eligible for parole.
65 Mr Prosecutor, what is the correct pre-sentence detention in respect of this prisoner.
66 MR FOSTER: 25 days for this prisoner, and the others as well.
67 HIS HONOUR: Thank you very much.
68 I declare that you have spent 25 days by way of pre-sentence detention.
69 Pursuant to s6AAA of the Sentencing Act 1991, I declare that but for your plea of guilty, I would have sentenced you to a total effective sentence of six and a half years’ imprisonment, with a non-parole period of four and a half years’ imprisonment. You may be seated.
70 Mr Yates, I sentence you as follows:
Charge 2 – two years and six months’ imprisonment,
Charge 3 – three months’ imprisonment,
Charge 4 – three months’ imprisonment,
Charge 6 – three months’ imprisonment.
71 I order that one month of the sentence imposed on Charge 6, be served cumulatively upon the sentence imposed on Charge 2. This results in a total effective sentence of two years' and seven months' imprisonment, and I fix the period of 15 months as being the period of imprisonment that you must serve before you will become eligible for parole.
72 I declare that you have spent 25 days by way of pre-sentence detention.
73 Pursuant to s6AAA of the SentencingAct 1991, I declare that but for your plea of guilty, I would have sentenced you to four years' and six months’ imprisonment, with a non-parole period of two years' and six months’ imprisonment. You may be seated.
74 Ms Wood, I sentence you as follows.
Charge 1 – three years’ imprisonment;
Charge 4 – six months’ imprisonment.
75 I order that 2 months of the sentence imposed on Charge 4, be served cumulatively upon the sentence imposed on Charge 2. This results in a total effective sentence of three years' and two months’ imprisonment, and I fix the period of 19 months’ imprisonment as the period that you must serve before you become eligible for parole.
76 I declare that you have spent 25 days by way of pre‑sentence detention.
77
Pursuant to s6AAA of the Sentencing Act 1991, I declare that but for your plea of guilty, I would have sentenced you to five years’ imprisonment with a
non-parole period of two years' and six months’ imprisonment. You may be seated.
78 Is there anything that should arise out of this sentence.
79 MR FOSTER: Only the forensic sample orders, Your Honour.
80 HIS HONOUR: Yes.
81 MR FOSTER: I have copies here to hand up.
82 HIS HONOUR: Thank you very much.
83 MR FOSTER: You will have to excuse my handwritten amendments, our computer system was down this morning.
84 HIS HONOUR: Mr Lavery, in respect to the application for a forensic sample, so far as Mr Bell is concerned, what is your attitude?
85 MR LAVERY: Your Honour, I understood that that had been already ventilated. Can I just approach the Dock? I do not have instructions; can I approach the Dock?
86 HIS HONOUR: By all means.
87 MR LAVERY: My instructions are to consent to that, Your Honour.
88 HIS HONOUR: Thank you very much. Mr Bell, would you please stand. The Crown have made an application, what is known as a forensic sample. That is a scraping from your mouth. I have made that order because of the seriousness of the circumstances of the offending warrant the order. The order is by consent, and the granting of the order is in the public interest.
89 I must inform you, that if at the time of request, you do not consent to the taking of a mouth scraping under the supervision of an authorised member of the police force, then the sample to be taken will be a blood sample, and police may use reasonable force to enable that forensic procedure to be conducted. You may be seated.
90 I hand down three copies of that order in respect of the prisoner Bell. You may remove the prisoner Mr Bell.
91 There is an application in respect of Mr Yates for a forensic sample. What are your instructions in respect of that.
92 MS KELLY: Your Honour, that is consented to.
93 HIS HONOUR: Thank you.
94 Mr Yates, would you please stand. The Crown has made application for a forensic sample. I have granted that order. It will be a scraping from your mouth. I have granted the order because the seriousness of the circumstances of the offending warrant the order. The order is by consent, and the granting of the order is in the public interest.
95 I must inform you, that if at the time of request, you do not consent to the taking of a mouth scraping under the supervision of an authorised member of the police force, then the sample to be taken would be a blood sample, and police may use reasonable force to enable that forensic procedure to be conducted.
96 I hand down three copies of that order. Would you remove the prisoner Mr Yates please.
97 There is a similar application in respect of Ms Woods.
98 MS KADDECHE: I am in a similar position to my friend. I understand that the matters have been ventilated; if I could - - -
99 HIS HONOUR: Please.
100 MS KADDECHE: I apologise, but if I could approach Ms Wood.
101 HIS HONOUR: By all means.
102 MS KADDECHE: As Your Honour pleases. The instructions are that it is consented to.
103 HIS HONOUR: Thank you very much.
104 Ms Wood, would you please stand. The Crown have made application, what is known as a forensic sample. That is the scraping of your mouth. I have granted that order on the basis of the seriousness of the circumstances of the offending warrant the order. The order is consented to and the granting of the order is in the public interest.
105 I must inform you, that if at the time of request, you do not consent to the taking of a mouth scraping under the supervision of an authorised member of the police force, then the sample to be taken will be a blood sample, and police may use reasonable force to enable that forensic procedure to be conducted. You may remove the prisoner.
106 I hand down three copies of the order. Are there any other matters arising?
107 MR FOSTER: No, Your Honour.
108 HIS HONOUR: Thank you.
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