Director of Public Prosecutions v Parsons

[2016] VCC 732

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

AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

CR-16-00376

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

JAYMI PARSONS

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JUDGE:	HIS HONOUR JUDGE MULLALY
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:	27 May 2016
DATE OF SENTENCE:	27 May 2016
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Parsons
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2016] VCC 732

REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject:
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Cases Cited:
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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the Director of Public Prosecutions	Ms M. Mahady
For the Offender	Mr P. Skenah

HIS HONOUR: 

1Jaymi Parsons, you have pleaded guilty to one charge of armed robbery.  This crime was committed with a young co-accused, Clare Nichol.  On 10 March 2016 I sentenced Clare Nichol.  I refer to, indeed repeat much of what I said in the first part of my sentencing remarks, that is the part that sets out the circumstances of the offence and my assessment of the gravity of what you did.

2In the early hours of 13 December 2015, you and your co-accused were together in Corio.  You called a taxi with the intent to rob the driver.  You got into the back seat behind the driver and Ms Nichol got into the front beside him.  As soon as you were in the taxi, you grabbed the driver around the neck, holding a knife to his throat.  You demanded the driver's money, a wallet and money.  Ms Nichol grabbed the driver's wallet and sunglasses from the console. 

3The driver fought back, grabbing and biting your arm, causing you to drop the knife.  The two of you jumped out of the taxi and ran to a nearby car that had no number plates on it.  You drove the car with the brave taxi driver following.  He was informing his base where you were driving, as it unfolded.

4The car drove a considerable distance from Corio to Herne Hill.  At the intersection of McCurdy Road and Autumn Street, you lost control of the car and hit a pole.  You both, that is you and Ms Nichol, both got out of the car.  The driver of the taxi approached your car demanding his money and property.  You threw the money at him.  He retrieved all his stolen property.  The police arrived shortly after and you were arrested and conveyed to hospital for treatment.

5This is a brief description of the facts and it reveals the dangers of this whole escapade.  The driver had a knife to his neck.  The struggle he put up in those circumstances could have caused any manner of serious injury.  The collision with the pole reveals that serious injury or even death was avoided more by luck than anything else. 

6This is a serious example of armed robbery.  The taxi driver was a vulnerable victim.  The courts must stand firm in protecting those such as taxi drivers who must necessarily have cash on them.  The courts must protect them from knife wielding armed robbers seeking their money for drugs.

7Both you and Ms Nichol were at the time heavy users of that dreadful drug, ice.  Your addiction to drugs is no excuse, but it gives an explanation of the depths that you had got to.  The armed robbery was violent with a knife held to the driver's throat.  The fear engendered can only be imagined.  Additionally, you acted in company, that is with Ms Nichol.  The call to the taxi in the early hours and circumstances where you had a getaway car at the ready and the fact that the attack commenced immediately makes it plain that you had planned this armed robbery.

8Ms Parsons, you are only 22 years old.  Your troubled upbringing was detailed to Ms Lechner, a medico legal psychologist, who provided a report to me.  As a child you were exposed to and experienced violence perpetrated by your mother's partners on your mother, on your siblings and yourself.  There were matters referred to in Ms Lechner's report relating to sexual assault that I take into account.  Your mother was much troubled by drug addiction and excessive abuse of alcohol. 

9Your family life, as that term is generally known and cherished by members of our community, was completely unknown to you.  There was little or no attention paid to your education or generally to your welfare.  You placed under State care from time to time.  You have many half siblings.  Despite all, you have kept in contact with three of them.  They are still in contact with you and you will re-engage with them in Colac or Geelong when you are released.

10You were given alcohol when just a teenager and encouraged to drink and use cannabis by your mother, with whom you shared those activities.  You took up using ice at 18 and abused prescription medications and other illicit drugs in the past. 

11Surprisingly, but positively, you have had only two appearances at the Children's Court, both of which were back in 2009, some years ago, which resulted in non-conviction probation and supervision over a 12 month period.  There is a later matter in 2015 which is before the Magistrates' Court, but that is something I need to speak about in more detail and I will so shortly.

