Director of Public Prosecutions v Eames
[2017] VCC 1421
•3 October 2017
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA | Revised Not Restricted Suitable for Publication |
AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL JURISDICTIONCR-17-01503
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| v |
| TANNER EAMES |
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| JUDGE: | HIS HONOUR JUDGE TRAPNELL |
| WHERE HELD: | Melbourne |
| DATE OF HEARING: | 13 September 2017, 2 October 2017 |
| DATE OF SENTENCE: | 3 October 2017 |
| CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | DPP v Eames |
| MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2017] VCC 1421 |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
---Subject: CRIMINAL LAW - SENTENCE
Catchwords: Armed robbery, aggravated burglary, robbery, arson, theft, obtain property by deception – young offender – no prior offences.
Legislation Cited: Crimes Act 1958, Sentencing Act 1991, Bail Act 1977
Cases Cited:The Queen v Mills (1998) 4 VR 235, R v Verdins (2007) 16 VR 269
Sentence: Youth Detention – 29 months and 30 days.
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APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the Director of Public Prosecutions | Ms J. Fallar | Office of Public Prosecutions |
| For the Accused | Ms Y. Giannopoulos | Slink and Keating |
Pages 1 - 19
HIS HONOUR:
1Tanner Riley Eames, you have pleaded guilty to one charge of armed robbery, which carries a maximum penalty of 25 years' imprisonment, one charge of aggravated burglary, which carries a maximum penalty of 25 years' imprisonment, one charge of robbery, which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years' imprisonment, one charge of arson, which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years' imprisonment, five charges of theft, which carry a maximum penalty each of ten years' imprisonment and three charges of obtaining property by deception, which also each carry ten years' imprisonment maximum penalty.
2You have consented to my dealing with three transferred summary charges and have pleaded guilty to each of them as follows: one charge of committing an indictable offence on bail, which carries a maximum penalty of 30 penalty units or three months' imprisonment, one charge of contravene a conduct condition whilst on bail, which carries a maximum penalty of 30 penalty units or three months' imprisonment and one charge of failing to appear on bail, which carries a maximum penalty of two years' imprisonment.
3You first indicated an intention to plead guilty to all these charges at the committal mention on 28 July 2017. Accordingly, I sentence you on the basis these are early pleas. I was provided with a summary of prosecution opening, dated 23 August 2017, which I was told by your counsel that I could treat as a statement of agreed facts.[1] The primary offending conduct comprises an avalanche of criminal offences committed by you in the space of a fortnight in March 2016. The secondary offences against the Bail Act were committed between 11 March 2017 and 5 July 2017.
[1]Exhibit P1
4The sentencing facts are as follows: In relation Charges 1 and 2: on Saturday 11 March 2017 at about 2.10 am, the victim, Amanda Wallace, parked her black Toyota RAV4 at one of the petrol bowsers at the BP service station located at 298 Frankston, Dandenong Road, Seaford. She left her car keys in the ignition and left the door unlocked. She entered the service station to pay.
5You were inside the store. A number of customers were also inside the store. You picked up a pair of sunglasses valued at $29.95 and walked off without paying. This gives rise to Charge 2, theft. You walked to the victim's Toyota RAV4, got into the driver's side and drove off towards Frankston. This gives rise to Charge 1, theft of the RAV 4. Wallace ran outside, then returned to the service station and told the attendant who called 000.
6In relation to Charge 3: A few hours later at about 4.05am, you pulled up in the stolen Toyota RAV4 at the Mulgrave BP service station located at 223 Princess Highway, Mulgrave. The victim, was the service attendant, Bhargiav Lalaji. He was working at the time, watching the CCTV cameras and noticed the RAV4. You approached Lalaji and demanded a few times that he “open the till and put the money in a plastic bag”.
7Lalaji pressed the emergency button and opened the till. He took out about $300 from the till and placed it in a plastic bag and gave it to you. You then demanded, "give me any smokes”. Lalaji gave you one packet initially. You asked for more. Lalaji took ten packets of Long Beach 30s and Bond Street 30s, cigarettes valued at $550, and gave them to you. You then pointed to a BIC cigarette lighter stand and said to Lalaji, "Just give them, give them to me”. Lalaji complied.
