Director of Public Prosecutions v Lyons
[2016] VCC 1295
•18 August 2016
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA | Revised Not Restricted Suitable for Publication |
AT GEELONG
CRIMINAL JURISDICTIONCR-16-01140
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| v |
| CHRISTOPHER LYONS |
---
| JUDGE: | HIS HONOUR JUDGE GRANT |
| WHERE HELD: | Geelong |
| DATE OF HEARING: | 11 August 2016 |
| DATE OF SENTENCE: | 18 August 2016 |
| CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | DPP v Lyons |
| MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2016] VCC 1295 |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
---
APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the Director | Ms A. Hassan | OPP |
| For the Accused | Mr A Zingler | Stary Norton Halphen |
HIS HONOUR:
1 Christopher Lyons, you have pleaded guilty on indictment to one charge of armed robbery, one charge of theft, one charge of possess firearm whilst prohibited and one charge of possess drug of dependence.
2 You have also pleaded guilty to four related summary offences of, deal with property suspected of being the proceeds of crime, possess cartridge ammunition without a licence or permit, fail to answer bail and contravene a Family Violence Safety Notice (FVSN).
3 The maximum penalties for the offences are:
· Armed Robbery, 25 years' imprisonment;
· Theft, ten years' imprisonment;
· Possession of firearm whilst prohibited, ten years' imprisonment;
· Possessing a drug of dependence; depending on the purpose of the possession, either 30 penalty units or one years imprisonment or 400 penalty units or five years' imprisonment;
· Deal with property suspected of being the proceeds of crime, two years' imprisonment;
· Possess cartridge ammunition without a licence or permit, 40 penalty units;
· Fail to answer bail, two years' imprisonment; and
· Contravene FVSN, two years' imprisonment or 240 penalty units or both.
4 I have heard a summary of the offending. It is not my intention to repeat the whole summary. It has been tendered as Exhibit A in the plea proceedings.
5 Briefly, at about 11.30 am on 9 February 2016 the victim drove to the Carlton Hotel in Geelong to meet Ms Bradley to pay an alleged drug debt. He parked his car. You opened the driver’s door and pointed an improvised handgun at him. You directed some comments to him and took the keys out of the ignition. You told him to get out of the car. The victim walked around the car and got in the passenger seat. You took his sunglasses, mobile phone and $195. You then again ordered him out of the car. You told him that you had connections and if he went to the police it would be “the fucking end” of him. You drove off in his car. The victim walked to the police station and reported what had occurred.
6 You used the car for your own purposes. At 1.14 pm you filled the car with fuel at a BP service station in Corio, and you drove off without paying.
7 The vehicle was located by police at 2.18 pm in Slevin Street North Geelong. You had fled the scene. The victim’s mobile phone was found near the vehicle. When the car was examined at the police station the improvised handgun was located between the driver’s seat and the centre console. It was found to be a commercial brand staple gun which had been modified with a pivoting steel plate and an air-hose type fitting with a steel bar acting as a bar type firing pin. The firearm was loaded with a single .22 Winchester rim fire magnum bullet in the barrel. Your fingerprint was located on the inside of the driver’s door window of the vehicle.
8 Between 10 February 2016 and 12 February 2016 you attended on three separate occasions at the home of your ex-partner. You did so in breach of a Family Violence Safety Notice. On the third occasion you were carrying a firearm.
9 You were arrested in Norlane at 11.55 am on 12 February 2016. The police located a loaded 12 gauge sawn-off single barrel shotgun in your backpack. They uncocked the gun and ejected the red 12 gauge round with an intact primer with the following four words written on it in Texta, “Shell, Kate, Reece, RIP.” Ms Bailey has a family member called Reece and her mother is named Shelley.
10 When searching your backpack the police also located a green 12 gauge shotgun cartridge with intact primer and 1.8 grams of crystal methyl-amphetamine. I am satisfied that the drug was in your possession for your own use.
11 Subsequent investigation by the police discovered that the firearm found in your possession on 12 February had been stolen in a burglary in May 2015.
12 The final offence relates to your failure to appear on bail at the Geelong Magistrates’ Court on 29 January 2016.
13 Mr Lyons, on 9 February you committed the serious offence of armed robbery. Clearly, it was a planned armed robbery, it occurred in the middle of the day in a central part of Geelong. You used an improvised handgun as the weapon to commit the offence. When the police located the firearm later that day, it was loaded. You not only took the victim’s sunglasses, money and mobile phone, you also took his car. Your offending has caused significant psychological and emotional harm to the victim. He is depressed, unable to work, his relationship with his family has suffered and he has had to move away from Geelong because he is scared for his safety.
14 In this case, general deterrence, denunciation and just punishment are all central and highly relevant sentencing considerations.
