Director of Public Prosecutions v Blow
[2017] VCC 1615
•2 November 2017
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA AT MELBOURNE CRIMINAL DIVISION | Revised Not Restricted Suitable for Publication |
Case No. CR-17-00744(Blow)
CR-17-00749(Gray)
CR-14-02170(Gray)
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| v |
| MICHAEL DOUGLAS BLOW and |
| TYSON DION GRAY |
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JUDGE: | HER HONOUR JUDGE PATRICK | |
WHERE HELD: | Melbourne | |
DATE OF HEARING: | ||
DATE OF SENTENCE: | 2 November 2017 | |
CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | DPP v Blow and Anor | |
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2017] VCC 1615 | |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the DPP | Ms H. Bate | |
| For the Accused Blow For the Accused Gray | Mr R. Backwell Ms D. Dempsey |
HER HONOUR:
1 Michael Blow and Tyson Gray, you have both pleaded guilty to one charge of armed robbery, Charge 1, Indictment C1711052.
2 The prosecution made application for forfeiture and disposal of certain items. The making of those orders was not opposed.
3
Michael Blow, you have also pleaded guilty to one charge of contravening
a community corrections order, Summary Charge 1 on File No. CR-14-02170.
4
Tyson Gray, you have also pleaded guilty to contravening an undertaking, which was imposed on 30 June 2016, that is Summary Charge 1 on File
No. CR-16-00505.
5 You have also pleaded guilty to a charge of breaching bail conditions, Summary Charge 1 on File No. CR-17-00749.
Circumstances of offending
6 The circumstances of the armed robbery are set out in detail in the Summary of Prosecution Opening for Plea, Exhibit A. The circumstances in brief are as follows. During the evening of 2 January 2017, you, Tyson Gray, met Michael Blow outside a supermarket in East Bendigo. You did not know each other prior to meeting that night. At about 9 pm you, Tyson Gray, began asking customers for money. You both then walked about 350 metres to a service station in Bendigo East. You approached the service station, walking past the attendant who was standing outside having a cigarette. You walked up to the locked sliding door of the service station. You, Michael Blow, were wearing a hoodie with the hood up over your head. As you got near the door you, Tyson Gray, lifted your T‑shirt to conceal the bottom part of your face.
7 The victim unlocked the door and you both followed him into the store and to the counter. You, Tyson Gray, had let your T‑shirt drop, but you again pulled it up while standing next to Michael Blow at the counter. You, Michael Blow, said to the victim, “Give me money or I’ll kill you”. The victim saw a pointed object pointed in his direction through Michael Blow’s clothing. The victim could not see what the object was, but it is agreed that it was a knife. The victim gave you, Michael Blow, about $200 in cash and you both left the store.
8 Police arrived shortly after. At about 10.49 pm you, Tyson Gray, walked back from a skate park towards the service station and police, with your hands raised in the air. You called out, “I give up, I give up.” You were arrested and taken to Bendigo Police Station.
9 You, Michael Blow, were arrested on 3 January 2017. On 3 January 2017, you were interviewed by police. You remained mute but said at the end that you did not do it.
10 You, Tyson Gray, were interviewed on 3 January 2017. You told police you had met a man that you had asked for a cigarette. He said to come for a walk and he would buy a packet, so you went down to the service station because he was going to get a packet of cigarettes. You said you thought the man was “robbing the joint” but you did not want anything to do with it.
11 At a committal mention on 12 April 2017 you both indicated that you would plead guilty.
12 Michael Blow, you have been in custody in respect of this matter for 303 days. By your plea of guilty, you are convicted of an offence which breaches a community correction order that was imposed by the County Court on 19 May 2015.
13
You, Tyson Gray, by your plea of guilty, are convicted of an offence which breaches an undertaking to be of good behaviour which was imposed on
30 June 2016. You have also pleaded guilty to a breach of bail conditions, being breaches of curfew and non-consumption of alcohol conditions. As a result of that breach, you were taken into custody and you have now been for 43 days in custody.
