Director of Public Prosecutions v Downing

[2025] VCC 1498

IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA

Revised

Not Restricted

Suitable for Publication

AT MILDURA

CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

CR 25-00655

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

JIMMY DOWNING

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JUDGE:	HIS HONOUR JUDGE M.P. BOURKE
WHERE HELD:	Mildura
DATE OF HEARING:
DATE OF SENTENCE:	15 October 2025
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Downing
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2025] VCC 1498

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 Oswald
For the Accused	Mr Hilton-Wood

HIS HONOUR: 

1Jimmy Downing, you are to be sentenced for one charge of armed robbery.  The maximum sentence for that is 25 years' imprisonment.

2You pleaded guilty before me at the Mildura County Court on 25 August.  When interviewed by police on 3 February 2025, you made full admissions.  On 23 April committal went by hand-up brief, after which you pleaded guilty.

3You receive the benefit of an early plea of guilty. That has accepted responsibility, expressed remorse, and facilitated the interests of justice.  I find that,  within the limits of your cognitive capacity, you are genuinely remorseful.

4At your plea hearing which ran on 25 and 26 August and then on 13 October, Mr Cameron for the Crown tendered a written summary of prosecution opening.  Mr Davis and then Mr Hilton-Wood for you tendered the forensic psychological report of Gina Cidoni dated 24 June 2025 and the psychological assessment report conducted in June 2010 at your school, when you were aged just under 13.  Mr Davis provided a written outline of plea submissions.

5I have requested and now received under s80 of the Sentencing Act  a statement of intellectual disability, a disability overview report  and Justice Plan; and also the community correction order suitability report of Glenn Bellini of Community Corrections.

6The circumstances of offending are set out in the tendered Crown opening (Exhibit A).  My own summary may be relevantly short.  It includes matters put on your behalf not challenged by the Crown.

7You are a 28-year-old man who suffers intellectual disability.  There have also been diagnoses of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and/or drug induced psychosis.  There are symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

8The Justice Plan report before me states as follows:

Mr Downing has significant functional limitations across multiple domains that impact his daily functioning.  Mr Downing has considerable difficulties understanding and expressing ideas, solving problems mentally, and retaining and manipulating information.  These deficits see Mr Downing struggle with complex instructions such as recalling conversations or events accurately, and articulating his thoughts, as well as a disorganised memory.  These results make it very difficult for Mr Downing to engage in logical reasoning, manage stress, and make sound decisions in everyday life.

9In late January early February 2025, you were living in dire circumstances, sleeping in a tent and in a Mildura public toilet.  Your home had been destroyed by fire.  In that fire, your pet dog had been killed. You lost all of your belongings and became homeless.  You had not long before lost your mother to heroin overdose.

10At about 8.30 pm on 2 February, you entered the PJ's Foodworks supermarket in Deakin Avenue, Mildura.  You went to the cool room and took a 10-pack of mixed Vodka drinks valued at $65.  You were observed by staff, who confronted you when you attempted to leave.  After a time you produced a pair of scissors, threatened Ajithan Jeyam and thereby  were able to leave.  I have viewed the CCTV footage of this.  I accept that you did not enter the store with the intention of using a weapon, nor did you possess it for any offensive purpose.  I accept that there was an element of your fear or panic in presenting it.  You were not long after apprehended by police. 

11No victim impact statement has been tendered.

12You seem to have suffered the delusion that shortly prior to the offending you had been shot in the toilet block; that your father had been murdered a few hours before. 

13Your bail was revoked on 13 February, and you spent over six months on remand until I granted you bail on 25 August.  I see, given your circumstances, that custody to have  already been a considerable punishment.

14You were born and raised in the Mildura area.  You were mainly with your father.  An older brother has spent time in prison.  Your mother suffered heroin addiction and died in 2024.  You had only intermittent contact with her.  A younger brother died in a motor vehicle accident in 13.  Your father drank heavily after that.