15 On the days following the armed robbery, you committed a further offence by breaching a Family Violence Safety Notice. You attended at the home of the protected person on three occasions. On the last occasion you had a firearm in your possession. The protected person contacted the police. They found you with a loaded sawn-off shotgun. When the police ejected the 12 gauge round it was, alarmingly, found to have the names of family members of the protected person written on it.
16 You have a significant and relevant prior history. Much of your early offending relates to driving offences or low level summary offences. However, in early 2008 you appeared in the Bunbury District Court for offences of aggravated burglary, assault occasioning bodily harm and common assault. You were sentenced to two years' imprisonment.
17 In 2009 you were placed on a bond at the Wagga Wagga Local Court for contravening an apprehended family violence order.
18 In 2011 you were fined by the Launceston Supreme Court for an assault and in 2012 you were ordered by the Launceston Court of Petty Sessions to perform community work for charges that included injure property, disorderly conduct and common assault.
19 In 2014 you were fined by the Shepparton Magistrates' Court for offences of intentionally damage property, contravene a family violence intervention order and fail to answer bail.
20 Given this history, specific deterrence and protection of the community are relevant sentencing considerations.
21 You come from an unsettled family background. I was told that your mother battled with bowel cancer and spent periods of time in hospital. Your stepfather was not a positive presence in your life. He apparently used drugs and beat you. You left the family home when you were 15 and relocated to Queensland. You were in Year 9 at the time. You did not engage in any further schooling. You had an itinerant lifestyle until approximately six years ago when you met your first partner. You have two children aged five and three, and you and your family relocated to Tasmania for a period of time to be closer to your mother.
22 I was told that in 2013 you were shot in a neighbourhood dispute. You suffered a fractured skull. No-one was prosecuted because you elected not to make a statement about the incident. You told Dr Aaron Cunningham, a Forensic Psychologist who assessed you on 12 July 2016 that the shooting changed your life. Your relationship with your partner broke down, and after a further incident at your workplace where you were threatened with a knife, you commenced the use of methylamphetamine. You told Dr Cunningham that the drug made you feel stronger and tougher. You were a heavy user of the drug at the time of this offending.
23 The protected person, Ms Bailey, met you in 2015. At the time of the offending she had taken out an order against you. She was pregnant with your child and has recently suffered a miscarriage.
24 I now move to those matters in mitigation.
25 You entered an early plea of guilty. It is an acknowledgment of your responsibility and it is indicative of remorse. Your plea has saved the victims from the trauma of giving evidence and also saved the community the cost and expense associated with a criminal trial. You will be given credit for all these matters.
26 Dr Aaron Cunningham, opines that you suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. Your sentence will be moderated because imprisonment will be more onerous for you than it would be for someone without that disorder.
27 Since April 2016 you have been held in isolation in a management cell. This is because you escaped from Fulham prison. In these circumstances it is not appropriate to moderate sentence because of the manner of your confinement. As your counsel recognised, you are the author of your own misfortune in this regard.
28 Given your long history of non-compliance with the law, the seriousness of this offending and your three year history of abusing methylamphetamine, I am extremely guarded about your prospects of rehabilitation.
29 Mr Lyons, on Charge 1, on the indictment, which is the charge of armed robbery, you are convicted and sentenced to four years' imprisonment.
30 On Charge 2, convicted and sentenced to six months' imprisonment.
31 On Charge 3, convicted and sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment.
32 On Charge 4 convicted and sentenced to three months' imprisonment.
33 On the summary charges you are sentenced as follows.
34 Contravene the Family Violence Safety Notice, six months' imprisonment.
35 Fail to answer bail, one month’s imprisonment;
36 Deal with property suspected of being the proceeds of crime, six months' imprisonment; and
37 Possess cartridge ammunition without licence or permit, fined $2500 with conviction.
38 I order nine months of the sentence on Charge 3, and three months' of the sentence on the charge of contravene a Family Violence Safety Notice, be served cumulatively upon each other, and upon the sentence on Charge 1 on the indictment.
39 This makes a total effective sentence of five years' imprisonment. I fix a minimum term of three and a half years before you will be eligible for release on parole.
40 I declare that you have served 187 days pre-sentence detention.
41 Had you pleaded not guilty and been found guilty after trial, I would have sentenced you to a total effective term of seven years' imprisonment, with a minimum term of 5fiveyears and a half years.
42 I understand there are forfeiture orders sought by the prosecution and I will make those orders.
43 There is nothing else, Ms Hassan?
44 MS HASSAN: No, Your Honour.
45 HIS HONOUR: Mr Zingler?
46 MR ZINGLER: No, Your Honour.
47 HIS HONOUR: You can remove the prisoner, thank you.
48 (Prisoner removed.)
- - -
0
0
0