Director of Public Prosecutions v Green

[2016] VCC 982

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

AT LATROBE VALLEY
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

CR 16-01092

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

STEVEN GREEN

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JUDGE:	HER HONOUR JUDGE GAYNOR
WHERE HELD:	Latrobe Valley
DATE OF HEARING:
DATE OF SENTENCE:	12 July 2016
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Green
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2016] VCC 982

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	Ms S. McCrickard

Pages 1 - 10

 

 

HER HONOUR: 

1Steven Thomas Green, you have pleaded guilty before me to one charge of armed robbery and one charge of possession of a drug of dependence.  The maximum penalty for armed robbery is 25 years' imprisonment and the maximum penalty for possession of heroin is 400 penalty units or ‑ ‑ ‑ 

2COUNSEL:  Five years.

3HER HONOUR:  ‑ ‑ ‑ five years' imprisonment.

4COUNSEL:  Or both.

5HER HONOUR:  Or both. 

6The facts underlying your offending are as follows. 

7In the weeks leading up to these offences, you had got into financial trouble through questionable friends so that you were unable to pay your utility bills.  You had to leave your address in Warragul and take up residence with a friend, Leon Taif, in the same town. 

8You discussed your financial problems with him on the morning of 27 February 2016, saying you needed to pay some bills urgently or your services will be cut off, raising the notion of undertaking an armed robbery.

9You asked Mr Taif to help you brainstorm a proper location but Mr Taif refused to assist.  The two of you had lunch and you left saying you were going to go and carryout the armed robbery. 

10At the time you were wearing black Adidas track pants with white stripes down each leg, a grey hooded jumper and a woollen balaclava rolled up like a beanie. 

11At about 1.55 pm that afternoon, you went to a milk bar at 108 Burke Street, Warragul, about 2 km from Mr Taif's house.  You were holding a machete and wearing a single rubber glove.

12You paced around the shop before going in, then concealed the machete under your clothing.  You went to the milk bar brandishing the machete and concealing your face with the hood from your jumper.  You approached the female owner, Jennifer Goodchild, behind the service counter, waved the machete at her and demanded, "Give me the fucking till."

13Mrs Goodchild placed the till on the service counter, you stating, "Just give me the fucking money," then grabbed about $850 in cash from the till.  You then demanded "a packet of fucking cigarettes" which Mrs Goodchild threw to you, they being a packet of Longbeach Rich Blue 30s valued at $30. 

14You made one further threatening gesture with the machete towards
Mrs Goodchild and walked from the store.  You then walked back to Taif's residence.  There, you asked Mr Taif to drive you to Dandenong and on the drive, showed him the proceeds of the crime and said you were going to buy some heroin to sell further to raise money for your debts.

15You then purchased a quantity of heroin in the Noble Park area and were in the course of making the return journey home when you were apprehended by police.

16You were found by police to be in possession of approximately 1.9 g of heroin. You admitted possessing the drug during the interview that followed.  Your actions in holding up Mrs Goodchild and stealing the money underlie Charge 1 on the indictment - armed robbery - and your actions in possessing the heroin underlie Charge 2 on the indictment. 

17You were apprehended at about 4.30 pm that afternoon while travelling with Mr Taif in his white Holden ute. 

18At the time, you were found to be in possession of the cigarettes stolen during the armed robbery and under the front passenger seat, police found the black tracksuit pants, the balaclava, the grey hooded jumper and $130 in cash, all relating to the armed robbery. 

19In your record of interview, you claimed not to have any recollection of the armed robbery, stating that your first memories of the day occurred just before the record of interview when you were provided with a meal in custody.  You have been remanded in custody since your arrest. 

20In her victim impact statement, Mrs Goodchild said that she had been very depressed since being the victim in an armed robbery.  She said she no longer felt safe in an environment that she had enjoyed up to that time.  She said she did not know if she could return to working in her shop. 

21She stated, "Now, I'm depressed to the point that I do not want to go anywhere or see anyone.  I don't want to do anything which is not like me at all.  I feel like a stranger in my own body and I'm angry and moody a lot.  I feel guilty because I'm not doing what I should be doing as a wife and mother.  This has left me feeling worthless as I cannot do what I used to do.  Shopping, banking, caring for family is a real struggle for me now as I don't want to leave the house.  I don't want to answer the door or telephone.  I struggle to do the simple everyday things."

22Mrs Goodchild said that she felt she was unable to watch news on TV because it made her depressed when she thought about criminal happening to other people and "knowing what it feels like to have your feeling of safety and comfort taken away." 

23She stated that if she goes out, she needs to have someone with her as she does not feel safe.  She cries a lot, feels scared most days and simply does not enjoy life.  She stated, "I hate feeling like this."

