Director of Public Prosecutions v Johnson

[2024] VCC 1669

IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA

AT MILDURA

CRIMINAL DIVISION

Revised
Not Restricted
Suitable for Publication

Case No. CR-24-00476

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

Peter JOHNSON

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JUDGE:	His Honour Judge Cahill
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:	6 August 2024; 16 October 2024
DATE OF SENTENCE:	24 October 2024
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Johnson
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2024] VCC 1669

REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject:Attempted Armed Robbery

Catchwords:              Guilty plea – remorse – extensive criminal history – risk of prisonisation – high burden of imprisonment – need for release in the community under supervision

Cases Cited:Williscroft (1975) VR 292; DPP v Perry (2016) 50 VR 686; DPP v Stevens [2013] VSCA 197; DPP v McCarty (a pseudonym) [2020] VCC 1741.

Sentence:                  15 months imprisonment and 18-month CCO

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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the DPP	Mx J Van Dyke	Office of Public Prosecutions
For the Accused	Mr M Brugman	Papa Hughes Lawyers

HIS HONOUR:

1Peter JOHNSON, you have pleaded guilty to one charge of attempted armed robbery.

Circumstances of Offending [1]

[1] The circumstances of your offending are set out in the Summary of Prosecution Opening dated 2 August 2024 (Exhibit A). They are agreed facts.

2On 4 December 2023, around 7.10 pm, at Robinvale, you went into the Ritchies IGA bottle shop where you picked up by six pack of beer and put it on sales counter. While the shop worker was processing your purchase you pulled a Stanley knife out of a bag and extended the blade. You put the knife on the counter and demanded “the money out of the till’. As she was trying to open the till drawer you said, ‘You’d better hurry up because this is going to be a life and death situation’.

3She told you she needed to get a card to open the till. She left the counter and walked to the drive-through area where she told another worker you had a knife. After Security were alerted, she returned to the counter. While she was looking through some drawers for the card you told her she better hurry up.

4When a security guard came into the bottle shop you picked up the knife and ran off.

5You left the beers on the counter.

6The store worker knew you as a local. You had gone to the same school years before.

Investigation and Arrest

7Police were notified. When they arrived, one of the police officers recognised you from the store CCTV footage.

8Around 10:30 PM police went to your home where they found you. You were wearing the same clothes you wore to the supermarket. You had the same bag and knife you had with you at the supermarket.

9Police arrested you. They did not interview you because you were drug affected.

10Before committal mention, you offered to plead guilty to the charge before the court.

Objective gravity

11The maximum penalty for attempted armed robbery is 20 years imprisonment.

12It is a serious offence.

13Crimes of the type are invariably a terrifying experience for the victim and threaten the community’s sense of safety.

14The victim of your crime told police she was petrified and your agitation was building by the second. She said she felt trapped behind the counter.

15For obvious reasons, just punishment and general deterrence are important sentencing considerations. [2]

[2] Williscroft (1975) VR 292, DPP v Perry (2016) 50 VR 686, [155], DPP v Stevens [2013] VSCA 197, [31].

16Your crime was relatively brief. You were in the bottle shop barely a minute. Your level of aggression was relatively low. You did not point the knife at your victim. You left the store as soon as the security officer arrived.

17Your offending also was not sophisticated. You did not wear any disguise; your victim knew you. It is commonly known CCTV cameras operate in liquor stores. When you left the supermarket, you went home and remained there. You did not change your clothes or discard the bag and knife you had carried into the store.

18Local police knew you. Your apprehension was inevitable.

19Overall, I assess your offending to be below midrange and towards the lower end of objective seriousness.

Criminal Record

20You have admitted a criminal record.

21Relevantly:

(a)   On 1 July 2021 at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court, you were sentenced to one month imprisonment for intentionally cause injury, threatening the security, management or order of a jail, threat to inflict serious injury and make threat to kill.

(b)   On 2 March 2011 at the Mildura County Court, you were sentenced to two years imprisonment for offences including aggravated burglary, recklessly cause injury, contravene family violence intervention order and unlawful assault.

(c)   On 26 November 2014 at the Grafton District Court, you were sentenced to 30 months imprisonment with a non-parole period of 18 months for robbery in company.

(d)   On 29 October 2020 at the Melbourne County Court, you were sentenced to four years imprisonment with a non-parole period of two years for offences, including aggravated burgulary, intentionally cause injury, contravene family violence intervention order, common law assault and commit and indictable offence whilst on bail. [3]

(e)   

You also have a number of other convictions for violent and threatening

 

offending.

[3] You served the full four years of this sentence as your application for parole was denied.

