Director of Public Prosecutions v Polos, Khoshoba and Younan
[2013] VCC 2098
•24 April 2013
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA | Revised Not Restricted Suitable for Publication |
AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL DIVISION
Case No. CR-11-02239
CR-13-00527
CR-11-02241
CR-11-02240
CR-13-00534
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| v |
| RAYAN POLOS |
| LAWRENCE KHOSHABA |
| AMEER YOUNAN |
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JUDGE: | HER HONOUR JUDGE HAMPEL | |
WHERE HELD: | Melbourne | |
DATE OF HEARING: | 26 March 2013 | |
DATE OF SENTENCE: | 24 April 2013 | |
CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | DPP v Polos, Khoshoba & Younan | |
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2013] VCC 2098 | |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the DPP | Mr N. Hutton | DPP |
| For the Accused | Mr G. Traczyk (Polos) Mr L. Barker (Khoshaba) | Cameron Marshall & Associates Doogue & O’Brien Garde Wilson Lawyers |
HER HONOUR:
1 In January this year, each of you, Rayan Polos, Lawrence Khoshaba and Ameer Younan were due to face trial on six charges of armed robbery, and other related charges. Following 18 days of pre trial argument, the prosecution has now accepted guilty pleas from each of you to one or more of those armed robberies, in resolution of all charges originally laid in respect of the six armed robberies.
2 Ameer Younan, you have now pleaded guilty to committing four armed robberies between 7 December 2010 and 15 February 2011, namely armed robberies of the Taylors Lakes Hotel on 7 December, the Epping RSL on 9 December, the Kealba Hotel on 21 December, and at the Bundoora Hotel on 15 February.
3 Rayan Polos, you have now pleaded guilty to committing three of those armed robberies between 9 December 2010 and 15 February 2011, namely the Epping RSL on 9 December, the Kealba Hotel on 21 December, and at the Bundoora Hotel on 15 February.
4 Lawrence Khoshaba, you have now pleaded guilty to committing one armed robbery, the last of the four, at the Bundoora Hotel on 15 February 2011.
5 Just weeks before your trial on the six armed robbery charges was due to begin, in late January 2013, and whilst on bail for these and other armed robbery charges, each of you Younan and Polos were charged with committing a further armed robbery. As a result, and following the resolution of the charges concerning the six armed robberies in the manner I have detailed: you, Rayan Polos have now pleaded guilty to a further charge of armed robbery, on 8 January 2013, and associated charges of being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm, and using a firearm to resist arrest; and you, Ameer Younan have pleaded guilty to a further charge of armed robbery committed on 8 January 2013, and associated charges of common assault, reckless conduct endangering serious injury, and using a firearm to prevent or resist arrest.
6 All of the armed robberies were committed on licensed gaming venues. Patrons and staff were present on each occasion. On each occasion three men, that is on each occasion but for the last, the Dorset Gardens where there were two men, so on each occasion two or three men wearing gloves and with their heads and faces carefully covered, entered the gaming venues. On each occasion at least one was armed with a firearm. On some occasions there were two firearms used. On each occasion other weapons were also used. They varied, and included a bar, like a crowbar, knives and screwdrivers. On each occasion patrons were made to lie on the ground, and at least one of the assailants would keep guard over them at all times. On each occasion one or more of the assailants went behind the counter, helped themselves to what money was readily accessible, and directed staff, usually at gunpoint, to show them where the bulk of the money was. Staff were directed at gunpoint, or by some other weapon, then to go to the secure areas where the safes were, and to open the safes. On some occasions, when told there was a time delay on a safe, the assailants directed the staff to open the safe anyway, and kept them under guard until the time elapsed for the safe to open..
7 Substantial amounts of cash were obtained:
· from the Taylors lakes hotel on 7 December, (a charge concerning Younan only), $61,751.85;
· from the Epping RSL two days later, on 9 December, a charge concerning Polos and Younan, $16,632.37;
· from the Kealba Hotel on 21 December 2010, again a charge concerning Polos and Younan, $73,403.35; and
· from the Bundoora Hotel on 15 February, $17,750, and an unspecified quantity of TAB receipts was stolen. On that occasion, the three of you had to flee when you were interrupted whilst awaiting for the time delay on the safe to expire. Much of the money taken from the Bundoora Hotel armed robbery was recovered when Polos and Younan were arrested soon after.
· $8,438.50 was obtained from the Dorset Gardens Hotel, on 8 January 2013. Again, you fled before the time delay on the safe had elapsed. This money too, was recovered.
8 Younan’s DNA was identified on a glove dropped by him during the Epping RSL armed robbery. As a result, soon all three of you were under surveillance. The surveillance showed the level of planning that each of you was engaged in. you each took active steps to avoid surveillance. You each had mobile phones registered in names other than your own, and at addresses which were not your own. Although the phones were turned off during the armed robberies, so ensuring cell tower signals would not reveal where you were, this was uncharacteristic conduct in respect of your use of your mobile phones. You were at all other times active users of your phones. You would park around the corner from your homes, wheel cars down the street before driving off, and were seen to make careful checks at various places for police presence. You were adept at hiding guns, other weapons and clothing in various locations, at times dumping them in places you had no connection with if you thought you were under surveillance or being pursued, and returning later to retrieve them from places such as rooftops, over fences and down drains. You carried out careful and thorough reconnaissance of potential targets and getaway routes.
9 In the course of the Bundoora Hotel armed robbery in February 2011, a police van arrived and the three of you fled on foot, leaving behind the stolen getaway car you had left facing the exit with the engine running.
10 You, Polos, were seen some hours later, looking to see if your co offenders had returned to the place where you had left the second getaway car, you were seen driving slowly past the Bundoora Hotel and seen retrieving items which had apparently been dumped during the escape, and stowing some of those retrieved items down a drain. Although there was no phone contact between any of you after the armed robbery and before the arrest, it would appear that you, Polos, knew where to look for your co-offenders. You and Younan met up a short time later in a car park not far from the Bundoora Hotel. Apparently unaware that your movements had been tracked, you were surprised by the sudden appearance of SOG members. You each tried to escape, but were unsuccessful. When arrested, the money stolen from the hotel was in your possession, and Younan’s clothing was wet. It appeared he had been hiding in a drain.
11 On arrest Younan nominated Khoshaba as the third assailant. Otherwise each of you made “no comment” interviews. When arrested, you, Khoshaba, provided an alibi, which by your guilty plea you now acknowledge was false. You were later heard on a telephone intercept boasting about a gun that had been found but that it could not be connected to you, or to the armed robbery.