24She concluded "I have not been back to the shop and I don't know if I will.  This is hard because I really enjoyed being there and now, I don't know if I will return.  It makes things harder too because this was my business, my income and I can't even be there." 

25Her husband Bernie Goodchild wrote in his victim impact statement that he was finding it extremely difficult "helping my wife Jenny of 28 years in recovering from an ordeal that nobody could understand unless you had been put in that position." 

26He said he often comes home from work finding his wife in bed crying uncontrollably; that is his wife has trouble going out or answering the phone or front door.  He stated, "We have always had a good talking relationship about most things, but now I have to be very careful about what I say about the shop and bills while at work so as not to upset her too much." 

27He said that his wife had been his soul mate for more than 35 years "and I find it very difficult sometimes to cope with life too.  I try not to show too much emotion in front of her to keep her spirits up."

28He hopes that his wife will one day get back to the woman that she was but believes it will be an uphill battle for some time. 

29I now turn to your personal circumstances. 

30You are 40 years of age and have had an extremely difficult personal history.  You are the elder of two children, born to your parents who are still married.  You have no contact with your father or your sister.  You have a good relationship with your mother and you grew up in the southeast suburbs of Melbourne, attending two primary schools there.

31You told psychologist, Carla Lechner, whose report dated 5 July 2016 was tendered on the plea, that you had a terrible time at home with your father.  You said that your father was violent to you from about the age of five.  You said he would come home at 4 or 5 am and you would "wake up with him getting stuck into me - he hit with me a belt - he'd say I was a waste of sperm, swear and put me down." 

32Your father was apparently alcoholic and usually when he was drunk, he bashed you, though he verbally abused you all the time.  You said you felt safe when your mother was home but when your father there, "I was always on the back foot." 

33You told her that you are still disturbed by your early childhood memories - "I'm on high alert when I hear things at night.  the smell of alcohol - I hate it.  I was never a big drinker so as not to be like my dad.  I don't like watching the footy because it reminds me of Dad punching on with blokes and then bashing me."  

34You attended Brandon Park Technical School in Year 10, but, stating "but I was barely there".  You played competitive football and cricket until you were about 22, in fact, playing in a VFL team until your drug habit took over. 

35You apparently began abusing drugs at the age of about ten.  You said that you told Ms Lechner that in Grade 4, you would smoke cannabis before school or take Rohypnol, stating "I seem to have an immunity - I was using heroin by age 11 years - Dad was so embarrassed." 

36You said you left school when you were 14 but then went back for a while.  You said your relationship with your father had not improved, saying, "A couple of years ago, I punched on with Dad and blacked out - Mum kicked me out - I'd come for a visit, knock on the door and he'd (indistinct) hit me."

37You said by the time you left school, you had a drug habit that interfered with our ability to work and in your early teens, developed epilepsy.  This cost you a number of jobs, your employer sacking you when you had a fit. 

38You said that you had a couple of jobs including moulding for a few years and you had been a recipient of the disability support pension for the past 20 years.

39You have managed to stay out of trouble for periods of time by involving yourself with the Salvation Army in Warragul, and that you worked as a football umpire for about five years in Frankston, saying to Mr Lechner "I loved it.  I didn't do any drugs then.  I did it [umpiring] to get away from my partner because of her drug use."

40You also worked with your mother in her cleaning business on a casual basis, but your father then prevented that occurring. 

41Counsel informed me that you still have a reasonable relationship with your mother but she is very much controlled and monitored by your father. 

42You stated that your heroin habit has been the main addictive problem that you have suffered over the years.  You do not use ice or amphetamines, but you have also used apparently "a fair bit" of cocaine, LSD and ecstasy as well as a small amount of GHP, which I have to say, Mr Green, which might sound stupid given the other drugs you use, is particularly dangerous drug. 

43It appears that you have had a number of involuntary sessions in psychiatric wards.  You have, on a number of occasions, tried to commit suicide. 

44You have never married.  You have never had children and basically, although at times, you have managed to improve the situation in your life, inevitably, you have relapsed into drug use.

45You were found, on testing by Ms Lechner, to be suffering from a moderate degree of anxiety and depression.  Moderate - the clinical term - means you suffer from it fairly severely. 

46She said that you presented with symptoms of opioid use disorder, which is in remission because you are in custody.  She said you are currently exhibiting symptoms of both depression and anxiety, "mostly reactive to his situation and pending court history, although his history indicates long-standing mood regulation problems.

47"His history is characterised by severe abuse in the home.  This leading to complex trauma symptoms.  Mr Green still has flashbacks and anxiety related to traumatic memories that impede the development of his self-esteem and interpersonal relationships." 