8Lalaji noticed a silver coloured handgun in the right hand pocket of your jacket, which was an imitation firearm. You did not threaten Lalaji with the imitation firearm, but you had it with you and accessible to you if required. This gives rise to Charge 3 armed robbery. You immediately left the store and then returned to the stolen RAV4 and drove off at a fast rate of speed toward the Princes Highway. Lalaji called the police who subsequently attended.
9Charges 4 to 7 relate to a 7-Eleven service station at Keysborough. A few hours later at approximately 9.15 am, you drove the stolen Toyota RAV4 to the front of the 7-Eleven service station at 309 Cheltenham Road, Keysborough. The engine was revving and the tyres were screeching. A customer had to jump backwards. You exited the vehicle and were observed to be wearing a covering on your face.
10A lone attendant, Unati Amarneni, was restocking items on the public side of the front counter. About four other customers were inside, including a regular customer, Chris Mihailovic. When Amarneni turned around, she noticed you standing directly behind and this startled her. You passed a bag to her and said, "Take the bag and put everything in it". Amarneni said, "Yeah, sure, I'll do it”. At that stage, she knew the store was being robbed. She was scared but tried to keep calm. She walked through the staff security door and to the till, filling it up with approximately $400 in cash.
11While she was doing this, you said, "Give me the till”. Amarneni did not respond. Mihailovic heard you yelling at Amarneni to hurry up, "Get the till", and to make sure she got the 50s. Amarneni then handed the bag with the money to you. That gives rise to Charge 4, robbery. You grabbed the bag and ran out of the store to the stolen RAV4, then drove away quickly.
12The following day on Sunday 12 March 2017 at about 3.05 am, Jason Speak was walking home through Balham Park, Frankston. He observed the stolen RAV4 on the service road, engulfed in flames, and immediate called 000. This gives rise to Charge 5, arson. Emergency services arrived shortly afterwards and extinguished the fire. The burnt RAV4 was then towed to a secure facility for forensic examination.
13On 17 March 2017, John Kelleher, a forensic officer, examined the vehicle. His findings were as follows: (a) there was extensive burning to the exterior with only the offside front quarter largely unburnt; (b) all of the windows were closed at the time of the fire; (c) the pattern of damage generally suggested that the fire had spread from the rear to the front of the engine compartment, possibly entering through the fire wall; (d) in the passenger compartment there was extensive and severe damage. There was nothing remaining suitable for examination with respect to the presence of flammable liquid; and (e) the cause of the fire was ignition of combustible material, probably in the passenger compartment. The source of ignition was not determined. In the absence of any apparent source of ignition, Mr Kelleher concluded the fire was probably ignited directly by a match or a cigarette lighter.
14Charges 6 to 9, which were committed at 7 Oak Grove, Mount Eliza on 28 March 2016, comprised of one count of aggravated burglary and three counts of theft.
15On Monday 27 March 2017, the victims husband and wife, Jonathon Sully and Kathie Osborne, went to sleep at about 9 pm at their home at 7 Oak Grove, Mount Eliza. Also in the house were their young children, two nine-year-old twins and a seven-year-old boy.
16The following day on 28 March 2017, before 4 am, you attended the house with two unidentified co-offenders, but you did not enter the house. Your co-offenders entered through the unlocked double garage while the family was asleep, went to the kitchen via the internal garage door, rummaged through Osborne's vehicle, removed Sully's wallet and car keys from the kitchen and left in Sully's vehicle. Sully's red Honda scooter, also in the garage, was taken but then abandoned nearby. This gives rise to charge 6 aggravated burglary and the basis of your responsibility is complicity with the unknown co-offender who entered the house.
17At about 4 am, Osborne heard a car drive up the street but did not think anything of it and went back to sleep. At about 5 am, Sully woke up for a conference call with work. Osborne got up at 6 am to get ready for work. By 7.10am, as she walked into the garage and to her car, she noticed that the garage door was open. The centre console in her car was open and the boot was partially open. Her husband’s, black 2016 Mercedes Benz GLE AMG SUV, valued at $185,000, was missing. That gives rise to Charge 9, theft of a motor vehicle.
18Osborne asked Sully where his car was. He said, "It should be in the garage". He noticed that his leather wallet and car keys were missing from the kitchen table. Inside Sully's wallet was his National Australia Bank Mastercard and that gives rise to Charge 7, theft.