12In late 2009 you were seen by the well-known psychiatrist, Dr Walton.  He wrote the following in his of report of 23 September 2009, which I was provided by your lawyers.  Under the heading of "Opinion" he wrote:  "By any sensible standard, Jaymi Kennedy (Parsons) has had a chaotic upbringing and I believe that it has left her psychologically damaged, most particularly because of the violence and sexual abuse.  The indications are that she has a core disturbance of development of self and identity and she is likely to experience difficulties in the borderline personality disorder cluster of traits as an adult.  There is already an established history of troublesome mood disturbances, self-mutilation, relationship difficulties, academic under-performance and poly substance abuse.  It is noteworthy that specific antisocial behaviour has been a relatively recently arising phenomena."

13Around this time, when you were about 16, you commenced a relationship with a man five years older.  He was a violent man and it seems you became unfortunately used to the pattern of physical and psychological abuse, or domestic violence.  You would then make up with him.  When you were just 17 you had your first child. 

14You formed another relationship about, it seems to me, 12-18 months ago.  The man was also violent but you were attached to him.  You had another child who is just over 12 months old.  That gentleman was imprisoned in 2015.  He prevailed upon you to take drugs into the prison.  I take it you had very little choice.  You did this, but to your utter horror he died of an overdose while in prison when the balloon containing the drugs burst in his stomach, he having swallowed it.  You were devastated at his death and the role that you played.  You could not cope and took to using ice again at dangerous levels.  You relinquished the care of your children to a family member of your deceased partner.  Your life was out of control and in all this chaos you committed this armed robbery to get money to pay debts or get further drugs.

15You now are in custody and have been there in two stints for 141 days.

16Ms Lechner saw you in prison and she wrote the following:  She said, calling you Ms Kennedy, "Ms Kennedy was polite, pleasant, co-operative at interview.  She was keen to tell her story.  Her effect was appropriate to the matter in hand and mood lowered with you showing evidence of a range of symptoms of major depression."

17You stated that you constantly think of suicide and attempted to take your life as a teenager by way of overdose.  "She also engaged in self harm.  She informed me that she had previously seen Dr Walton, psychiatrist, who she said diagnosed anxiety and borderline personality disorder."

18I just pause to say that Dr Walton did not diagnose borderline personality disorder given your age, but he indicated there was risks in that domain.  "There was no evidence," Ms Lechner went on, "no evidence of disordered thought in formal content, although she became very paranoid when using ice."  She went on:  "She has been exposed to multiple traumas and suffers symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.  She has been especially depressed since the death of her partner last year, this marking a deterioration in her functioning and escalation of her drug use."

19She further wrote that you presented with a number of problems with the use of stimulants and cannabis, major depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and features of borderline personality disorder.  She wrote:  "She emanates from a most disturbed background characterised by abuse and neglect.  This has undermined her subsequent vocational, social and emotional development.  She has become significantly destabilised after the death of her partner in June 2015.  This marked a deterioration in her mood and escalation of drug use.  She will require intense community support and supervision when released into community."  A sentiment I endorse.

20She went on, you present as cognitively, socially and emotionally immature with limited capacity to reflect on the impact of your behaviour on others and yourself.  "Whilst able to identify triggers to her negative feelings, she has learned to manage internal distress with drug use since an early age.  She is currently exhibiting symptoms of major depression with a score in the extreme range of Beck depression inventory.  She reports chronic suicidal ideation with at least one suicide attempt and engages in self-harm."

21You are still a young and especially immature woman.  Even though your crime was a serious one, the principles articulated in relation to young offenders in the cases of Azzopardi and Mills must be applied, so I will give greater weight to your rehabilitation and less to denunciation and general deterrence.  That said though sentencing considerations are not eliminated.

22Your co-accused, Ms Nichol, was eligible for youth detention.  Oddly, she was resistant to that wanting to remain in adult prison with you.  I imposed eight months of youth detention.  I must keep in mind parity, though you are not able to serve a sentence in the youth justice centre yourself.

