Director of Public Prosecutions v Hooks (a pseudonym)
[2025] VCC 1499
•14 October 2025
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA AT MELBOURNE CRIMINAL JURISDICTION | Revised Not Restricted Suitable for Publication |
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| v |
| JACKSON HOOKS (A PSEUDONYM) |
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JUDGE: | HIS HONOUR JUDGE D SEXTON |
WHERE HELD: | Melbourne |
DATE OF HEARING: | 26 June 2025; 22 September 2025 |
DATE OF SENTENCE: | 14 October 2025 |
CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | DPP v Hooks (a pseudonym) |
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2025] VCC 1499 |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject: CRIMINAL LAW
Catchwords: Armed robbery
Legislation Cited: Crimes Act1958 (Vic); Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic)
Cases Cited:R v Doran [2005] VSCA 271; R v Verdins (2007) 16 VR 269
Sentence:Drug and Alcohol Treatment Order, with a custodial part of 30 months’ imprisonment
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APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the Director of Public Prosecutions | Ms G. Hogg | Office of Public Prosecutions |
For the Accused | Ms N. Low | Victoria Legal Aid |
HIS HONOUR:
Introduction
1Jackson Hooks,[1] at a Determination Hearing before me on 22 September 2025, you pleaded guilty to a single charge of armed robbery, which carries a maximum penalty of 25 years’ imprisonment.[2]
[1] A pseudonym.
[2] Crimes Act1958 (Vic) s75A.
2You also admitted your criminal record.
Circumstances of offending
3The circumstances of your offending were set out in the Summary of Prosecution Opening for Plea dated 15 April 2025, Exhibit 1 at your Determination Hearing. Your offending can now be briefly summarised.
4At 6.10 pm on 27 July 2024, you entered the Coles supermarket at 150 Swan Street in Cremorne. Inside you selected a can of energy drink and approached a checkout register, at which the first of your victims, 'PD', was working.
5She scanned your item and asked for payment. You then withdrew a knife that you had been concealing in a sheath. You pointed the knife at PD and directed her to 'give [you] the money from the till'.
6Because PD had already commenced the sale on the system, she was unable to cancel the transaction and open the till herself. Requiring assistance, she called over her colleague and supervisor, 'LN', who was your second victim.
7LN attended and cancelled the transaction. She was not aware at first what was happening until she heard you make further demands for money and saw that you were holding the knife.
8You told both women to give you money or you would hurt them. Your victims feared that you would assault them.
9LN opened the till and began to hand over five and $10 notes. You demanded notes in a higher denomination, so she gave you multiple $20 notes.
10You then left the supermarket having seized around $250 total in cash.
11Your victims immediately notified their manager who contacted police. The entire incident was captured on CCTV, and this footage was provided to police by store management.
12You later told police that on the same night you gambled away the stolen money on poker machines at a venue in Box Hill.
13The following day, 28 July 2024, you attended St Vincent’s Hospital on Victoria Parade, Fitzroy, and asked to speak to police about an armed robbery that you had committed the previous evening.
14Hospital staff contacted police who subsequently attended St Vincent’s and spoke with you under caution. You were fully co-operative.
15You were placed under arrest and taken to Richmond Police Station where you gave a detailed and candid interview and made full admissions to your offending.
16You were remanded into custody that day where you remained until being granted bail at an eligibility hearing before me on 26 June 2025. You have 334 days of applicable pre-sentence detention.
Nature and gravity of your offending
17As reflected in the statutory maximum penalty for this offence, 25 years’ imprisonment, the crime of armed robbery is inherently serious. Within the broad spectrum of armed robbery offences, an assessment with regard to the gravity of your particular offending is informed by the degree of risk of harm being caused and the extent of the potential harm. In your case the offensive weapon carried by you was a knife, a bladed implement which is capable of causing significant injury to others. Your conduct was not passive; you produced a knife and pointed it towards your victims. This is in and of itself a threatening act. In your particular case, however, your threat was made explicit when you said 'give me the money or I will hurt you' while holding the knife. The location of your armed robbery also accentuates the seriousness of your offending. You offended at a supermarket against two employees at the checkout area who were simply going about their job. Their employment required them to be where they were, and no doubt they were not equipped to deal with your inherently violent and illegal behaviour. In that sense they were soft targets and the prevalence of such offences in these circumstances accentuates the need for any sentence to reflect the important sentencing purposes of denunciation and general deterrence. Whilst neither of your victims made victim impact statements, it can be reasonably inferred that your conduct caused them to be scared and in fear of being assaulted. However, I accept that in all the circumstances your offending was fairly rudimentary and unsophisticated. You were on your own, you made no attempt to disguise yourself or evade detection. The amount of money taken was fairly modest. The incident appears to have been fairly short lived before you removed yourself from the location. In all the circumstances, I agree with the prosecution that your offending represents a low-level example of the crime of armed robbery.