Michael Blow – personal circumstances
14 Michael Blow, in sentencing you, I have taken into account your personal circumstances. Those circumstances were set out in oral and written sentencing submissions and various materials that were tendered on your behalf. You are now aged 22 and were aged 21 at the time of the offence. You were diagnosed with chronic schizophrenia and polysubstance abuse in 2012 when you were 17. It seems since then you have been admitted to mental health facilities on approximately 15 occasions. Very tragically, your father died in late-2016. You had, prior to his death, been given a great deal of support by your father, who had himself earlier been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Your younger brother, very sadly, has been charged with his murder.
15 In her letter to the court, Exhibit 11, your mother sets out information about your upbringing. When you were young, your parents were share-farming with your grandparents and you grew up on the farm. You were a very successful cricket player and footballer. You were a good student and got on well at school. You were about sixteen when your father was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and you found that very difficult. You then became involved in a relationship with an older woman, with whom you spent a great deal of time. Your mother says that at this point she could see your mental health deteriorating. It was during that period that you began abusing prescription drugs and using illegal drugs such as ice.
16 Your mother says that you moved back to Bendigo to live with your father and then at a residential facility managed by ACSO. Your mother says that you still relied very heavily on your father. She says you would have felt very much alone after your father died. Afterwards, your drinking and smoking became out of control and you started using ice again. Your mother described your distress at the death of your father and also explained that you have been very close to your brother who was charged with his murder.
17 You have a limited but relevant prior criminal history. On 19 May 2015, you were sentenced in the County Court at Bendigo on one charge of armed robbery on a service station. You were convicted and placed on a community corrections order for three years, with various conditions, including not to contact the older woman, or to be in the Rochester area. The Reasons for sentence in that matter were tendered as Exhibit E.
18 The contravention report, dated 13 June 2017 says, "Mr Blow was engaging to the best of his ability against the majority of his order conditions however, his mental health was placing a severe impact on his ability to address his behaviour.” It appears from that report that your compliance deteriorated from early-2016 but that you did complete 177 hours of the 400 work hours ordered. The writers of the report recommended that the order be extended to May 2019.
Defence submissions (Michael Blow)
19
In sentencing submissions, your first counsel placed significant reliance on the decision in R v Verdins [2007] 16 VR 269. She submitted that your moral culpability was reduced and that the nature and severity of your symptoms should moderate or even eliminate general deterrence and specific deterrence as factors in sentencing you. She submitted that a term of imprisonment would weigh more heavily on you than it would a person of normal mental health and that there was a serious risk that a term of imprisonment would have
a significant adverse effect on your mental health. Your counsel said that she had received information that you had had a relapse whilst on remand and had been in a psychiatric ward. You have been medicated whilst in custody.
20
Your counsel submitted that whilst the time you have served would ordinarily be insufficient penalty, there were indications that you would benefit from being managed in the community and that the appropriate sentence would be
a sentence of imprisonment, to be followed by a community correction order. Your counsel submitted that this should be the case, despite your apparent breach of the previous community correction order, given that there was material suggesting you would be able to do community work hours and benefit from the help and support available.
21 Your counsel relied on letters from Dr John Cooper, dated 3 October 2016, Exhibit 8 and 14 November 2016, Exhibit 9, together with a report from Dr Cooper, dated 26 July 2017, Exhibit 7. Dr Cooper has been your treating psychiatrist since July 2016. He confirms that you suffer from chronic schizophrenia and polysubstance abuse. He says your chronic schizophrenia is a permanent condition and that your substance abuse has been a fluctuating but chronic condition.
22 When your situation was reviewed by the psychiatric team on 29 December 2016, you were not considered actively psychotic or depressed. Dr Cooper says that the impact of your condition and symptoms on your mental capacity fluctuates. He says:
“At times when he has been actively psychotic he has severely limited mental capacity. At other and more recent times, the impact on his capacity has been to blunt and dull his emotional expression and cognitions.”
