Director of Public Prosecutions v Randell
[2018] VCC 1541
•19 September 2018
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA AT MELBOURNE CRIMINAL DIVISION | Revised (Not) Restricted Suitable for Publication |
GENERAL LIST
Case No. CR-18-00145
Indictment No. H12352183
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| v |
| CHRISTOPHER RANDELL |
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JUDGE: | HER HONOUR JUDGE CONDON | |
WHERE HELD: | Melbourne | |
DATES OF PLEA HEARING: | 30 May 2018; 4 September 2018 | |
DATE OF SENTENCE: | 19 September 2018 | |
CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | DPP v Randell | |
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2018] VCC 1541 | |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject: CRIMINAL LAW
Catchwords: Sentence – armed robbery – plea of guilty
Legislation Cited: Crimes Act 1958 (Vic), s 75A
Cases Cited:DPP v Doherty [2002] VSCA 213; R v Verdins; R v Buckley; R v Vo (2007) VSCA 102; 16 VR 269; 169 A Crim R 581
Sentence: Total effective sentence of five years and four months’ imprisonment, with a non-parole period of three years and five months.
Section 6AAA declaration: seven years’ imprisonment with a non-parole period of five years.
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APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the Director of Public Prosecutions | Ms S Bruhn (Plea) Ms I Siriwardana (Sentence) | Solicitor for the Office of Public Prosecutions |
| For the Accused | Mr S Lindner | Ann Valos Criminal Law |
HER HONOUR:
1 Christopher Randell, you have pleaded guilty before me to five charges of armed robbery contrary to s 75A of the Crimes Act 1958 (Vic) and two charges of attempted armed robbery, contrary to s 75A and s 321M of the Crimes Act. The maximum penalties for these offences are twenty-five years’ imprisonment and twenty years’ imprisonment respectively.
2 The circumstances of your offending are set out in the summary, which was read by the prosecutor and tendered as exhibit A. I incorporate that summary as part of these reasons. Briefly, your offending took place over a one-month period between 5 July 2017 and 3 August 2017.
3 Charge 1 involved an armed robbery on a Subway restaurant in Berwick on 5 July 2017. At around 6.40 pm you entered the restaurant, and at the time were wearing gloves, a dark-hooded jumper with the hood over your head, sunglasses and a bandana across your face. You pulled a tomahawk from your pants and made a demand upon the store manager and shop attendant. Afterwards, you left the premises with approximately $400 in cash.
4 Charge 2 relates to an attempted armed robbery. On 10 July 2017 at around 6.40 pm, you attended at the Tobacco Station in Cranbourne. At the time, you had a grey-hooded jumper with the hood pulled over your head. You pulled out a yellow box-cutter knife. You demanded money from the register. The shop attendant told you she had no money and started yelling. You then ran from the store.
5 Charge 3 relates to a count of armed robbery. On 10 July 2017 at 9.00 pm, you attended at the Subway restaurant in Hallam. At the time, you had a hood over your head and a bandana across your face. You entered this store and approached two shop attendants and at the time had a yellow knife in your hand. You made a demand for money and left the store with $550 in cash.
6 Charge 4 occurred on 13 July 2017. At around 3.30 pm you attended at Cigarettes Tobacco and Cigars in Hallam. At the time, you wore a black-hooded jumper with the hood over your head. You confronted the victim and said, "This is a robbery. Get a bag and put all the money in the bag and you'll be safe". At the time, you were holding a black-handled kitchen knife. You left the store with $1,000 cash in a plastic bag.
7 Charge 5, also a charge of armed robbery, occurred on 26 July 2017. At around 1.50 pm, you attended at a newsagency in Pearcedale. At the time, you wore a green-hooded jumper with the hood over your face, as well as sunglasses. The victim, Ms Julie Kuchel, a shop attendant, was at the back of the store. You leant over the counter with a Stanley knife in your hand and made a demand for money. Ms Kuchel grabbed a shopping bag and put notes in it. You then ran out the door, taking approximately $1,520 with you.
8 Charge 6 relates to an armed robbery which occurred on 21 July 2017. At around 4.28 pm you attended at the Video Ezy in Beaconsfield. You entered wearing a jacket with a hood, a baseball cap and dark sunglasses. You entered the store and approached the shop attendant and made a demand to put money in a bag. You were asked to leave by the shop attendant because you became aggressive. Mr Spencer, the shop attendant then saw you were holding a Stanley knife. He then grabbed approximately $250 and put it in your shopping bag. You then ran out of the store.
9 Charge 7, the final charge, relates to a charge of attempted armed robbery. This occurred on 3 August 2017. You drove a Ford with registration number SKX 724 to Mountain Gate Shopping Centre in Ferntree Gully. At the time, you were wearing a hooded jumper and the hood was pulled over your head. You entered Toyworld, holding a yellow Stanley knife. The victims, Ms Anne Carr and her daughter, Ms Nicole Brogden, were the only two people in the store at the time.
