Director of Public Prosecutions v Hall

[2015] VCC 1387

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

AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

CR 15-00223

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

LAURENCE ZACHARY HALL

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JUDGE:	HIS HONOUR JUDGE M.P. BOURKE
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:	6 October 2015
DATE OF SENTENCE:	6 October 2015
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v HALL
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2015] VCC 1387

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 D. Plummer	Office of Public Prosecutions
For the Accused	Mr P. Allen

HIS HONOUR: 

1Laurence Zachary Hall, you are to be sentenced for three charges of theft and six charges of armed robbery.  The maximum sentences are ten years' imprisonment for theft and 25 years' imprisonment for armed robbery.  You will also be sentenced for the following summary offences.  Two charges of driving whilst disqualified, one charge of failing to render assistance after an accident, and one charge of dangerous driving.  The relevant maximum penalties are two years' imprisonment for both driving whilst disqualified and dangerous driving and eight months' imprisonment for failing to render assistance.

2When interviewed by police on 1 October 2014, you made full admissions.  On 12 February 2015, your committal went by hand-up brief after which you entered pleas of guilty.  The matter was listed for plea hearing before me on 16 April and you pleaded guilty to these offences.  I find that your admissions to police in October 2014 were of high importance to the Crown case against you.  I find a high level of assistance.  You receive the benefit of your pleas of guilty and that cooperation both from an early stage.

3At your plea hearing, which ran on 16 April, 16 June and 28 September,
Ms Hollingworth,  who appeared for the Crown on 16 April, tendered a written Crown opening, a folder which included CCTV still images of the robberies, photographs of victims' injuries and of relevant weapons, and the victim impact statements of Jennifer Bennett and Nitin Naygar.  I should add here that the first two days of the hearing comprised of the joint pleas of you and your co-offender Onofrio Taranto.  The same Crown opening described the involvement of both.  You and Taranto were joined on the same indictment. 

4Mr Allen for you tendered medical summaries and other documents related to your treatment at St Vincent's Hospital for head and other injuries in October 2013; the neuropsychological reports of Dr Sheryl Monteath dated 28 April 2014 and 9 June 2015; the psychological report of Elizabeth Warren dated 11 November 2011; the contravention of Community Corrections Order report by Martin Williams of Community Correctional Services dated 25 August 2014; the psychiatric report of Dr Adam Deacon of Forensicare dated 4 June 2015; the letter of general practitioner Dr Victor Kuay dated 12 November 2013; and the letter of your grandmother, Agata Luckfiel, dated 7 April 2015.  On 28 September he tendered a report of Ear, Nose and Throat surgeon Michael Tykocinski, dated 17 December 2013.  Both counsel and also Mr Plummer,  who appeared for the Crown on 16 June and 28 September, provided and/or referred me to written submissions on sentence. 

5The circumstances of your offending are comprehensively stated in the tendered Crown opening which is Exhibit A.  In short, there were six armed robberies, largely committed in the south of Melbourne and beyond in the period of 3 to 31 August 2014.  You were involved in all six and your co-offender, Onofrio Taranto, in four of them. 

6The circumstances of each and your respective roles were similar.  Bearing in mind this and the need to consider the principle of parity, it is appropriate to repeat what I have stated in the sentence of Taranto on 28 April 2015.  I address him in the second person.

"Between 3 and 17 August 2014 you committed four armed robberies in the company of others.  An identified accomplice in all four is Lawrence Hall.  He has pleaded guilty to these and other offences and awaits further plea and sentence before me.  On three of the four, Charges 3, 4 and 5, there was also a third offender.  On each occasion Hall drove a silver Commodore with stolen plates.  Hall had stolen the car on 21 July and the plates on 1 August.  You are not charged with those thefts.

At the time of the offending you were aged 25 and Hall 21 years.  Your role in the circumstances of each robbery were similar.  Targets were service stations and a 7-Eleven store, mainly in the outer southern areas of Melbourne.  One was as far away as Hastings.  Times were at evening to night, the latest being at about 10.40 pm.  On each occasion you and other offenders were disguised by balaclavas and on at least one occasion were seen to be wearing gloves.  There were weapons, usually a knife or knives, and, on one occasion, what is described as a sharpened metal rod.  The attendants, on most if not all occasions at the time alone in the store, were threatened and menaced with a weapon or weapons.  All were no doubt very frightened.