12 It is clear even from this bare summary that the offences are serious examples of armed robberies. The details that I have recounted evidence sophisticated, careful and comprehensive planning of every step. That includes the nature of the targets, the surveillance you undertook, and the counter-surveillance measures you took, the selection of the particular targets, the coming prepared to force entry if the doors were locked, the choice of time, when the venues were likely to be relatively uncrowded, the care taken to disguise your faces and hair, the use of gloves to avoid leaving DNA or fingerprints, the number and nature of weapons used, the threats, both express and implied to the occupants of the premises, the effective use and deployment of the individual participants in each armed robbery, the use of apparently familiar getaway routes, the concealment of items used in connection with, or obtained from the armed robberies, and the methods used to hide when pursued. The eyewitness accounts, and CCTV footage indicate on each occasion, each assailant was calm, and carried out what appeared to be his pre-allocated and well rehearsed role.
13 After the Bundoora armed robbery each of you was charged, and eventually released on bail.
14 The final armed robbery involving you, Polos and Younan was committed whilst the two of you were on bail. Apart from the fact that only the two of you entered the hotel, it had all the features, and all the hallmarks of professionalism, and of planning of the other armed robberies.
15 On this occasion, while you were waiting for the time delay on the safe to elapse, a patron, a Mr Bonacci, walked into the venue, and, seeing you, Younan, with the gun, turned and headed out. You, Younan, chased him, and, while ordering him to stop, raised the gun and pointed it at him.
16 It is that which constitutes the charge of assault to which you have pleaded guilty. Threatening a person, who is already trying to run away, with a gun, is a very serious example of common assault.
17 Mr Bonacci kept running away, and you returned to the hotel, and alerted Polos.
18 The two of you then took off in the getaway car, Younan driving, Polos in the front seat. Two police cars had arrived in the carpark by the time you were driving away, and they followed you, with lights and sirens on. In an attempt to evade them, you, Younan, drove over the median strip and some distance down the wrong side of Dorset Road at a speed estimated to be in excess of 100 kph. Still at excessive speed, you crossed the median strip again just before the intersection with Mt Dandenong Road, and then turned left into Mt Dandenong Road. Crossing the median strip as you did, driving on the wrong side of that divided road in Dorset Road and at a speed well in excess of the speed limit before crossing the median strip again, shortly after 9am on a Monday morning, again gives rise to the charge of Reckless Conduct endangering Serious Injury to which you, Younan, have pleaded guilty.
19 These circumstances of driving make this charge a very serious one of its type.
20 You then drove along Mt Dandenong Road towards Bayswater Road, with the police cars still in pursuit.
21 You slowed almost to a stop in the slip lane, and as you did, that, you, Polos, leaned out of the front passenger window, and aimed the gun at the police in the van immediately behind. The driver braked heavily, and the police car immediately behind it was unable to stop in time to avoid ramming into the van.
22 You then swerved back onto Mt Dandenong Road, and a third police car, its occupants unaware the gun had been pointed at the occupants of the van, continued the pursuit. You turned into a side street, and again, slowed almost to a stop. The police car was only about 10 metres behind, when again, Polos, you leaned out of the window and pointed the gun directly at the police in the car.
23 It is these two separate acts of pointing the gun at the police in the van, and the car, which constitute the rolled-up charge of using a firearm to resist arrest.
24 Again, the circumstances put this at the high end of seriousness for an offence of this nature.
25 The two of you abandoned the car shortly after. You, Polos, were soon arrested and were seen to throw the gun over a fence as you tried to escape.
26 When inspected, the firearm was seen to be fully loaded, although further examination revealed it was not functioning properly. There is no evidence before me as to whether you knew that or not. Clearly, the manner in which the gun was used shows that you, Polos, intended the police and you, Younan, intended Bonnaci to fear that they could be shot.
27 Once your identity was established, this is referring to you Mr Polos, (you refused to identify yourself when arrested) it was established you were prohibited, by reason of your previous convictions from possession of a firearm.
28 That therefore gives rise to the last charge on the Dorset Gardens Indictment to which you have pleaded guilty.
29 As Mr Hutton correctly pointed out, you fall to be punished for this charge by reason of your possession of a firearm when you were prohibited. You cannot be doubly punished when I fix sentence for this charge for the manner in which you used it. That is taken into account and is the subject of the separate charges of armed robbery, and use of a firearm to resist arrest.
30 You, Younan, were not arrested until the day before the trial in respect of the earlier armed robberies was due to start. As a result, both Polos and Younan were in custody by the time the pre-trial argument started in respect of the original six armed robbery charges, and your bail in respect of the earlier armed robberies was then inevitably revoked.
31 Each of you entered guilty pleas in respect of some of the earlier armed robberies, those committed in that period of late 2010 and early 2011 after some weeks of pre-trial argument, to which I have already referred, and following a ruling that the evidence of participation by each of you, and in respect of each armed robbery was cross admissible. The pre-trial arguments had not finished when these matters resolved. The prosecution accepted pleas from each of you to a smaller number of armed robberies than those you originally faced in resolution of all charges relating to them. There were ancillary charges in respect of some of them relating to theft of cars and the like. Applications to sever some charges, or some accused, were still pending. Each of you submitted that, as a result, the guilty pleas, although late, were entered when there was still a prospect of some forensic advantage, including a prospect of acquittal on some or all charges. So, it was submitted, they should carry more weight than court door pleas to a full indictment otherwise would.
32 You are each entitled to have taken into account in your favour the utilitarian benefits of pleading guilty, before trial. Some time which would have been spent in additional pre-trial argument, and the time of the jury trial proper was spared. The trial would have been long and complex. The victims of the offences, and there are many of them, were spared the ordeal of giving evidence at trial and reliving the events.
33 Polos, I was told you had offered to plead guilty to the Bundoora Hotel armed robbery at committal, and Younan, that you had offered to plead guilty to the Epping RSL and Bundoora Hotel armed robberies at committal mention. Although the offers were not accepted in resolution of all charges you were facing, and although, in respect of the charges you offered guilty pleas to, the evidence of your participation was compelling, in my view, you are nonetheless, entitled to have those pleas offers treated as early pleas, and to be weighted accordingly.
34 So far as the Dorset Gardens Hotel armed robbery charges were concerned, each of you, Polos and Younan co-operated in the fast tracking of those charges, so even before committal mention you had indicated your intention to plead guilty to the charges and have them dealt with, by me, and at the same time as the earlier charges. You are both entitled to a significantly greater reduction in the sentence in respect of these charges. These victims have not had the prospect of trial, and of reliving the events hanging over their heads in the way the victims in respect of the earlier charges had. The cost of preparation for committal and trial, and of conducting the committal and trial in respect of the Dorset Gardens matters has been saved.
35 Numerous Victim Impact Statements were provided on the pleas. They make sad reading. Innocent people, just going to work to do their jobs, or going to a gaming venue to get whatever enjoyment people get from playing the pokies were threatened with guns, knives and other weapons, made to lie on the floor or go to some place where they were equally vulnerable and unable to protect themselves, and kept under guard, until you had done what you wanted. They have had their lives irrevocably changed as a result. They are frightened, distrustful, unable, many of them to resume their jobs, or what had been for them until then a chosen leisure activity.
36 No one should have to be subjected to having a gun, knife or other weapon pointed at them, when they are just doing their job or out in a public place, going about their business, passing the time in a lawful manner of their choosing.
