Director of Public Prosecutions v Larkins

[2018] VCC 1339

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

AT SHEPPARTON
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

CR 18-00665

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

IAN LARKINS

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JUDGE:	HIS HONOUR JUDGE SMALLWOOD
WHERE HELD:	Shepparton
DATE OF HEARING:	27 August 2018
DATE OF SENTENCE:	27 August 2018
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Larkins
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2018] VCC 1339

REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the Director Prosecutions	Mr M Perry	Office of Public Prosecutions
For the Accused	Mr A Coote	Camerons Anthony Coote

HIS HONOUR:

1Ian Hanawini Larkins, you have pleaded guilty to one charge of possession of a drug of dependence and another charge of possession of a drug of dependence for the purpose of trafficking.  Those crimes carry maximum penalties of 12 months and five years respectively.

2You pleaded guilty at a reasonably early opportunity and the matters could have been, theoretically at least, dealt with in the Magistrates' Court.  You must get the utilitarian benefit of that plea of guilty.

3You are now only 25 years of age, but you do have an extensive criminal history, and you are certainly no stranger to the criminal justice system.  Your prior history includes one for armed robbery, where you received a sentence in excess of 900 days with a minimum term.  I am not sure whether you ever did that parole or not, but clearly your priors have been effectively for dishonesty and, it would appear, violence.

4When I take those matters into account, I then look at the circumstances of this particular offending.  Obviously, there is no victim impact statement before me.  What has occurred is that on a day in October 2016, you were present in a motor victim with Luke Brown, who falls to be sentenced by me later in the week.  That vehicle was intercepted and searched by members of the Kursk investigation team, who were investigating in relation to drugs.

5A number of items were seized associated with criminal conduct.  You are charged only with the drugs, and whilst the other matters would appear to support the prospect of you being in possession for trafficking, you do not get sentenced for them.

6The maximum penalties indicated for the Oxycodone and is one year, and for the methylamphetamine, is five years.  You are also charged with a controlled weapon and unlicensed driving, both summary matters which have been uplifted.

7In this particular situation, you would appear to have just been the man in the car on the day.  What your other involvement may have been would be anybody's guess, and it is probably better known to the police that it ever will be to me.  But the fact of the matter is, at the end of the day I can only sentence you for what you have pleaded guilty to, and I have no idea as to your prospects of rehabilitation and the like.

8I have the read the very helpful submissions, if I might say so, of Mr Cootes on your behalf.  Essentially, you are a Kiwi and run the risk of deportation, though I cannot really take that any further.  You are still a relatively young man.  I am told you have been drug-free since your arrest, and that is the longest time you have been drug-free since you were a teenager.

9This is a situation where I think a straight sentence is the only disposition that I can give.  I am told you have a matter pending in the Magistrates' Court regarding an assault in the prison, and that may be a matter for a magistrate at a later time.  But in all these circumstances, I can only sentence you, as I say, for what you have done.  And you do not really have drug priors.

10So accordingly, on the charges of possession of a drug of dependence, an aggregate sentence of nine months.  On the two summary matters, one month on each, to be served concurrently, which gives you a total effective sentence this day of nine months.

11I agree that 273 days be reckoned as having been served under this sentence.

12But for your plea of guilty, I would have given you 12 months.

13Any other others?

14MR PERRY:  I am sorry, Your Honour.  On the 6AAA, I ‑ ‑ ‑

15HIS HONOUR:  Twelve months.

16MR PERRY:  Twelve months.  Thank you, Your Honour. 

17MR COOTE:  No.  I will sign those forfeiture orders in chambers, Mr Perry, whenever that is needed.

18MR PERRY:  Thank you, Your Honour. 

19MR COOTE:  Thank you, sir.

20HIS HONOUR:  All right.  So they do what they do.

21MR COOTE:  Yes.

22HIS HONOUR:  Do you want two seconds to talk to him?

23MR COOTE:  Yes, that would be appreciated, sir.  I will just leave the bench and I will come back and work out what we are going to do this arvo.

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