Director of Public Prosecutions v Collins
[2014] VCC 1166
•23 July 2014
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA | Revised Not Restricted Suitable for Publication |
AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL DIVISION
Case No.CR-13-00104
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| v |
| CHRISTOPHER LUKE COLLINS |
---
JUDGE: | HER HONOUR JUDGE CANNON | |
WHERE HELD: | Melbourne | |
DATE OF HEARING: | 16 July 2014 | |
DATE OF SENTENCE: | 23 July 2014 | |
CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | DPP v Collins | |
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2014] VCC 1166 | |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
---
Subject: CRIMINAL LAW
Catchwords: Sentence – Plea of guilty – Theft – Burglary – Armed robbery – Possess unregistered general category handgun – Limited criminal record – Youthful co-offender - Parity
Sentence: Total Effective Sentence 5 years’ imprisonment with non-parole period of 3 years’ imprisonment – Sentencing Act 1991 s.6AAA declaration – Ancillary orders
---
APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the DPP | Ms D. Guesdon | Mr C. Hyland, Solicitor for Public Prosecutions |
| For the Accused | Mr H. Rattray | Balmer & Associates |
HER HONOUR:
1 Christopher Luke Collins, you have pleaded guilty to one charge of burglary, one charge of theft, one charge of armed robbery and one charge of possess unregistered general category handgun.
2 The maximum penalty in respect of burglary and theft is 10 years’ imprisonment, for armed robbery – 25 years’ imprisonment, and for possess unregistered general category handgun – 1200 penalty units or ten years’ imprisonment as this is your second offence of this kind.
3 Between 28 March and 9 April 2012, you and co-offender, Metin Turkozu, committed each of the offences to which you now plead guilty.
4 The Crown summary of the offending was accepted by you.
5 The basis for Charges 1 and 2 are that in late March 2012, you asked Anthony Bonvino to buy you a crowbar. You drove Bonvino to Bunnings where he bought a crowbar with cash, leaving this in your car.
6 A few days later, on 28 March 2012, you telephoned Metin Turkozu and said you were coming to pick him up to do something. You collected Turkozu in your car, then collected Bonvino. The three of you left Melbourne at about 11.30 am and drove towards Seymour. I was told that you had, in fact, spent the preceding few days in Seymour. Bonvino slept in the back seat. You told Turkozu that you were going to Seymour to steal some guns from a house. You drove to the house in Abdallah Road, Seymour. The occupants of the household were not home between 9.20 am and 3.20 pm.
7 Turkozu tried the front door of the house, which was open, but did not go inside. You then drove to an empty laneway at the back of the property. You and Turkozu got out of the car, whilst Bonvino remained in the back seat. You took the crowbar and bent back the rear gate in order to enter the property. Turkozu stayed at the gate whilst you went inside a bungalow or shed. You went to a locked gun safe in one of the rooms of the bungalow or shed and broke into it, taking the following firearms:
(a)Weatherby 22 REM rifle, valued at $500;
(b)Lithgow 22 RIMFIRE bolt-action rifle, valued at $100;
(c)Gamo 22 AIR rifle, valued at $100; and
(d)Boito 12 gauge shotgun, valued at $500.
No ammunition was stolen. You then drove back to Melbourne. You and Turkozu took photos of each other posing with the stolen guns, using Turkozu’s phone. The photographs were tendered on the plea hearing.
8 On 6 April 2012, you picked up Turkozu in your car. You and he then dropped a bag containing some of the firearms at your cousin’s house in Craigieburn.
Re Charge 3 – Armed robbery
9 In the early hours of 9 April 2012, you were driving your car with your partner, Hayley Ford, Turkozu and another male, Luke Fitzpatrick. At about 2.20 am, you stopped your car down a side street near the 7-Eleven store in Gilbert Road, Reservoir. You and Turkozu discussed doing an armed robbery using a gun.
10 Turkozu and you then alighted the vehicle, leaving your partner and Fitzpatrick in the car. Turkozu concealed the stolen shortened Lithgow rifle down his pants.
