Director of Public Prosecutions v Curran
[2019] VCC 717
•17 May 2019
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA AT BALLARAT CRIMINAL JURISDICTION | Revised Not Restricted Suitable for Publication |
CR-18-02328
| DPP |
| v |
| Darcy CURRAN |
| --- |
| JUDGE: | HIS HONOUR JUDGE SACCARDO |
| WHERE HELD: | Ballarat |
| DATE OF HEARING: | 9 May 20019 |
| DATE OF SENTENCE: | 17 May 2019 |
| CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | DPP v Curran |
| MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2019] VCC 717 |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
---
Subject:
Catchwords:
Legislation Cited:
Cases Cited:
Sentence:Total Effective Sentence: 57 months with a non-parole period of 34 months; 6AAA declaration: 6years with a non-parole period of 4years.
---
APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the Director of Public Prosecutions | Mr. P. Triandos | Office of Public Prosecutions |
| For the Accused | Mr. J. McGarvie | Stary Law |
HIS HONOUR:
1Darcy Curran you have entered pleas of guilty to:
(i) one charge of armed robbery which carries a maximum sentence of imprisonment of 25 years, together with an additional fine of up to 3000 penalty units;
(ii) one charge of being a prohibited person carrying possessing or using a firearm which carries a maximum sentence of imprisonment of 10 years;
(iii) one charge of possession of a drug of dependence which carries a maximum sentence of imprisonment of five years; and
(iv) one charge of committing an indictable offence whilst on bail which carries a maximum sentence of imprisonment of 3 months.
2 Your offending in this instance is set out in the prosecution opening. It is a matter of record and there is no reason for me to repeat it in my sentencing reasons.
3 The robbery involved you taking a car and to achieve that purpose making a threat of physical violence, which was reinforced by your brandishing of a knuckle-duster. You also warned your victim that he would face retribution if he went to the police.
4 Although the violence involved in the offending was only a threat, it is relevant as to the criminality of that it was motivated by your wish to recover an illegal weapon which is the subject of Charge 2.
5Further, although it is clear that no part of my sentencing in this instance involves punishing you for the fact that the car the subject of the offending was destroyed, the permanent loss to the victim of his car is nevertheless a consequence to him of your offending.
6In my opinion, whilst the circumstances of this offending fall at the lower level of range of behaviour associated with the offence of armed robbery, the offending is nevertheless appropriately characterised as being within the middle to upper level of that lower range.
7That having been said, it is appropriate to recognise that the offence of armed robbery is extremely serious, which is demonstrated by the maximum prison sentence and fine applicable to that offending.
8There is no issue you were found to be in possession of a sawn-off .22 calibre home-made rifle with a shortened barrel. Neither is there any issue that the charge related to the possession of methyl amphetamine is one in which you have pleaded guilty to.
9It is not issue that you committed these offences whilst you were on bail.
10I am satisfied that this factor operates not only to aggravate the seriousness of this offending at the time, but also speaks in a way that does you no credit on the issue of your general attitude as to engaging in serious offending at that time.
11Your personal history is as follows:
(i) You were born on 13 May 1995. You are an indigenous man. You were 22 years old when you committed these offences you are now 23;
(ii) Your parents separated when you were 12 months old;
(iii) You were brought up with your mother until the age of 12 at which time you moved to live with your father;
(iv) Your father operated a boxing gym and is said that he exerted a positive influence upon you directing your energies towards that sport;
(v) When you were 13 years old your father was charged with murder and was eventually convicted of manslaughter. By reason of his imprisonment you became estranged from him and it is put that that process was a traumatic one for you as a young 13 year old and which caused you to lose your sense of direction. I accept that position;
(vi) You had difficulties at school. You are educated to a level at which you completed your Year 8 but not your Year 9;
(vii) At an early age, it is put that you took up an association with a group of people who were described in the course of your plea as being bad influences upon you, and that at an early time in your life you commenced using illicit drugs. You continued in that use on and off up to the time of this offending;
(viii) When you were only 17 years old your then partner gave birth to your son;
(ix) By reason of parenting issues which related to your partner, you were granted custody of your son and since that time your mother has been his primary carer;
(x) You have worked at various times in unskilled labouring work, as a scaffolder, a caravan builder and as a railway labourer.
(xi)You have a criminal history which commenced in 2011, with offending which involved an adjournment without conviction because of your youth;
(xii) In April 2013 you were sentenced in the Children’s Court in respect of a number of serious offences in respect of which you were given probation order because of your youth;
(xiii) In May 2013 you were sentenced in the Children’s Court to offending involving intentionally causing injury and recklessly causing injury and were again given a probation order;
(xiv) Since that time, you have had a number of convictions for driving offences which are not really relevant in my sentencing processes, but more relevantly:
(i) A conviction in September 2014 for intentionally damaging property and contravening a family violence intervention order;
(ii) A conviction in July 2015 for contravening a community corrections order;
(iii) A further conviction in July 2015 for contravening a family violence order and intentionally damaging property and committing an indictable offence whilst on bail and theft and dishonesty offending;
(iv)That history to which I have referred has been such that you have served short periods of imprisonment but you have served no substantial periods of imprisonment up until the time of this offending.