23Your role in the crime was, it seems, more dominant and the more violent one.  You have more prior offending than your co-accused and your history does include the recent offences relating to taking drugs into the prison, but I stress I do not overstate these matters which in respect of the Children's Court in particular are now old.

24Your counsel urged that I impose a combined community corrections order and imprisonment.  The prosecution did not argue otherwise.

25In coming to a conclusion about this matter I have carefully applied the guidelines expressed by the Court of Appeal in the important decision of Boulton v The Queen.  I do intend to impose a sentence of imprisonment and a community corrections order.  I am of the view that there is no other course but to satisfy important sentencing purposes such as punishment, denunciation and a measure of deterrence, otherwise than imposing some imprisonment, though it will be as moderate as I can make it.

26I intend to add to it a community corrections order because in my view this will best enhance your prospects of reform, thus I am meeting the requirement of the Sentencing Act as best I can to establish conditions that facilitate rehabilitation.  I do not intend to add any work component in the community corrections order.  Having read the community corrections recommendation, I have considered, with the assistance of your counsel and you providing instructions, that it may be best to return to the Colac-Geelong area, re-engage with your family before embarking upon any intense community rehabilitation, either rehabilitation in a residential drug facility.  There is much to be said for that, but I do not think it is appropriate for you in all the circumstances.

27I have kept the community corrections order length of it to the absolute minimum so as to achieve more parity, or to achieve or underline the importance of parity with your co-accused, but I also keep in mind I must allow time for the programs to work.

28Giving appropriate weight to all relevant sentencing considerations, in my view the just and appropriate sentence for the crime of armed robbery is a sentence of eight months' imprisonment.  In addition, I impose a community corrections order of 12 months' duration.

29The conditions that will apply to the community corrections order relate to treatment for your mental health problems, your drug problems and programs to reduce your re-offending.  I also consider you should be under the supervision of Office of Corrections.  I considered whether there ought be judicial monitoring and I have decided in the end that you will be, with the assistance of many social workers, experts, endeavouring to assist you in reuniting with your children and dealing with your drug problems that it is best left to them.  I will not require you to return back to me just to tell you how you are going.  If you are not going well the Office of Corrections will bring the matter back before me and the mercy that I have shown will not be repeated.

30The parity issue, that is the equality between you and Clare Nichol will fall right away and I will just re-sentence you for this offence, in all likelihood just simply returning you back to waste more of your young life in prison.  Do you follow?

31OFFENDER:  Yes, Your Honour.

32HIS HONOUR:  What has to happen is a document will be produced and if you sign it, I will sign it, you will return to do the remainder of your sentence and on your release you have to undertake the community corrections order.

33I declare that you have served 96 days of the sentence that I have just imposed.  I will ensure that this declaration is entered into the records of the court so the prison authorities are left in no doubt that you have done 96 days of this sentence I have just imposed.  I have not ignored the fact that you have been in prison for longer, but were sentenced by a magistrate and that has been taken into account in general totality.

34There was an order that I signed relating to the disposal of items. 

35The prosecution is also seeking that you provide a forensic sample of a scraping from your mouth.  I intend to grant that order due to the seriousness of the offending, prior matters and it is in the interests of justice that you provide a forensic sample.

36MS MAHADY:  A 6AAA, Your Honour.

37HIS HONOUR:  Thank you.  Had you pleaded not guilty to the matters and been found guilty of them, I would have imposed a sentence of imprisonment of
16 months combined with a two year community corrections order.

38MS MAHADY:  As Your Honour pleases.

39MR SKEHAN:  If Your Honour pleases.

40HIS HONOUR:  Just in passing, Mr Skehan, I do not now that upon just a further glance at Foundation 61, I am not sure it is available for women?

41MR SKEHAN:  I will make my own enquiries and I will pass them on to Jaymi.

42HIS HONOUR:  It is a matter ultimately for her and the Office of Corrections and whatever, but she is someone who needs a hand.

43MR SKEHAN:  Yes, sir.