37 You may each of you be young in years, but this was mature, careful, highly planned, well-executed and totally amoral conduct. You demonstrated a maturity in planning and execution, well beyond your years. You had no compunction about stealing large amounts of money in this way, or about the harm likely to be caused to the staff and patrons of the venues. There is nothing in the intercepted materials put before me to indicate you felt any qualms or expressed any qualms about acting as you did. There can be no doubt you knew exactly what you were doing, each of you had the intelligence, education and social skills to understand the likely impact on your victims, of your behaviour. Apart from some banal expressions of remorse expressed through your counsel on the plea, or in a letter prepared for the plea, that in my view remains the case.
38 It is no mitigator to suggest, as Mr Barker did on your behalf Mr Khoshaba, that some people were not as frightened as others, or that they could have been more frightened, had your conduct been even worse than it was, or that you showed concern for your victims on occasion by allowing one of them to light a cigarette, or by giving them a glass of water.
39 I have watched all the CCTV footage of the earlier armed robberies. They convey, in a more graphic and powerful way than mere words ever can, how chillingly prepared and organised you were, and how terrified many of your victims were.
40 All of you come from stable family backgrounds, are of at least average intelligence, and have had access to the educational opportunities which, had you taken proper advantage of them, could have qualified you for further education or gainful employment. There is no mental illness, psychological condition, or intellectual impairment which might help to explain your behaviour.
41 Your fathers all work or did until injury took them out of the workforce, your mothers work, either in paid or unpaid, family care roles. Apart from Mr Polos' older brother, none of your other siblings have been in trouble with the law. The rest of your siblings are working, studying or raising their own families. You have failed to take advantage of the opportunities your parents have worked so hard to offer each of you. You have caused them shame in their communities, and they have no doubt felt grief, and wondered if it was their fault you have acted as you did. Your family, Mr Polos, have themselves been subjected to threats and intimidation, and to demands for money which they have felt compelled to accede to, by reason of your conduct, or that of your brothers. Your family too Mr Younan, have been subjected to threats and intimidation and demands for money by reason of your conduct. Despite the considerable sums of money you obtained from these robberies, throughout this time at least some of you were importuning your own families for money as well. Despite the shame you have brought on your families, and the harm you have caused them, each of you continues to have strong family support.
42 It is to their credit, more than yours, that they are prepared to stand by you and offer the support they do and you should be ashamed and grateful.
43 Each of you relied heavily on your youth. You, Mr Polos, were 18 at the time you committed the first armed robbery and you are now 20. Mr Younan, you, too, were 18 at the time of the first armed robbery, and you are just about to turn 21. You were both 20 when you committed the Dorset Gardens Hotel armed robbery, and it shows that the added maturity between the first lot of armed robberies and the Dorset Garden ones had not brought you to act with more consideration for innocent people, but instead, the circumstances show that you were prepared to go to even further lengths than you did two years earlier. Mr Khoshaba, you were 20 or 21 at the time of the Bundoora Hotel armed robbery, and turned 23 just before entering your guilty plea to it.
44 All counsel relied heavily on the observations about the sentencing of young offenders set out in Mills and the significance of encouraging and supporting and giving weight to rehabilitation. All of your counsel accepted that youth was not always the paramount or only factor to take into account. All accepted that the Court of Appeal recently in Azzopardi made it clear that in some cases, considerations of youth must give way to factors of general and specific deterrence. At [44] in Azzopardi the court said this:
"The general propositions which flow from these authorities is that where the degree of criminality of the offences requires the sentencing objectives of deterrence, denunciation, just punishment and protection of the community to become more prominent in the sentencing calculus, the weight to be attached to youth is correspondingly reduced. As the level of seriousness of the criminality increases, there will be a corresponding reduction in the mitigating effects of the offenders youth but only in the circumstances of the gravest criminal offending and where there is no realistic prospect of rehabilitation may the mitigatory consideration of youth be viewed as all but extinguished."
45 I take that as the guiding principle in sentencing you, I do not consider that these are circumstances of the gravest criminal offending, I do not consider that there is no realistic prospect of rehabilitation, I do not consider that the mitigatory consideration of youth should be viewed as all but extinguished. However I do consider that the degree of criminality is such that the sentencing objectives of deterrence, denunciation, just punishment and protection of the community are more prominent in the sentencing calculus and therefore that the weight to be attached to your youth is correspondingly reduced.
46 Although the material before me indicated all of you had used Ice at various times, there is nothing in the intercepts that I was taken to, to suggest any of you were drug-impaired at the time of the commission of any of the offences to which you have now pleaded guilty. Addiction to Ice, or being impaired by it at the time of the commission of the armed robberies to which you have pleaded guilty would not have been a mitigating factor in any event.
47 Each of you, although young, had previously been convicted of other criminal offences. Although they vary in number and seriousness, it is clear each of you had been confronted with the consequences of engaging in criminal acts, you had been charged, faced courts, and been sentenced. Clearly that had not deterred you. Some of you have since been dealt with for matters pending at the time of the earlier armed robberies. Some of you have been charged with, and at times dealt with, for offences committed at the same time as, or whilst awaiting trial for these offences, and each of you was on bail for armed robbery at the time of the commission of at least some of the offences charged before me and with which I must now deal.
48 You, Mr Polos and Mr Younan, were on bail in respect of the earlier armed robberies at the time of the Dorset Gardens Hotel armed robbery. Your trial was about to start. The experience of the time you had spent in custody before being released on bail, the imminence of the trial, and the prospect of a substantial term of imprisonment if convicted clearly did not serve to deter you from embarking upon the Dorset Gardens armed robbery.
49 You, Mr Khoshaba, were on bail in respect of an unrelated armed robbery charge at the time that you committed the Bundoora Hotel armed robbery. Clearly, that did not deter you from engaging in the Bundoora Hotel armed robbery.
50 It is clear therefore that subject to any mitigatory matters specific to any of you, punishment, denunciation and deterrence, both general and specific, must play a significant role in sentencing each of you.
51 So far as you Mr Polos and Mr Younan are concerned, there is a presumption of cumulation in respect of the Dorset Gardens Hotel offences.
52 So far as you, Mr Khoshaba, are concerned, the position is more complicated. You were sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 15 months for that other armed robbery. A non-parole period of nine months was set. You have now served the whole of that sentence. Although you were ultimately granted bail in respect of the Bundoora Hotel armed robbery (and the other associated charges with that that you were then facing), before the expiration of your non-parole period, the Parole Board did not release you on parole. I was told that was because of the fact the Bundoora and other charges were then pending. The time you spent serving that sentence, does not count as pre-sentence detention in respect of the Bundoora Hotel charge because the Bundoora Hotel armed robbery was committed whilst on bail for that other armed robbery. Had you been sentenced for the Bundoora Hotel armed robbery at the same time as, or whilst still serving the other armed robbery sentence, there would have been a presumption of cumulation operating in respect of the Bundoora Hotel armed robbery because you were on bail in respect to the earlier unrelated one at the time you committed it.