23 Dr Cooper says your functioning has been “severely and pervasively impaired” by your condition and that you require supported accommodation and support in day-to-day living. He says that when you socialise, you are vulnerable to being overly influenced by others. He says your functional impairment is chronic. Dr Cooper says that when you are not actively psychotic or intoxicated, you can understand the wrongfulness of your actions and make reasonable decisions.
24 Dr Cooper says that your future treatment will need to “include long-term use of antipsychotic medication and active case management with a focus on psycho-social rehabilitation”. He says that you have a goal of living independently in the community and that that was what was being worked towards. He says stress associated with imprisonment is likely to make your schizophrenia worse.
Prosecution submissions (Michael Blow)
25
The prosecutor, in sentencing submissions, conceded that overall your psychiatric condition would influence your decisions and that there was
a reason to moderate moral culpability and general deterrence in accordance with the principles in Verdins' case. The prosecutor submitted that your offending could not be directly attributed to your psychiatric condition, in terms of there being a direct causal link. The prosecutor submitted that it should also be taken into account that you were at the time on a community corrections order for similar offending and that a custodial penalty was appropriate.
Tyson Gray – personal circumstances
26 Tyson Gray, in sentencing you, I have taken into account your personal circumstances, which were outlined by your counsel in oral and written submissions and in exhibits tendered on your behalf.
27
You are now 25 years old. You are an Aboriginal man. You had a difficult and disrupted childhood. Your parents separated when you were very young and you and your brother lived with your mother. Your mother suffered from schizophrenia and also had problems with cannabis use. Your father would visit from time to time and there was serious family violence. Your father has
a history of alcohol and substance abuse and is currently in custody. You were removed from your mother’s care when you were about six years old and were placed in the care of your paternal grandmother. Your mother passed away about five years ago.
28
You began drinking alcohol and using cannabis at the age of 12 and have
a long history of alcohol misuse and abuse of other substances. You have an intellectual disability and have been registered as a client with Disability Services since you were about seven. You require support to read and write, and have very poor skills in dealing with money. You attended a special school and left school at 14.
29
A report was tendered from Dr Aaron Cunningham, forensic psychologist, dated 25 August 2017, Exhibit 2. Dr Cunningham says that you have completed
a Certificate III in Landscaping but have not worked since you were 19. You would like to work in landscaping. You told Dr Cunningham that you used methylamphetamine from the age of 19 but had not used it since your arrest for this offence. You have said that at the time of the offending you were affected by methylamphetamine, alcohol and GHB.
30
You told Mr Cunningham that you had previously had psychiatric admissions and treatment and had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and
substance-induced psychotic disorder. Mr Cunningham’s opinion is that your presentation was consistent with a diagnosis of substance-induced psychotic disorder and intellectual disability. He assessed your full-scale IQ as 67, within the range of 64 to 72, which means that 99 per cent of your age peers would do better. He says that your overall thinking and reasoning skills were in the extremely low range.
31 Dr Cunningham is of the opinion that in the context of your background and disability, you were vulnerable to interaction with other disaffected young people and your problems with loneliness and abandonment further increase your vulnerability to negative peer associations. He is of the view that your drug abuse and peer associations present as the main contributors to your offending behaviour.
32
Dr Cunningham is of the opinion that there are several current protective factors that may reduce the risk of you re-offending and improve your functioning. He says you have taken steps to address your drug and alcohol abuse and negative peer association and that you have support workers, you would like to gain employment and have insight into your need for mental-health support.
Dr Cunningham says:
“In the context of his disorders, Mr Gray would be vulnerable to abuse, manipulation and contamination in a prison environment. Mr Gray would benefit from treatment and rehabilitation in the community.”
33 Dr Cunningham says that you present with a variety of treatment needs and that engaging with disability, mental health and drug and alcohol treatment, as well as improving stability through employment would improve your prospects for rehabilitation.
34 You have admitted a prior criminal history which is of concern. In December 2014, you were sentenced to 39 days imprisonment, which had been served, to be followed by a community correction order for a period of 12 months, in respect to charges which included threat to inflict serious injury and assault with a weapon.
