Director of Public Prosecutions v Johnston

[2016] VCC 902

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

AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

CR 15-01402

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

CHARLES JOHNSTON

---

JUDGE:	HIS HONOUR JUDGE ALLEN
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:
DATE OF SENTENCE:	28 June 2016
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Johnston
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2016] VCC 902

REASONS FOR SENTENCE
---

Subject:
Catchwords:
Legislation Cited:
Cases Cited:
Sentence:

---

APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the Director of Public Prosecutions	Ms T. Saville
For the Accused	Ms G. Morgan

HIS HONOUR:

1Charles Johnson, you came before the court charged with one count of armed robbery, which was committed on 13 April 2015.  You were remanded and spent some time in custody. After some time, you were released on bail.  You breached that bail; you were released again on bail, and again, much more recently in March this year, you committed further offences in breach of that bail and, again, you were remanded in custody. 

2The second indictment, to which you pleaded guilty, involves one charge of intentionally causing injury and one charge of theft.  Ironically, the victim of that matter was a close friend of yours. In this you were involved in a fight whilst you were both drug-affected and drunk, after consuming a large amount of vodka.  You have been battling with paranoid psychosis for a long time now, I suspect, that you probably were suffering some level of paranoid psychosis at the time. 

3Furthermore, you have pleaded guilty to one summary charge of theft, this charge was in relation to knives you stole from a Coles store, during the time of the primary offending. 

4The details of your offending were set out in the prosecution summaries, which have now been tendered, marked Exhibits 1 and 2. 

5The armed robbery occurred, as I have said, in April 2015.  At the time you were age 19.  You had been staying with your mother in Ballarat.  There had been trouble due to your drug use and your behaviour and, subsequently, you were asked to leave.  You found yourself homeless, as you explained to Mr Murphy, when he asked you about this offending.  You thought you needed money to find accommodation, as well as, to buy more drugs.  In that deluded state, you went to an alcohol store in Ballarat.  After pretending that you were buying a small can of mixed drink, you produced a knife and demanded the young man working there to open the till.  He did and you took between two and two hundred and fifty dollars.  This offending was captured on CCTV. You were arrested within a short time and remanded in custody, as I have said.

6Your custody was difficult, you spent some time in police cells.  You were clearly unwell. I do not think you received appropriate treatment whilst you were in custody; nevertheless, you were eventually released on bail.  As I stated earlier, after being out again, and in again, and out again, you committed further offences in March this year; only a short time after I granted you bail in Ballarat on 18 February.  On that occasion, your father, your mother and Ms Moore were present.  They had all shown their support and were ready, willing and able to assist you; and, importantly, Mr Murphy from Youth Justice was there and a program was put in place to provide you support and urgent treatment.  Initially, to your credit, you responded very well.  You attended appointments and you were very open and cooperative with Mr Murphy.  You indicated to him that you were willing to receive help.  You attended appointments both in relation to drug and alcohol treatment, and mental health treatment.  Unfortunately, after only a couple of sessions, if that, it all fell to pieces.  You and Matilda went to pick up a friend from South Australia, you brought him back for a visit, to have a nice time in Ballarat. You and your mate got drunk on vodka, smoked cannabis, and it seems to me that you, from the material provided, became affected by drug-induced psychosis.  You became angry. You have had a problem with anger management, particularly when you are drunk.  You probably do not even know what caused the trouble, but the two of you ended up fighting in the car park.  You produced a knife and your friend ended up stabbed, which was awful, and I am sure you feel very bad about that.

7You were remanded in custody again.  Since you have been in custody you have been visited regularly and provided with ongoing support by Matilda.  You have also been getting support from your parents, both of them are here again today.  You are in a very rare position for someone who is in so much trouble, to have so much support available to you.  You have, as I mentioned at the very outset, received support far and beyond the call of duty from Mr Murphy; who has been regularly visiting you.

8In a comprehensive report provided this morning by Mr Murphy, your personal history is set out in some detail.  Your medical history, which involves injuries suffered by you, which have left you, at your young age, seriously disabled and suffering ongoing pain and discomfort. This was a result of injuries suffered from a car accident when you were only 15 years of age.  Additionally, you suffer very serious mental illness symptoms, over and above post-traumatic stress disorder, which could be referrable to unfortunate experiences you suffered as a young child; having witnessed family violence in your home.