44HIS HONOUR:  Ms Parsons, the community corrections order is for 12 months and it will be upon completion of your period of imprisonment.  The conditions that apply to everyone on a community corrections order are these.  You must not commit another offence for which you would be imprisoned during the time that the order is in force, so you cannot commit another crime.  Everything you can imagine is punishable by imprisonment, whether the magistrate gives that, but almost everything.  The way through it is do not commit any further offences.  Do not buy drugs, that would get you in trouble.  Do not have them in any quantities.

45You must comply with any obligation or requirement under the sentencing regulations.  That will be things like they want to take a photograph of you so they know who you are when you turn up and all the rest of it.  You have just got to do what they say.  You must report to and receive visits from the Office of Corrections.  You must report to the Community Corrections Centre within two clear working days of the order starting.  That is in Geelong.  That is at the Geelong Community Correctional Services in the State Offices in Little Malop Street there.

46You must let the Community Corrections Officers know within two clear working days if you change your address or your job.  If you go to this North Geelong place, or if you go with your brothers down in Colac, just let them know where you are.  You must not leave Victoria without first getting permission to do so and you must obey all lawful instructions and directions from them.  So that applies to everyone, those conditions, and they apply to you.

47Further, and specific to you, you must be under the supervision of a Community Corrections Officer for 12 months.  You must undergo assessment and treatment for drug abuse and dependency as directed by them.  You must undergo any mental health assessments and treatment that they direct you to do and you must participate in programs and courses that address factors relating to your offending, like you have done already at the prison.  There might be others.

48If you sign this, after you have completed your sentence in prison, you will start this and it brings the matter to an end, but be assured that if you do not comply with these conditions once you are on your community corrections order that will see you brought back before me and, as I have indicated, you are likely to go back to prison.  Because as best I can make it clear to you, the sentences that I have imposed upon Ms Nichol and you for this crime are as merciful as any can be.  Had you been slightly older, in different family circumstances, we would be looking at four years with a minimum of two, that sort of thing.  So eight months, do not come back.  Look after your children as best you can.  There are places down in Geelong that might know - and in Colac that are dedicated to helping mothers re-engage with their children and parent them as you were not, do you follow?

49OFFENDER:  Yes, Your Honour.

50HIS HONOUR:  Especially at Bethany, try that.

51In relation to this forensic sample, when the authorities come to take the sample, if you do not co-operate they are authorised to use reasonable force to get the sample, so the way through that is to co-operate.  Do you understand that?

52OFFENDER:  Yes, Your Honour.

53HIS HONOUR:  Thank you.  Mr Skehan, if she would sign that, then that will deal with that.  Sorry, we have got to do something.

54MR SKEHAN:  As Your Honour please.  While I am up here, Your Honour, might I be excused.

55HIS HONOUR:  Absolutely.  Someone has got to give it to you.  We will either walk it down, you walk it up, we are not making it into a paper jet and throwing it to you.  Mr Skehan, here it is.

56HIS HONOUR:  All right, you have signed that, so have I.  You will get a copy.  Mr Skehan, when you were down there, you just provided her with your card or another card to help her through.

57MR SKEHAN:  My card, yes.

58HIS HONOUR:  All right.  Will that be all right?

59OFFENDER:  Yes, Your Honour.

60HIS HONOUR:  All right.  She will not be questioned about why she has got something she did not have when she walked out?

61VOICE (from body of court):  No.

62HIS HONOUR:  Excellent.  Thank you.  Thank you, Mr Skehan.

63MR SKEHAN:  Sir.

64HIS HONOUR:  If there is nothing further.  Next time I will see you, Mr Skehan, on time.

65MR SKEHAN:  It will be timely, Your Honour, and I apologise.

66HIS HONOUR:  I will have all the material well in advance.

67MR SKEHAN:  You will, sir.

68HIS HONOUR:  I will not have to rush things.

69MR SKEHAN:  Yes, sir.  I take on board what Your Honour says.

70HIS HONOUR:  Thank you.  Thank you for your assistance, Ms Mahady.  Thank you, 2.15.

71(Community corrections order signed and acknowledged.)

72(Disposal order signed and acknowledged.)

73(Section 464ZF order signed and acknowledged.)

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