11 A gentleman by the name of Li Wong was working as an attendant at the 7‑Eleven store. He had the door locked for safety reasons while he was cleaning. Either you or Turkozu knocked on the door and asked if he was open. He said that he was and unlocked the door. Turkozu entered the store whilst you remained holding the door open, acting as a lookout. Both of you were wearing hoodies and sunglasses as a disguise. When Mr Wong went behind the counter, Turkozu pulled out the shortened Lithgow rifle and pointed it at Wong, saying “Give me the money”. He spoke angrily and loudly and said again “Give me the money”. Mr Wong tried to open the till, but pressed the wrong button. Turkozu yelled at him to give him all of the money. The CCTV footage, which was tendered on the plea, shows you looking on as Turkozu became aggressive, pushing the gun in the direction of Mr Wong and knocking over an item on the counter as he does so. Mr Wong opened the till and placed the cash drawer on the counter. Mr Turkozu took the money from the drawer and ran back to the car, as did you. You then left the scene. About $600 was taken.
12 You drove the car around for a while, spending some of the money on cigarettes, drinks and petrol. Subsequently, Turkozu and Fitzpatrick got out of the car at Fitzpatrick’s house. While they were outside, you said to Ms Ford “Met done an armed rob”. Apparently, this was not evident to Ms Ford before this time.
Re Charge 4 – possess unregistered general category handgun
13 After the Lithgow RIMFIRE rifle had been stolen, it was shortened to a length that brought it within the definition of a handgun for the purposes of the Firearms Act 1996. Turkozu saw the modified rifle in your car and you and he shot at cans with it in Campbellfield.
14 There were two other occasions where you knew that the modified weapon was in your car ― on one of these, you had brought the weapon into the car. I understand that this firearm had been in and out of your possession from the time that it had been stolen.
Arrest and interview
15 Police intercepted your car on 9 April 2012. Also in the car was your partner, Turkozu and another male associate. As Turkozu got out of the car, police saw the shortened Lithgow rifle on the back seat. There was a cartridge loaded in the barrel and a container of .22 ammunition which was found in the rear driver’s door pocket.
16 You were arrested and taken to Fawkner Police Station, where you were interviewed. In relation to being in possession of the firearm, you said that you knew the rifle was in the car at one stage that day and it was a “shitty old rusted thing”. You said that you knew that this rifle was also in the car on 1 April 2012. You said you did not know Turkozu had bullets for the firearm or you would not have brought it with you. I was told that this was a reference to 9 April 2012 and so was not in conflict with you shooting at cans on a previous occasion. When interviewed about the armed robbery at Reservoir, you answered “No comment”.
17 I was told that you indicated you would plead guilty to the charges on the indictment before me in the week before the second listing of the trial in July 2014. You had indicated you would plead guilty to the armed robbery in the week before the first listing of the trial in September 2013, although I understand that there was a different basis of complicity which you offered at that time.
18 You were remanded in custody on 9 April 2012 and released on bail on 21 June 2012. At that stage, you had spent 74 days in custody. Following the plea hearing, I remanded you in custody pending sentence, having taken the view that a community corrections order was outside the range of sentences available to me.
19 Turkozu, who was eighteen years old at the time of the offending, pleaded guilty to the same armed robbery, burglary and theft to which you have pleaded. In addition, he pleaded guilty to a further armed robbery, a robbery, 2 further burglaries and one charge each of intentionally causing injury, reckless conduct endangering a person of serious injury, and criminal damage. He was sentenced by his Honour Judge Maidment to be detained in a Youth Justice Centre for 3 years with 134 days served in adult custody declared by way of pre-sentence detention.
20 There is no victim impact statement in this matter but it is clear that the armed robbery must have been a terrifying experience for Mr Wong, who was doing no more than trying to earn a living. Your offending is aggravated by the fact that you offended against a soft target in the dead of the night. There was a crude level of planning involved, in that the car was parked away from the shop, and you disguised your faces. There was also an understanding as between you and your co-offender as to the roles you would play once at the store.