53 Even if the pending charges relating to the Bundoora Hotel and other armed robbery charges was not the reason, or the sole reason for refusal of parole, I consider I should act in accordance with the principle in Renzella and make allowance, in a general way, for the six month period when you were eligible for parole, but denied it. So far as the head sentence imposed in respect of that unrelated armed robbery is concerned, I propose to treat it in a similar way to the way I am going to treat the cumulation of the Dorset Gardens sentences for Mr Polos and Mr Younan in relation to their earlier charges.
54 So far as the armed robberies for which I am sentencing you are concerned, there is no basis for distinguishing between your roles. However, as will become clear, the individual sentences for each armed robbery vary, depending on when the guilty pleas were first offered. So far as Mr Polos and Mr Younan are concerned, the degree of cumulation between the charges on the indictments relating to the first set of armed robberies varies also, depending on when the guilty pleas were entered in respect of the individual charges. I have fixed a total effective sentence on each indictment, and then made a partial cumulation order in respect of the Dorset Gardens indictment on the other indictment. Each of you will be sentenced to a different term of imprisonment from each other. That is a reflection of these matters, and the different numbers of charges each of you faces.
55 In fixing on the individual sentences I have taken into account the submissions that, having regard to your youth, the sentences should not be crushing, and should not offend the principle of totality. Although I have said I do not consider in the circumstances that rehabilitation should be the paramount consideration, I have taken into account the importance of encouraging your rehabilitation in fixing both the total effective sentence and the non-parole period.
56 Dealing then with the matters specific to each of you.
Polos
57 On 8 November 2010, just a month before the first armed robbery to which you have pleaded guilty was committed you were sentenced by the Children’s Court to 12 months' probation on charges of burglary, hinder and resist police, theft, theft of a motor vehicle, dishonestly assisting in the retention of stolen goods and possession of both ammunition and a controlled weapon without lawful excuse.
58 In addition to the timing of the charges, so shortly before you embarked upon the spree of armed robberies that culminated in your arrest after the Bundoora Hotel armed robbery, the nature of the charges themselves are of concern: all of them find echoes in the armed robberies: theft and other offences of dishonesty, weapons charges and conduct designed to avoid arrest. Clearly the opportunity afforded to you by the rehabilitative focus of that Children's Court penalty, probation, was not taken advantage of by you.
59 So far as the Dorset Gardens Hotel armed robbery is concerned there are some other relevant considerations. In December 2011, you received a four month fully suspended sentence on charges of theft, reckless conduct endangering serious injury, failing to stop a motor vehicle on request and exceeding the speed limit by a speed in excess of 45 kph over the limit. Although you were not the driver of the getaway car which sped away from the Dorset Gardens Hotel, your conduct as a passenger in that car and in aiming the gun at the police in the manner in which you did in those circumstances indicates that you continue to pay scant regard for the safety of others on the road. Again, you were convicted of dishonesty offences. This indicates that even after being charged with the first armed robberies, you continued to pay scant regard to the safety and rights of others.
60 Two psychological reports prepared by the psychologist Michael Bilyk were tendered. In the first, prepared in support of a bail application in respect of the first lot of charges, and 14 months after your remand on them, he reported that you told him that after leaving school at the conclusion of Year 11, you had drifted into abuse of alcohol, cannabis, prescription medications and Ice as a result of what Mr Bilyk describes as negative peer association. You reported at that time feelings of shame, and guilt at how your offence behaviour had affected you and your family. You told him you wished to go straight, and that it was too difficult to watch your family come and visit you in prison.
61 Mr Bilyk said you were able to determine primary, secondary and tertiary victims to your prior offending, including acknowledging the potential for psychological harm you may have caused to your victims. In Mr Bilyk’s view, you had reflected on your lifestyle, were saddened by the choices you had made and your present circumstances. You had engaged in drug and alcohol interventions in custody. That included determining relapse prevention strategies. You acknowledged the negative effect continued substance abuse would have on your life. You told Mr Bilyk your parents had agreed that you could return to live with them if you were released on the condition you abided by the law. You told him you had ceased all contact with your previous negative peers. You spoke of returning to study to improve your employment prospects.
62 Within eight months of your release on bail, you had apparently returned to abusing Ice, mixing with the wrong crowd, and you had committed the Dorset Gardens Hotel armed robbery. The effect of the lessons learnt on remand was short-lived.
63 In his second report, prepared after your second remand, and after you had indicated your intention to plead guilty to the Dorset Gardens Hotel charges, you told Mr Bilyk that you had committed those offences because you had been pressured and intimidated by “criminal elements”. You said you had previously not revealed that out of fear for the safety of yourself and your family. You told him that you had been approached by criminal elements after your remand in respect of the first of the armed robberies. You said they had demanded you share the proceeds of the armed robberies with them. You said you and your co-offenders refused, and the “criminals” then started to harass and intimidate you, your associates and your family. This was not an account advanced by either of your co-accused.
64 You told Mr Bilyk your family home had been shot at, that people had come to your home, threatened your mother and demanded money from her, and that you and your brother had been targeted in co-ordinated attacks on the same day. You said as a result, you had isolated yourself, leaving home only when absolutely required.
65 Having recounted these matters, Mr Bilyk’s report continued:
“In explaining the charges that presently resulted in him being re-remanded, Mr Polos stated that the individuals whom had been targeting him and his co-offenders, began to relax the hostility of their conduct. Mr Polos reported that cunningly, they befriended him and his associates, lulling them into a false sense of security. In this context, Mr Polos acknowledged resuming use of the drug ice and accumulating a debt to these individuals. Mr Polos reported agreeing to undertake a further armed robbery at their request in order to settle debts. Mr Polos additionally stated that these individuals reported that they would cease to harass him and his associates about their previous armed robberies if they agreed to conduct a further armed robbery.”
66
Your mother, Salma Polos, and sister, Vian Polos, gave evidence on the plea. They gave evidence of an occasion when shots were fired at the house.
Your mother said shots had also, on another occasion, been fired at the neighbour’s house. She believed they were intended for her house. Your mother also gave evidence she had been approached by men who had threatened her with harm to herself or her family if she did not pay them money, and she had given them her wedding jewellery. She gave evidence that each of you and your brother had been assaulted. Your sister, too, gave evidence about the assault on you, or strictly speaking, its aftermath, taking you to hospital for treatment for the injuries. She was aware of threats which had been made to your mother, although she had not been present. It was difficult for your mother to put times on events, but your sister was able to fix the time you were assaulted as occurring after you had been released on bail. There was no evidence your mother knew who the people were, or the basis on which they alleged money was owed to them, or who owed it. That is, whether it was an extortion bid from the family, or a demand related to drug debts said to be owed by you or a demand relating to drug debts said to be owed by your brother, or a demand for a share in the proceeds of the armed robberies or for some other unidentified reason.