Roles, as much as can be certainly shown, may have to some extent interchanged.  For example, Hall was the driver and did not enter on Charge 3.  You entered the store on each occasion.  The main items stolen were cash and cigarettes.  Food was also stolen.  On Charge 5 the attendant's mobile phone and wallet were taken.  The Crown summary states that on Charge 8 credit cards of the attendant were taken although this is not reflected in the indictment.  Amounts of cash stolen seem to range from approximately $300 to $800.

There was a level of planning to these offences,  explained possibly by the stolen registration plates and certainly by possession of disguises and weapons.  I was told and it has not been challenged that selection of target premises was more last minute, informed by such matters as fewer numbers of people seen to be in the premises.

As I have said, the circumstances of and your role in the four armed robberies were very similar.  I intend imposing the same sentence on each."

7Clearly, I was directing that last comment to Taranto on his four offences; but I am taking the same approach in your case.

8The two armed robberies committed without Taranto involve you and the unidentified male.  Charge 7 was committed on 13 August 2014 at the United Service Station in Crib Point and Charge 9 on 31 August at a bottle shop in Ringwood.  On Charge 7, a knife was pointed at and near the attendant's neck.  On Charge 9, the attendant was cut in the hand.  I do not find that you were the offender who did that.

9The charges of theft against you relate to the stolen car and two sets of registration plates.  The summary offences relate, first, to your status of disqualification when driving the car to two of the robberies.  The offences of dangerous driving and failing to render assistance relate to the armed robbery at Ringwood, Charge 9.  You drove at speed from the scene.  The attendant, a man named Dachun Yu, had used a metal pole to break windows in the car.  I quote as follows from the relevant parts of the Crown opening.

"The Commodore had sped from the scene and collided, T-Boned, with the silver Hyundai that was driving on Station Street, Ringwood.  Jennifer Bennett was the 72-year old driver of this car and has momentarily blacked out.  The crash caused her airbags to be deployed and both cars spun around as a result of the impact ...  Bennett has regained consciousness and struggled to breathe due to horrific chest pain.  She thought she was having a heart attack.  She saw two males jump from the other car and run away ... Bennett was conveyed to hospital by ambulance and kept under observation for approximately eight hours.”

10In her victim impact statement Jennifer Bennett describes her experience of the collision and its aftermath for her.  This has included treatment at hospital, where as she recollects there was a diagnosis or diagnoses of cracked ribs and sternum and bruising to her hip and upper body. She suffered severe pain and was assisted by her daughter, who came from Sydney to care for her, and took painkilling medication for a number of weeks.  She has great regret that her recovery precluded time with her mother, who was in the last weeks of her life.  There was emotional impact, including flashbacks to the accident.  I am not complete.

11Nitin Naygar was the victim of the armed robbery at Charge 4.  He speaks in his victim impact statement of replacing a friend for the shift of the robbery and of the fear he felt which has re-emerged when thinking of the day.  He states fear of further involvement in the proceedings." 

12Again, I am not complete.  The victim impact of your offending must be taken into account in my sentence of you.

13You are now a 22-year man placed in remand custody awaiting this sentence.  You have been in custody since your arrest on 1 October 2014, now a period of over one year.  You have suffered a fragmented and deprived childhood, one which I have little doubt has been highly damaging to you.  You were born in New Zealand.  Your parents were drug users.  Their relationship was dysfunctional and physically abusive. Your father left when you were about 18 months.  You have had no relationship with him.  You have two sisters, a brother and a half-brother and are the fourth child.  The children were neglected and seem to have become dispersed.  You were raised by your grandparents, mainly your grandmother who has been the main support of your life.

14At 12 you retuned to your mother; however, she continued to abuse drugs.  You were introduced to drugs by her and began using regularly in teenage.  A drug dependence has developed and continued into adulthood.  You have also abused alcohol.  You were heavily using ice and amphetamine in the period of this offending.