19The stolen Mercedes Benz was located on 2 April 2017, when police received notification about a vehicle that was left on the side of the road with a smashed window at the corner of East Gateway and Valewood Drive, Wyndham Vale. The car had no registration plates fitted. The VIN number was located and this revealed that this was Sully's stolen 2016 Mercedes Benz. Police conducted a door knock and found out from nearby residents that some unknown males dumped the vehicle the night before between 5 pm and 7 pm.
20Sully was informed by Mercedes Benz, Mornington, that it would cost $7000 to repair the damage. The stolen red Honda scooter was located and Sully has advised that it cost $1200 to fix the damage to that. I note that you are not charged with criminal damage in relation to the Mercedes Benz or the scooter and you will not be punished for those offences.
21Sully then called the police who attended. Crime scene officers photographed the scene. They canvassed the area and located the 2008 red Honda SCV 100 scooter valued at $2500, which was lying on its side in the front yard of 3 Oak Grove, Mount Eliza. The couple confirmed they owned the scooter which was stored in their garage along with their vehicles. This gives rise to Charge 8, theft of the motor scooter.
22Sully spent the rest of the day cancelling and being re-issued with credit cards. He discovered three transactions had been made that morning using his National Australia Bank credit card. This gives rise to Charges 10 to 12, which were committed at Elsternwick and Brayside a few hours after the offences giving rise to Charges 6 to 9.
23You left the Mount Eliza property at 5.24 am and were seated in the front passenger seat with two unidentified co-offenders in Sully's stolen vehicle. You attended at the McDonald's drive through at Elsternwick using Sully's stolen National Bank card. You purchased food and drinks using the bank's payWave facility in the sum of $38.15. This gives rise to Charge 10, obtain property by deception.
24The vehicle was then parked at McDonald's before you exited the vehicle. You walked next door to the Elsternwick Caltex service station at 5.27 am. Once again you used Sully's stolen National Australia Bank card to purchase two packets of JP 40 cigarettes in the sum of $94.50, once again using a payWave facility. You left and then returned to Sully's stolen vehicle. You were captured on CCTV. This gives rise to Charge 11, obtain property by deception.
25A few hours later at 6.38 am, you attended another Caltex service station, this time at Braeside. Once again, you used Sully's stolen National Australia Bank card to purchase two packets of JP 40s in the sum of $79.98, using the payWave facility. Once again, you were captured on CCTV footage. This gives rise to Charge 12, obtain property by deception.
26In relation to the Summary Charges 13, 16 and 17, which have been transferred to this Court, and are offences against the Bail Act. On 19 February 2017 at the Frankston police station, you were released on bail on your own undertaking to appear at the Frankston Magistrates’ Court on 27 April 2017.
27You committed the offence of theft of the motor vehicle, being the Toyota RAV4 on 11 March 2017 whilst on bail. That is Summary Charge 13. You also failed to report at the Frankston police station on 12 June 2017. That is Summary Charge 16. On 24 May 2017, you signed a bail undertaking, but then failed to appear as required on 5 July 2017. That is Summary Charge 17.
28On Wednesday 12 April 2017, the informant and other police officers attended at 60 Allied Drive, Carrum Downs. The occupant opened the door and when asked, confirmed you were inside. Police entered the house and found you sleeping in the rear bedroom on a mattress. You were arrested and conveyed to the Dandenong police station for the purposes of a record of interview. You made a no comment record of interview, which was your right. You consented to the taking of a forensic sample.
29As I indicated earlier, on 28 July 2017 at the committal mention, this matter resolved to the current charges which proceeded by way as a straight hand-up brief listed for a County Court plea hearing on 13 September 2017.
30I received a victim impact statement from Bhargiav Jawaharlal Lalaji, dated
8 September 2017.[2] He was the victim of the armed robbery, the subject of Charge 3 and deposed to the fact that the incident had left him "devastated, both mentally and socially" and that he had ceased working all night shifts, as a consequence of the offending, and this had caused him financial difficulties. That was the only victim impact statement that was tendered in evidence, but I take into account the likely impact of your crimes on your other victims.[2] Exhibit P3
31Tendered on your behalf on the plea by your counsel, Ms Giannopoulos, was a report of Carla Ferrari, consultant psychologist dated 17 August 2017[3], and a report of Dr Sammy Yamin, a clinical neuropsychologist, dated
10 September 2017.[4] Ms Giannopoulos, who appeared on your behalf on the plea also provided me with a written outline of defence submissions for plea, dated 4 September 2017.[5][3] Exhibit A2
[4] Exhibit A3
[5] Exhibit A1
32Turning to the report of Ms Ferrari, she gave a summary of your personal circumstances, similar to the summary contained in Ms Giannopoulos' outline of defence submissions. You are currently 18 years of age and were 18 years of age at the time of the offences.[6] You are the middle child of a sibship of three. You have an older brother aged 21 and a younger sister aged 14.
