Director of Public Prosecutions v Ireland

[2018] VCC 1238

IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA AT MELBOURNE

CRIMINAL DIVISION

Revised
Not Restricted

Suitable for Publication

Case No. CR-18-00177

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

JACKSON IRELAND

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JUDGE:	His Honour Judge Coish
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATEOF HEARING:	7 June 2018
DATEOF SENTENCE:	15 June 2018
CASE MAY BE CITEDAS:	DPP v Ireland
MEDIUMNEUTRAL CITATION:	[2018] VCC 1238

REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Catchwords:
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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For theCrown	Ms Y. Giannopoulos	Office of Public Prosecutions
For the Accused	Mr A. Turner	Doogue & George

VICTORIAN GOVERNMENT REPORTING SERVICE

7/436 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne – Telephone [phone] (Prepared by Legal Transcripts Pty Ltd)

203682  P.1-9

HIS HONOUR:

1Jackson Ireland, you have pleaded guilty to one charge of armed robbery; one charge of reckless conduct endangering persons; one charge of theft; and two charges of possess a drug of dependence, and the following summary offences, possess a prohibited weapon; possess a controlled weapon; unlicensed driving; exceed PCD; state false name.

2These  offences  carry  the  following  maximum  penalties,  armed  robbery,

25 years' imprisonment; theft, 10 years' imprisonment; possess a drug of dependence, 30 penalty units or one year imprisonment; reckless conduct endangering persons, five years' imprisonment; possess, use or carry an imitation firearm, 240 penalty units or two years' imprisonment; possess controlled weapon without excuse, 120 penalty units or one year imprisonment; unlicensed driving, 25 penalty units or three months' imprisonment; state false name, 5 penalty units; exceed PCD, 25 penalty units or three months' imprisonment.

3It is unnecessary for me to recount the facts of the matter in detail as they are on transcript and contained in Exhibit 1, summary of prosecution opening. That opening was accepted by you through your counsel. I proceed to sentence you on the basis of the facts as opened by the prosecutor which I shall now summarise.

4The victim, Brendan Hart, rang you on 26 October 2017 in order to make arrangements to purchase cannabis from you that night. You met the victim in an alleyway in East Melbourne. You were with a co-accused who was armed with a firearm. You were armed with a knife. I quote from paragraph 6 of the prosecution opening, the reference to "the male" is a reference to the co-accused.

5"The male pointed a gun at Hart who asked 'What are you doing?' Hart put his

arms up trying to shield his face. The male pulled the trigger on the gun and racked the firearm at least twice whilst it was pointed at Hart. The male took the keys out of the ignition. The accused again got into the car and produced a knife that he placed to Hart's neck. The male demanded, 'Where's the cash, where's the money?' and repeated this demand a number of times whilst punching Hart in the face." The victim yelled for help, but you took his mobile phone and the co-accused took the victim's car keys (Charge 1, armed robbery).

6On Monday, 25 September 2017, you stole a blue Toyota Corolla in Therry Street, Melbourne (Charge 2, theft). On 31 October 2017, at approximately 5 pm you were found slumped in this stolen vehicle in Bourke Street, between Elizabeth and Queen Streets, Melbourne. You appeared to be passing in and out of consciousness. At approximately 5.16 pm, three police cars converged on your motor vehicle and effectively blocked it in from the front and behind.

7Police tried to wake you as you appeared unconscious. You did wake and were told by the police to get out of the car but you immediately put the car into gear and drove forward hitting the police car in front of your motor vehicle and causing one police officer to jump backwards out of the path of your motor vehicle.

8Police again yelled at you to get out of the car but you reversed your motor vehicle into the police car parked behind your motor vehicle causing two other police officers to step away from the car. Police then smashed the windscreen of your motor vehicle but you drove forward again hitting the police car in front of your motor vehicle, then you drove to the left, hitting the police car and partially mounting the footpath. You were prevented from travelling further as your motor vehicle was caught between a tree, rubbish bin and police car.

9At the time of this incident Bourke Street was busy with a number of members of the public walking the area.  Police tasered you and were then able to enter

the  motor  vehicle  and  turn  off  the  engine  (Charge  3,  reckless  conduct endangering persons).