35 In June 2016, you were sentenced to six months’ imprisonment, which in effect had already been served, on a charge of attempted armed robbery, together with a non-conviction adjournment for two years on charge of using methylamphetamine. That adjournment was on the basis that you would participate in services specified in a justice plan for two years. It appears from the reasons for sentence of His Honour Judge Lacava on that occasion that the offending of the attempted armed robbery involved very similar circumstances to the offending for which I am sentencing you. It appears that you contravened an earlier community correction order and in December 2016, you received an adjourned undertaking with charges in respect to charges of contravening family violence interim intervention orders.
36 As I have said, by your plea of guilty, you have been convicted of armed robbery and accordingly, breached the undertaking which you gave to His Honour Judge Lacava.
37
A client overview report from the Department of Health and Human Services, dated June 2017, was filed as Exhibit 3. It appears from that report that various efforts have been made by you and services to engage in drug and alcohol treatment. In October 2016, you were hospitalised and then discharged to
a culturally-specific volunteer program for young indigenous men. You discharged yourself from there after six weeks.
38 The report says that from the date of your arrest, you stopped drinking alcohol and you were able to remain drug and alcohol-free for a period of five months and four days, during which you were able to successfully manage various aspects of personal care, finances and appointment keeping. You requested to participate again in a drug and alcohol culturally-specific rehabilitation program, but were informed that you no longer met the eligibility requirements because you were sober. It appears to be somewhat ironic that you are able to be sober when you receive support, but that once you are sober, then the support may no longer be available. It appears that, at the time of this offending, you had relapsed to some degree into at least alcohol use, although it is of note that there has been no subsequent offending, apart from the breach of bail.
39 The writer of that report suggests that you are committed to undertaking further rehabilitation and therapeutic programs, but would require significant support and intervention to achieve abstinence. Disability Client Services have suggested it would be in your best interests to be engaged with a detoxification and/or rehabilitation program, such as programs delivered by the Wulgunggo Ngalu program. I was provided with some information about this program, which is a learning place available for indigenous men to complete their community corrections orders whilst engaging in other programs in connection with their culture and dealing with offending behaviour. A document describing that program was tendered as Exhibit 5.
Defence submissions (Tyson Gray)
40 In sentencing submissions, your counsel addressed the circumstances of the offending and submitted that you were not the principal offender. She submitted that it should be taken into account that the offending was unsophisticated, no knife was brandished, no disguises were used, although you pulled your shirt up and you received no share of the relatively small proceeds.
41 Your counsel also relied in mitigation on your conduct after the offending of surrendering, making admissions and entering a plea of guilty at the earliest opportunity.
42 In sentencing submissions, your counsel relied on the decision in DPP v Terrick [2009] VSCA 220 and submitted that the issue of your disadvantage and your background as an indigenous man ought be taken into account in sentencing you. Your counsel submitted that that the principles in Muldrock v The Queen [2011] 244 CLR 120 should apply, in that, because of your intellectual disability, you would not be an appropriate vehicle for general deterrence and that certain aspects of sentencing principles may not be appropriate to apply in your situation.
43 Your counsel submitted that you did manage to have a period of sobriety after this offending and that you are committed to undertaking further rehabilitation. Your counsel relied on the Disability Client Services recommendations and submitted that the appropriate disposition would be a community correction order, with the potential that the Wulgunggo Ngalu program could provide the required support.
44 Your subsequent counsel supported those submissions and submitted that if I did not accept that a community correction order was appropriate, then any combination sentence should only involve the time already served in custody, which is 43 days. Your subsequent counsel submitted that if you were placed in custody, you would very likely be negatively influenced by others in custody.
Prosecution submissions - Tyson Gray.
45 The prosecutor submitted that after considering the various reports, the prosecution position was that a combination sentence of imprisonment, followed by a community correction order would be within range.
