Director of Public Prosecutions v Marsh
[2012] VCC 1060
•27 July 2012
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA | Revised Not Restricted Suitable for Publication |
AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL DIVISION
Case No. CR-12-00148
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| v |
| TRAVIS MARSH |
---
JUDGE: | HIS HONOUR JUDGE MAIDMENT | |
WHERE HELD: | Melbourne | |
DATE OF HEARING: | 27 July 2012 | |
DATE OF SENTENCE: | 27 July 2012 | |
CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | DPP v. Marsh | |
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2019] VCC 1060 | |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
---
Catchwords:
---
APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the Crown | Ms N. Burnett | |
| For the Accused | Ms C. Lynch |
HIS HONOUR:
1 You have pleaded guilty to an indictment containing two charges alleging armed robbery and one of attempted armed robbery, and you have admitted a related summary offence that you possessed a controlled weapon without lawful excuse on the same day as the offences were committed, being 26 July of last year.
2 The offence of armed robbery carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 25 years. The summary offence carries a maximum term of imprisonment of six months.
3 The prosecution has tendered a plea opening which sets out the facts relating to the offending conduct that you have admitted. In short, during a period between 1 pm and 2.10 pm on 26 July of 2011 you either robbed or attempted to rob three separate victims in the Footscray and Sunshine areas whilst you were armed with a knife box cutter, which you wielded in order to put your victims in fear, and to effect your intended robberies upon them.
4 Clearly, those are serious offences. I incorporate the plea opening into these reasons by reference, and I do not propose to set out in any greater detail the facts that are relevant to the offending conduct.
5 Your Counsel has submitted on your behalf a number of reports which are contained in Exhibit 1 and Exhibit 2 on the plea hearing, I incorporate those documents into these reasons for sentence for the sake of brevity and because it seems to be agreed that a lenient approach may be taken in your particular case. The contents of that material supports the proposition that you suffer from mental impairments of one kind or another, which reduce your moral culpability for these offences, and for which you require ongoing assistance in order to assist your rehabilitation.
6 It is clear that you need assistance in dealing with substance abuse of one kind or another, and behavioural issues which bear upon your prospects of staying out of trouble in the future. You have already received a deal of help, including more recently from the Mental Illness Fellowship Victoria, and in particular from Ms Hare, who gave evidence earlier today, she being the West Day Program Coordinator for that organisation. I understand that it is expected that she will remain involved in assisting you in your access to various programs designed to help you stay out of trouble in the future, and help you to lead a more settled and productive life.
7 I indicated earlier today that I was contemplating placing you on a community correction order, and that the conditions of that order be such that an assessment report was required. That process was undertaken during the course of the afternoon, and I am now in the possession of a report dated today's date, which I note indicates that you are assessed as having a high risk of re-offending. I hope that that risk will be significantly modified by your involvement in the further treatment programs designed to help you through your problems that will be available to you, and which will be regulated to some extent now by the Department of Corrections.
8 The order that I have in mind to impose would run for a period of two years from today, and would involve a number of conditions. Firstly, that you must not commit an offence punishable by imprisonment in Victoria or elsewhere, secondly, you must report to and receive visits from the Secretary of the Department of Corrections during the period of the order, thirdly, that you must report to the Community Corrections Centre specified in the order, which would be the Werribee Community Correctional Services Centre at Watton Street in Werribee, and you must do that within two clear days after the order comes into force. In other words, by about Tuesday of next week, I think. You must notify the Secretary of any change of address or employment within two clear working days after the change, and must not leave Victoria, except with the permission, either generally or in relation to a particular case, of the Secretary, and you must comply with any direction given to you by the Secretary that is necessary for the Secretary to give you to ensure that you comply with the order.
9 I would have in mind, in addition to those conditions, imposing a condition that you be under the supervision of the Secretary of the Community Corrections Department, and also that there be a treatment and rehabilitation requirement which would require you to submit to assessment and treatment for drug abuse dependency, as directed, assessment and treatment including testing for alcohol abuse dependency, as directed, for mental health assessment and treatment, as directed, and for offending behaviours programs, as directed.
10 Those are all conditions that I would have in mind to place in an order. If you were to breach the order you would be committing an offence and maybe the subject of punishment for that.
11 Are you willing to be placed on an order with those sorts of conditions?
12 PRISONER: Yes.
13 HIS HONOUR: You are, all right. I take I that you have already explained the effect of the order and the kind of conditions?
14 MS LYNCH: Yes, but I will restate that to him.
15 HIS HONOUR: Yes, all right.
16 MS LYNCH: (Indistinct).
17 HIS HONOUR: Yes, all right. In that case I propose to make an order with a condition that your client be under the supervision of the Secretary of the Department of Corrections and those various treatments and rehabilitation orders that are set out in the assessment report that I have referred to already.