15You left school at 13 and describe yourself as illiterate.  At that age you fathered a child.  You did your best to contribute to support of your partner and the child.  You worked in concreting and landscaping.  Tragically, your son was killed at three in a motor vehicle collision.  His mother suffered brain injuries and has required permanent care since.  At 16 or 17 you came to Australia to again live with your grandmother.  For some time things improved and you began an apprenticeship as a diesel mechanic. Your poor literacy made the TAFE component difficult.  At 18 you lapsed into negative peer association, drug use and offending.

16The medical evidence before me states treatment for ADHD in childhood, symptoms of PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder related to the various traumas of your childhood and conditions of anxiety and depression into early adulthood.  Mr Allen has pointed to diagnoses of substance dependence, major depressive disorder and generalised anxiety.  In remand, depression worsened and you have required treatment by medication. 

17Given the circumstances of your early life it is not surprising that your criminal history began young.  Your criminal record filed with the indictment states a large number of court appearances, beginning in New Zealand at 16.  Offences of dishonesty predominate.  There are a number of driving offences, including prior matters of driving whilst disqualified and dangerous driving.  There are some but relatively not many offences of violence.

18Most recently, in May 2014, you received a Community Corrections Order for a range of driving and dishonesty offences.  This offending before me breaches that.  There are also proceedings for breach on grounds of non-compliance. 

19In October 2013 you suffered serious injury, including to your head, lung and hand.  Most significantly, there was a fracture to the skull and closed head or brain injury.  The medical evidence relevant to your brain injury states effects to cognitive functions including attention, memory, problem solving and reasoning skills and also features of executive dysfunction such as impulsivity and disinhibition.  I am not complete. 

20Related to this offending, Dr Monteath, a neuropsychologist, states:

"The acquired brain injury is clearly not the sole contributor to Mr Hall's recent offending, particularly as methamphetamine usage had been rampant in the period proceeding.  Mr Hall does, however, have impaired executive functioning as a result of the acquired brain injury, which makes it more difficult for him to reason, think about his actions, and consider potential consequences.  He is also more vulnerable to influences in his immediate environment than people who do not have an acquired brain injury.  As such, it is possible that the acquired brain injury, in addition to numerous other factors, contributed to Mr Hall's offending behaviour, albeit to a smaller extent."

21Dr Deacon, a psychiatrist,  states:

"It is extremely difficult to clearly identify the nexus between Mr Hall's acquired brain injury and mental problems and the offences.  It would appear that the most prominent factor that contributed to the offending was the extraneous use of methamphetamine ... Mr Hall clearly has a level of cognitive impairment but the relevant contribution of this component of his functioning to the offending behaviour would appear to be extremely limited.  Mr Hall's cognitive problems and associated mental difficulties can be considered risk factors for his use of methamphetamine.  His methamphetamine dependency was the main factor that contributed to the offences, rather than primarily being driven by the cognitive impairment itself.  Whilst Mr Hall has a range of cognitive problems, they do not appear to be so severe to reduce his capacity to less than an average individual in understanding the nature of his conduct and the wrongfulness of this conduct."

22The medical evidence uniformly states likely greater difficulty in prison because of your acquired brain injury and mental health conditions. 

23This was self-evidently serious offending. It occurred intensively over an approximate four-week period but was also repetitive.  Victims were menaced and frightened.  One victim suffered what seems a minor injury.  All victims of the armed robberies were isolated targets.  Despite the effect of drugs, there was a degree of planning.  That you were drug-dependent and affected does not mitigate the criminality of the offending and its circumstances.

24In such offending  the sentencing purposes of deterrence, denunciation, your moral culpability and the need for a proportionate punishment are all relevant and important.  Clearly, and as conceded,  there must be a sentence of imprisonment. 

25There are moderating factors in your case.  They include the following.

26Your pleas of guilty and cooperation.  This is of considerable importance.  As raised in the plea hearing, your admissions to police, which were very full, should be seen as a significant, really a main part of the Crown case against you.

27I also take into account as important your personal history and circumstances.  Your childhood was traumatic and has damaged you.  Whilst your drug use does not stand as mitigation in the direct sense, it would not be just or realistic in my view to ignore the effect of your early life experiences which introduced you to drugs and at least left you vulnerable to early life offending.  You have not been well equipped, for example, by education and other support to rehabilitate or recover from that.

28Consideration of this includes your psychological conditions and your later acquired brain injury.  The Verdins principles have, as evidence earlier stated shows, very limited connection to the offending before me but have relevance to the burden of imprisonment for you.