[6] Date of birth is 24 November 1998.
33You reported an unremarkable childhood whereby your parents remained married and you denied any history of abuse or trauma. You reported that you had never had a close relationship with your family and that you always felt out of place. You reported being kicked out of home by your parents at the age of 15 for the first time, due to your behaviour and substance abuse. You attempted to move in with your grandmother for a short period with the hope of getting "clean", but this placement broke down as you were unable to abstain from drug use.
34You then stated that you were living rough often and breaking into vehicles and sleeping in stolen cars. Indeed, this appears to have been what you were doing at the time of this offending. In other words, you were basically homeless, couch surfing and living in stolen cars.
35You have had minimal contact with your parents during the past two years. However, since being incarcerated, they have visited you and made contact with you via the telephone. Information provided by your mother, Ms Linda Eames, indicated that you were quite a good student at the school until a traumatic incident occurred in Grade 6, whereby you and another student were made to stand in front of approximately 60 peers, whilst each of these students was forced to come forward individually to state, "I don't like you because…", and give a reason for their dislike of you and your fellow student.
36This incident had a significant effect on you and after this incident there was a significant change noticed by your mother in your behaviour and functioning. You were quite distressed after this incident and then slowly became withdrawn. You began isolating yourself and dropped out of sports and motocross, which you had previously engaged in and which the family had been heavily involved in for many years. You began to develop a sense of worthlessness and lost confidence in yourself. Your mother believes that it was after this that you began abusing substances to make yourself feel better as you did not know how to cope with your emotions. Your mother did take you to a psychologist in Frankston. However, you only attended one session and refused to return.
37Your mother highlighted to Ms Ferrari that a further trauma was endured in Grade 8 or 9 when one of your best friends attempted suicide by hanging and was hospitalised for the same. You assisted with his recovery by visiting him but this, once again, had a significant adverse effect on your emotions and mental state and your mother reports that you did not receive any professional support or any debriefing for this emotional trauma.
38In relation to your employment history, you started an apprenticeship in carpentry and competed two years in this before being terminated by your employer for being under the influence of alcohol or drugs at work. Your substance abuse had started escalating by this point.
39You are currently single and denied any significant relationship history to Ms Ferrari. So far as alcohol and substance abuse is concerned, you reported consuming alcohol from the age of 13 and described a history of binge drinking. You admitted your use escalated to daily in the last couple of years and even admitted to drinking at school.
40You said that you started using marijuana in Grade 6 and smoked daily. You then began using methylamphetamine (ice) at the age of 13 and then most recently using this daily in conjunction with alcohol and GHB. You reported that this habit has escalated to daily use in the past year. You told Ms Ferrari that you estimated that you were using approximately 1gram or more per day. Now, that is 1 gram or more of methylamphetamine, presumably, a day during the peak of your use at the time of this offending.
41You told Ms Ferrari that you also started using alprazolam (Xanax), a benzodiazepine. You started using this for the first time this year. You also told Ms Ferrari that you had a two month in-patient admission to the Youth Support and Advisory Service rehabilitation facility in Fitzroy last year. You have no prior criminal history. You were initially in custody earlier this year in relation to the current charges; however, you were released on bail for approximately five weeks before reoffending and then you were remanded in custody.
42I have been advised by your counsel that both previous matters and some subsequent matters are to be dealt with in the Magistrates' Court on 16 October 2017, and they play no part in my sentencing task.
43Ms Ferrari opines, in relation to the current matters, that you have taken full responsibility for your actions. In the commission of these offences, you have expressed regret for your actions and for your abuse of substances, which ultimately led to your involvement in these offences. Ms Ferrari says that you were able to understand the impact of your behaviour on yourself and your family, though you did not appear insightful into how the victims had been affected. Consequently, I am prepared to accept a level of remorse on this basis.