48Overall, you present as a person who has led an intensely unhappy life for which you have sought relief in long-standing drug use, which you have been unable to overcome, plus you have to deal with a long-standing epileptic condition. 

49You have a long and crowded - if I can put it this way - prior criminal history, but you have been given a number of opportunities by the court.  In particular, you have been placed in the drug court at Dandenong, which is an extremely intensive program which has a reasonably high success rate but it appears that it was not successful in your case. 

50Give the mixture of mental health and psychological difficulties that you have, together with your very long-standing drug use, it is perhaps not surprising that even this most intensive form of rehabilitative drug treatment was not successful for you

51I do note and I do accept that you entered a plea in relation to this matter at an early stage, that is at the committal mention hearing.  And I also note that you have expressed what I regard as genuine remorse for your offending.  I repeat what you said to Ms Lechner, that was "I feel sorry for her for going through that shit.  I mention her in my prayers - what a low bastard - she probably can't sleep because remembering it every night - if I had been fully with it, I would have turned around.  Holding up a woman is weak." 

52I have suggested to you that you write a letter of apology to Mrs Goodchild.  If she wants to receive it, it should be sent via the informant in this matter.  And I note that when I said that to you, you informed me you were going to ask if it was appropriate you doing that.

53I do think that you want to have - it does seem to me - a stable and happy life.  And I think you are acutely aware of the damage that you do, and that this is not a situation that you want to continue with.  It just seems as if it is almost impossible for you to get on top of your psychological problems, your trauma, your psychiatric problems and your drug habit.

54However, it is important that you are not so entirely hardened that you are not unable to appreciate the damage that you have done, that you are a person who has goodness and kindness somewhere inside him and that is the sort of person that you want to be.  Am I right?  And that you do not want to be living the way that you are. 

55Gaol is the only appropriate disposition. Your counsel conceded that I deal with you by way of a term of imprisonment to be immediately served.  But that can be something that, funnily enough, can be put to good use by you. 

56You are not going to have to worry about where you next meal is coming from, whether you are going to be able to pay the bills.  I am not saying that a gaol sentence is anything other than traumatic and difficult.  But you have informed me that already you have managed to get work in the kitchen. 

57If you keep your head down, if you work, if you are able to stay off drugs in gaol, and you have been able to do that so far, and to reconnect with the Salvation Army, this could be a very structured, stabilising time for you despite the emotional trauma that does accompany a term of imprisonment. 

58It certainly seems to me that you are a person with remorse and insight and that ultimately, you want to have the sort of life where you are happy, where you are not ashamed of yourself as you clearly were during this hearing.  That is perfectly open to you, Mr Green.  Are you hearing me?

59OFFENDER:  Yes.

60HER HONOUR:  You can do this.  And I might be just this time in gaol actually gives you that bit of stability you need.

61In any event, it is quite clear that this is serious offending, that it is prevalent offending in the community, that you picked on a soft target. 

62People who are serving in petrol stations, milk bars and small businesses, are most commonly the victims of armed robbery and in fact are those victims the court has a particular duty to, by sending out a message that such offending will not be countenanced or tolerated and these people - perfectly good, hardworking people - are deserving of protection from the law. 

63I therefore sentence you as follows.  Could you stand up, please sir?

64In sentencing, I take into account your early plea of guilty and your genuine remorse.  I propose sentencing on an aggregate basis as both offences essentially arose out of the same set of circumstances. 

65I therefore sentence you to a term of four years' imprisonment.  I order that you serve a minimum term of two years before becoming eligible for parole.  I declare that you have served 156 days of this sentence by way of pre-sentence detention. 

66Pursuant to s.6AAA, I declare that had you not pleaded guilty, I would have sentenced you to a term of imprisonment of five years and ordered that you serve a minimum term of three years.  Thank you.  Let us see, is there anything else that I need to do?  Are there any disposal orders or anything like that?

67MR BOURKE:  There is a ‑ ‑ ‑ 

68HER HONOUR:  You can have a seat, Mr Green.

69MR BOURKE:  There is a disposal order that we have agreed on and some amendments too, so if I could ‑ ‑ ‑ 

70HER HONOUR:  Just forward it to me later.  That will be fine, Mr Bourke.

71MR BOURKE:  Thank you, Your Honour.  And there is a compensation order in the sum of $750.

72HER HONOUR:  Yes.

73MR BOURKE:  Which is the $880 minus the $130 recovered by the police.

74HER HONOUR:  Sure.  All right.  I will sign that now.  Thank you again,
Ms McCrickard, as ever.  All materials (indistinct) that the plea did not have to be too long.

75MS MCCRICKARD:  Thank you, Your Honour.

76HER HONOUR:  Thank you.  Just hand that back.  We will stand down to 2.15  Thank you very much.

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