67 Evidence was also called from the informant, Detective Illingworth. He confirmed the Santiago task force was investigating the shooting at the Polos house. Records he had had access to indicated the shooting occurred in January 2012, at that stage your brother was at liberty but you were on remand. He said his enquiries revealed that your brother, Ivan, had reported the shooting to the police and had told them that it was attributable to a fight that he had been in the day before. Apart from giving that information, he had otherwise declined to co-operate in the police investigation into the shooting or the previous day's fight. The evidence before me revealed that your brother has had a history of drug abuse, has also amassed a criminal record, and has spent time in custody.
68 You did not give evidence yourself, but I was told your instructions were that the matters occurred as you recounted them to Mr Bilyk. Mr Traczyk told me your instructions were that it was after you were assaulted, that you were befriended by those who had threatened you and your family and assaulted you, and it was then that you resumed your use of ice, and then succumbed to the pressure to commit a further armed robbery.
69 I am satisfied that shots were fired at the family home, and that threatening demands were made of your mother for money which resulted in her handing over her wedding jewellery. The evidence is insufficient to support a finding on the balance of probabilities the shots were fired, or the demands were made of your mother by people wanting a share of the proceeds of the earlier armed robberies. I do not know whether the shots and assaults on you, and your brother, were part of a course of conduct, or unrelated events. I do not know whether they related to an attempt to extort some of the armed robbery proceeds, to collect on outstanding drug debts that either you or your brother or both of you had amassed, or for some other, unknown reason I am simply unable to make a finding about those matters. Whether you had resumed using ice, and whether you had debts from that before you were assaulted is also a matter the evidence leaves me unable to make findings about.
70 The account given to Mr Bilyk was first advanced after you were caught escaping after the Dorset Gardens Hotel armed robbery. It is inconsistent with the account you gave him at the time of the bail application. The account you gave, of being threatened, afraid, and so, not leaving the house, then being assaulted, and then, somehow finding yourself in contact with these “criminals” and being cunningly befriended, lulled into a false sense of security, accepting Ice from them without having to pay for it, and then being coerced into committing an armed robbery for them, to pay off the Ice debt is in my view implausible, and unsupported by the evidence before me. Your conduct in respect of the Dorset Gardens Hotel armed robbery and the evidence of the attempt to escape does not sit comfortably in my view with the account you gave Mr Bilyk. It does not explain why you took off in the way you did, and took such dramatic and dangerous steps to attempt to avoid arrest.
71 I am left in a position where I can simply make no finding, whether it be an aggravating one which the prosecution would have to prove beyond reasonable doubt, or a mitigating one which you would have to prove on the balance of probabilities, as to your reasons for committing any of the armed robberies. Whether it was to pay for drugs, or simply to amass money for other purposes or a combination of both, whether you were stood over in an attempt to have you disgorge part of the proceeds of the earlier armed robberies, I am simply unable to determine.
72 As Mr Bilyk pointed out, regardless of the reported circumstances you acknowledged you had readily resumed substance abuse in the company of negative peers, placing yourself in circumstances known to render proneness to offence behaviour. He said:
“Should the aforementioned circumstances be able to be somewhat substantiated, they may serve to explain the vulnerability in Mr Polos, though it is his resumption of a substance abuse lifestyle that compromised his decision-making, and promoted reckless and impulsive behaviour.”
73 When he first assessed you, you reported to Mr Bilyk that you had suffered lowered mood, without any history of suicidal or self-harm ideation since approximately 2010. There is nothing in his second report to indicate you suffer any serious psychiatric or psychological condition which would be relevant to sentencing.
74 Mr Bilyk’s second report reveals that in the first eight months after your release on bail you had maintained involvement in treatment for substance abuse. It is unclear when your substance abuse resumed, but it would appear you demonstrated at least for some time, a capacity to remain substance free whilst in the community.
75 I do not accept, given the circumstances of the commission of the Dorset Gardens offences, that your guilty pleas indicate remorse for the effect on the victims. The account you gave Mr Bilyk and which is pressed upon me is inconsistent with that in any event. A viewing of the CCTV footage shows how terrified some of the victims were, on each of the three earlier armed robberies to which you pleaded guilty. Although you could not have been unaware of that, you then committed the Dorset Gardens Hotel armed robbery. In the course of that, you twice aimed a loaded gun at the police as they pursued you. The likely effect on your earlier victims, did not deter you from treating the victims of the Dorset Gardens Hotel armed robbery in the same way as your earlier victims, or from confronting the pursuing police with a gun pointed right at them, at close quarters. The pursuit only ended when you were caught fleeing the abandoned car. You were seen throwing the gun away as you ran away. You refused to identify yourself. None of that indicates remorse for past conduct, that is concern for the effect on your victims, and the plea to the Dorset Gardens Hotel matter must be seen in the context of the strength of the case against you. the evidence of your participation in that was overwhelming.
76 There was nothing to suggest, in the eight weeks after being caught fleeing the Dorset Gardens Hotel armed robbery, and the timing of your plea, that you had had any change of heart or attitude. The most that can be said was that since being arrested fleeing the Dorset Gardens Hotel, and your consequent remand, you have faced the reality of a substantial term of imprisonment.
77 Mr Bilyk concluded:
“Mr Polos is required to take substantial steps toward navigating outside of offending peers if he is not to succumb further to a criminal lifestyle. He has evidenced compliance somewhat with the structure of bail and the guidance of treatment, which bodes well for his prospects of rehabilitation should he be able to distance himself from criminal elements. Given his relatively young age, the development of an alternate pro-social peer group remains possible through gaining employment. Further specific intervention addressing substance abuse, particularly relapse prevention strategies and emotional regulation and management would appear relevant, along with assessment for suitability for treatment in the prevention of violence and aggression given the nature of his offending. Opportunities therefore to maximise and improve lifestyle, inclusive of interventions as suggested, are likely to assist long-term cognitive emotional and behavioural changes that can facilitate a non-offending lifestyle, more so than deterrence and containment measures alone.”
78 It follows in my view that your prospects of rehabilitation can best be described as guarded. You have not taken advantage of the opportunities afforded to you, and your offending has escalated. Your youth and your family support, and the absence of any physical, psychiatric or psychological or intellectual disabilities provide you with the foundations, if you choose to take advantage of them for directing your life better than you have. The total effective sentence and non-parole period have been structured to hold out that opportunity to you should you choose to take advantage of it.
79 Could you please stand now Mr Polos. Rayan Polos, on all charges to which you have pleaded guilty you are convicted. On Indictment B10414676 the three armed robberies and the earlier spree of offending, you are sentenced as follows:
80 On Charge 1, to be imprisoned for a period of five years and that is to be the base sentence. On Charge 2, to be imprisoned for a period of five years and I direct that one year of that be served cumulatively upon the sentence on Charge 1 and the other partial cumulation orders. On Charge 3, you rare sentenced to be imprisoned for a period of four years and I direct that nine months of that be served cumulatively on the sentence in Charge 1 and the partial cumulation order on Charge 2.
