Director of Public Prosecutions v Nicholas Williams

[2015] VCC 904

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

AT MELBOURNE

CRIMINAL DIVISION

Case No. CR-15-00598

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

NICHOLAS JOHN WILLIAMS

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JUDGE:	HIS HONOUR JUDGE PUNSHON
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:	29 June 2015
DATE OF SENTENCE:	30 June 2015
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Nicholas Williams
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2015] VCC 904

REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject:  
Catchwords:            
Legislation Cited:     
Cases Cited:            
Sentence:                 

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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the DPP	Ms R. Harper	OPP Victoria
For the Accused	Mr C. McLennan	McLennan Lawyers

HIS HONOUR:

1       Nicholas John Williams you have pleaded guilty to one charge of armed robbery.

2       The prosecutor, Ms Harper, opened the circumstances of the offending by reading from a written "Prosecution Plea Opening" which was tendered.

3       

On New Year’s Day this year you entered a money exchange business in Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, pointed a steak knife at a vulnerable female employee and demanded money.  Some of the circumstances are a little bizarre, for example, you demanded the precise sum of $2,000, although you ultimately took about $2,500.  Although you wore a hat for disguise, you were captured on CCTV and later identified and subsequently arrested on

16 January at your parent’s home.

4       You made full admissions to police when interviewed.  You spent the money on heroin and gave some to homeless people.

5       The victim declined to make a victim impact statement, but the probable impact is obvious.

6       You pleaded guilty at the first reasonable opportunity and must benefit for doing so.

7       You were born in Adelaide and came to Melbourne with your parents when aged about 13.  You completed Year 11 at school and undertook and completed an apprenticeship in aviation engineering.  There has been considerable tragedy in your family, with two of your siblings being seriously injured in motor vehicle accidents in 1988 and 2010, and a third being killed, along with his girlfriend, in a motor vehicle accident in 1989.

8       You used cannabis from an early age, but importantly you have used heroin since your early 20s.  This was described by your counsel as your "essential problem".

9       

You have just turned 40 and have an extensive criminal history, dating back to 2000.  Your criminal history includes some violent offending, as well as dishonesty and other matters.  You have spent time in prison and you told me that the longest term was for 15 months.  In 2013 you were sentenced to

12 months' imprisonment, with a non-parole period of six months.  Your counsel stated that you were released in October last year, without ongoing supervision.  You lived in a caravan park and things seemed to be going well until you declined around Christmas time.

10      The motivation for your offending seems mixed.  Your doctor was away and you were unable to get medication.  You took Valium from your sister.  You needed money for heroin.  You also suffer mental state problems which were addressed in a psychiatric report from Professor Andrew Carroll.

11      You seem to have an abnormal set of beliefs towards the ABC and Triple J, in particular.  This concerns what you see as the exploitation of an idea you developed to use listener text messages in broadcasting.  Professor Carroll described this as a delusional system which has gradually diminished since incarceration.  You lack insight into the deleterious effects of illicit drugs on your mental health.

12      You seem to be making the best of your time in prison and are optimistic that you will be able to find work as a truck driver when released.  You are on a methadone program in gaol, as you have been in the past whilst in the community over the years.  Professor Carroll noted that there was nothing to suggest your psychiatric issues are making imprisonment more difficult for you, or that imprisonment will have an adverse effect on your mental health. You do require mental health treatment, as well as drug treatment and it seems you would be eligible for a Disability Support Pension in the community because of your mental illness.

13      You told Professor Carroll that part of the reason for committing the armed robbery was due to anger at the ABC for failing to give you tickets to a concert, to which you felt entitled because of contributions made by you to the organisation.  You said you were angry because your medication, Avanza, was stopped and you were not receiving methadone.  Accordingly, you told Professor Carroll, you decided to put yourself back in prison.  In your interview with police, you emphasised what you saw as mistreatment by Triple J.

14      Professor Carroll noted the deterioration in your "psychosocial functioning" over time, as well as your diminishing "delusional disorder" concerning your "exploitation" by Triple J Radio.  He thought you have a "chronic psychotic disorder", existing independently of drugs and he could not rule out that you may be suffering with chronic schizophrenia.

15      He thought your delusional disorder moderately impaired your mental capacity and functioning at the time of the armed robbery.  He thought your reasoning and judgement at the time of the armed robbery were clearly influenced by your "delusional system" and contributed significantly to your offending.

16      I propose to mitigate punishment because of your mental state problems.

17      At the conclusion of plea submissions, I indicated that it was likely I would impose a sentence of imprisonment and fix a non-parole period, rather than a term of imprisonment coupled with a community corrections order.  (CCO) Nevertheless, I had you assessed for suitability for release on a CCO.  Despite breaching all previous orders with CCS, as well as breaching a combined custody and treatment order, and having your parole cancelled in 2008 and 2009, you were assessed as suitable.

18      

In the end I have determined that a sentence of imprisonment with a

non-parole period is appropriate.

19      

On the charge of armed robbery, you will be convicted and sentenced to

33 months' imprisonment.  I fix 18 months as the period you must serve before being eligible for release on parole.

20      I think you will need supervision and support on release from prison.   

21      You have served 165 days in pre-sentence detention.  This time is to be reckoned as time already served under the sentence I have imposed.

22      

Had you not pleaded guilty, I expect I would have sentenced you to about

42 months' imprisonment, with a non-parole period of at least 27 months.

23      MS HARPER:  As Your Honour pleases.

24      HIS HONOUR:  Is there anything that I have overlooked or needs correcting that counsel can identify?

25      MS HARPER:  No, Your Honour. 

26      MR McLENNAN:  No, Your Honour.

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