Personal circumstances
18In gaining an understanding with regard to your personal circumstances and history, I have had regard to the various Drug and Alcohol Treatment Court assessment reports provided in this case, together with the psychological report of Jeffrey Cummins dated 20 April 2025, Exhibit C; the psychiatric report of Dr Donal Hanratty dated 6 August 2025, Exhibit B; and your Counsel’s Defence Submissions dated 8 September 2025, Exhibit A.
19You are now 47 years of age.
20You were born in March 1978 in Invercargill, New Zealand.
21You are the second of four sons and you report being particularly close to your older brother.[3] Your father was a manual labourer, working as a truck driver and in a meat factory. Your mother cared for you and your siblings when you were children and later returned to the workforce as a nurse.[4]
[3] Exhibit 4, pp. 4–5.
[4] Exhibit C, p. 3 at [9].
22Your parents separated when you were around five or six years old and you were raised by your mother, who has attended all of your previous hearings before me. Up until your teenage years you had only occasional contact with your father who migrated to Australia while you remained in New Zealand with your mother and brothers. You remain upset about your parents’ separation and your estranged paternal relationship.[5]
[5] Ibid, p. 7 at [43].
23You report that your mother had several subsequent partners, including one who was your de facto stepfather. You report that starting around the age of six and continuing until you were a teenager, this man would 'slap' you.[6] You also report that your father hit you when you were a child,[7] presumably prior to your parents’ separation.
[6] Exhibit C, p. 3 at [11]; see also Exhibit B, p. 10 at [88], though I note that in Exhibit B, you say the physical abuse commenced around the age of 10, a timeline that aligns more-closely with when you began displaying antisocial behaviours.
[7] Exhibit B, p. 10 at [87].
24You remarked to psychologist Jeffrey Cummins that you do not regard yourself as being 'a particularly traumatised person',[8] and that you do not consider your biological father to have been violent.[9] However, your disclosure of sustained physical abuse when young offers considerable context to the problematic turn that your behaviour took around the age of ten when you began committing petty thefts and, occasionally, getting into fights at school.[10]
[8] Ibid, p. 7 at [43].
[9] Exhibit C, p. 3 at [8].
[10] Ibid, p. 10 at [88]–[90].
25As you moved into adolescence your mother felt unable to control your misbehaviour. At the age of 14 you moved to Australia to live with your father in Melbourne. Your relationship with your father remained strained, however, and at one point he left you in the care of one of his girlfriends, for about six months.[11]
[11] Ibid, p. 10 at [91].
26You attended high school in Wantirna and then Ferntree Gully. You struggled to fit in and were bullied, an early example of the social ostracisation that you would sadly experience throughout your life in other institutional settings such as prison. Indeed, you appear to be something of a 'soft target' yourself.
27Drug and Alcohol Treatment Court clinical advisor Nicky Luo referred to your 'genetic vulnerability to developing psychotic illness and substance use problems'.[12] You state that your father has a problem with alcohol and gambling and that your younger brothers have struggled with drug use.[13] Your mother and older brother also have a history of depression,[14] while your son, Ryan,[15] has spent time in a psychiatric unit and now lives in supported accommodation with NDIS supports.[16]
[12] Exhibit 5, p. 6.
[13] Exhibit C, p. 3 at [8].
[14] Exhibit B, p. 11 at [101].
[15] A pseudonym.
[16] Exhibit C, p. 4 at [17].
