Director of Public Prosecutions v Bennett
[2025] VCC 249
•7 March 2025
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA AT MELBOURNE CRIMINAL JURISDICTION | Revised Not Restricted Suitable for Publication |
CR 24-00151
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| v |
| JESSE BENNETT |
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| JUDGE: | HIS HONOUR JUDGE JOHNS |
| WHERE HELD: | Melbourne |
| DATE OF HEARING: | 29 January 2025 and 20 February 2025 |
| DATE OF SENTENCE: | 7 March 2025 |
| CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | DPP v Bennett |
| MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2025] VCC 249 |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject: Criminal law – Sentence – Armed robbery
Catchwords: Armed robbery – Homeless – significant Bugmy mitigation – profound childhood disadvantage - Verdins mitigation - Prosecution concede CCO within Range.
Legislation Cited: s6AAA Sentencing Act 1991
Cases Cited: R v Verdins [2007] VSCA 102,
Sentence 2 year Community Correction Order, $100 fin with conviction,
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APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the Director of Public Prosecutions | Mr T. Warke | Office of Public Prosecutions |
| For the Accused | Ms S. Gillahan | Victoria Legal Aid |
HIS HONOUR:
1.Jesse Bennett, you have pleaded guilty before me on indictment to a charge of armed robbery. Armed robbery carries a maximum penalty of 25 years' imprisonment. That is a reflection of how seriously the community views this offence.
2.You have also admitted a relevant summary offence of causing damage to property at a police gaol, for which the maximum penalty is a fine not exceeding ten penalty units.
3.You have admitted a criminal record which is reflective of your unstable background, illicit substance use, alcohol dependency, and homelessness. It is consistent with the history you have provided to Dr Dawson and to your counsel.
4.The circumstances of your offending are set out in the summary of prosecution opening which was Exhibit A on the plea and which forms part of these reasons for sentence.
5.I do not propose to reproduce the same detail herein. In briefer terms, you entered a Cellarbrations bottle shop, where you were known as a customer. You selected a four-pack of beverages. You approached the counter, produced a knife and directed it toward the assistant.
6.You said: 'Take out all the money from the till quick or otherwise I will stab you.' The assistant was scared and told you to take it from the till yourself. You replied: 'You have to do it, otherwise I will stab you quick.'
7.The money from the till was emptied into a plastic bag and given to you.
8.You said: 'I’m sorry about that but I have to rob you because I need the money for my baby.'
9.You made away with approximately $1000 cash and the beverages.
10.When you were arrested you were highly intoxicated. You were placed in an interview room where you intentionally damaged a camera mounting.
11.You were unfit to be interviewed.
12.You spent two days in custody before being granted bail. A condition of your bail was to abide by the CISP requirements. You were on CISP bail until you were committed for trial, then you were simply bailed on your own undertaking, as I understand it.
13.You have been effectively homeless the whole time you have been on bail. You were bailed initially to a friend's address in Glenroy and lived in a tent in the backyard. You then spent time floating between crisis accommodations and living rough in your tent.
14.I was provided with a number of documents and materials that paint a picture of your difficult life and explain in part how you came to be in Melbourne immersed in the lifestyle that you were in.
15.These documents included CISP reports and five discharge summaries from Royal Hobart Hospital between 2021 and 2023.
Personal circumstances
16.You are now 28.
17.Your childhood was one of profound disadvantage and exposure to violence and trauma.
18.You identify as Aboriginal through your father who passed tragically from a heroin overdose when you were 14.
19.Your parents separated when you were an infant, and you were raised by your mother. You have two younger half-sisters. You had little contact with your father throughout your childhood. I was told that he was sentenced to a number of terms of imprisonment throughout your childhood.
20.Your mother struggled with alcoholism. She was frequently highly intoxicated and abusive. You suffered trauma directly during these bouts but also indirectly being anxious as to your mother's welfare.
21.You also witnessed her being subjected to extreme violence and trauma at the hands of her partners.
22.You were a victim of sexual assault as a child.