21 In respect of the burglary and theft, it was your idea to commit these offences and you arranged for another to buy a crowbar, which you used to access the bungalow where you knew the guns were kept. You collected Turkozu and told him what you wanted to do, then drove to the house in Seymour where you and he committed the offences. I do not sentence you on the basis that you stole the guns in order to commit the armed robbery.
22 Your role in respect of the armed robbery was marginally less than that of Turkozu who was the one making the demands and wielding the weapon. Not only did he point the gun at the victim but at one point he actually pushed it forward, tipping over an item on the counter. Whilst this was his action, it is evident from the CCTV footage that you did nothing to dissuade him from his behaviour but simply looked on at what he was doing, leaving shortly thereafter.
23 Your offending in relation to all charges is deserving of a punishment which is just in all of the circumstances and your conduct must be denounced. Strong weight must be given to general deterrence in a bid to deter others from offending as you have.
24 I was told that the reason you committed the armed robbery was to obtain funds to settle drug debts which you and Turkozu owed and that at the time you committed the offences you were addicted to methamphetamine. You were affected by this drug on the occasion you committed the armed robbery which heightens the potential danger of your actions. There is nothing which has been placed before me which reduces your moral culpability which I find to be high. However, in sentencing you I have taken into account that you were obtaining funds to pay off drug debts rather than to lead a lavish lifestyle.
25 I take into account the stage at which you pleaded guilty to each of the charges and the stage at which you were prepared to plead guilty. You were prepared to acknowledge guilt to the theft and armed robbery in July last year, after a contested committal hearing and at a time when the matter had been listed for trial in this court, albeit that the basis of admitting guilt to the armed robbery changed to the present basis more recently. You agreed to plead guilty to all matters which are now before me prior to a second listing of the trial, the first trial having been adjourned as it was not reached. I understand that there were some complicating pre-trial matters which made pleading difficult from a forensic point of view and that you were also facing another charge which has now been withdrawn. In the circumstances I have allowed for a discount which is not insignificant but which is not as great as it would have been had you pleaded guilty before running a contested committal hearing. In pleading guilty before trial you have saved the witnesses especially the victim of the armed robbery the time and trouble of giving evidence and you have saved the community the time and expense of running a trial.
26 You are not to be punished for running a contested committal hearing, and I have factored in that the victim was not cross-examined at that time but this course does not bespeak much in the way of remorse as at that time. I accept that you now have remorse for your actions albeit that your level of insight and remorse seems to be confined to your own predicament and the impact your actions have caused your family rather than the victim or victims you have affected. In this regard, I note that the weapons which you stole were not recovered, save for that used in the armed robbery.
27 You have a fairly limited criminal history and it is fairly dated, although some of your prior matters have some relevance to the charges before me. In November 2005 you were dealt with at the Broadmeadows Children's Court for theft, unlawful assault, traffick and use cannabis, criminal damage, possess amphetamine and carry imitation handgun. You were placed on probation for 12 months and ordered to undertake drug and alcohol counselling as directed by the Department of Juvenile Justice.
28 In 2007 you received a community-based order without conviction for handling stolen goods and cultivating and using cannabis. Amongst other conditions, you were ordered to undergo assessment for drug treatment and psychological counselling.
29 Apparently, you failed to take advantage of these opportunities to address your drug addiction in such a way that you were able to remain drug free.
30 Parity is an issue in your case, although there are some marked disparities between your situation and that of your co-offender. He pleaded guilty to a number of serious charges, over and above those both of you committed. On the other hand, he was only 18 years old when he committed the offences which you and he committed together, he pleaded guilty at an earlier stage than you, he had one prior court appearance involving road traffic offences and failing to answer bail, and he undertook to give evidence against you. In compliance with his undertaking, he gave evidence at the committal hearing. In particular, Turkozu’s undertaking to give evidence entitled him to a substantial discount in the sentence that he would otherwise receive. His Honour Judge Maidment referred to this factor in the course of his sentencing remarks. Allowing for all of these matters, he received a sentence of 3 years Youth Justice Centre, having served a substantial period in adult gaol which was deducted from his sentence. I regard the differences in his situation as opposed to yours to be material ones which, on balance, places him in an overall better position than you. In saying this, I have very much borne in mind that he faced a number of serious charges over and above those that you share. I have also borne in mind the respective roles that you played in the offences you committed together, and the sentence he received, albeit the qualitative difference between your situation and his. I do not regard His Honour’s s.6AAA indication as something which somehow binds me or compels me to a view in respect of sentencing you.