9You began abusing drugs at a very early age. Within a couple of years you were abusing benzodiazepines and methylamphetamine; all in an endeavour to make yourself feel better, what people commonly refer to as "self-medicating".  As a direct result of this you ended up with a mental illness.  It is quite a common phenomenon, young people think drugs are harmless, they are not.  As you know, not uncommonly, drug abuse does result in serious mental illness; involving, psychotic symptoms such as paranoia and paranoid delusions, which you suffer even to this day; despite the fact you are now drug-free and are receiving treatment, you are still plagued by delusions which make you feel as though you are being watched.  You know they are not true, but they still plague you.  So that sort of illness, when it is drug-induced, can be cured and managed, and it will be, so you should feel confident about that.

10Overlaying all of those problems, you suffer from a serious intellectual disability.  You are virtually illiterate.  You had to have special help to get through primary school. In secondary school, again, you received special assistance to help you through.  You left school at age 14 or 15, finishing at a Year 9 level.  You were expelled from school as a result of your behaviour. 

11It is hard to imagine anyone having to deal with a more complex combination of difficulties and hardships that you have had to deal with; physical illness; mental illness; intellectual disability; and, the scars of post-traumatic stress syndrome.  However, you have demonstrated several times now that you really do want to deal with these problems.  You have tremendous support from your mother, your father, and Ms Ward, and you are blessed to have that, are you not?  You also have tremendous support from Youth Justice, particularly support of Mr Murphy.  You will have support available. It is likely it will be available when you are placed on youth parole, which I imagine will be when disability services becomes involved.  They will be working together as a team with your family.

12That is my brief summary of all of the reasons why I have decided that I accept the recommendation of the Department of Health and Human Services, through Youth Justice, and Mr Murphy's report, where it is recommended, given your circumstances, that you are suitable to be sentenced to a Youth Justice Centre order, as opposed to adult gaol.  Those circumstances which have been taken into account by Youth Justice in recommending you include the facts that:

i.you have taken responsibility for your offending.  You have pleaded guilty, you have expressed insight into the harm you have caused to others, and you have expressed real remorse.  You really are sorry for what has happened; and,

ii.secondly, you have never been, until recently, in adult gaol before; and,

iii.third, you have demonstrated a real willingness to address your problems, and to engage in programs, and to accept the support that will be available; and,  

iv.fourth, they have determined that, despite all of these problems, you still have good prospects of rehabilitation because of the strong family support you have, and your own insight; furthermore,

v.they have taken into account that you suffer intellectual disability, and you have been deemed appropriate for the support of disability client services, and that will be available to you; and,

vi.finally, they determine that you are vulnerable in adult custody due to your concerns involving your mental health, physical disabilities and intellectual disabilities.  I would have thought that you would be extremely vulnerable in adult custody.

13Accordingly, as I foreshadowed, in relation to these charges, you are sentenced as follows.

14On the charge of armed robbery, you are sentenced to 18 months' youth detention. 

15On the charges of intentionally cause injury and theft, you are sentenced to 12 months' youth detention, and I order that six months of that sentence be served cumulatively upon the first sentence of 18 months.

16In relation to the summary offence of theft of the knives, you are sentenced to seven days' imprisonment. 

17In relation to the summary offence of committing an indictable offence on bail, you are sentenced to one month of youth detention, which will be wholly concurrent.

18The total effective period of youth detention is two years. 

19I declare that you have already served 212 days, by way of presentence detention, which will reckon as having been served under sentencing with detention.

20That means it is a total effective sentence of two years, less the seven months and a bit you have already served, but you will be eligible for parole in a few months' time, I would have thought, if you do the right thing.  Do you understand?

21It is strict parole, but it is very supportive.  If things go wrong, you will go back in to serve the balance of your period of detention.  Now, I should declare that had you not pleaded guilty to these matters, I would have sentenced you to a period of youth detention of two and a half years.  Were there any ancillary orders?

22Pursuant to s.464ZF of the Crimes Act, I order that you provide a buccal swab, that means a little bit of your saliva, for the purpose of the authorities obtaining a sample of your DNA to go on the database, do you understand that?  If you do not cooperate in that procedure when it is being conducted, they may use reasonable force to obtain a blood sample. I make that order because of the seriousness of the offending, and bearing in mind that it was not opposed.  I have made disposal orders in the terms sought in relation to the item seized by the police in relation to the armed robbery and a disposal order in relation to the knife that was used in the injury charge. 

23With regards to the application for restitution, I order that the $100 seized from you be paid to BWS Liquor Stores. 

24Thank you very much for your assistance.  Thank you Ms Morgan.  All right, well good luck with your rehabilitation.

‑ ‑ ‑