44You instructed Ms Ferrari that you were under the influence of illicit drugs and prescription medication, Xanax, at the time of the armed robbery. This was the second occasion you had ever used Xanax and you said that you had taken five tablets on this occasion. You reported complete memory loss, which Ms Ferrari opines is consistent with symptoms of misuse of benzodiazepines.
45In relation to the other offences, you said to Ms Ferrari that approximately one week after the armed robbery, you and two friends were involved in an aggravated burglary whilst under the influence of methylamphetamine, alcohol and GHB. You confirmed to Ms Ferrari that the arson of the RAV4 motor vehicle was carried out to destroy any evidence from the vehicle having been used in the armed robbery the week before.
46You gave Ms Ferrari context to your offending behaviour during the course of the three month period from March 2017 to June 2017. You indicated that your substance use had escalated and you were using increasing amounts daily. You reported that you had long used substances to block your negative emotions and that as your mental state worsened, your substance use increased in an attempt to compensate.
47Ms Ferrari says that you expressed remorse for your actions and indicated that your time in custody has offered you the opportunity to detox from drugs. You feel your thoughts are clearer and more logical and you are able to identify how the substance abuse has affected your behaviour and contributed to your offending conduct. This insight bodes well for your future prospects of rehabilitation, which I cannot assess as being any better than guarded at this time. Your ultimate rehabilitation will depend upon you remaining free from substance abuse and the effective treatment of your underlying mental health problems.
48Which brings me to Ms Ferrari's conduct of a mental health examination of you, which included psychometric testing. She administered the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale and the drug abuse screening test.
49Her diagnostic impressions were as follows:
"In respect to clinical considerations and based on Mr Eames' self-report, psychometric assessment, clinical presentation interview and available collateral information, it is hypothesised that the following DSM-V diagnoses are indicated, clinical disorders under the heading 'clinical disorders' 296.32, major depressive disorder, recurrent, moderate, 300.02, generalised anxiety disorder, 304.40, amphetamine type substance use disorder. There was no evidence of entrenched personality disorder".
Ms Ferrari opines that your “deteriorating mental state and pre-existing symptoms of depression and anxiety also perpetuated your drug addiction and offending cycles”.
50Ms Ferrari assessed you as being a low risk of re-offending, provided you continue to abstain from substance abuse, as this significantly increases your risks. Your risk of recidivism will be further mitigated, in Ms Ferrari's opinion, if you are able to engage in constructive activities. If these factors are not controlled and you do not demonstrate initiative to work towards addressing these issues whilst incarcerated, you stand as a moderate risk of re-offending once returning to the community.
51A report was prepared by Dr Sammy Yamin, dated 10 September 2017.[7] This was prepared to address Ms Ferrari's concerns that she had that you may have suffered from an acquired brain syndrome. Dr Yamin noted you acknowledged heavy methylamphetamine and benzodiazepine abuse, especially Xanax, and you stated that you had only been free from substances for brief periods in the two years leading up to the present incidents.
[7] Exhibit A3
52Dr Yamin said that you believed that your drug use is the reason that you are unable to recall the majority of the incidents giving rise to these charges.
Dr Yamin states:"Mr Eames has no formal psychiatric history but he stated that he was admitted briefly to a psychiatric facility last year with a drug-induced psychosis. He was then discharged to a drug rehabilitation facility where he stayed for a month. He described a lengthy period of reduced mood dating back to his early teens. He stated that his mood had gotten worse since being in prison. He stated that is mood was consistently low with very few fluctuations. He stated that the drugs helped him with his mood and gave him a relatively short improvement in his mood.”
53"Mr Eames has a lengthy history of significant drug use which started when he was 13 years old. He started using marijuana and ice initially on weekends but this escalated by the age of 16 to daily use. He stated that he started drinking at the age of 15 years whilst he was doing his carpentry apprenticeship as his boss used to drink at the end of each working day. His drug use increased significantly around the age of 16 years when he started to smoke ice on a daily basis. He was smoking around 1 gram a day and stated that he was unable to sleep for days at a time. He has also used significant amounts of GHB.
He stated that he remained drug-free since being in prison. In terms of his future, he stated that he was motivated to give up drug use. He suggested that he may benefit from drug rehabilitation but he appeared to be only partially motivated and demonstrated some ambivalence when pressed further about the process and his readiness for rehabilitation".