29You are young and I should consider rehabilitation as still relevant despite your criminal history.  In saying this, I do not ignore the difficulties such rehabilitation will encounter.  High optimism would be naive; however, it remains in the community's interest that you be assisted toward it.

30It was submitted by Mr Allen that I should impose a sentence combining imprisonment and a Community Corrections Order.  He relied upon the principles stated in the now well-known case of Boulton.  I was referred to s.44 of the Sentencing Act which in effect permits a sentence of up to two years, together with such a Community Corrections Order.  In this case, your total period of effective custody would be about three years. I should add that there was discussion prior to my formal sentence about such matters this morning and a deal of discussion and submission during the plea hearings.

31There is also the question of parity, or at least some just comparison with the sentence imposed upon your co-offender, Onofrio Taranto. He received an effective sentence, a total period in custody, of two years and 70 days together with a Community Corrections Order of four years' duration with cumulative and rehabilitative conditions including community work and a six-month curfew. As is almost always the case, there are differences and similarities between you and Taranto. Factors speak in both directions as to the question of parity between you. You are younger, but with a greater criminal history. You have suffered the burden of childhood deprivation and disadvantage. He is supported by a caring family and therefore has identifiably better prospects for rehabilitation. He committed the offences whilst on bail, which included the need to consider s.16(3C) of the Sentencing Act.  You have breached a Community Corrections Order.  He committed a lesser number of armed robberies.  Further, you must be sentenced for the offence of dangerous driving which caused the victim impact I have earlier described.

32Accordingly, strict parity is not the question.  However, in my view a just sentence of you requires some consideration of Taranto's sentence.  Ultimately I have decided to impose a sentence of similar structure to that of Taranto.  It is for a combination of reasons that I have decided that.  I have attempted to identify those.  Consideration of Taranto's sentence is only part of the relevant picture.

33Your sentence will effectively entail almost three years of custody as punishment for this offending, but together with a Community Corrections Order with appropriate punitive and rehabilitative features. On my understanding of Boulton and related authority, it is the totality of that punishment that must be considered.  I have decided in your case that that totality is a substantial one.  I see it as sufficient to meet the relevant sentencing purposes.  I also bear in mind the provisions of the Sentencing Act stated in ss.5(3), (4) and (4)(c).

34I have considered the report of Community Corrections officer Chris Groh which does not find you suitable for such an order.  He refers understandably to your failure to comply with a number of earlier orders between 2011 and 2014.  I have not ignored his recommendation and it has been part of my consideration.  In deciding to impose this sentence I have attempted to take into account all of the matters I see to be relevant.  This has included particularly related to your breach of the May 2014 Community Corrections Order that it post-dates your acquired brain injury suffered in October 2013.  It is clear from the tendered Community Corrections breach report of August 2014 that your brain injury was considered both in imposing that May order and in the conditions and assistance proposed for you.  You failed to take advantage of that.  However, I also bear in mind what has been put on this by Mr Allen.  Your life in early to mid-2014 was chaotic.  You were often homeless.  I see it as likely that your untreated brain injury, whilst not the complete explanation, played a role in this. 

35The principle of totality plays some role as to the appropriate individual sentences and orders for concurrency or cumulation.  In structuring a sentence of imprisonment  in accordance with this, I have also borne in mind the period of about 12 months you have spent in remand custody which will not be declared as deducted.  For example, in comparing the individual sentences and cumulation directed on Taranto's sentence, I have seen it as relevant that you have served as part of your total punishment now imposed nine to ten months longer in custody.  I have aimed at a total sentence which is just and appropriate.

36Having considered what I see to be the relevant matters, both favourable and unfavourable to you, I sentence you as follows.  On Charge 1, theft of a motor vehicle, four months' imprisonment.  On Charges 2 and 6, theft of registration plates, two months' imprisonment.  On Charges 3, 4, 5, 7, 8 and 9, armed robberies, 12 months' imprisonment.  As to the summary offences, on driving whilst disqualified, you are sentenced to three months' imprisonment.  On failing to render assistance, two months' imprisonment.  On dangerous driving, six months' imprisonment.