10 You started yelling aggressively and made a demand to take money out of the till and put it in a bag. During this time, people were standing outside the store and Ms Carr yelled out to them to call the police. You then ran out of the store.
11 Investigators conducted enquiries and found that vehicle SKX 724 was registered to your father, Mr Stuart Randell. Investigators then learnt that after the attempted armed robbery on 3 August you had driven home to your parents’ address and made an attempt on your own life. You were then made an involuntary psychiatric patient at Casey Hospital.
12 Exhibit 7 on the plea was a letter from Dr Angela Lane, consultant psychiatrist at Casey Hospital. According to that letter, you were admitted to the Casey Hospital Psychiatric Inpatient Unit on 4 August 2017 to 21 August 2017 following an attempt to hang yourself. The basis of your admission was an assessment order under the Victorian Mental Health Act 2014 and you were subsequently placed on a temporary treatment order pursuant to the Act.
13 You were assessed by two consultant psychiatrists following your admission and diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
14 You were treated with Escitalopram, Diazepam and Clonazepam. On 21 August 2017, the temporary treatment order was revoked and you were discharged into police custody. You have remained in gaol ever since.
15 Before me, you admitted a number of prior criminal convictions.
16 In particular, you have nine prior convictions for armed robbery, for which you were convicted and sentenced as follows. On 23 September 2011, you received three years and six months, with part of the sentence to be made concurrent with a sentence already being served and a new non-parole period was set of 25 months. This was before Her Honour Judge Hannan of this court. Previously, on 6 June 2011, you had received a sentence of three years and a non-parole period of 18 months was set. This was before His Honour Judge Wischusen of this court. Previously, on 26 June 2008, before His Honour Judge Shelton, you received a total effective sentence of five years, with three months in relation to various armed robberies. And, prior to that, on 28 June 2007, you received, again before His Honour Judge Shelton, a sentence of imprisonment of two years, with 30 months suspended and a community-based order with conditions.
17 You also have prior criminal convictions for robbery, attempted robbery, recklessly cause injury, unlawful assault and burglary. Indeed, for much of your adult life you have been incarcerated. On 3 October 2016, you were released pursuant to parole. On 30 December in the same year, your parole concluded. Six months later you have engaged in this serious and persistent offending.
18 This offending has had a dramatic impact on the lives of some of the victims. On the plea, I received a victim impact statement from Julie Kuchel.[1] She says she has suffered extreme emotional trauma due to this horrendous event. She has trouble sleeping, recurring nightmares and extreme anxiety. She does not enjoy social activities anymore as she is always on edge, and is overcome with feelings of anger, sadness and despair.
[1] Charge 5
19 I also received victim impact statements from Anne Carr and her daughter Nicole Brogden[2]. Anne Carr was shaken at the time of these events, fearing for the safety of her daughter who was working with her, and for her own safety. The experience has caused her to seek counselling in order to address the trauma. She is also fearful that her business could be a target again in the future.
[2] Charge 7
20 Your offending spree was committed against what is known as “soft targets”. Armed robbery is an offence where deterrence and community protection have particular force because it:
“… is a prevalent crime in the community and the courts have a considerable responsibility to send a clear message to the public that an armed robbery, whether committed on a "soft" target or a "substantial" target such as a bank or place where cash money is likely to be found, is likely to be visited with a stern and fitting custodial sentence.” [3]
[3]DPP v Doherty [2002] VSCA 213 at paragraph [41]
21 As to the matters in mitigation, I accept that your pleas of guilty were entered at the first available opportunity. In so doing, you have spared the need for a trial and the trauma of victims giving evidence. I also accept that the pleas of guilty are commensurate with remorse. When you were interviewed by the police in relation to this offending, you acknowledged that you felt for the people that went through the trauma that you had exposed them to.
22 Further, you also told the police that you committed these armed robberies because you were trying to fix up a debt in relation to the drug Ice. While this does not mitigate this serious offending, it provides a context in which this spate of armed robberies has occurred.
23 Exhibit C on the plea was a psychiatric report that I ordered, authored by Dr Maria Triglia, consultant psychiatrist, Victorian Institute of Forensic Mental Health. From my review of that report, it is clear that you are a person with a rather complex psychiatric history. In her opinion, you suffer from an Obsessive Compulsive Disorder which, as at the time of the report, appears to be stable and unchanged.[4] Dr Triglia also says that your more recent psychotic symptoms can be explained by a diagnosis of Schizoaffective Disorder. She also notes that your psychotic symptoms have responded partially to Olanzapine (which you are currently receiving), although you continue to experience persecutory ideation, ideas of reference and occasionally auditory hallucinations.
