Director of Public Prosecutions v Janson

[2015] VCC 983

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

AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

CR 15-00758

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

LUCAS STEPHEN  JANSON

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JUDGE:	HIS HONOUR JUDGE GUCCIARDO
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:
DATE OF SENTENCE:	22 July 2015
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v JANSON
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2015] VCC 983

REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the Director of Public Prosecutions	Mr T. Bourbon	Office of Public Prosecutions
For the Accused	Ms T. Hartnett

HIS HONOUR: 

1Lucas Stephen Janson, you have pleaded guilty to three counts of armed robbery.  A summary of prosecution opening was tendered and exhibited and will be retained on the court file.  For the purposes of this sentence it is sufficient to briefly state the circumstances of the offences in this way.

2On 21 May 2014, at 5.55 am, you drove to a takeaway store in Pakenham along the highway.  A husband and wife were working behind the counter at that store.  You wore a black ski mask as a disguise and entered the store.  At the counter you pointed a loaded .22 calibre firearm at the woman and said, "Open the till".  You grabbed some cash, pointed the firearm at the male owner, who had run back into the store.  You menaced him and then left.  You stole $150.

3On 1 June 2014, at 11.30 in the morning, you drove to a milk bar at Pakenham, having covered your number plates with duct tape.  You wore the same black ski mask and you were armed with a different firearm.  You entered the store and you approached the man working behind the counter as you produced the firearm to him.  A man working there opened the till and you grabbed cash out of it and you left the store with $200.

4On 10 June 2014, you again covered your number plates with tape and at 9.45 am you parked near a portable coffee shop.  You disguised yourself again with a black ski mask and armed yourself with a firearm.  Two women were working at the shop, and as you approached you produced a plastic bag and told one of them to put money from the till into the bag.  You then produced a firearm and asked one of the women, "Do you want to get hurt?" and you repeated your demand for cash and then fled the scene with $1100.

5In February 2015, you contacted police in relation to these offences and police came to your home where you told them about your commission of these offences.  You were arrested and interviewed and made admissions and explained the context of the offending, telling police that they were the acts of a person in the grip of drug addiction and the need for money for your habit.  You admitted having used a .22 firearm which was loaded in the May robbery.  As to the second, you said you were "off your face" on drugs and desperate for money.  You said you used the .22 firearm and, as for the third armed robbery, you told police you were sober on that day.  You used a .22 or a .25 calibre firearm.  You had driven past the portable café and thought about how much the shop made in selling coffee and that you needed money to pay bills. You told police you felt badly about your actions and that you had not meant to intimidate people in them.  You had confessed out of remorse for your actions.

6Armed robbery is a very serious offence.  Its gravity can be gleaned from the maximum applicable of 25 years' imprisonment.  These offences were aggravated by the presence of a loaded firearm, at least on one occasion, the use of face disguise, and the covering of the number plates to avoid detection.  The firearm was used to menace the people in the shops to accompany your demand for money upon the threat of violence.  The premises targeted by you were vulnerable, easy targets, and you chose the hours of the morning when those shops would be beginning the working day and there were likely to be less witnesses.

7There are also clearly mitigating circumstances here which I take into account.  The first is your plea of guilty, which I accept was made at the earliest time available and I accept is accompanied by genuine remorse for your conduct.  This was demonstrated by your approach and admissions to police and demeanour in court.  Your plea will attract a discount on the sentence as it has not only a utilitarian value of avoiding a trial, it has facilitated the course of justice and is given in the context of real remorse.  Your voluntary admissions to the offences in a situation where you were not a likely suspect to the offences and would in all likelihood have evaded detection must further attract a real and tangible discount on the sentence.

8It is an important matter of public policy to encourage guilty persons to come forward and disclose both the fact of an offence and to make a confession of guilt.  Such a policy must be accompanied by a significant reduction in any sentence that might otherwise be imposed.

9You have no prior criminal history and this would be your first period of reclusion for a criminal offence.  In this context, the assessment of your future by way of rehabilitation and its prospects is always a difficult exercise, but in my view much depends on whether you will be able to abstain in the long term from drug use and such abstinence is often difficult and halting without treatment and assistance.

10I take into account the victim impact statements tendered.  There can be little doubt that the victims of these types of crimes and these here in particular suffered deep and ongoing trauma which affects every aspect of their lives.  The victim impact statements speak to the life-changing experience which has impacted on confidence, security, has produced anger, fear and stress.  The work and financial life of those involved have been affected and will so remain as a traumatising event.

11I have considered also your personal history and circumstances.  You are 34 years old, the younger of two children.  Your mother left the family home when you were two and had no further involvement in your life.  Your father re-partnered, but his new partner died when you were eight.  You were raised by him, he was an alcoholic and abused cannabis frequently.  Discipline was lacking in the home.  You moved homes and schools frequently in your childhood and that period was destabilised as a result.  DHS took custody of you and your brother when you were seven, and you then lived in a large number of different foster homes and separated from your brother.  You returned to live with your father when aged 13 but thereafter were homeless in your mid-teens.  Both your father and brother used drugs heavily.  You attended a large number of different schools and ultimately were expelled from school aged 15.  You were sent to a boarding school in Ballarat but you did not complete Year 10.