23.When you were 15 your mother was sentenced to a term of imprisonment for a serious car accident. Your mother’s long-term partner, who I understand is your father’s cousin, kicked you out and you became homeless.
24.After a period of 'couch-surfing' you met your first partner when you were 16, she was 21. Your first child was born when you were just 17. You had a second child with the same partner two years later. The relationship ended and you have not had contact with your sons for four years.
25.You have a third son, I was told, aged eight, who you have not seen for two years.
26.Your schooling was interrupted, you left during Year 9 around the time of your father’s passing. You did some work with a furniture removalist. You have been employed over the years in un-skilled labouring roles. You are currently in receipt of a Disability Support pension due to mental health diagnoses, including complex PTSD, alcohol use disorder, gambling disorder and persistent depressive disorder.
27.Your medical records confirm a history of suicidal ideation and gestures when intoxicated.
28.You commenced drinking alcohol at the young age of 14 and it has been a major problem in your lifestyle and functioning ever since.
Circumstances of offence
29.In relation to the lead-up to the offence: you came to Melbourne from your hometown of Hobart for work in August 2023. You had a job organised, but it was terminated due to you being unvaccinated. By May 2024 you had been homeless for some time. You were bouncing between two friends' units, sleeping in a tent in the back yard. You were drinking heavily.
30.At the time of the offence on 12 May you suspect your drink may have been spiked. You have no recollection of the offence.
Dr Dawson Report
31.I was provided with a report from Dr Dawson, relied upon on your behalf. Dr Dawson diagnoses you with complex PTSD and persistent depressive disorder. I accept her opinion as to these diagnoses.
32.Dr Dawson noted that at the time of the offending you were experiencing heightened stress due to being isolated in Victoria, being homeless, experiencing persistent depression and increased alcohol use in the context of psychosocial instability.
33.Dr Dawson opines that under heightened stress you experienced compromised thinking and emotional dysregulation.
34.Dr Dawson opines that you require consistent, regular psychological interventions and specialised trauma interventions.
35.It is conceded by the prosecution that due to your infirmities your experience of custody will be harsher for you than for another who does not suffer complex PTSD and persistent depressive disorder.
36.The prosecution do not accept that there is a sufficient nexus on the evidence between your mental health symptoms and the offence to enliven Limbs 1 to 4 of Verdins[1].
[1] R v Verdins [2007] VSCA 102
37.I accept Dr Dawson’s opinion as to treatment of your conditions and that treatment will be better delivered in a community setting than in custody.
38.I also accept that your complex PTSD and persistent depressive disorder were relevant factors in a constellation of factors which explain your offending. Bugmy mitigation is significant in your case. Alcohol played a major role in your offending and your vulnerabilities to alcohol has its roots in early childhood trauma and early exposure to alcohol abuse. Your homelessness, lack of direction and tendency to emotional dysregulation and decompensation when under the fluence of alcohol were all contributors in a sense.
39.I assess your moral culpability in light of all of these factors.
40.Helpfully, the prosecution has conceded in your case that an appropriately tailored Community Corrections Order can meet all of the sentencing considerations I must have regard to.
41.I had you assessed for a Community Corrections Order and you have been assessed as suitable.
42.Armed robbery is a very serious offence. Your victim was terrified, and the community is appalled at conduct such as yours. I do accept as genuine your expression of remorse to Dr Dawson.
43.You have pleaded guilty at an early opportunity. I have taken into account the two days you served in custody.
44.I am satisfied that you wish to be a law-abiding member of society. Your prospects of rehabilitation are reasonable in that context.
45.General deterrence and denunciation are very important considerations for an offence such as yours, as is specific deterrence given your instability and interaction with the criminal justice system in the past.
46.Balancing all of these factors, I am satisfied that in all of the circumstances of your case these relevant considerations can be met by the imposition of a Community Corrections Order.
Sentence
47.I sentence you as follows - you can stand up now, Mr Bennett.
48.On the charge of armed robbery, you are sentenced to a community corrections order of two years' duration.