15You left the family at 25, faced there with homelessness.  The Department of Families Fairness and Housing provided accommodation until the fire shortly before this offending. 

16School had been unsuccessful, clearly because of your cognitive and learning difficulties. 

17You have chronically abused cannabis from 12 and then alcohol.  There has been longstanding mental illness including the need for psychiatric hospitalisation.  In remand custody you continued to suffer hallucinatory and delusionary symptoms.  You received the medications Avanza, Lyrica and Seroquel.

18You have no real employment history but helped your father at times in his farm work.  You presently live with him which will continue, at least in the medium term.

19You receive a Disability Support Pension.

20There arises the prospect of NDIS support with assistance toward that under the proposed Disability Justice Coordination Justice Plan. 

21In short, you are a highly damaged person, much, if not all of that, through no fault of yours. 

22Your criminal record states two prior court appearances,  in 2021 for obtaining property by deception  (no conviction was ordered) and in February 2023 for offences including possessing a weapon, burglary, and theft from a shop.  You received a community corrections order, with  work and therapeutic conditions.  You successfully completed that. 

23Your record, given your circumstances, does not in my view state an essentially antisocial personality.

24The objectively seen circumstances here evidence serious offending requiring consideration of moral culpability, deterrence, denunciation and proportionate punishment.  However, there are important mitigating and moderating factors.  They include the following.

(1)Your plea of guilty and remorse.

(2)Your personal history and circumstances, including particularly at time of offending.

(3)This includes consideration of your cognitive impairment and mental health.  The principles of both Verdins and Bugmy apply,  all of the Verdins principles in a substantial way. Further, I find that your impaired mental functioning meets the exception stated under s5(2H)(c)(i) of the Sentencing Act 1991 and permits therefore a sentence other than imprisonment.

(4)Rehabilitation cannot be seen as easy for you.  However, you have limited prior offending and present  accommodation support; and also will have the assistance recommended in the proposed Community Corrections Order and Justice Plan.

25I find that further imprisonment of you would be cruel and unjust.  It would serve no community interest. 

26You are found suitable for a community correction order.  I shall impose that with conditions that support and therapeutic assistance to you.  Stand up now please, Mr Downing.

27I sentence you as follows:

28On one charge of armed robbery, you are convicted and I impose a community corrections order of 18 months' duration.  The usual terms apply.

29The additional conditions as per the Assessment Report are as follows:

a)compliance with the Justice Plan filed with the Court.

b)Supervision.

c)assessment and treatment for mental health.

d)assessment and treatment for drug abuse and dependency.

e)assessment and treatment for alcohol abuse and dependency.

f)participation in programs which address this offending,  as you are directed.

30Had you not pleaded guilty, I would have imposed a sentence of six months' imprisonment combined with a community corrections order.

31Mr Oswald, are there other orders I need to make?  The scissors come to mind.  Are there any - I don't know whether they were retained by the police.

32MR OSWALD:  I might just need a moment to clarify that, Your Honour.

33HIS HONOUR:  Yes.

34MR OSWALD:  Yes, Your Honour, there is.  There should be a disposal order for the scissors.

35HIS HONOUR:  All right, well look if that can be forwarded to me, I will sign that in Chambers.  So I make that order.

36All right, is there anything else I need to say or do?

37MR OSWALD:  No, Your Honour.

38HIS HONOUR:  Nothing else I need to say or do, Mr Hilton?

39MR HILTON:  Nothing from me, Your Honour.  No, Your Honour.

40HIS HONOUR:  All right.

41You've been able to do this before, Mr Downing.  Good luck with this one.  Just do what the people who are trying to help you, tell you to do.  That's the trick to it.  All right, good.

42That you, Mr Hilton.  Thank you, Mr Bellini.  I'm sorry, I need to explain the order to you in greater detail, so just take a seat and what will happen, it will be sent to Mildura, and he'll need to sign it there, won't he.  All right.