54So far as your lack of sleep is concerned, I note that during the course of the plea, your counsel, Ms Gianopoulos, noted that on your instructions you had been awake for approximately 11 days, without proper sleep, at the time of the present offending.
55On examination, Dr Yamin found that there was no evidence of thought disorder. There was no evidence of delusions or perceptual disturbance. In regards to your intellectual functioning, Dr Yamin opined: "Pre-morbid intellectual functioning was estimated to fall within the Low - Average range based on educational history as well as his performance on tests believed to be resistant to change. Overall, cognitive functioning was reduced when compared with this estimate and Mr Eames was functioning in the Extremely - Low range, (Ist percentile; Full Scale IQ-67; 95% Confidence Interval Range of 64-72). His profile was consistent across the various WAIS-IV index scores.”
56Dr Yamin also opined in regard to your memory and learning: "Overall,
Mr Eames' performance on tasks of memory and learning was reduced when compared to his premorbid estimates. He had significant difficulty learning both simple and more complex information at an age appropriate level. He was easily overwhelmed when presented with a greater amount of detail".57Regarding your psychological function, Dr Yamin opined: "Mr Eames' psychological function was measured using the SCL-90R. His responses revealed mild elevations in depression, hostility and paranoia. Further, there were severe elevations in the domains of somatisation, obsessive compulsive anxiety and phobic anxiety. The general severity index suggested that
Mr Eames is currently experiencing high amounts of psychological distress".58Dr Yamin's opinion included the following:
"Given that Mr Eames continues to display moderate cognitive impairment that is inconsistent with premorbid estimates suggests that it is likely that has suffered some form of mild to moderate brain injury. Whether this was due to multiple head knocks or drug use is difficult to determine. Determining the presence and severity of a traumatic brain injury is difficult when an individual is not assessed immediately following a brain injury. However, it should be noted that the severity of the cognitive deficits seen on testing are above and beyond those that would result from, on the whole, relatively mild brain injuries”.
59"What Mr Eames describes in terms of his symptoms, confusion, temporal displacement, reduced inhibition and poor memory, have been supported by the current test results and are seen in chronic methylamphetamine users. Chronic methylamphetamine use is associated with neurotoxicity in the dopaminergic frontalstriatal circuits and result in deficits in cognitive processes dependent on the circuits such as episodic memory, complex information processing and attention and response inhibition”.
60"Abuse of benzodiazepines such as Xanax can also result in anterograde memory loss. Given the consistent deficits seen on testing and the long-standing self-reported difficulties with attention, Mr Eames likely has a long-standing history of ADHD that has previously been missed. It is difficult to ascertain Mr Eames' level of depression at the time of the incidents”.
61In conclusion, Dr Yamin stated:
“The current assessment has found that Mr Eames has experienced significant amounts of depression. The current interview and assessment found that Mr Eames meets the DSM-V criteria for a major depressive disorder of moderate severity”.
62Dr Yamin’s report contained a number of recommendations. I have noted these and consider that a Youth Justice Centre disposition will be suitable to address the matters contained therein.
63Ms Giannopoulos, who appeared on your behalf on the plea, provided me with a written outline of defence submissions for the plea dated 4 September 2017.[8] I have taken into account all the mitigating factors relied upon therein together with Ms Giannopoulos' oral submissions made on your behalf. I accept the mitigating circumstances listed in paragraph 1 of her outline and Ms Giannopoulos' characterisation of your offending conduct as being "very serious in nature" and "traumatic for your victims".
[8]Exhibit A1
64I accept that you, at 18, are a young offender. You are also a first offender who has pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity and who is remorseful. Clearly, the principles in cases such as R v Mills[9] apply, so that your rehabilitation remains the primary consideration as long as there is a realistic chance of your ultimate rehabilitation. I accept there is such a chance.
[9](1998) 4 VR 235 at 241
65Ms Giannopoulos relied on the principles in R v Verdins[10]. I accept that a number of the principles stated in that case are engaged, particularly principle 5. I also accept in light of the reports of Dr Yamin and Ms Ferrari, that there should be, in your case, some further moderation (over and above that which is justified on account of your young age) in the weight to be given to denunciation, general and specific deterrence, so that in my opinion Verdins principles 1, 2, 3 and 4 are also engaged.
