Director of Public Prosecutions v Richards
[2021] VCC 1920
•24 November 2021
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA AT LATROBE VALLEY (SITTING AT MELBOURNE) CRIMINAL JURISDICTION | Revised Not Restricted Suitable for Publication |
Case No. CR-21-01618
Indictment No. L11517706
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| v |
| STEVEN JOHN RICHARDS |
---
JUDGE: | HIS HONOUR JUDGE DOYLE |
WHERE HELD: | Melbourne |
DATE OF HEARING: | 1 October 2021 |
DATE OF SENTENCE: | 24 November 2021 |
CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | DPP v Richards |
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2021] VCC 1920 |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
---
Subject:Criminal Law - Sentence
Catchwords: Intentionally Case Injury – Criminal Damage – Commit an Indictable Offence whilst on Bail - COVID-19 – Guilty Plea – Specific Deterrence – General Deterrence – Relevant Criminal History – Just Punishment – Denunciation – Totality
Legislation Cited: Crimes Act 1958 s 18, s 197(1); Sentencing Act 1991 s6AAA
Cases Cited: Worboyes v The Queen [2021] VSCA 169
Sentence:26 months imprisonment with a non-parole period of 15 months
S6AAA Declaration: 3 years and 4 months imprisonment with a non-parole period of 2 years and 2 months
---
APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the Director of Public Prosecutions | Ms C. Duckett | Solicitor for the Office of Public Prosecutions |
For the Accused | Mr C. Oldham | Balmer & Associates |
HIS HONOUR:
1Steven Richards, you have pleaded guilty to intentionally causing injury for which the maximum penalty is 10 years' imprisonment; criminal damage for which the maximum penalty is also 10 years' imprisonment and the summary offence of committing an indictable offence on bail for which the maximum penalty is 3 months' imprisonment.
2The victim in this matter is Andrew Guy. He was in a relationship with Leith Eddington, your former partner. You have a 9-year-old daughter with her who lives with your mother. You had known the victim for approximately 12 months prior to the offending in this case.
3On 8 February 2020, at approximately 9:30 pm, the victim was in the backyard at Leith Eddington’s address in Drouin, working on his Mitsubishi Lancer, when you arrived and demanded that he leave the property.
4Complying with your demand he got into his car. As he did so you punched him several times to his head. The victim then drove out of the backyard along the driveway. Two tyres were in the way and when he drove over them his car ‘bottomed out’ on the tyres and would not move.
5You then smashed the rear driver side window of his car. You reached through the window resuming your assault on him. Next, you grabbed a rock and threw it at the driver's side window. The rock smashed through the window and hit him on the right side of his head. After grabbing a nearby shovel that the victim had been using in the backyard, you used the shovel to smash the windscreen of his car. During the incident Ms Eddington become involved, also damaging the victim’s vehicle, smashing the rear passenger side window with a broom handle.
6The victim got out of his vehicle and grabbed a hammer to protect himself. Undeterred, you continued to hit him. He used his left hand to protect his head. You hit him on the head with the shovel several times. He put his left arm over his head to protect himself. You then hit him on the arm with the shovel several times and kicked him in the ribs. Finally, you again hit him with the shovel, this time in the back of his head.
7After this he asked you if you had had enough yet and you responded, 'I haven’t started having fun'. He then said, 'Enough, let me get in my car and go'; and you said, 'You’re not going anywhere'. Leith Eddington contacted triple zero telling them that the victim was refusing to leave her address.
8The victim ran to a neighbouring property in Ramden Street, Drouin where Duane Lucas and Nicole Bradshaw lived. He knocked on the door and asked Duane Lucas to drive him home, but Mr Lucas said no because he had been drinking. The victim was covered in blood by this time. Ms Bradshaw saw him stumble down the steps and lie down on the grass. She noticed he was moaning in pain, bleeding profusely from his head and holding his left arm against his chest. She called an ambulance.
9At 9.40 pm police attended Ms Eddington’s address. You were there and approached police. Asked by police about what had occurred, you said you had 'smashed him' and you were 'going to get him again'.
10Whilst dealing with you, police were notified the victim was at the Ramden Street address and bleeding from his head. Police left and went to Ramden Street. The victim was lying on the floor bleeding from his head. He had multiple cuts on his arms. Due to the extent of his injuries, police were unable to obtain a statement from him.
11He was taken to the West Gippsland Hospital Emergency Department and transferred to the Latrobe Valley Regional Hospital. He recalls waking up at the hospital with his arm in plaster. He was discharged three days later, on
12 February 2020.12At the time of these offences, you were on bail for various charges. You had been bailed on 10 September 2019 to attend the Latrobe Valley Magistrates' Court on 17 April 2020 where bail had been extended. That's the basis of the summary offence of committing an indictable offence on bail.
13You were arrested on 25 June 2020 and interviewed. You made no admissions.