37I direct that two months of the sentences on Charges 4, 5, 7, 8 and 9, the other armed robberies, and one month of the sentence for dangerous driving be served cumulatively on Charge 3 and upon each other.

38I always get people to check my arithmetic.  I make that to be a total effective sentence of 23 months. 

39I also convict you and impose on all offences a Community Corrections Order of four years' duration.  The usual conditions apply.  There are additional conditions.  That you perform community work of 600 hours over that four years.  That there be assessment and treatment for drug abuse or dependency.  That there be mental health assessment and treatment as directed.  That you partake in any program directed that addresses factors related to your offending.  That there be supervision.  That there be a curfew for the first six months after release, that is, that you will have to remain at your then residence between 10 pm and 5 am.  That there be judicial monitoring.

40I will deal with the s.6AAA, Mr Plummer, but are there other matters such as disposal orders and/or the like?

41MR PLUMMER:  Yes, Your Honour.

42HIS HONOUR:  What are they?  Do you have the documents there?

43MR PLUMMER:  Yes, I have a draft disposal order, Your Honour.

44HIS HONOUR:  Yes, I will make that.  That is not opposed, I take it.  What is it, various things found the car?

45MR PLUMMER:  Yes.

46MR ALLEN:  It is not opposed, Your Honour.

47HIS HONOUR:  He disguises them.  Yes. 

48MR PLUMMER:  Yes, clothing, gloves, shoes, items of that nature, Your Honour.

49HIS HONOUR:  Yes.  I will sign that order.  I have signed the disposal order.  What else is there?

50MR PLUMMER:  An order on the licence, Your Honour.

51HIS HONOUR:  Yes.  Now it's - - -

52MR PLUMMER:  The charge of driving in a manner - - -

53HIS HONOUR:  I have got to impose the six months on one or other - as a minimum on one of them, don't I?

54MR PLUMMER:  Drive in a manner dangerous, a minimum of six months' disqualification and/or cancellation.  Theft of a motor vehicle, there's no  minimum.

55HIS HONOUR:  Has he ever had a licence, Mr Allen?  I suspect not.  You have?  He is nodding he has, yes.

56MR ALLEN:  Your Honour, what I can tell you, his licence is currently cancelled and disqualified until 15 May 2016.

57HIS HONOUR:  That's next year.

58MR ALLEN:  He was disqualified for two years in May 2014.

59HIS HONOUR:  I haven't ignored the seriousness of this and these driving offences, and one feels great sympathy for the lady who was driving.  He has got a lot of driving offences, but I also reflect on this.  He has been given now probably his last chance of rehabilitation and it will be very hard for him, that is as many hours as you can give under the legislation, it is one of long duration.  Many people would feel great pessimism about his chances, but I have not discounted them.  That is why I have made the order.  I think the punishment in totality is substantial and I don't see why he can't be able to try and get a licence when he gets out of gaol so he can get himself a job.  Now I know there are balances here.

60MR ALLEN:  In any event, Your Honour, I think my learned- - -

61HIS HONOUR:  It would mean I could take his licence off him for 18 months from now. 

62MR PLUMMER:  Can I just confer with my - - -

63HIS HONOUR:  Yes, I'll come back to that.  Sorry, you were going to say - - -

64MR PLUMMER:  Your Honour, my learned friend referred to two year cancellation and disqualification imposed on 15 May 2014.  That was for drive in a manner dangerous.

65HIS HONOUR:  That's right. 

66MR PLUMMER:  But he was also dealt with for refuse a preliminary breath test.

67HIS HONOUR:  I know.  Look, if you were just dealing with him for his driving case, on his driving records, you'd probably take it off him for four years, but we're dealing with other matters here.

68MR PLUMMER:  Your Honour, it was.  It was cancelled and disqualified for four years on a refuse breath test on 15 May 2014, so whatever order - - -

69HIS HONOUR:  So he's got until 2018.

70MR PLUMMER:  Yes, whatever order Your Honour makes.

71HIS HONOUR:  I will take it off him for two years.  I also think it makes a bit of a difference when somebody's going to gaol and you have some expectation of reform when they get out, but that's what you're supposed to think.  So that's what I'll do.  Just give me a moment.

72What about s.464ZF?

73MR PLUMMER:  There was a sample obtained.  It would be automatically placed on the database, Your Honour.