28Around the same time that you moved to Australia in your early teens you used cannabis for the first time, having been given it by your father.[17] You began smoking one to two bongs a day, a level of use that would continue into your twenties before intensifying and turning into a full polysubstance dependency. At 16 you began consuming alcohol,[18] and you also experimented with methamphetamine for the first time, though your use of what would become your biggest problem substance did not assume regularity until your twenties.[19]
[17] Exhibit B, p. 9 at [77].
[18] Exhibit 5, p. 3.
[19] Exhibit A, p. 2 at [13].
29It was during your teens that you also began to gamble, another expensive and self-destructive habit that would follow you into adulthood.[20]
[20] Exhibit B, p. 9 at [82].
30Unsurprisingly, given your burgeoning dependencies and lack of successful social integration, your mother remained concerned about your trajectory. When you were 15, she migrated to Australia to resume care of you.
31Nonetheless, when you were in Year 12 you suffered a mental breakdown and were admitted to an inpatient psychiatric unit for six weeks.[21] This was the first of more than 30 inpatient psychiatric admissions over the following 30 years.
[21] Exhibit A, p. 2 at [10].
32You did not return to complete your schooling. Instead, you took on work in various fields of manual labour, including in cabinet making and fruit picking. Your average length of employment was only six months with each job ending as a result of your substance use. However, you did hold down two jobs for a period of two years each: as a butcher and, in a role in which you displayed some skill, repairing computers.[22]
[22] Exhibit 4, p. 4; Exhibit 3, p. 5 at [22]–[23].
33You have not worked since around 2006 or 2007 when you went on a Disability Support Pension. However, you express a desire to eventually return to the labouring field.[23]
[23] Exhibit 4, p. 4.
34You have had a number of intimate relationships, your first between the ages of 15 and 19 was with a woman named Kate,[24] who during the course of your relationship fell pregnant but had a termination.[25] You appear haunted by this decades later and report experiencing auditory hallucinations in which you are castigated for your role in the decision to terminate the pregnancy.[26]
[24] A pseudonym.
[25] Exhibit B, p. 10 at [93].
[26] Ibid, p. 12 at [122].
35Your next relationship was with a woman named Nancy, from when you were 20 to 22. You had one child with Nancy, a daughter with whom you have no contact.[27]
[27] Ibid, p. 10 at [94].
36Your next relationship with a woman named Ashlee[28] lasted 12 years and produced two children: a son, Ryan aged 23, who has been present in these court proceedings previously, and a daughter, Claire now 16. Ryan and Claire are Aboriginal, owing to their mother’s heritage.[29] You report that they are your primary motivation for staying clean[30] and your continuing connection with them is a strong prosocial support.
[28] A pseudonym.
[29] Exhibit C, p. 4 at [17].
[30] Exhibit 5, p. 4 .
37Your relationship with Ashlee, though your longest, was a tumultuous one. It was marked by joint illicit substance use and several intervention orders to which you were the respondent.[31] Ashlee ended the relationship when you were on remand for the 2013 offending.[32]
[31] Exhibit B, p. 10 at [94].
[32] Exhibit C, p. 4 at [17].
38I have already referred briefly to the existence of your criminal history, the contents of which you have admitted. Since 1997 you have been dealt with in relation to a variety of offences, broadly of a dishonesty nature, as well as drug related offending and breaching court orders. Your most serious prior conviction, however, dates from 10 December 2013 when you received a total effective sentence of three years and eight months’ imprisonment with a non-parole period of two years and four months from Her Honour Judge Hannan, as she then was, at this Court for offending which took place on 7 April 2013. According to Her Honour’s reasons for sentence, you were dealt with for a number of incidents on that day, the most serious relating to your attempted armed robbery at a pharmacy in the Dandenong area where you walked behind the counter and demanded that a sales assistant open the till whilst you had produced a small knife. Clearly, there are concerning similarities to the offending now before me.
39You have repeatedly experienced homelessness throughout your adulthood.[33] However, following your release from prison in December 2016 you moved back in with your mother and enjoyed three years of abstinence. You reflect that you are best able to cease use and follow any court orders when residing with your mother.[34] Your mother was within the last few years diagnosed with blood cancer, no doubt a huge stressor.[35] Clearly, your family is a strong protective factor for your recovery, though you have reported having no contact with your father who you do not consider a positive support.[36]
[33] Exhibit 4, pp. 2–3.