Seriousness of offending and roles in offending
46 Armed robbery is a serious offence. The maximum penalty of 25 years' imprisonment reflects the seriousness with which Parliament, on behalf of the community, views this type of offence. There were two of you. You committed the offence against a soft target, a person working alone at night in fairly isolated circumstances. He was subjected to a verbal threat, accompanied by the presentation of a sharp object through Michael Blow’s top, which was a knife. It must have been a frightening experience and one that a person going about their work should not have to face. Objectively, this offending was in the low to mid-range for this type of offence. Clearly it is important to try and deter others from similar offending.
47 You have both been in court before in relation to an armed robbery and an attempted armed robbery. You both should have known that you risked serious punishment if you re-offended.
48 Michael Blow, you were still on a lengthy community correction order imposed for such an offence. I am satisfied that you were the leader in this offending. That is confirmed by the CCTV footage that was tendered as Exhibit D. I am satisfied that the offending was your idea and that Mr Gray followed you along to the service station and by accompanying you into the store, supported you in this enterprise.
Matters in mitigation of sentence
49 Michael Blow, there is no evidence or material to suggest that you were actively psychotic at the time of this offending. I cannot draw any conclusion that your offending was directly linked to your schizophrenia. There is material to suggest that you were intoxicated at the time of the offending and based on the material in Dr Cooper’s report and letters, I consider it likely that your ability to exercise proper judgment and make reasoned decisions in that circumstance was compromised, both by your intoxication and the effect of your chronic schizophrenia. In those circumstances, I consider that your moral culpability is reduced to some degree and that the principles in Verdins relied upon by your counsel are applicable to your situation.
50 As a result of the application of Verdins principles, the punishment and general deterrence factors in sentencing you ought be moderated to a significant degree. It is also necessary to take into account that imprisonment will be more difficult for you because of your mental illness and that imprisonment is likely to make your mental illness worse.
51 You are entitled to a significant discount for your plea of guilty. Your plea has saved the expense, inconvenience and trauma of a trial. I also consider it to be an expression of remorse.
52 You are a youthful offender and your rehabilitation is an important sentencing consideration. In view of your past history and difficulties with mental health and substance abuse issues, I consider that your prospects of rehabilitation are guarded.
53 Tyson Gray, your background of disadvantage is one which ought be taken into account, but does not, in itself, provide any excuse or specific explanation for your offending. I note that the issues of loneliness and abandonment and grief in respect to your mother has a bearing on your ability to withstand negative influences and I accept that that has some impact in reducing your moral culpability.
54 I accept also that the principles in Muldrock v The Queen [2011] 244 CLR 120 apply. Your level of intellectual disability is such that you would not be an appropriate vehicle for general deterrence in its full application. Your moral culpability is also reduced because of your disability and punishment and denunciation ought be moderated as sentencing factors.
55 You are also entitled to a discount for your early plea of guilty. It is of additional significance that you surrendered to police very shortly after the offending, with effectively immediate admissions as to your guilt.
56 You are older than Mr Blow, but are also a youthful offender. Your rehabilitation is also an important sentencing consideration. You have a history of repeat offending and difficulties with alcohol abuse and substance abuse. Your prospects of rehabilitation at this stage also remain guarded.
57 I consider that your disability will make imprisonment more difficult for you.
Sentencing considerations
58
I am satisfied in respect of each of you that the only appropriate sentence is
a sentence which involves immediate imprisonment, despite the matters taken into account in mitigation. This is because the seriousness of the offending and the need for just punishment, general deterrence, specific deterrence and community protection, must be given some emphasis in sentence, even where those aspects are moderated.
59 Michael Blow, the armed robbery for which I am sentencing you was, in some respects, less serious than the armed robbery for which His Honour Judge Maidment sentenced you. It is indeed regrettable that despite some progress on the community correction order, you have re-offended in a very similar way, whilst that order was still on foot. Given your re-offending in a relatively short period and inability to control your alcohol and drug use, community protection looms large as a sentencing consideration. Although moderated just punishment, general deterrence and specific deterrence must also receive some weight in sentencing you.
60 It is clearly of importance that attempts be made to supervise your behaviour and to provide you with the support, assistance and treatment that you require. Significant efforts were made to achieve that through a community correction order, without success. I have taken the matters in mitigation, including your youth and your mental health needs, into account in setting a shorter non-parole period that I otherwise would have.