10You were removed from your motor vehicle and arrested. You gave a false name and address. You were not licenced to drive. You had 0.43 mg/L methylamphetamine in your system. Police searched the motor vehicle and found the following, and I quote: "(a) small digital scale and two small clear bags containing pink/red tablets being ecstasy and another bag containing a white crystal substance being methylamphetamine; (b) a black balaclava; (c) an ice pipe; (d) a hunting knife, Plague machete and red handled pliers were located between the front passenger seat and the centre console, a yellow handled plaster knife was located in the rear passenger side foot well; (e) an imitation semi-automatic hand gun was located in the rear drivers side foot well."

11You were interviewed on 31 October 2017 and 1 November 2017 but made no comment.

12I state to you that I have taken into account the following matters in mitigation of sentence. You have pleaded guilty, you are entitled to have that fact taken into account in your favour and I do so. The community has, by your plea, been spared the time and cost of a trial, witnesses have been spared the ordeal of giving evidence upon your trial. You pleaded guilty at the earliest reasonable opportunity. I accept that you are genuinely remorseful. You have no prior convictions.  I sentence you as a person of previously good character.

13I have been told something of your personal circumstances and these matters are  set  out  in   the   defence   submissions   on   plea   and   report   of Mr Jeffrey Cummins, psychologist, dated 24 May 2018. You are 24 years of age, having been born on 12 November 1993. You were born in Sydney and grew up in Tasmania. You are the youngest of five children. Your parents separated when you were 12 years of age. Your childhood was generally happy and stable.  There was an incident when you were about seven or eight years

of age and your parent's separation, but overall you were progressing well in life until you started using drugs. You were educated to Year 12 level and completed a Certificate III in Commercial Cookery. You moved to Melbourne in 2005, you had employment as a chef and lived with your girlfriend.

14You started using ecstasy on a recreational basis in early 2016 but by mid-2016 you had commenced using ice and you were addicted to ice by late 2016. The effect of your drug addiction was devastating. You stopped work as a chef in about September 2016. Your relationship with your girlfriend broke down. You lost friends and became estranged from your family. By the end of 2016 you were effectively homeless and hopelessly addicted to ice. You turned to dealing in cannabis to support yourself and your drug addiction. You kept bad company. When homeless you were assaulted and this led to you carrying a weapon, a knife, on a regular basis. These were your general circumstances at the time of these offences.

15You are now 24 years of age. You are a relatively young man with no prior convictions. I have had regard to and taken into account the principles applicable to the sentencing of youthful offenders bearing in mind that you are now 24 years of age and you have committed some very serious offences.

16A number of references and testimonials were tendered on your behalf. In this material you are described as having been a happy, healthy, affectionate and fun loving child, you were hardworking and conscientious with many good friends. You enjoyed a wide range of extracurricular activities. One effect of your drug addiction was estrangement from family and friends. It is to your credit that you retain strong support from your family, many of whom have attended court from interstate.

17I accept from the many certificates tendered on your behalf that you have been using  your  time  in  custody  in  a  constructive  manner.  A  report  of Mr Jeffrey Cummins, psychologist was tendered on your behalf.  Mr Cummins

assesses you as being in the moderate category in terms of your risk of reoffending. Mr Cummins describes you as having psychologically lost your way at the time of offending. This was as a result of your drug habit. You describe your state to him at the time of the motor vehicle incident as, and I quote, "I must have been completely off my head on ice."

18It is not submitted on your behalf that any of the well-known principles enunciated in Verdins case apply. I have had regard to Mr Cummins opinions as part of your general personal circumstances. I assess your prospects of rehabilitation as being good, provided you are able to remain drug free. Your future prospects are heavily dependent upon your capacity to abstain from illicit drugs.

19Against these matters in mitigation, however, your actions were very serious indeed. The most serious offences are the armed robbery offence and the offence of reckless conduct endangering persons. There was a degree of planning involved in this armed robbery. The victim was lured to a prearranged location, a dead end alleyway. The motivation for the offending was to obtain money from the victim. Multiple weapons were involved in the armed robbery, a firearm and a knife. Actual physical violence was perpetrated upon the victim. The property stolen from the victim, a mobile phone and car keys, increased the victim's vulnerability and made it difficult for him to get help.