[34] Ibid, p. 2.
[35] Exhibit B, p. 11 at [99].
[36] Exhibit 4, p. 4; Exhibit C, p. 3 at [13].
40You moved into independent living in 2020 but soon relapsed into cannabis and ice use. You continued to struggle with your symptoms of schizophrenia, and following a two-week inpatient admission at the Maroondah Hospital in August 2023, you received involuntary treatment in the community.[37] Your compliance with your treatment regime was inconsistent and it seems that your psychotic symptoms intensified in tandem with ongoing problematic drug use. Your predicament worsened when, sometime before the armed robbery, you moved from the relative stability of your mother’s house into shared boarding house accommodation, exposing you to other drug users. You reported to psychiatrist Dr Donal Hanratty that in the six months or so before the offending you were using intravenous methamphetamines three or four days per week at between one to five points. There was also some cannabis and alcohol use. You reported to Dr Hanratty a deterioration in your mental health in the months before the armed robbery offence with you hearing voices and experiencing frightening paranoia.
[37] Exhibit B, p. 2 at [7].
41You were remanded into custody following your arrest for the armed robbery and you spent almost one year in prison before being bailed by me at the Eligibility Hearing for this matter on 26 June 2025. Your experience of custody was outlined by Dr Hanratty at paragraphs [55] to [63] of his report. Suffice to say this was clearly not a pleasant experience for you as you continued to experience mental health symptoms in the context of inconsistent medication use and being in a state of fear for a significant period of this time. I bailed you on 26 June 2025 to reside at your mother’s address in Bayswater North and under the auspices of the Court Integrated Services Program or 'CISP'. It is clear from the reports provided by the CISP program that whilst you were initially reticent you have maximised these supports available to you, and you have shown a willingness to engage in difficult conversations. You appear willing, and provided you remain appropriately supported, able to make a sincere long-term positive change in your life. The CISP workers involved in your case have spoken very highly of your positive progress in the community. Case Manager Megan Kew, in particular, confirmed your weekly contact with her since June at the determination hearing before me on 22 September 2025. According to Ms Kew you are essentially ready for a Drug and Alcohol Treatment Order.
42The recently completed reports from the CISP program very much echo those sentiments. Both reports from Ms Kew and Ms Svenson confirm that you have remained very much engaged and motivated with regards to your recovery and the imminent commencement of your Drug and Alcohol Treatment Order.
43You have reported abstinence from all illicit substances and only sporadic alcohol use. You have been transparent with regards to some ongoing gambling behaviour. You have reported an ongoing improvement in your physical health, commensurate with an improved diet and exercise routine.
Matters relevant to the making of a Drug and alcohol treatment order
44I turn now to matters relevant to the making of a Drug and Alcohol Treatment Order.
45The purposes of a Drug and Alcohol Treatment Order are to facilitate your rehabilitation, to take account of your drug or alcohol dependency, to reduce the level of criminal activity associated with drug or alcohol dependency and to reduce your health risks associated with drug or alcohol dependency.[38]
[38]Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic) s18X(1).
46Importantly, if I am considering making a Drug and Alcohol Treatment Order, I must regard your rehabilitation and the protection of the community from you, achieved through your rehabilitation, as having greater importance than the other purposes set out in s5(1) of the Sentencing Act.[39] This is an important consideration. Having regard to this particular provision of the Act, I am required to give primacy to your rehabilitation and community protection through the lens of your rehabilitation over other sentencing purposes that would otherwise have significant application in this particular case, namely, general deterrence and denunciation.
[39] Ibid s18X(2).
47The criteria for the making of a Drug and Alcohol Treatment Order are set out in s18Z of the Sentencing Act.
48Firstly, I am satisfied on the balance of probabilities that you are dependent on drugs or alcohol,[40] noting that according to Clinical Advisor Nicky Luo in her assessment report dated 29 August 2025, you would have satisfied the diagnostic criteria for opioid use disorder, methamphetamine use disorder and cannabis use disorder at the time of the offending.[41] I note the drug dependency criteria was conceded by the Prosecution in this case.[42]
[40] Ibid s18Z(1)(c)(i).
[41] Exhibit 5, p. 7.