43Mr Bellini, will his appointment with you be on Friday?

44MR BELLINI:  Yes, Your Honour at 2 pm on Friday.

45HIS HONOUR:  Good, all right, well I'll tell him that.  All right, well what I need to do now, Mr Downing, is read out to you the conditions, what you have to do under this community correction order.  Then I am going to ask you whether you understand it and agree to it, and then I will sign it, and then it will be sent to Mildura and you will have to sign it, all right.  And the next thing you have to do is go to the Mildura Community Corrections Office in Madden Avenue, you know where that is, don't you?

46OFFENDER:  Yes.

47HIS HONOUR:  You need to do that at 2 o'clock on Friday, that's 2 o'clock on Friday 17 October.  And now I am going to read it out to you now, all right.

48The community correction order will last for 18 months and it starts today.

49The usual terms/rules are these:

501, You must not commit another offence for which you could be imprisoned.  And that covers almost any offence at all, all right.

512, You must comply with this rule, that you do not go to any appointment or program affected by alcohol or drugs or in possession of illegal drugs.

523, You must report to and receive visits from Community Corrections.

534, As I have already said to you, but I will say it again, you must report to the Community Corrections Centre at Madden Avenue within two days of the order starting.  Your appointment is at 2 o'clock on Friday.

545, You must let Community Corrections know within two days of a change of address or job.

556, You must not leave Victoria without first getting permission from them to do so.  Because it is in Mildura there are special permissions that may be given to do that, being so close to the river, but you need to discuss that with them if it comes up.

56You are living with your father.  Where is it, living in Merbein or?

57OFFENDER:  Red Cliffs.

58HIS HONOUR:  Overall, you have got to obey all lawful instructions and directions of Community Corrections.  So you have got to do what you are told.

59OFFENDER:  Yeah.

60HIS HONOUR:  All right.  Now the special conditions are that:

a)you be under supervision of a Community Corrections officer.

b)you undergo assessment and treatment for drug abuse or dependency as you are directed, as you are told to do.

c)you must undergo assessment and treatment for alcohol abuse or dependency, again as you are directed, as you are told to do.

d)you must undergo mental health assessment and treatment as you are directed, in other words as you are told to do by Community Corrections.

e)you must participate in special programs that address this sort of offending, the one the offence of which you pleaded before me.  And again, you have got to do that as you are directed, or told to do so by Community Corrections.

f)you must take part in what is called a Justice Plan under the Department of Fairness Families and Housing.  You have met those people and both Mr Hilton-Wood and Mr Bellini, or whoever you speak to at the Community Corrections, will explain that to you, all right.

61In short, as I said to you before, you have got to do what you are told to do, you have been able to do it before and if you are in any doubt about anything, if you are not sure, go to them and ask them and they will tell you what you need to do.  Can you do that?

62OFFENDER:  Okay (indistinct).

63HIS HONOUR:  Can you do it?

64OFFENDER:  Yep.

65HIS HONOUR:  And that you understand what I'm telling you?

66OFFENDER:  Yes.

67HIS HONOUR:  And do you agree to this order?

68OFFENDER:  Yeah.

69HIS HONOUR:  All right, well I will sign it, given that I will sign it now and the order will be sent to Mildura, so you need to hang around up there until it arrives, and then you will be asked to sign it as well, and you will get a copy of it.  All right.

70OFFENDER:  Okay.

71HIS HONOUR:  Remember, Friday 2 o'clock at Community Corrections in Madden Avenue, all right.

72OFFENDER:  No worries, yeah.

73HIS HONOUR:  Now good luck with it.

74OFFENDER:  Thank you.

75HIS HONOUR:  Anything else I need to do?  Thank you for your assistance, Mr Bellini, Mr Hilton-Wood and others, and I will now turn you off.  Thank you, Mr Oswald. 

76COUNSEL:  The court pleases.

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