81 That makes in respect of that indictment a total effective sentence of six years and nine months.
82 On Indictment D10667347 relating to Dorset Gardens, on Charge 1 of being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm you are sentenced to be imprisoned for a period of six months and I direct that three months of that be made cumulative on the other cumulation orders I am about to make. On Charge 2, the charge of armed robbery you are sentenced to be imprisoned for a period of three years and six months and that is the base sentence on this indictment. On Charge 3 of the using a firearm to resist arrest, you are sentenced to be imprisoned for a period of two years and I direct that one year of that be served cumulatively upon the sentence on Charge 2 and the partial cumulation order in respect of Charge 1.
83 That makes a total effective sentence on that indictment of four years and nine months. I direct that three years and three months of that sentence be served cumulatively upon the sentence imposed on the Bundoora indictment. That makes a total effective sentence on the two indictments of ten years' imprisonment. I direct that you serve a period of seven years before being eligible for parole. I declare that you have served 537 days in pre-sentence detention and direct that that be counted and reckoned as part of the sentence already served. I
84 I will make the disposal order and the forfeiture orders in respect of the firearms and magazine clip in respect to the first indictment pursuant to the Firearms Act 1996 and, the forfeiture order and disposal orders and retention of forensic sample orders for all other items sought in respect of the Dorset Gardens indictment.
85 I declare pursuant to s.6AAA of the Sentencing Act that but for your pleas of guilty, I would have sentenced you to a total effective sentence of 15 years' imprisonment and I would have fixed a non-parole period of 12 years' imprisonment.
86 You can take a seat just for a moment Mr Polos. Do the orders that I have pronounced add up correctly, is the arithmetic correct?
87 MR STRONG:: Yes Your Honour.;
88 HER HONOUR: Have I sentenced on all charges in respect of Mr Polos?
89 MR STRONG: Yes Your Honour.
90 HER HONOUR: And made all ancillary orders?
91 MR STRONG": Yes Your Honour.
92 HER HONOUR: Thank you. Could you remove Mr Polos please.
Khoshaba
93 Mr Khoshaba, in September 2010, just months before you participated in the Bundoora Hotel armed robbery, you were dealt with in the Melbourne Magistrates' Court for dishonestly receiving stolen goods. No conviction was recorded, the matter was adjourned for six months and you were ordered to pay $500 to the court fund. It was during the period of adjournment that you committed this armed robbery. Like Mr Polos, you failed to learn from the experience of being charged and sentenced, and failed to take advantage of the rehabilitative opportunity afforded to you.
94 In August 2011 you were sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 15 months, with a non-parole period of nine months in respect of the armed robbery charge for which you were on bail at the time you committed the Bundoora Hotel armed robbery. Although the circumstances of that armed robbery were markedly different, it was a revenge attack on a person you believed had told your girlfriend you were using drugs, a truth that you had not revealed to her, the fact of the pending charge of armed robbery and a sentencing hearing in the County Court did not deter you from participating in the Bundoora armed robbery.
95 During the course of the police surveillance operation which started after Mr Younan’s DNA was found on the glove left at the Epping RSL, you were detected on telephone intercepts engaging in drug trafficking. On 5 September last year you were sentenced for that at the Broadmeadows Magistrates’ Court. You received a sentence of two years’ imprisonment, which was wholly suspended. You appealed that sentence and it was reduced in this court to a term of 15 months’ imprisonment, which was suspended for two years.
96 As Mr Barker said, save to say that all of your offending occurred in a very short period, there is little mitigating to say about your contemporaneous convictions. What the trafficking conviction reveals for my sentencing purposes is again something relevant to your prospects for rehabilitation, that is that recent past and pending court hearings did not deter you from other offending. By the age of 20 you were facing charges for, or had been dealt with for, charges of dishonesty, drug trafficking, a revenge related armed robbery and a serious, sophisticated, planned, high-stakes, high yield armed robbery. You had shown yourself prepared to commit offences on your own and in company with others.
97 From the materials before me it is clear that you pride yourself on your intelligence and your entrepreneurial spirit. Upon leaving school you started a business with your uncle, contributing $16,000 you had saved from after-school work. That business eventually floundered, leaving you feeling disillusioned. Despite the failure of the business, you believed your uncle should have paid you $40,000 and were angry and dispirited that you had not received that from him or got anything else out of the business. You turned your sights to becoming a nightclub owner or operator. You told the psychologist, Ms Elizabeth Warren, in her first assessment of you which was conducted in July 2011, that you had taken over a nightclub in late February 2011. You told Ms Warren your plan was for the nightclub to be a drug-free venue and a safe attractive alternative to other nightclubs. How this sat with the heavy use of Ice you reported to her was not explored in the report. How it sat with your trafficking in drugs was also not explored.
98 You reported to her that you began smoking cannabis at 18, and Ice a year or so later. You reported your Ice use had escalated to daily use, at a cost of $2000 a day. For somebody so proud of his intelligence, the explanation you gave for starting is remarkably stupid. She quoted you as saying:
“I was at a nightclub and saw a guy on the dunny smoking, I said what’s that, he said do you want to have energy all night, I enjoyed it, stayed up until 3 AM, a gram or two a week. You reported a rapid escalation into heavy daily use, and consequent engagement in criminal activity to fund your use.”
99 Ms Warren concluded you had a limited appreciation of the wrongfulness of your conduct in regards to the behaviour concerning the other armed robbery charges. However she said you were deeply remorseful and upset by the distress you had caused your family.
100 Nothing has been put to me to satisfy me that your remorse for this armed robbery goes beyond feeling sorry for yourself and for the upset and distress you have caused your family.
101 Although Ms Warren’s first assessment took place shortly after your arrest and remand for the Bundoora Hotel armed robbery and the other armed robberies you were then charged with, there is no reference in the report to that, or any feelings you had about the effect on your family of being charged with further armed robberies. Nor was there any consideration in the report off where, on a reported $2000 a day Ice habit, and a failed business venture with your uncle, you had obtained the funds to start your nightclub venture.
102 Ms Warren assessed you again in April 2012, this time for the purposes of the bail application in respect to the Bundoora Hotel and associated charges, and as you were reaching the end of the minimum term in respect of that earlier charge.
103 When she first assessed you, your presentation of cheerfulness and confidence was at odds with your written responses to a questionnaire designed to assess levels of anxiety, depression and stress. Your first assessment revealed markedly raised levels of anxiety depression and stress. On her second assessment none of these states were elevated. You reported only one anxiety symptom and that reported to your feeling afraid. That, Ms Warren reported, was attributable to the fact you had been held in a protection unit where sex offenders were also held. Ms Warren said you had been disconcerted by exposure to them, and afraid that, once you became the youngest prisoner in the unit you might become their target.
104 Screening tests confirmed that you had been drug-free in prison. You told Ms Warren you counted yourself lucky because prison had halted your drug use.
