Director of Public Prosecutions v Cody

[2017] VCC 715

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

AT BALLARAT
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

CR 17-00822

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

COREY JAMES CODY

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JUDGE:	HIS HONOUR JUDGE MONTGOMERY
WHERE HELD:	Ballarat
DATE OF HEARING:
DATE OF SENTENCE:	5 June 2017
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Cody
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2017] VCC 715

REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject:
Catchwords:
Legislation Cited:
Cases Cited:
Sentence:

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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the Director of Public Prosecutions	Mr P Bourke
For the Accused	Mr D Gray

HIS HONOUR:

1Corey James Cody, you pleaded guilty to one charge of theft of a motor vehicle and one charge of armed robbery. 

2You have admitted your criminal history, which for these purposes, are the matters prior to these matters. 

3The facts of the matters are set out in the prosecution opening, Exhibit 1 on the plea.  They are admitted by your counsel.  I will not go to them in any detail.  Any reader of these reasons can refer to that exhibit to place the sentence in its factual context.

4This was a street armed robbery involving the use of a stolen car and a knife.  Other accused were involved.  You were a participant but I note that you did  not join in in the assault that occurred afterwards and you were not present at the time the car was taken from the premises.

5ACCUSED:  Yes, so ‑ ‑ ‑

6HIS HONOUR:  No, no, I am not asking you to say anything.  I am just reading out my reasons, all right.

7ACCUSED:  Sorry.

8HIS HONOUR:  You can hear me all right?

9ACCUSED:  Yes.

10HIS HONOUR:  Thank you.  A Victim Impact Statement was tendered, was read and I have taken its contents into account and I am a little bit encouraged by what you said to the writer of the Youth Justice report that, after hearing it read in court, you feel bad for the victim.  You did not know it would affect someone that much and it is not fair that they should have to live in fear. 

11You are currently in Youth Justice because of sentences handed down on 5 April of this year and 27 April.  You have a release date, I am told, of 4 August 2017.  You have already done 63 days in Port Phillip adult gaol. 

12The co-accused in this matter, who has already been dealt with, Damien Healey, who was 16 at the time, was charged with a more serious offence in the aggravated burglary, armed robbery and theft, and I am told he had a more extensive criminal history than you, and he was given, without conviction, a six month Youth Supervision order.  I might add that seems extraordinarily lenient to me but I am not a Children's Court Magistrate. 

13Your plea of guilty was entered at an early stage and thus you attract a discount which I give you.  For the entry of the plea of guilty it shows an acceptance of responsibility by you for your offending and has saved the court the time and expense of a jury trial.

14Your mother and brother are in court as was your Youth Justice case manager. 

15Your background is set out, in some respects, in the Youth Justice report and I will not now repeat it.  Briefly stated, after expulsion from Damascus College in Year 10 you became involved in the drug world through the use of cannabis and more fatally the use of ice.  You had some work experience and you hope to obtain a roofing plumbing apprenticeship. 

16Your counsel submitted that I should consider a further Youth Justice order, thus, I ordered a report.  I have that report from Aidan Murphy and Stacey Lee.  It sets out the results of your previous attendance at Youth Justice.  It says, "You have displayed an ability to distance yourself from negative peers and substance use on occasions".  You are able to reside with your family once you are released.  You have been attending Parkville College for educational classes.

17It is recommended that you are eligible to be placed on a Youth Justice order because of your age, good prospects of employment, willingness and history of engagement with workers and programs and positive family support in the community.

18Your counsel, Mr Gray, in mitigation, submitted I should take into account your plea of guilty which I have, and your age.  The fact that you were charged with lesser offences than the co-offender who has been dealt with, you were not involved in the aggravated burglary or the assault and he pointed to the issue of parity.  I have taken all those factors into account.

19However, you must realise that a street armed robbery is a serious offence and the community is sick and tired of young, mostly, men committing these types of offences.  You can imagine yourself walking down a street and a group of fellows approached you, put a knife to you and said, "Give us your mobile phone" or your money or whatever and how scared you would be because of that.

20I have to impose a sentence that reflects, what is called, general deterrence, that is to deter other people from committing similar offences.  Specific deterrence, that is to try and get into your mind not to re-offend and express my denunciation, that is my opinion of it, and I have done so. 

21On the other hand I have to take into account, amongst the other factors mentioned by your counsel, your prospects of rehabilitation.  Based on the material before me, I somewhat guardedly, come to the conclusion you have good prospects of rehabilitation. 

22Weighing up all those matters, and bearing in mind that you are not being released until 4 August anyway and that you have done 63 days pre-sentence detention, I intend to impose an aggregate sentence on the two charges of six months Youth Justice Centre to run concurrently with the Youth Justice order you are currently serving.  I declare that the 63 days that you have already served will be taken into account.  Thus that will be a deduction which would, in effect, mean that you will serve another two months or so on top of what you already are.  Do I have to do a 6AAA?

23MR BOURKE:  Yes, Your Honour.

24HIS HONOUR:  I declare that if you proceeded to trial and were convicted by a jury you would have been serving at least 12 months, if not more, in an adult prison.  Any other orders I need to make?  A car licence?

25MR BOURKE:  Yes, Your Honour, cancellation and disqualification for a period deemed suitable by Your Honour.

26HIS HONOUR:  I have to mandatory take your car licence off you because of the theft of car.  I cancel any licences you have and disqualify you from obtaining a motor car licence for a period of 12 months. 

27MR BOURKE:  Your Honour, a 464 order and a compensation order have been forwarded to your associate, as I understand it. 

28HIS HONOUR:  Any ‑ ‑ ‑

29MR GRAY:  No objection, Your Honour.

30HIS HONOUR:  Very well, I will sign those; have you got them there?  A 464 order, in case you do not know, is someone is going to come out and take a forensic sample from you, probably by a scraping in the mouth for placing on a DNA database.  Through your counsel you have indicated consent to that.  If when the police come out to do that, you decide to change your mind, reasonable force can be used to enable that procedure to be conducted.  Do you understand that?

31OFFENDER:  Yes, Your Honour.

32HIS HONOUR:  Thank you.  Just take a seat while the documents are prepared.  I might also add that the issue of parity was one of the major reasons why I imposed the sentence that I did. 

33MR GRAY:  If Your Honour pleases.

(Orders signed.)

34HIS HONOUR: I sign an order for compensation pursuant to s.86 of the Sentencing Act and the terms of the order that I sign. I sign an order pursuant to s.464ZF(2) of the Crimes Act for the taking of a forensic sample.  I am satisfied that in all the circumstances the making of the order is justified for the following reasons.  Seriousness of the circumstances of the offending warrant the order.  The order is by consent or not opposed.  Any other orders I need to make, Mr Bourke?

35MR BOURKE:  No, Your Honour.

36HIS HONOUR:  Mr Gray?

37MR GRAY:  No, Your Honour. 

38HIS HONOUR:  Mr Cody, no doubt if you need further explanation, your counsel will talk to you and I wish you well.  We will turn you off now.  Thank you.

39OFFENDER:  You too, see 'ya.

40HIS HONOUR:  I am not sure what he said but I hope it was ‑ ‑ ‑

41MR GRAY:  He said, "You too, see 'ya".

42HIS HONOUR:  I wish I was 18 but there you go. 

43MR GRACE:  You're not the only one, Your Honour.

44HIS HONOUR:  Think of all the mistakes I am still to make.  All right, nothing else to do, we will come back tomorrow at 10 o'clock.  Thank you.

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