[42] Exhibit 2, at [32].
49I turn now to the contribution criteria. I may only make a Drug and Alcohol Treatment Order in your case if satisfied on the balance of probabilities that your dependency contributed to the commission of the offending.[43] The degree of contribution is not stipulated in the relevant legislative provision. Accordingly, in my view I must take a commonsense approach to this criteria to determine whether, on balance, I am satisfied that your substance use dependency played a role in the commission of your offending. In that regard, I note Dr Hanratty’s observation that:
'[Your] methamphetamine and cannabis use over many months had contributed to the deterioration in [your] mental state and worsening of [your] symptoms of schizophrenia.'[44]
I note the contribution criteria was conceded by the Prosecution in this case.[45] In all the circumstances, I am satisfied on the balance of probabilities that your substance dependency contributed to the commission of the offending, such that the contribution criteria is met.
[43] Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic) s18Z(1)(c)(ii).
[44] Exhibit B, p. 15 at [136], cited in Exhibit A, p. 10 at [64].
[45] Exhibit 2, at [33].
50In order to impose a Drug and Alcohol Treatment Order in your case, I must be satisfied that it would otherwise be appropriate to impose a sentence of imprisonment of no more than four years. In this case the Prosecution submitted that a sentence not exceeding four years’ imprisonment was open to the court owing to your early plea of guilty, your remorse and the application of the Verdins principles.[46]
[46] Ibid, at [34].
51Whilst the Prosecution have essentially conceded the four-year criteria in your case, ultimately of course this is a matter for me. In conducting my own assessment with regards to the four-year criteria, I have essentially engaged in an orthodox sentencing methodology, though having regard to the prioritisation of your rehabilitation and the protection of the community achieved through your rehabilitation, as required by s18X(2) of the Sentencing Act. I have already referred to the maximum penalty for the offence of armed robbery, the nature and gravity of your offending, and your previous character. As conceded by the Prosecution, I accept that your moral culpability for the offending is reduced because of your schizophrenia symptoms and the impact upon your offending pursuant to Verdins Limb 1. Whilst the situation is clouded somewhat due to your use of illicit substances at the time, having regard to the unchallenged opinions of Dr Hanratty,[47] you were clearly psychiatrically unwell at the time of the offending such that your moral culpability is reduced. I am also satisfied that as a result of your operative psychiatric condition at the time of your offending, the application of the sentencing purposes of general deterrence and specific deterrence must also be sensibly moderated pursuant to Verdins Limbs 3 and 4. Further, I am satisfied that your schizophrenia and associated symptomology would no doubt make the custodial experience particularly burdensome for you and may indeed result in a deterioration in your psychiatric condition, warranting further mitigatory allowances pursuant to Verdins Limbs 5 and 6. As accepted by the Prosecution you pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity in these proceedings, warranting a further mitigatory allowance. As accepted by the Prosecution your early plea reflects an acceptance of responsibility and a willingness to facilitate the course of justice. Furthermore, you voluntarily surrendered to police within 12 hours of your offending, and you made full and frank admissions in your police interview. I am satisfied in all these circumstances, in combination with comments made by you in the various assessment reports, that you are remorseful for your offending, warranting a further mitigatory allowance. Again, as accepted by the Prosecution, I accept that you handed yourself into police and made admissions in circumstances where, given the poor quality apparently of the CCTV footage, the authorities may not otherwise have been able to identify you as the offender in this case. This is a matter of some significance in my view, warranting a mitigatory allowance on sentencing.[48] Whilst your criminal history is certainly troubling, particularly the 2013 prior conviction, and the nature of the current offending now before me is serious, having regard to your positive progress with CISP on bail, the ongoing supports of your family including the provision of a stable address and your motivation with regard to the undertaking of a drug and alcohol treatment order, I do regard your prospects of rehabilitation as being relatively favourable, provided you wholeheartedly embrace the specialist interventions that will form the basis of the Drug and Alcohol Treatment Order that I am about to impose.
[47] Exhibit B, p. 15 at [139].
[48]R v Doran [2005] VSCA 271, at [15]–[16].
52In all the circumstances and having regard in particular to s18X(2), I am satisfied that it would otherwise be appropriate to impose a sentence of imprisonment of no more than four years in your case.