31 In your favour, in the past two years you have not re-offended and have abstained from imbibing methamphetamine from the date of your arrest. You still imbibe cannabis although you are trying to abstain from this also. No doubt, the time that you have spent in custody has been a salutary experience.
32 You are now 26 years old and were 24 at the time, so you are still rather young and far from beyond hope of rehabilitating. You have a partner and a child who is 2 ½ years old. I factor in that you will suffer hardship from being separated from your family and you have your family to look to for support when you are released from gaol. In saying this, I am mindful of the fact that you had these supports at the time that you committed the offences; however, a good deal of water has passed under the bridge since then which points in a positive direction for you.
33 I take into account the CISP report which recorded that you ultimately progressed well on the program, which is to your credit.
34 I also take into account your background. You were raised in Meadow Heights by your mother and have never met your father. Some of your family members were in court to support you and you also have them to look to in the future. When you left school, having completed year 8, you began work as a plasterer’s labourer. You went on to complete an apprenticeship and whilst on bail you obtained your certificate of qualification in this field. You intend to find full time employment when you can. About three months ago, you suffered severe leg injuries in a car accident which have had some ongoing ramifications for you. I was told that you will need some surgery in the not too distant future to address a surgical screw which is protruding from your left ankle.
35 You are now resolved to stay away from methamphetamine and to lead a productive life in order to support your partner and child.
36 In all of the circumstances, I find that your prosects of rehabilitation are quite good and I need place fairly modest weight on specific deterrence and the need to protect the community.
37 Your Counsel’s primary submission was that you were a candidate for a community corrections order; however, even allowing for all that has been said and done to enable community corrections orders to accommodate more serious offences, in my view, even the most onerous community corrections order could not do justice to the weight which I ought give to all relevant sentencing principles. You are still a relatively young man and in sentencing you I have borne in mind the desirability of maximising your chances of rehabilitation. However, as I have said, I must also do justice to the weight that I must attach to other sentencing principles relevant to your case. I am afraid that the only suitable disposition in your case is an immediate term of imprisonment.
38 Please stand up Mr Collins
39 You are convicted of each of the offences.
40 I make an order for a forensic sample to be taken from you by way of a scraping from the mouth. I make the order because it is not opposed by you, because of the seriousness of the offences and because it is in the public interest to do so. Notwithstanding your present lack of opposition to the order, I warn you that if you do not co-operate with the officer who is authorised to take the sample, reasonable force may be used to ensure your compliance.
41 I make a disposal order in the terms set out by the Crown. Both orders are not opposed by you
42 I sentence you to the following terms of imprisonment:
43 Charge 1 2 years
44 Charge 2 12 months
45 Charge 3 4 years which will be the base sentence
46 Charge 4 6 months
47 I direct that 12 months from the sentence on Charge 1 be served cumulatively with the base sentence but that otherwise all sentences be served concurrently, producing a total effective sentence of 5 years' imprisonment and I direct that you serve 3 years' imprisonment before becoming eligible for parole.
48 I declare that you have already served 81 days by way of pre-sentence detention.
49 If not for your pleas of guilty I would have sentenced you to a total effective sentence of 6 years 6 months' imprisonment with a non-parole period of 4 years.
50 Just sit down for a moment please. Is there anything arising, counsel.
51 COUNSEL: No, Your Honour.
52 HER HONOUR: Thank you, if you could remove Mr Collins.
- - -
0
0
0