105 Ms Warren concluded on the second occasion, that the absence of symptoms of depression anxiety and stress by then, your youth and the absence of treatment failure pointed to a cautiously positive prognosis. The caution she said was attendant upon the risk of resuming use of Ice. She noted your good counterbalancing conditions namely sound family connections, work aptitude and your enthusiastic and positive approach. She considered your decrease in anger anxiety and so stress and depression were more grounded and practical changes, rather than due to increased insight. In her view, active engagement post-release with substance use counselling and education and then vocational training would probably best increase your chances of maintaining positive change.
106 A report from Ms Rosie Carr, a counsellor with the Hume Youth & Parent Drug Services was provided. She noted you had been referred to drug and alcohol counselling in July 2012 by your solicitor and that by the time of her report in August 2012 you had attended a further three consecutive sessions. You did not appear to be drug-impaired at any session. She reported you as saying you were not tempted to use any illicit drugs because you wished to put your offending behind you. In her view, you appeared to have used appropriate coping mechanisms to maintain abstinence and it was unnecessary to require you to engage in further counselling.
107 You continue to enjoy the support of your family. A touching letter was written by them and read to you by Mr Barker on the plea. you should be humbled by it, and it is to be hoped that you will one day show yourself to be deserving of the faith they have in you.
108 I was told that you have maintained your abstinence and that there are no further charges pending. Since your release on bail, you have had some periods of employment, mainly as a house painter. Your confidence in your self appears to continue unabated. In Ms Warren’s view, you need to guard against overconfidence, as a shortfall between your expectations and reality could put you at risk of reoffending. It seems to me that it is high time you put in the hard work required to obtain additional qualifications or experience, so your confidence in your abilities can be measured by your achievements, and not simply by your boasts or plans.
109 Your prospect of rehabilitation are, although guarded by reference to these matters, good. I do not consider, having regard to the history of other offending that I have recounted that your prospects for rehabilitation justify a significant reduction in the weight to be given to punishment denunciation and general deterrence. Nor for the reasons I have expressed do I consider that the whole of the time that you spent serving your head sentence in respect of the other armed robbery should be taken into account in a general way, although not strictly able to be calculated as pre-sentence detention.
110 I have reduced the sentence that I would otherwise have imposed by nine months. I have made a full allowance for the six month period you could have spent on parole. However, had I been sentencing you for this whilst you were still serving the non-parole period of the sentence imposed by His Honour Judge Mason in respect to the other armed robbery, I would have made it partially cumulative upon that sentence, to reflect the fact this armed robbery was committed whilst on bail for the other armed robbery.
111 Now that you embark on a sentence without other charges pending, I hope that you can satisfy the Parole Board that you should be released on parole before your sentence expires. In my view, if released upon parole there is opportunity to support you and assist you in obtaining gainful employment, avoiding bad company, and maintaining your drug relapse prevention strategies, on your release back into the community.
112 Could you please now stand. Lawrence Khoshaba, on the charge to which you have pleaded guilty of armed robbery of the Bundoora Hotel on Indictment B10714115, you are convicted and sentenced to be imprisoned for a period of four years and three months. That makes a total effective sentence of four years and three months and I direct that you serve a period of two years and nine months before being eligible for parole. I declare that you have spent 93 days in pre-sentence detention and direct that that be counted and reckoned as part of the sentence already served.
113 I make the Disposal Order and the, forfeiture orders for the firearms and magazine clip pursuant to the Firearms Act 1996 and, a forfeiture order for all other items sought.
114 I declare pursuant to s.6AAA of the Sentencing Act that but for your plea of guilty, I would have sentenced you to a period of imprisonment of six years and I would have fixed a non-parole period of four years.
115 Does the sentence I pronounced on Mr Khoshaba reflect what I said I intended to do?
116 MR STRONG: Yes Your Honour.
117 HER HONOUR: All calculations correct and all ancillary orders made.
118 MR BARKER: Indeed Your Honour.
119 HER HONOUR: Thank you, could you remove Mr Khoshaba please..
120 MR BARKER: Your Honour, I have a jury out, may I be excused now you' have dealt with my client?
121 HER HONOUR: Yes.
122 MR STRONG: Might I be excused as well too Your Honour.
123 HER HONOUR: Yes.
Younan
124 Mr Younan, you had been dealt with by the Children’s Court on two occasions, and the Broadmeadows Magistrates’ Court on one occasion before committing the first lot of armed robberies.
125 In March 2009 you were convicted of burglary and dishonesty offences and were placed on a nine month Good Behaviour Bond. Before that Bond expired you were again before the Children’s Court on a charge of dishonestly receiving stolen goods. Again you were placed on a Bond, this one expiring in April 2011.
126 It would appear you breached that Bond, both by the commission of these first armed robberies, and by being dealt with for further dishonesty offences in the Magistrates’ Court in November 2010. As with Polos and Khoshaba, it can rightly be said of you, too, that you failed to take advantage of the rehabilitative opportunities offered to you in those court appearances.
127 Like your co-offenders, you report a history of use of Ice in the period leading up to your remand in respect of the first armed robberies, followed by a period of abstinence whilst in custody. Like Mr Polos, you reported abstinence for a period after release on remand, before relapsing.
128 When you were released on bail in June 2012 you went into a residential drug rehabilitation centre and, by August 2012, you had progressed to an outpatient care, under the auspices of St Paul’s Drug Prevention Rehabilitation & After-Care Program. You remained engaged with the St Paul’s outpatients program consistently until mid-December 2012. During that period you provided 12 random urine screens, all of which were negative. I was told that the progress that you had made was such that your counsellor, Mr Dieni, advised you were ready to move to the next stage of trust, and would not be required to return to the service until mid-January when he returned from leave, and that you would not be required to submit to drug tests during that intervening period.
129 It was in that period I was told that you relapsed and returned to Ice use.
130 Following your remand earlier this year you were assessed by Mr Jeffrey Cummins, the clinical and forensic psychologist. You reported to him that you had relapsed and spiralled out of control. You told him that you were “"sort of forced"” to do the Dorset Gardens armed robbery, because you owed money to your drug dealers, that they threatened you and fed you more Ice. You reported that your mother’s car had been smashed in the driveway, that your cousin Mr Polos’ house had been shot, and that you are aware that Mr Polos’ mother gave the dealers some money and jewellery. You said the dealers took your car, an SS Ute which was worth about $15,000 but that they continued threatening you, and that they had stolen a car, given you a firearm and told you that you had to do another armed robbery to pay off your drug debt.
131 This story has some similarities, but some differences to the account given by Mr Polos to Mr Bilyk. Your account is condensed into a three-week timeframe, and the narrative suggests it was during that time that Mr Polos’ family house was shot at and his mother bullied into handing over her money and jewellery to the dealers. The evidence before me revealed that the shooting was 12 months before the Dorset Gardens Hotel armed robbery, whilst you and Mr Polos were still on remand, and the assault of Mr Polos was on 1 August 2012, nearly six months before you relapsed. The events relied on by Mr Polos, he said, extended over a longer period of time, and were, according to him, initially, and for a considerable period, motivated by a desire to extort the proceeds of the earlier armed robberies from him.