53Finally, I must not make a Drug and Alcohol Treatment Order unless I am satisfied in all the circumstances that it is appropriate to do so.[49] In relation to the issue of your suitability, the opinions of the Drug and Alcohol Treatment Court assessors are significant factors. I note in this case that you have been found suitable for a Drug and Alcohol Treatment Order by case manager Helena Souris in her report dated 1 September 2025, Exhibit 4, and that according to clinical advisor Nicky Luo in her report dated 29 August 2025, Exhibit 5, the treatment and supervision component of a Drug and Alcohol Treatment Order would be an appropriate intervention to address your severe substance use disorder. The Prosecution in this case brought to my attention the potential issues surrounding the fact that you are a New Zealand citizen and permanent resident in Australia, and whilst the imposition of a drug and alcohol treatment order would not trigger cancellation provisions pursuant to the Migration Act, the imposition of on-order sanctions or indeed cancellation of a Drug and Alcohol Treatment Order, may well do so. I make clear, however, that I regard this issue as speculative at this stage and that it does not represent an impediment to the making of a drug and alcohol treatment order.
[49]Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic) s18Z(3)(a).
54Ultimately, I have concluded that it would be appropriate to place you on a Drug and Alcohol Treatment Order.
55Mr Hooks, would you please stand.
Sentence to be imposed
56In relation to the charge of armed robbery, you are convicted and placed upon a Drug and Alcohol Treatment Order. This order commences today.
57A Drug and Alcohol Treatment Order has two parts: the treatment and supervision part and the custodial part. The treatment and supervision part itself has two parts which are as follows.
58The core conditions, which are that:
a) you must not commit, whether in or outside of Victoria, another offence punishable on conviction by imprisonment during the time the order is in force;
b) you must attend Drug Court when required by the court to do so;
c) you must report to the Melbourne Drug Court House within two clear working days after the order is imposed;
d) you must report to and accept visits from the members of the Drug Court;
e) you must undergo treatment for alcohol and drug dependency as specified in the order or by the Drug Court;
f) you must give notice of any change of address at least two clear working days before the change, to a specified Drug Court officer;
g) you are not to leave Victoria without the permission of the Drug Court; and
h) you are to obey all lawful instructions and directions from the Drug Court team.
59The core conditions will operate for two years and six months or until further order.
60The program conditions, which are that:
a)you must submit for drug and alcohol testing as directed;
b)submit to detoxification or other treatment specified in the order as directed;
c)attend vocational, educational and employment programs as directed;
d)submit to medical, psychiatric and psychological treatments as directed;
e)reside at an address in Bayswater North;
f)comply with a curfew that you remain at the address in Bayswater North between the hours of 9.00 pm and 6.00 am. This curfew is required until further order;
g)not use a drug of dependence without lawful authorisation;
h)abstain from alcohol;
i)comply with gambling treatments through EACH Boronia or their nominee;
j)comply with the individual treatment plan dated 14 October 2025 and signed by you today;
k)do, or not do, anything else that the Drug Court considers necessary or appropriate concerning your drug and alcohol dependency and the personal factors that the Drug Court considers contributed to your criminal behaviour.
61These program conditions will operate for two years or until further order.
62The second part of the Drug and Alcohol Treatment Order is the custodial part. The custodial part is the sentence of imprisonment that I would have imposed had I not sentenced you to a Drug and Alcohol Treatment Order. In your case the custodial part is two years and six months. This period is not to be served unless and until further order.
63I declare that you have served 334 days of presentence detention.
64Pursuant to s6AAA of the Sentencing Act, had you pleaded not guilty but been found guilty at trial, I would have sentenced you to a sentence of three years and six months’ imprisonment with a non-parole period of 30 months’ imprisonment.
65Ms Hogg, are there any ancillary orders in this matter.
66MS HOGG: No, Your Honour.
67HIS HONOUR: All right, just take a seat for a moment Mr Hooks. That completes my sentencing remarks, any ambiguities or issues.
68MS LOW: No, Your Honour.
69HIS HONOUR: Same question.
70MS HOGG: No, Your Honour.
71HIS HONOUR: Yes, temporarily stand down, thanks.
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