Personal circumstances    

22You were born in May 1985. You are 39 years old.

23You are an Aboriginal man, from the Mati Mati and Wiradjuri mob.

24You have never known your father. Your mother raised you.

25You grew up in the Robinvale area and attended local schools.

26You left school in year 10 to work on an almond farm. Subsequently, you completed a boilermaker’s apprenticeship.

27You also did labouring and mining work. Your last paid work was in 2008.

28You were a talented footballer and, in 2003, you were drafted by the Western Jets. You played a year of football with them in Melbourne.

29Around that time, you were introduced to methamphetamine and became addicted. You have also misused other drugs.; In your words, you used “whatever [you] could get [your] hands on”. [4]

[4] Report of Ms Mynard dated 14 October 2024 (Exhibit 4), page 4.

30You have two children, aged 18 and 17 years old. Your mother keeps regular contact with them. You would like a relationship with them in the future. [5]

[5] Ibid, paragraph 41.

31You said your relationship with their mother was good for around four years but she left you after you were jailed in 2011. [6]

[6] Ibid, paragraph 18.

32Your appearance in this court in 2020 arose in circumstances where you broke into her home where you attacked her then partner. [7]

[7] DPP v McCarty (a pseudonym) [2020] VCC 1741.

33You have spent around 10 years of the past 15 in jail. You had been released from prison only eight months prior to your offending. [8]

[8] Corrections Victoria Remand Report dated 2 August 2024 (Exhibit 3).

34Your mother had arranged a private rental for you but you were not working. You spent most of your time alone and were using methylamphetamine daily.  

35Following your arrest you were remanded in custody. Since the end of December last year, you have spent extended periods in a management unit at Port Phillip prison where you are subject to 22- and 23-hour lockdowns. You had a short stint in a mainstream unit which ended when other prisoners stabbed you with a bike spoke. You were hospitalised, with multiple stab wounds to your stomach, for four days.

36Unsurprisingly, you have found your time in custody very difficult. You have been in isolation for your own protection. However, being on your own has meant your mental health has deteriorated. [9]

[9] Report of Ms Mynard Report dated 14 October 2024, paragraph 45.

37When a forensic psychologist assessed you in September and October of this year, you were mistrustful and paranoid. In her opinion, you were likely experiencing auditory hallucinations. You have high levels of anxiety. [10]

[10] Ibid, paragraph 32.

38Using DSM-V, she diagnosed generalised anxiety disorder, drug induced psychosis and stimulant use disorder. She recommends mental health treatment and AOD support. [11]

[11] Ibid, paragraphs 34 and 45.

39I accept you are remorseful for your offending. You pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity and you participated in a sentencing conversation, at Koori Court, with an experienced elder, Uncle Mark Bland.

40Your mother also participated in the conversation. She has maintained the rent on your apartment. You told Uncle Mark, when you are released from prison, you will go back to your apartment, get a job and hope your children will someday want to see you.

41Presciently, your mother said, “I hope he does what he says”.

Consideration

42In April 2023, you were released from prison without supervision. You struggled in the community and soon reoffended.

43You are in danger of institutionalisation.

44I have concluded, to reduce the risk of your reoffending, I will impose a composite sentence which directs your release into the community under supervision. [12]

[12] In reaching this conclusion I have carefully considered the written and oral submissions of your counsel and the prosecutor.

45Because of the extremely difficult conditions of your incarceration and its serious impact on your mental health, I will moderate the prison component of your sentence.

46Mr Johnson, by the sentence I impose I must denounce your conduct, punish you, and deter you, and others, from committing crimes of the same or similar kind. I must also look to your rehabilitation.

47Considering the circumstances of your offending, your personal circumstances and antecedents, and endeavouring to produce a sentence which reflects and promotes the purposes of sentencing in a manner appropriate to you, on the charge of attempted armed robbery, you are sentenced to 15 months imprisonment with a CCO which is to commence on your release from prison.

48The duration of the CCO will be 18 months.  

49In addition to the core conditions, I impose the following special conditions:

(a)   Supervision;

(b)   drug and alcohol treatment and rehabilitation;

(c)   mental health treatment and rehabilitation; and

(d)   programs to reduce the risk of your reoffending.

50In addition, the court will monitor your progress on your CCO.

51As a condition of the order, I direct you attend this court for judicial monitoring on 20 June 2025 at 9:30 AM.

52I declare you have served 325 days of your sentence by way of presentence detention.

53While there is some artificiality to the process, I declare, but for your plea of guilty I would have sentenced you to 2 years and eight months imprisonment and fixed a minimum non-parole period of two years

54I make an order for the disposal of the red Stanley knife.