61 In these circumstances, I do not consider that it would be appropriate to extend the existing community correction order. I propose to cancel that order and re-sentence you in respect of that armed robbery.
62 I have given consideration to parity issues. There are a number of factors which differentiate your situation from that of Tyson Gray. You were the leader and breached a community correction order for similar offending. You have mental health issues, but do not an intellectual disability of the level of Mr Gray’s. You did not immediately turn yourself in as he did.
63 In resentencing you for the previous armed robbery, I have taken into account your significant compliance with the order and the principles of totality and proportionality.
64 Tyson Gray, I have received reports saying that you have been assessed as suitable for a community correction order and for the Wulgunggo Ngalu Learning Place. As required, I have also received a Justice Plan from the Department of Health and Human Services. The attached Client Overview Report, dated 24 October 2017, effectively repeated the contents of the earlier report.
65
The mitigating factors which apply to sentencing you must result in
a significantly lower sentence than would otherwise be the case but, despite that, I consider that issues of parity, the seriousness of the offending and your prior criminal history mean that some weight must be given to community protection, just punishment, general deterrence and specific deterrence, albeit moderated. Some period in custody is required to reflect those sentencing considerations.
66 I have also taken into account the circumstances of the breaches of the undertaking and your breach of bail. I have taken into account that you have spent two weeks in police cells after your bail was revoked. Two weeks in the police cells is a very difficult experience for anybody, but is particularly difficult for someone in your circumstances.
67
Clearly you are a young man who requires supervision, support and treatment to enhance your prospects of rehabilitation. I accept that the best option at present is the Wulgunggo Ngalu Learning Place program. In order to reflect the matters in mitigation and provide you with an opportunity to engage in that program, I propose to sentence you to a shorter period of imprisonment than
I otherwise would have, to be followed by a community correction order, if you consent to the community correction order.
68 Can you both please stand.
Orders
69 Michael Blow, on Charge 1 of armed robbery, you are convicted and sentenced to 30 months' imprisonment.
70
In respect of Charge 1 of contravening a community correction order, I find the breach proven. You are re-sentenced to a term of imprisonment of
12 months. That sentence of imprisonment is to be served concurrently with the sentence of imprisonment imposed on the armed robbery. The sentence on the contravention takes into account your partial compliance with the community correction order.
71 The total effective sentence is 30 months' imprisonment.
72 I fix 15 months as the period you are required to serve before you are eligible for release on parole.
73 I declare that you have served 303 days of this sentence by way of pre-sentence detention.
74 But for your plea of guilty, I would have sentenced you to a term of imprisonment of 42 months, with a non-parole period of 30 months.
75 I have also made the forfeiture and disposal orders that were sought.
76 Thank you. Please take your seat.
77 Tyson Gray, on Charge 1 of armed robbery, you are convicted and sentenced to eight months' imprisonment, to be followed by a community correction order of two years.
78 As discussed earlier, the conditions that I propose to include on that order, are that:
· You undergo assessment and treatment for drug and alcohol problems, for mental health issues and for programs to reduce re-offending.
· You would also be required to comply with the Justice Plan.
· You would also be required to be under the supervision of a Community Corrections officer.
79
It is very important that you understand, if you breach the community corrections order by re-offending, you can be brought back to the court and
re-sentenced.
80 The other aspects of the order have been explained to you, such as you cannot leave Victoria without permission.
81 Do you consent to that order being made?
82 OFFENDER GRAY: Yes.
83 HER HONOUR: On Summary Charge 1 on File CR-17-00749 of breach of bail conditions, you are convicted and sentenced to three days' imprisonment. That is to be served concurrently with the eight months.
84 On Summary Charge 1 on CR-16-00505 of contravening the undertaking given to His Honour Judge Lacava, you are convicted and fined $500.
85 The total effective sentence is eight months' imprisonment.
86 I declare that you have served 43 days of this sentence by way of pre-sentence detention.
87 But for your plea of guilty, I would have sentenced you to a term of imprisonment of 24 months, with a non-parole period of 16 months.