49.The special conditions of that order are that you perform 100 hours of unpaid community work.
50.That you attend for drug and alcohol assessment as directed.
51.That you attend for mental health assessment and treatment as directed.
52.That you be subject to supervision.
53.There was a recommended condition of programs to reduce re-offending. I am not going to impose that condition because I am of the view that the conditions I have imposed will keep you busy enough, and my assessment of you is that if you complete this order, you will be well on the path to putting all of this behind you.
54.Thirty hours of treatment conditions can be credited towards community work.
55.Pursuant to s6AAA[2], were it not for your plea of guilty I would have sentenced you to 18 months' gaol.
[2] s6AAA Sentencing Act 1991
56.On the damage charge, you are fined $100.
57.I do not make any declaration pursuant to s18. I have noted those two days in custody, I have taken them into account. If in any future proceedings they need to be calculated, that can be done then.
58.Are there any other orders I need to make, Mr Warke, was there a disposal or anything like that.
59.MR WARKE: There is a disposal order for the knife, Your Honour. A draft disposal order has been filed.
60.HIS HONOUR: I make the disposal order that is sought. Now, Mr Bennett, do you consent to the community corrections order.
61.ACCUSED: Yes.
62.HIS HONOUR: That's going to be prepared now, and I'll sign it and then you will be asked to sign it - Ms Gillahan can have a look at it. What that will require is you attending within two days, within two working days which is really Tuesday or Wednesday, of Corrections and you will have to follow their directions from there about turning up for supervision, turning up for community work once that's organised, going for alcohol assessment and treatment. They are the main supports - also mental health supports. You've got to abide by all these conditions.
63.If you don't abide by the conditions, if you don't keep appointments, after a number of unexplained absences Corrections will breach you, they will bring proceedings to bring you back to court and I will have to re-sentence you. So, we don't want to get to that. Of course, if you commit an offence whilst on an order you contravene it as well and you come back here for re-sentencing. So, all of the aspects of the order, even the community work, are going to be beneficial to you and be therapeutic for you.
64.It's a two-year order. I understand that in respect of some states there's an arrangement where orders can be transferred. I'm not sure if Tasmania has that but that is something you can discuss with Ms Gillahan and Corrections, but for the moment the court is effectively supervising you for the next two years on a Corrections order and here is where you will be, unless there's any application to transfer.
65.All right, well once that's ready I'll sign it.
66.MS GILLAHAN: Just to confirm, Your Honour: both the community corrections order and the fine are with conviction.
67.HIS HONOUR: Yes, sorry, I meant to say that. The community corrections order with conviction. I did think I wrote that down at one stage, but looking at my notes, I haven't, but that was the intention. And the fine with conviction as well.
68.MR WARKE: Your Honour, just before this matter is stood down, might I have a brief moment to confer with my learned friend on one point.
69.HIS HONOUR: Yes, sure - - -
70.MR WARKE: I might just call Ms Gillahan if that's okay, or across the link if that's appropriate.
71.HIS HONOUR: Yes, do you want me to stand down.
72.MR WARKE: If that's all right. Thank you, Your Honour.
73.HIS HONOUR: All right, I'll just be out the back.
74.(Short adjournment.)
75.HIS HONOUR: All right. So, Mr Warke, is that all right.
76.MR WARKE: Yes, nothing to raise, Your Honour. I'm grateful for the - - -
77.HIS HONOUR: All good, thank you. Now, I've signed the order. Mr Bennett will have to sign it. He's signed it? All right. We'll get copies of it for the prosecution, one for you, Mr Bennett and one for you and your instructor - Ms Gillahan. I thank everyone. Good luck, Mr Bennett, hopefully I won't hear anything further, that you will keep all your appointments. I don't want to be in a situation where I have to have you here again explaining why you didn't attend things, so take the opportunity. The prosecution has been very reasonable in this matter. Offences like this often the expectation is time in gaol, so keep that in mind, sort yourself out with the support of Corrections and the services that are available. Thanks everyone.
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