18 Would you please stand, therefore. For the three offences on the indictment to which you have pleaded guilty, being two armed robberies and one offence of attempted armed robbery, I convict you on each of those charges and I sentence you to a community corrections order for a period of two years, with the terms and conditions that I have already outlined to you. All right?
19 PRISONER: Yes.
20 HIS HONOUR: In relation to the related summary offence, I convict you and I impose no further penalty. You are discharged pursuant to s.73 of the Sentencing Act. There is no further penalty or order in respect of that particular matter. Do you understand?
21 PRISONER: Yes.
22 HIS HONOUR: Now, obviously the order will have to be drawn up and signed. You can sit down now, Mr Marsh.
23 There was a disposal order, was not there?
24 MS BURNETT: Yes, Your Honour. Also the s.464ZF(2) order.
25 HIS HONOUR: Yes. Did you give me drafts of those or not?
26 MS BURNETT: I need to make arrangements for my instructor to email those to Your Honour's associate.
27 HIS HONOUR: Yes, all right. Well look, they are not opposed, so you can take it that I will make those orders.
28 MS BURNETT: Thank you, Your Honour. I take it that the order relating to the forensic sample would require the offender to attend the police station for the purpose of providing that sample within a period of 28 days; is that right?
29 MS BURNETT: That's right, Your Honour.
30 HIS HONOUR: Which police station would it be? Would it be Werribee Police Station?
31 MS LYNCH: (Indistinct) Werribee Police Station would be the closest.
32 HIS HONOUR: In due course I am going to make an order that you provide a forensic sample, and for that purpose that you attend the Werribee Police Station at some stage in the next 28 days; all right?
33 PRISONER: Yes.
34 HIS HONOUR: Taking the forensic sample ordinarily would require you to provide a scraping from the inside of your mouth; all right?
35 PRISONER: Yes.
36 HIS HONOUR: They give you a little cotton bud, or something, to scrape the inside of your mouth; all right?
37 PRISONER: Yes.
38 HIS HONOUR: Now, if you fail or refuse to cooperate when asked to provide that sample, the officer, police officer, who is seeking to have the sample taken is authorised to obtain a blood sample in substitution; do you follow?
39 PRISONER: Yes.
40 HIS HONOUR: And would be able to use such force as is reasonable in order to obtain that sample. Now, I am quite sure you will cooperate and it will not be necessary for that kind of thing to occur, but nevertheless I have to warn you of that possibility and the legal right to obtain the sample in these circumstances. Do you follow:
41 PRISONER: Yes.
42 HIS HONOUR: I will sign those two orders in due course.
43 MS BURNETT: Thank you, Your Honour.
44 HIS HONOUR: We will just wait for the order to be drawn up.
45 MS BURNETT: 6AAA.
46 HIS HONOUR: Yes, yes. I should have indicated that I take into account your plea of guilty, and had you pleaded not guilty and been found guilty I would have attached another condition to the community correction order that you undergo 100 hours of unpaid community work if you had been pleaded not guilty and been found guilty. Do you follow?
47 PRISONER: Yes.
48 HIS HONOUR: Ms Lynch, do you want to just check the order yourself and make sure it is in the correct terms?
49 MS LYNCH: Do you want me to attend the dock?
50 HIS HONOUR: I think I have got a spare copy here for you, but you can attend the dock just to make sure your client - he is just about to sign it anyway.
51 I have made that order. Mr Marsh, you may leave the dock.
(Prisoner leaves dock.)
52 Thank you, Custody Officer.
53 MS LYNCH: (Indistinct) The address that is on there, the Evans Street address is the old address (indistinct). Is that going to cause a problem?
54 HIS HONOUR: Yes, I think it does. I think we need to amend that.
55 MS LYNCH: Your Honour, if I could indicate that the address is different again. He's slowly moving into another address which is going to be his permanent address.
56 HIS HONOUR: Yes.
57 MS LYNCH: The person who was mentioned (indistinct) - - -
58 HIS HONOUR: T-a-s?
59 MS LYNCH: Then m-a-n - Avenue in Deer Park.
60 HIS HONOUR: Deer Park. And do you have a postcode?
61 MS LYNCH: 3023.
62 HIS HONOUR: Thank you. We will do an amended order now. I think we will destroy the two copies of the old order, otherwise we will be confused. Have we got the signed order, have we? Presumably we have. Yes, thank you for pointing that out, Ms Lynch.
- - -
0
0
0