132 I find myself in the same position so far as you are concerned as I found myself in relation to Mr Polos. That is, you have not discharged your onus of satisfying me on the balance of probabilities, so far as the Dorset Gardens Hotel armed robbery is concerned, that you had amassed a debt to your drug dealers which you could not repay, that you had threatened with harm to be caused to you and your family, or that you had been provided with the gun and the stolen car, and told that doing an armed robbery you would expunge the debt.
133 No explanation was advanced for your participation in the earlier armed robberies.
134 Dr Aaron Cunningham, who assessed you in April 2012 for the purpose of your bail application, identified your risk factors as negative peer association and substance abuse. He said you had protective factors that may reduce your risk factors and stabilise you in the community. They were your family support, your engagement with drug rehabilitation courses in prison and your motivation to engage with support services in the community.
135 Dr Cunningham was of the opinion that you had developed a reactive adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood at the time that he assessed you whilst you were on remand on the first occasions. So far as Mr Cummins could ascertain when he interviewed you, two months after your return to custody this year, the symptoms of adjustment disorder had resolved and you had come to terms with the notion that you would be serving a number of years in custody.
136 Like Mr Polos, it appears that although you were for a period able to remain drug-free in the community, you reverted to mixing with negative peers and resumed your drug use.
137 Mr Cummins said you were critical of yourself for having returned to drug use, and upset at letting your parents and yourself down by re-offending.
138 You too are lucky to enjoy family support. Your family supported you in custody on the first occasion and upon your release on bail. They continue to visit and support you now and have promised to continue that support upon your release
139 You have completed Certificates 1, 2 and 3 in Construction and have a history of employment in the building industry. You were enrolled to commence your Certificate 4 in Construction this year but your resumption of Ice use and your arrest interfered with that.
140 You have written a letter on your plea. In it you say you take full responsibility for your actions and have much remorse for your offending and the impact it has had on your victims, your family and the community. As with your co-offenders, whilst I accept that you are sorry for the effect on yourself and your family there is no evidence before me to indicate you have any remorse for the effect on your victims.
141 Your conduct in committing the earlier armed robberies, and the effect of being charged and remanded in custody for a substantial period and then being bailed was not such as to assist you to develop any concern for the impact on your victims. In my view, that is demonstrated by your embarking upon the Dorset Gardens Hotel armed robbery. Whatever the period of arrest, ,remand and then release on bail have taught you it was not sufficient to make you pull back from committing the Dorset Gardens Hotel armed robbery out of an appreciation of the impact or likely impact on your victims. There was nothing put before me to suggest that in the weeks between your arrest for that offence and the entry of your guilty plea you developed any insight into your behaviour as to the effect on your victims which would justify a finding of genuine remorse for them.
142 You say and I accept that you feel overwhelmed with guilt and are ashamed that you have let your family and siblings down. You say and I accept that you have come to realise at the age of 20 and having been in custody for over two years that you must do everything on your part to turn things around.
143 For you, too, I consider that a substantial gap between the head sentence and the non-parole period is justified in order to give you the opportunity to demonstrate that you can do that and to take advantage of the support that parole can offer you if you are given it and if you seek to take advantage of it. for you too I have moderated the head sentence to take into account your youth and to encourage your prospects of rehabilitation.
144 Mr Younan, can you please stand. On all charges to which you have pleaded guilty you are convicted. On Indictment B10414687 relating to the four earlier armed robberies you are sentenced as follows.
145 On Charge 1 to a term of imprisonment of five years, and I make that the base sentence. On Charge 2, to a period of four years and I direct that one year of that be served cumulatively upon Charge 1 and the other partial cumulation orders I am about to make. On Charge 3, you are sentenced to be imprisoned for a period of five years and I direct that nine months of that be served cumulatively upon Charge 1 and the other partial cumulation orders. On Charge 4, you are sentenced to be imprisoned for a period of four years and I direct that nine months of that be served cumulatively upon the other cumulation orders. That makes in respect of that first indictment a total effective sentence of seven years and six months.
146 On the Dorset Gardens Indictment D10262406, on Charge 1 of armed robbery you are sentenced to be imprisoned for a period of three years and six months and that is the base sentence for this indictment. On Charge 2, the charge of common assault, you are sentenced to be imprisoned for a period of nine months and I direct that three months of that be served cumulatively upon the base sentence and the other partial cumulations. On Charge 3, you are sentenced to be imprisoned for a period of nine months and I direct that three months of that be served cumulatively upon the sentence on Charge 1 and the other partial cumulation orders. On Charge 4 you are sentenced to be imprisoned for a period of two years and I direct that one year of that be served cumulatively upon the sentence on Charge 1 and the other partial cumulation orders.
147 That makes in respect of the Dorset Gardens indictment a total effective sentence of five years. I direct that three years and six months of that be served cumulatively upon the sentence on the indictment in respect of the four earlier charges.
148 That makes a total effective sentence of 11 years and I direct that you serve a period of eight years before being eligible for parole. I declare that you have spent 538 days in pre-sentence detention and direct that that be counted and reckoned as part of the sentence already served.
149 In respect of you too, I make the Disposal Order and the two forfeiture orders in relation to the first indictment for the firearms and magazine clip pursuant to the Firearms Act 1996 and the forfeiture, disposal and retention orders for all other items sought in respect of the second indictment.
150 I declare pursuant to s.6AAA of the Sentencing Act that but for your pleas of guilty I would have sentenced you to a total effective sentence of 16 years and I would have fixed a non-parole period of 13 years.
151 Again, do the sentences I pronounce reflect what I said I intended to do?
152 MR HUTTON: Yes Your Honour.
153 HER HONOUR: Is the arithmetic correct?
154 MR NIBBS: Yes Your Honour.
155 HER HONOUR: All ancillary orders made?
156 MR NIBBS: No Your Honour.
157 MR HUTTON: One amendment to make Your Honour, an announcement more than anything.
158 HER HONOUR: You can take a seat Mr Younan whilst I deal with this.
159 MR HUTTON: My instructor has taken liberty of drafting all the orders.
160 HER HONOUR: They have been provided.
161 MR HUTTON: Yes, one of the orders relates to the vehicle YAY133.
162 HER HONOUR: Can you remove those people please. Mr Hutton.
163 MR HUTTON: The application in respect of Vehicle YAY133 has been withdrawn, the reason for that is that that's the vehicle that's registered in the name of Mr Younan's father. So that's not pressed. If it assists Your Honour, my instructor has taken the liberty of drawing a red line through that part of the application or we can re-draft a clean application.
164 HER HONOUR: I have already signed it, I'll just rule through it now.
165 MR HUTTON: So Your Honour has the draft orders, you don't need them?
166 HER HONOUR: Yes got them. Thank you.
167 MR HUTTON: And I return for Your Honour, the amended indictments and further indictment or criminal history in respect of Mr Younan.
168 HER HONOUR: Thank you, remove Mr Younan please. Orders made. Adjourn please.
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