74HIS HONOUR:  All right.  Under s.6AAA, if you had not pleaded guilty, I would have imposed a sentence of eight years with a minimum of five and a half years.  So the arithmetic is pretty obvious.  All right.

75The system requires an address for the curfew, which does not reflect the purpose and aim of it, but we are beholden to electronic systems.  I mean I should imagine that he will be approached and spoken to by Corrections as the time approaches and the address will be notified and confirmed then, but it won't print out without an address; is that right?  All right.  It is very silly.  I am presuming that your client will live with his grandmother when if he behaves himself when he lives with her.

76MR ALLEN:  Yes.

77HIS HONOUR:  Do you mind giving that address for that purpose?  All right.  Could you give it to Mr Allen?

78MR ALLEN:  May I approach? 

79HIS HONOUR:  I have got him a date for the judicial monitoring too.  Where's the - - -

80MR ALLEN:  Four Taylors Court, Dandenong North.

81HIS HONOUR:  All right, 4 Taylors Court, Dandenong.

82MR ALLEN:  It's T-a-y-l-o-r-s.

83HIS HONOUR:  What is his expected date for release, because I've got to give - for similar reasons, before all of this works, I've got to give a date for the usual monitoring?

84MR ALLEN:  It would be about 1 September 2016.

85HIS HONOUR:  September?

86MR ALLEN:  5 September, Your Honour.

87HIS HONOUR:  I will make the usual monitoring early December of 2017, whatever date is an appropriate date.  Make it a Tuesday.

88ASSOCIATE:  Sixth of December.

89HIS HONOUR:  Sorry?

90ASSOCIATE:  Sixth of December.

91HIS HONOUR:  Yes, is that a Tuesday?

92ASSOCIATE:  Yes. 

93HIS HONOUR:  The system will work now we've done all of that. 

94MR PLUMMER:  Sorry, Your Honour, we're just clarifying the release date.

95HIS HONOUR:  All right.  So we will print that out and then we will take it down, and if you consent to this order, you need to sign it, all right?  So we will just do that in a moment.

96Stand up.  I am going to read you the order. 

97Upon your release from prison you will be on a Community Corrections Order.  It will last for four years.  It means, first of all, you will have to attend at the Dandenong Correctional Services.  It has got an address here.  But they will speak to you before your release.

98The usual terms are you do not commit another offence for which you could be imprisoned in that time.  You must comply with something called Regulation 17 of the Sentencing Regulations.  That is, as I understand it, that you do not attend any appointment, program or the like affected by alcohol or drugs or with illegal drugs.  You must report to and receive visits from Community Corrections.  You must report to - I have told you that.  I do not know whether I did.  You have got to report to Dandenong Community Corrections within two working days of leaving prison.  You must not leave Victoria without getting permission to do so from them - Community Corrections that is.  You must obey all lawful instructions and directions of Community Corrections.

99The extra additional conditions are 600 hours of unpaid work over the four years.  You be under supervision of a Community Corrections officer.  You undergo assessment and treatment for drug abuse or dependency.  You undergo mental health assessment and treatment as directed.  You participate in programs related to your offending as directed.  There is a curfew for six months.  You have got to remain at your residence between 10 pm and 5 am. 

100Now do you understand all of that?

101OFFENDER:  Yes, Your Honour.

102HIS HONOUR:  Do you agree to it?

103OFFENDER:  Yes, Your Honour.

104HIS HONOUR:  All right.  I will get you to sign it and then I will sign it.

105(Community Corrections Order signed and acknowledged.)

106Thank you.  That is going to be pretty hard.  It is going to be very hard, but the alternative for you is a sentence of imprisonment, years inside before you get out, parole without much support there, and return to prison, and all of a sudden you will be 45 years of age and you will have spent the last 20 years mostly in gaol and it will be all over for you.  So you had better make this work even though it is hard, otherwise you will ruin your life.  He we are.  Anything else to do, Mr Plummer?

107MR PLUMMER:  No, Your Honour.

108HIS HONOUR:  Thank you.  He can be taken into custody now.  Thank you, Mr Allen.  Thank you, Mr Plummer.  It has been a long and happy journey.

109COUNSEL:  Thank you, Your Honour.

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