12On leaving school, you took up cannabis and amphetamine use.  You had labouring jobs, and when 22 years old you managed to run a motorbike repair business with partners and began a career as a professional superbike rider.  You have, however, suffered several serious injuries and found yourself unable to support yourself financially.  Later, you commenced work as a tattoo artist and the money earned allowed you to relapse into drug use, leading to further unemployment and your current offending.  Since you have been on remand you have worked in welding and as a laundry billet.  You are supported by a family-like relationship with a woman who was in court for your plea.  You have known her since aged 15 and she and her family are in effect the only positive emotional connections you have had in your life.

13A report was received by the court written by Dr Bath, a psychologist.  He has outlined your substance abuse history, as well as your mental health history.  You have had a lengthy history of illicit substance use, culminating in heavy ice use which resulted in significant drug debts.  Despite your abstinence due to your imprisonment on remand, you have a stimulant use disorder of a severe level which could be maintained and verified in a controlled environment like your current remand but which may not be so verifiable or actual outside of such an environment.

14You have experienced also problems of a mental nature, much related probably to (1) the injuries you received - you broke your left leg five times, your right leg three times, and have had a broken pelvis, wrist and jaw, as well as concussions - and (2) to your drug use.  You are currently experiencing depression and anxiety reactive to your current predicament.  Dr Bath diagnoses an adjustment disorder with depressed mood, although any Verdins type arguments were specifically disavowed during the plea.  The drug use has clearly increased your propensity for poor decision-making and impulsive behaviour and your personality traits are sufficiently severe to warrant a diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder.  Each of these substance abuse and mental health issues require treatment and supervision after an enforced period of abstinence.

15I have also taken into account a letter from Dr Lew, a GP whom you first consulted in 2007.  In 2011 you reported your longstanding battle with ice.  Later in that year you exhibited seizure-like activity, probably due to your drug use.  In 2012 there was need for a psychiatric review and antidepressant medication which was prescribed.  In 2014 in June a suicide attempt was reported after your redundancy.

16This had improved by July, with the offer of work, and you took up work as a mechanic on a fulltime basis despite your use of ice not having ceased.  I should also note that as a result of recent unrest at the prison, where you had been on remand, a very serious escalation of violence and destruction, you have had to endure long hours of lockdowns.  I understand that during the riot you were in a low security unit which was subsequently locked down.  In view of the fact you could see fires and smoke nearby, this caused you considerable fear and anxiety.  There was violence among prisoners as well as disruption, and I take this period into account to ameliorate further your sentence.

17You have been in custody since February 2015.  It was conceded that this was not a sufficient period of incarceration for such serious offending.  However, each of the matters mentioned above must be taken into account in the sentence.  I was referred to a number of authorities, to the relevant Sentencing Snapshots of the Sentencing Advisory Council and to overviews of sentences for these offences in order to demonstrate current sentencing practice.  I have reviewed a significant number of cases dealing with such offending.  It was submitted that I should impose a period of imprisonment with a Community Corrections Order to address the offending in what was said to be unusual circumstances of this case, and particularly the contact with police and admissions voluntarily made.  I have considered these submissions and have reflected on whether confinement is necessary in order to satisfy the relevant sentencing principles applicable in this case.

18In my view, those primary principles remain general deterrence, denouncement and punishment.  In my view, these principles require imprisonment as the sentence.  The features of the offences require the conclusion that imprisonment must be the only option with all its limitations and disadvantages.  Deterrence and community protection are not sufficiently served by a cocktail sentence in my view.  General deterrence also is relevant given your history of drug use.

19Having satisfied myself that imprisonment is required, I then ask what is the minimum confinement necessary consistent with the principles of parsimony to achieve the sentencing purposes.  This period must be determined by taking into account the matters outlined above, the applicable discounts, and an assessment of your circumstances and prospects of rehabilitation, which must be guarded.

20On Count 3 of armed robbery you are convicted and sentenced to two and a half years' imprisonment.  On Count 1 of armed robbery you are convicted and sentenced to two years' imprisonment.  On Count 2 of armed robbery you are convicted and sentenced to two years' imprisonment.  I order that three months each on Counts 1 and 2 be cumulative on Count 3 and each other.  That is a total effective sentence of three years.  I order a non-parole period of 20 months.  But for the plea of guilty, I would have imposed a total effective sentence of four years, with a non-parole period of two years nine months.  Further, I have discounted the sentence for your cooperation and voluntary disclosure.

21I note in the records of the court that you have served 148 days of pre-sentence detention excluding today. Are there any ancillary orders?

22MR BOURBON:  Just the s.464.

23HIS HONOUR:  Yes.  Did you hand up a draft of that at the time?

24MR BOURBON:  To Your Honour's associate on the plea, Your Honour - after the plea hearing.

25HIS HONOUR:  Mr Janson, I should tell you that you are to undergo a forensic procedure for the taking of a scraping from the mouth in order to obtain your biological sample for placement on a DNA database.  If, at the time a request is made for such a sample, you do not consent, then the authorised member of the police force taking the sample can use reasonable force to get a blood sample from you.  Do you understand?

26OFFENDER:  Yes, Your Honour.

27HIS HONOUR:  I will hand those orders down.

28MS HARTNETT:  Thank you, Your Honour.

29MR BOURBON:  As the court pleases.

30HIS HONOUR:  Thank you, you can remove Mr Janson.

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