88 I have made the orders for forfeiture and disposal that were sought.
89 Can you please take your seat.
90 OFFENDER GRAY: Yes.
91 HER HONOUR: Thank you.
92 Now, is there anything, first of all before I get Mr Gray to sign that order, is there anything that needs repeating?
93 COUNSEL: No, Your Honour.
94 HER HONOUR: Everyone has got it. And has anybody picked up any glaring errors in adding up or anything at the moment?
95 MS BATE: No, Your Honour.
96 HER HONOUR: And there's nothing else that I need to deal with, as far as you are aware of?
97 COUNSEL: No, Your Honour.
98 HER HONOUR: All right, thank you.
99 MS DEMPSEY: If I could ask to just go with your associate, Your Honour, - - -
100 HER HONOUR: Yes, thank you. I am sorry, we have just got to ring up, because the computer which controls everything, in respect of this community corrections order, is asking for a date of commencement of the Justice Plan, which it should commence on the release date, so we do not know when that is. But - or just on release. But - - -
101
MS BATE: We both think it's the 18 June, Your Honour, but when I say that,
I say we both think. We don't have that confirmed.
102 MS DEMPSEY: That would be what I would be suggesting would be the release date - - -
103 HER HONOUR: That would be a release date - - -
104
MS DEMPSEY: - - - from custody, which means that would be the two
days - - -
105 HER HONOUR: So that's eight months, less the 43.
106 MS DEMPSEY: So he's taking it from the day of arrest, 19 October.
107 HER HONOUR: All right, yes.
108 MS DEMPSEY: September. Eight months from that, September, October, November, December, January, February, March, April.
109 HER HONOUR: So let us put the 9th - - -
110 MS DEMPSEY: May.
111 HER HONOUR: Yes.
112 MS DEMPSEY: May.
113 MS BATE: Clearly we were humanities students, Your Honour.
114 MS DEMPSEY: So and then they get released the day before, so if he was arrested on 19 October, it would be May 18 would be his - he would be his straight release date.
115 HER HONOUR: All right.
116 MS DEMPSEY: Would be my - - -
117 HER HONOUR: Well, 18 May 18, yes. So we will put 18 May 18 in the - if there is any issue with that, they can sort it out.
118 MS BATE: Yes.
119 HER HONOUR: But that should work all right.
120
Now, I cannot direct the Learning Place condition, but my sentencing remarks,
I will revise quickly and they will be available, so we will provide them, so I would expect that that is sufficient, but if there is any problem with that down the track, can you let Mr Gray's representatives sort of be alter to that, because I cannot actually make that a condition, although - - -
121 MS DEMPSEY: Your Honour, I'll try and endeavour to have your remarks and all the reports sent to both his Justice Plan worker - - -
122 HER HONOUR: That is a good idea.
123 MS DEMPSEY: So that his DHHS worker and perhaps also Corrections in Bendigo, who will obviously be managing his Corrections order.
124 HER HONOUR: Right, thank you, yes.
125 MS DEMPSEY: That that was the intention that he be - - -
126 HER HONOUR: Yes, all right.
127
MS DEMPSEY: And obviously an assessment would have to be re-done,
I assume, closer to the release date.
128 HER HONOUR: I do not know, but it may well - - -
129 MS DEMPSEY: And availability of beds, but - - -
130
HER HONOUR: Yes. Yes, that's right. Thank you, if you could accompany
Mr Bastianon to get Mr Gray's signature. Mr Backwell, I think the custody authorities are already well aware of Mr Blow's situation, so - - -
131 MR BACKWELL: Yes, Your Honour, he remains in the Acute Assessment Unit.
132 HER HONOUR: All right, so we do not need to give them any extra information?
133 MR BACKWELL: No.
134
HER HONOUR: All right, thank you very much. Now if there is anything that arises, please let me know as soon as possible. Thank you, Mr Blow and
Mr Gray can be taken down now and I will just go out the back while we get the next counsel in. Thank you very much
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