12I accept that at the time of this offending you were a youthful offender and that I should give appropriate weight to that matter.
13It is appropriately conceded by Mr McGarvie who appeared on your behalf that your history, when combined with the circumstances of this offending are such that whilst the prospect of rehabilitation has a meaningful part in your sentencing by reason of your youth, it does not deserve the position of primacy in the sentencing issues which I have to consider in this instance.
14It is put on your behalf, and I accept these submissions;
· that your history gives context to your offending in that it is influenced by a fractured childhood by reason of your estrangement from your father at a critical moment in your life and your problems with the use of drugs which you developed shortly thereafter;
· that the destructive use of drugs has been a regular feature in your life, but that you have taken steps to control the influence by abstaining from drugs whilst you have been imprisoned awaiting for this matter to be dealt with;
· that your confinement has caused you to examine your history to date, reflect upon your position as a young father and embark upon the process of rehabilitation by submitting yourself to drug screening and undertaking the courses, the subject of the certificates which have been tendered on your behalf.
15Your mother has provided a letter describing your imprisonment as being a wake-up call for you and she comments upon your distress, your genuine remorse for your actions and your commitment not to repeat your past mistakes. She describes you as being a generous man and a wonderful father when not under the influence of substances and of experiencing true distress at the fact that you are now separated from your son.
16I am satisfied as to the truthfulness of those comments and, given the presence of your mother and other members of your family at the hearing of your plea, I am further satisfied that you have a number of people who are prepared to support you should you wish to change the relatively consistent destructive path which your life has taken since you were approximately 16 years old.
17In that sense, notwithstanding my comments as to your attitude at the time of this offending, I am satisfied that you do have prospects of being rehabilitated as demonstrated by your behaviour whilst awaiting sentence. As to those prospects, my view is that they are in their infancy, are untested and only time will tell as to whether you have really woken up and are prepared to change the destructive course which your life has followed to date.
18You entered your plea of guilty at a relatively early time in this instance. The entry and timing of that plea entitles you to a discount in the sentence which I would otherwise impose in this instance. I am satisfied, however that that discount should not be afforded full weight because it was entered after a committal hearing in which your victim was required to give evidence. I am satisfied however, that the timing of your plea is an indication of the remorse which you feel.
19 In sentencing you I must:
(i) have regard to the seriousness of your offences, your culpability for the commission of the offences, and the effect of your offending upon your victim.
(ii) take into account my obligation to denounce your behaviour as being totally unacceptable in our community, the need to punish you for your offending such as to deter you from further similar offending, but also the need to make a statement in your sentencing relevant to others in the community that this type of offending will not be tolerated.
(iii) fix a sentence which is just in the circumstances given the matters personal to you to which I have referred.
(iv) take into account the interest of the community which is served by ensuring the rehabilitation of offenders and your age at the time of this offending.
20In this instance those factors which I consider to be of most relevant involve;
(i) my obligation to send a message to the general public that serious offending of this type will not be tolerated and also to deter you from further offending and to send such a message to you.
(ii) my obligation to give appropriate weight to your youth and the benefit both to you and to the community should you be rehabilitated successfully. Should that be the case, it is clear that you would be able to exert a positive influence upon the life of your son and break the cycle which you appear to be establishing by reason of your life to date.
21Would you please stand Mr Curran?
22On the charge of armed robbery I sentence you to a period of imprisonment of 48 months.
23On the charge of being a prohibited person possessing carrying or using a firearm, I sentence you to a period of imprisonment of 18 months.
24On the charge of being in possession of a drug dependence I sentence you to a period of imprisonment of 12 months.
25On the charge of committing an indictable offence whilst on bail I sentence you to a period imprisonment of 1 month.
26 I will fix Charge one, that of armed robbery as your head sentence.
27 I will make an order which cumulates with that charge;
· 6 months of the charge with respect to being a prohibited person in possession of the firearm; and
· 3 months of the charge of being in possession of a drug dependence.
All other sentences will operate concurrently.
28The total effective sentence which I have fixed for you is 57 months, in respect of which I fix a minimum period which you are required to serve of 34 months.
29In fixing the minimum sentence I do so recognising your youth, the fact that this is the first significant sentence which you have served and I do so balancing the weight to be given to all of the matters to which I have referred in my sentencing comments, and my satisfaction that there is some hope that your rehabilitation in which you have taken initial steps, will continue.
30
Pursuant to section 6AAA of the Sentencing Act 1991, I declare the effective sentence and non-parole period which I would have imposed had you pleaded not guilty in respect of these offences would have involved a sentence of
6 years in respect of which I would have imposed a non-parole period of
4 years.
31I am satisfied, for the reasons set out in my sentencing comments, that it is appropriate to make the ancillary orders sought in this instance, namely that a forensic sample order, the order that you forfeit the firearm and that the drugs in their container be disposed of.
32Pursuant to the provisions of s18 of the Sentencing Act 1991, I declare you have spent a period of 388 days not including today by way of pre-sentence detention and that period should be reckoned as time served and noted in the records of the Court.
- - -
0
0
0