20In my opinion, this was a serious example of the offence of armed robbery.

Similarly, this was a serious example of the offence of reckless conduct endangering persons for these reasons. You were driving a motor vehicle whilst drug affected, police officers in attendance were put at risk, Bourke Street, in the central CBD, is a busy thoroughfare. This offending occurred during peak hour. There was a degree of persistence in respect of your conduct. You ignored police requests to get out of your motor vehicle and you drove that motor vehicle into police cars on three occasions. Your conduct only

stopped when your motor vehicle was jammed and police were able to taser you.

21There are no victim impact statements. You have no prior convictions but there is one subsequent matter for trafficking drugs. You were sentenced to one month's imprisonment on appeal to this court on 17 April 2018.

22Days in custody, there is 194 days of pre-sentence detention. As well as the matters to which I have referred I must also take into account the need for general and specific deterrence. Specific deterrence is relevant, given the number of offences you have committed and the serious nature of some of those offences. General deterrence is also of considerable importance in a case such as this.

23Offences like this, particularly the armed robbery and reckless conduct endangering persons must be discouraged. I am called upon by the Sentencing Act to manifest the community's denunciation of your conduct and generally to impose a just punishment. It is not in issue that I have no alternative but to impose a sentence of imprisonment and non-parole period. The armed robbery is the most serious offence. The sentence for the armed robbery will be the base sentence. The reckless conduct endangering person's offence was a separate incident. In my opinion, it is appropriate that there be some degree of cumulation in respect of the theft, reckless conduct endangering persons and firearm offences. I have had regard to the principle of totality. The possession of drugs and remaining summary offences are generally relatively minor.

24Having regard to all relevant facts and appropriate sentencing principles I sentence you as follows: Charge 1, armed robbery, convicted and sentenced to four years imprisonment; Charge 2, reckless conduct endangering persons, convicted and sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment; Charge 3, theft, convicted and sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment; Charge 4, possess drug of  dependence,  convicted  and  sentenced  to  one  month's  imprisonment;

Charge 5, possess drug of dependence, convicted and sentenced to one month's imprisonment; Summary Charge 4, possess the imitation firearm, convicted and sentenced to four months' imprisonment; Summary Charge 5, possess controlled weapon, convicted and sentenced to two months' imprisonment; Summary Charge 8, unlicensed driving, convicted and sentenced to one month's imprisonment. You are disqualified from obtaining a licence for a period of three years from this date.

25There is a declaration made pursuant to s.89C of the Sentencing Act 1991, that the offence was committed whilst you were under the influence of a drug which contributed to the offence, such will be noted in the records of the court. Summary Charge 11, exceed PCD, convicted and sentenced to one month's imprisonment; Summary Charge 12, state false name, convicted and fined $250 with a stay on payment of one month.

26I direct that nine months' of the sentence imposed on Charge 2 and four months' of the sentence imposed on Charge 3; one month of the sentence imposed on Summary Charge 4; and one month  of  the  sentence  imposed  on Summary Charge 5 be served cumulatively upon the sentence imposed upon Charge 1 and upon each other, otherwise the sentences be served concurrently.

27The total effective sentence is five years and three months' imprisonment. The non-parole period is the minimum term that justice requires you to serve, having regard to all the relevant circumstances that exist, for that reason it cannot be fixed automatically. All relevant factors and sentencing principles are to be taken into account. I have to consider when you should be eligible for mitigation of confinement and in turn rehabilitation under conditional supervision.

28In all the circumstances, I direct that you serve a minimum term of three years imprisonment before becoming eligible for parole. As prescribed by s.18(4) of the Sentencing Act, I declare that the period of time you have spent in custody

is 194 days, which is to be reckoned as time already served under the sentence. I direct that such be noted in the records of the court.

29I make the forfeiture and disposal orders sought by the prosecution. Pursuant to s.6AAA of the Sentencing Act I state that the sentence and non-parole period I would have imposed but for the plea of guilty is seven years with a non-parole period of five years.

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30HIS HONOUR:  Does that cover all the formalities?  Thank you, I'll just stand down while the prisoner is removed, thank you.

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