[4] Report dated 11 July 2018
24 In Dr Triglia’s opinion, given your psychiatric diagnosis and your ongoing symptoms, it is her view that you will find a period of imprisonment more onerous than others would. Furthermore she believes that you are also at risk of deterioration in your mood and possible suicide attempt. She does note, however, that these risks can be mitigated by the provision of appropriate mental health services in the prison. In the circumstances, I propose to sentence you on the basis that the fifth limb of the principles in R v Verdins; R v Buckley; R v Vo[5] applies in your case. This submission was made on your behalf by your defence counsel. The prosecution did not seek to dissuade me otherwise.
[5](2007) VSCA 102; 16 VR 269; 169 A Crim R 581
25 You have been in custody since August 2017. You are currently housed in a protection unit because of prior disputes with criminal associates. According to Dr Triglia’s report, she notes that you have had some altercations with fellow prisoners, although you have had no recent contact with psychiatric services at Melbourne Remand Centre, where you are currently being held. Your current medications are Olanzapine (antipsychotic, 10 milligrams at night), Escitalopram (antidepressant, 30 milligrams in the morning) and a daily dosage of Methadone at 100 milligrams.
26 Prior to committing this spate of offences you, as already noted by me, had been completing a period of parole, living with your family and had been abstinent from heroin for about ten months. At that time abstinence was maintained by dint of methadone substitution therapy. You then associated with a friend from prison, and on one occasion your friend was using methamphetamine in your presence. You then joined him. Within a short period of time you were using approximately $300 worth of methamphetamine per day. You then embarked on the commission of these armed robberies in order to obtain money to pay for that methamphetamine use.
27 I now turn to your personal circumstances. You are now 31 years of age. Your family remain supportive of you. They were not however present in court. I am told that you indicated to them that you did not want them present. However, you have daily contact with your brothers and sisters and parents via the telephone at the gaol. Exhibit 5 on the plea was a letter dated 29 May 2018 from your parents, Stuart and Karen Randell. According to them, when you were released from prison in 2016, they saw a “new Chris”. You stayed at home, you got a job, and you finished your parole and spent time with your family. Your parents say that they had never seen you so happy at that time. However, unfortunately, after twelve months you slipped and found yourself back in the downward spiral of drug use. In essence, it is clear from that letter that upon your eventual release from gaol you will have 100 per cent support from your family. This is an important factor that I take into account in assessing your prospects for rehabilitation.
28 You left school midway through Year 8, thus you have a very limited education. Work has, not surprisingly, been intermittent because of your engagement with drugs since you were about 15 or 16 years of age. Such work has mainly been labouring, such as roof tiling, fencing and landscape gardening. You are single and have no children.
29 The basic purposes for which a court may impose a sentence are punishment, general deterrence, both specific and general, rehabilitation, denunciation and protection of the community. In sentencing you, I must have regard to a range of matters such as the seriousness of the offending, your culpability for it, your personal circumstances and those of the victim, if any.
30 I am required to balance the interests of the community in denouncing criminal conduct with the interest of the community in seeking to ensure, as far as possible, that offenders are rehabilitated and reintegrated into society. Please stand, Mr Randell.
31 In relation to Charge 1, I sentence you to a period of imprisonment of two (2) years.
32 In relation to Charge 2, I sentence you to a period of imprisonment of twelve (12) months.
33 In relation to Charge 3, I sentence you to a period of imprisonment of two (2) years.
34 In relation to Charge 4, I sentence you to a period of imprisonment of two-and-a-half (2 ½) years.
35 In relation to Charge 5, I sentence you to a period of imprisonment of four (4) years.
36 In relation to Charge 6, I sentence you to a period of imprisonment of three (3) years.
37 In relation to Charge 7, I sentence you to a period of imprisonment of eighteen (18) months.
38 I make the following orders for cumulation. I order that six (6) months of the sentence on Charge 3 be served cumulatively with the sentence on Charge 5. I further order that ten (10) months of the sentence on Charge 6 be served cumulatively upon the sentence imposed on Charge 5. All other sentences are to be served concurrently with the sentence imposed on Charge 5 and upon one other.
39 The total effective sentence is five (5) years and four (4) months. I order a period of three (3) years and five (5) months before you become eligible for parole.
40 Pursuant to s 18(4) of the Sentencing Act 1991, I declare 411 days to have been served as pre-sentence detention and I order such declaration to be noted in the records of the court.
41 Pursuant to s 6AAA of the Sentencing Act 1991, if not for your pleas of guilty, I would have imposed a sentence of seven (7) years and a non-parole period of five (5) years.
42 I make the confiscation and forfeiture orders in the terms sought by the prosecution.
43 I decline to make the s 86 compensation orders as sought.
44 You may be seated, Mr Randell. Yes, any other orders?
45 MS SIRIWARDANA: Nothing from the prosecution, Your Honour.
46 MR LINDNER: No, Your Honour.
47 HER HONOUR: All right, thank you very much. Yes, we'll adjourn till 9.30 tomorrow, thanks.
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