[10](2007) 16 VR 269
66However, on the other side of the ledger, these are serious offences and there is a lot of criminality that needs to be justly punished. Moreover, you were on bail when these offences were committed. As I indicated earlier, those earlier matters and some subsequent offences are presently before the Magistrates' Court and are due to be finalised on 16 October this year.
67Ms Giannopoulos submitted that in light of the time you have already spent in adult custody a "lengthy community corrections order" is the appropriate sentence. Ms Fallar, who appeared on behalf of the Director of Public Prosecutions, submitted that an immediate custodial sentence was called for, but she accepted that this could be served by way of detention in a Youth Justice Centre. Accordingly, I called for both community corrections order and youth justice centre assessments and you have been found suitable for both.
68I have given anxious consideration to the principle of parsimony and have considered that despite the powerful mitigating circumstances present in your case, the nature, gravity and extent of your offending conduct means that a sentence which involves your immediate confinement is the only disposition which will achieve all the purposes for which these sentences are to be imposed. I have also considered how the totality principle should apply to the overall sentence I am about to impose.
69You have committed a number of serious criminal offences over a short space of time and there remains a need to impose sentences which reflect the objective gravity of your extensive and prolonged offending conduct and which give adequate weight to the principles of general deterrence, denunciation and just punishment, whilst making full allowance for the mitigating effect of the constellation of significant mitigating circumstances that pertain in your case. These include:
(1) your young age;
(2) your early plea of guilty;
(3) a degree of remorse shown;
(4) your low IQ;
(5) your mental state both at the time of the offences and presently;
(6) your childhood and developmental difficulties; and
(7) all other mitigating circumstances relied upon by your counsel.
70Balancing all these factors as best I can, I sentence you as follows. On Charge 1, theft of a motor vehicle, the RAV4, you will be sentenced to six months’ detention in a youth justice centre.
71On Charge 2, theft of the sunglasses, you will be sentenced to seven days’ detention in a youth justice centre.
72On Charge 3, armed robbery, you will be sentenced to 15 months’ detention in a youth justice centre.
73On Charge 4, robbery, you will be sentenced to 12 months’ detention in a youth justice centre.
74On Charge 5, arson, you will be sentenced to 12 months’ detention in a youth justice centre.
75On Charge 6, aggravated burglary, you will be sentenced to 12 months’ detention in a youth justice centre.
76On Charge 7, theft of the wallet, you will be sentenced to one months' detention in a youth justice centre.
77On Charge 8, theft of the scooter, you will be sentenced to three months’ detention in a youth justice centre.
78On Charge 9, theft of the Mercedes Benz motor vehicle, you will be sentenced to eight months’ detention in a youth justice centre.
79On Charge 10, obtaining property by deception, you will be sentenced to one months’ detention ain a youth justice centre.
80On the further charge, Charge 11, obtaining property by deception, one months’ detention in a youth justice centre.
81Charge 12, obtaining property by deception, one months' detention in a youth justice centre.
82Summary Charge 13, committing an indictable offence whilst on bail, one months' detention in a youth justice centre.
83Summary Charge 16, contravene a conduct condition of your bail, one days' detention in a youth justice centre.
84Summary Charge 17, failure to answer bail, one months' detention in a youth justice centre.
85I make the following orders for cumulation. The base sentence will be the 15 months' detention imposed on Charge 3, the armed robbery. There will be cumulation of two months on Charge 1, three months on Charge 4, three months on Charge 5, four months on Charge 6, two months on Charge 9, ten days on Charge 10, ten days on Charge 11 and ten days on Charge 12. All other sentences will be served concurrently with each other and the base sentence. That makes a total effective sentence of 29 months and 30 days’ (effectively 30 months) detention in a youth justice centre.
86I declare that you have served 124 days pre-sentence detention, not including today, and I direct that that declaration be recorded in the records of the Court. On Charges 1, theft of the RAV4, Charge 8, theft of the scooter and Charge 9, theft of the Mercedes Benz motor vehicle, all licenses and permits you hold under the Road Safety Act are cancelled and you are disqualified for a period of two years, effective from today.
87Under s.6AAA of the Sentencing Act, I state that but for your plea of guilty, I would have imposed a sentence of four years' imprisonment with a non-parole period of two years. Are there any matters arising from either end of the Bar table?
88COUNSEL: No.
89HIS HONOUR: Yes, remove the prisoner.
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