Director of Public Prosecutions v Negash

[2019] VCC 1811

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

AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

CR 19-01375

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

ABRAHAM NEGASH

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JUDGE:	HIS HONOUR JUDGE DEAN
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:	1 November 2019
DATE OF SENTENCE:	6 November 2019
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Negash
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2019] VCC 1811

REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject:

Catchwords:  Armed robbery; Large kitchen knife; Protection of the community; Youthful offender; No prior convictions; Good prospects of rehabilitation

Legislation Cited:
Cases Cited:
Sentence:

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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the Director of Public Prosecutions	Ms L. Dawson	Office of Public Prosecutions
For the Accused	Ms K. Rolfe	Patrick W. Dwyer

HIS HONOUR:

1Abraham Negash, you have pleaded guilty to one charge of armed robbery, contrary to s.75A of the Crimes Act 1958. The maximum penalty for that offence is 25 years imprisonment.

2You pleaded guilty at committal mention, and I have taken your early plea into account in your favour in mitigation of sentence. 

3You have no prior convictions, subsequent convictions or outstanding charges.

4A prosecution opening was read to the court and tendered in evidence, and your offending may be summarised as follows –

5On 9 April 2019, at approximately 8.40 pm, whilst armed with a large kitchen knife, you confronted the 24-year-old victim of your offending in Scotsburn Grove, Werribee, shortly after he had alighted from a train.  You asked him for the time and after he took his mobile phone from his pocket, you demanded it from him, and you also demanded that he give you a set of headphones that he was wearing.  You then fled in the direction of the nearby railway station. 

6Using the 'Find My iPhone' application on the phone, police ultimately executed a search warrant at your home in Wyndham Vale on 15 April 2019.  The headphones were located by the investigators, but not the iPhone, and you have not provided any explanation to the court as to its whereabouts. 

7You made no comment to questions put to you by police and were changed and then remanded in custody.  You served 29 days in prison prior to your release on bail on 14 May 2019, and I accept that that time in prison was a difficult experience for you. 

8The sentence I impose must be calculated to deter others from offending in this way, and the community protected from violence of this nature.  Persons are entitled to safely use public places, free from attacks upon them, which are all too prevalent. 

9It is clear that your offending also involved a degree of premeditation, as you were carrying a knife with you.  Your offending was carried out in a determined manner and you must be punished for what you did. 

10The victim has not submitted a Victim Impact Statement to the court, but in all probability, he would have suffered distress and trauma by reason of what you did. 

11I now turn to your personal circumstances. 

12You are of Ethiopian origin and were born in a refugee camp in Kenya on 21 October 1995.  You are now 23 years old, and so are a youthful first offender.  Your family migrated to Australia as refugees in 2004 when you were nine, and so the first nine years of your life were spent in the refugee camp.  You are the second eldest of six children.  Two of your siblings suffer from cerebral palsy and you are frequently involved in their care. 

13Your family have settled well into Australia, and I have received in evidence a report from the Zetseat Ethiopian Evangelical Church, detailing your family's role in that community. 

14You completed Year 12 at Sunshine Secondary College, and you are currently undertaking a double bachelor degree in psychology and business at Victoria University.  It is clear from your educational achievements that you have the potential to make a positive contribution to the Ethiopian community and, indeed, to the wider community as a whole. 

15I have received in evidence a psychological report of Ms Gina Cidoni, a consulting psychologist, setting out your background and psychological profile and history.  I accept that you suffer from a range of conditions, no doubt originating in your disrupted childhood and background, and compounded by the presence of the pressure on your family caused by your sibling's disabilities. 

16You are current seeing a psychologist, Maria Segura, at Western Health in relation to substance abuse, an adjustment disorder and depression.  I am satisfied that your conditions have impaired your impulse control, and it was in this context that your offending occurred.  I also accept that you require ongoing treatment and support for your psychological conditions, and that your future rehabilitation is dependent upon this.

17With that support and improved insight into the seriousness of what you have done, your prospects for rehabilitation may properly be described as good.  For these reasons, I had you assessed for suitability for a Community Correction Order, and I have received a report from Corrections Victoria setting out your suitability and detailing the conditions that they regard as appropriate in your case. 

18Your counsel also submitted that in the circumstances of your case, that I should not record a conviction against you.  Whilst it is plain that your offending is very serious, the factors relied upon by you in mitigation, and the overall desirability of the court supporting your rehabilitation has led me to the conclusion that it is appropriate for me not to record a conviction in your case. 

19In the result, the sentence of the court is as follows – 

20In relation to the charge of armed robbery, you are placed on a Community Correction Order for a period of two years without conviction on the core conditions provided for in the Sentencing Act. 

21I further order that the following conditions apply during the period of the order, you undertake treatment and rehabilitation for drug addiction, you undertake treatment and rehabilitation for alcohol abuse, you undertake treatment and rehabilitation into your mental health, and that you be under the supervision of Corrections officer for the period of the order. 

22Do you agree to enter into a Community Correction Order on those conditions?

23OFFENDER:  Yes.

24HIS HONOUR:  All right, thank you.

25HIS HONOUR:  All right, I will sign the disposal order in chambers.

26MS MELLIOS:  Your Honour, there was also a forensic procedure order sought by the Crown as well.

27HIS HONOUR:  I see. 

28HIS HONOUR:  Right.  Is that opposed?

29MS ROLFE:  It is not opposed, Your Honour.

30HIS HONOUR:  All right, I will make that order. 

31MS MELLIOS:  As Your Honour pleases.

32HIS HONOUR:  I will make that in chambers as well.

33MS MELLIOS:  As Your Honour pleases.

34HIS HONOUR:  Mr Negash, the prosecution have also sought what is called a forensic sample order, which is not opposed.  My associate will provide you with a list of the police stations that you can attend for the purposes of providing that sample, all right?  My associate will explain all that to you.  All right.

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