14In terms of injuries to the victim, Dr Jason Schreiber, a Forensic Physician, reviewed the notes from the Latrobe Hospital. The victim sustained the following injuries:
·a left forearm fracture near the elbow joint which required stabilisation treatment with plaster;
·a left elbow soft tissue injury with two or three lacerations, one laceration extending through the deep fascia to 8 cm - the injuries required soft tissue injury washout, extensive wound edge debridement and suturing;
·a 6 cm to 8 cm scalp laceration on the right side of the back of his head which required repair by gluing;
·Multiple bruises and grazes to his right leg.
15Mr Richards, this was a prolonged assault involving repeated punches and then the use of a weapon, namely the shovel. The victim was in a vulnerable position getting into his car when the incident started and was then effectively trapped after his car bottomed out on the tyres. He was in a sense ambushed by your arrival and your near immediate attack on him. He was punched to the head, kicked, and struck by the shovel to vulnerable areas of his body. The injuries described are towards the higher end of the spectrum for an injury charge, reflected by the three nights he spent in hospital. The smashing of his car windows no doubt added to the terrifying character of this incident. The criminal damage was committed in company with Ms Eddington. Your intent to injure the victim was unequivocal as demonstrated very clearly by your actions and by what you said to him near the end of the attack.
16This attack could not be described as spontaneous or reactive. It seems you responded to a call from Ms Eddington, and you must have travelled to her house intent on a confrontation. Your aggressive intent was clear from the outset. Soon after demanding he leave the property you launched this sustained attack on him. It has not been explained to me what your issue with the victim was. There is simply no evidence about this. You obviously had some grievance against him related to Ms Eddington but that is not a mitigating factor in this case.
17Although there was no victim impact statement given the circumstances of the incident, I have no doubt this was a terrifying experience for the victim and the injuries he sustained were significant.
18In my opinion this represents a serious example of intentionally cause injury and criminal damage. Given the nature and seriousness of the assault, its lack of spontaneity and your relevant prior convictions I assess your moral culpability as significant. You were on bail at the time of these offences which is an aggravating factor.
19I turn now to your personal circumstances. You are now 37 years old. You were born in Moe in March 1984. You have lived in Gippsland for most of your life. You completed Year 7 at the Neerim District School. You then left school to start a building apprenticeship. Later you worked in logging for 15 years. At the moment, you work as a labourer and do some self-employed work to supplement your income.
20You were in an on again-off again relationship with Ms Eddington until a few years ago. With her you have 9-year-old daughter, Paige. For the past two years you have been in a relationship with a woman named, Krystal Gordon.
21Your daughter lives with your mother pursuant to child protection orders. The Department is considering reunification subject to the finalisation and outcome of these proceedings. Paige is unable to live with Ms Eddington because of concerns about her drug use. Paige would therefore live with you if reunified and be under your care.
22You were brought up by your mother. She lives in Drouin and is very supportive of you. You had no relationship with your father who you met just once. I am told you have experienced violent abuse from some of your mother’s partners in your formative years. You have two sisters, both live in Gippsland and you maintain contact with them.
23You have had drug problems in the past, most recently with methylamphetamine. You are not using drugs at the moment, because you are motivated to have the Department approve reunification with your daughter.
24You say that as a child you were diagnosed with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder and you took medication until you were 14 years old. You have had two admissions to the Flynn Unit at the Latrobe Regional Hospital for intensive mental health assistance. The last admission was in 2017 for overnight observation. It is not suggested that either your mental health or your drug use played a role in this offending.
25You do have a relevant criminal history involving a wide array of offences including drug trafficking, dishonesty, and driving offences. Your history includes a five-month prison sentence for unlawful assault and other offences in 2018. You have a prior conviction for threat to kill in 2017. In 2015 you were convicted of reckless conduct endangering life among other offences, for which you received a 12-month community correction order. You also have a prior conviction for wilful damage for which you received a fine. You have prior convictions for breaching family violence orders. You have received community correction orders in the past which you have breached.
26I turn to your plea of guilty. You pleaded guilty at the fourth committal mention hearing. For some of the earlier mentions you had been unrepresented, and you did not attend on one occasion. A more serious charge was withdrawn at some stage of the proceedings in the Magistrates’ Court. I regard this as a guilty plea at effectively the earliest opportunity in the circumstances.
27In formulating the sentence for these charges, I have given you credit for the utilitarian benefit of your plea, heightened in the current circumstances where the court faces a very long and growing backlog of trials because of the suspension of trials during the pandemic. For this reason, the Court of Appeal in Worboyes v The Queen made it clear that a guilty plea in the pandemic should 'attract a more pronounced amelioration of sentence than at another time’.[1] I accept your plea also indicates a willingness to facilitate the course of justice and to take responsibility for your actions is indicative of some remorse for what you did.
[1]Worboyes v The Queen [2021] VSCA 169 at [39].
28Your lengthy history of offending is discouraging, and these offences are more serious than anything in your history. At the comparatively advanced age of 36 you have offended in a manner which will attract comfortably the longest sentence you have so far received.
29You have had opportunities in the past to rehabilitate. Community correction orders designed to promote your rehabilitation have been imposed on several occasions, but you breached all of those orders. You have also had short gaol sentences, but you have continued to offend.
30Your ability to abstain from drug use to regain custody of your daughter is at least a positive and protective factor in your favour.
31I have taken a guarded view of your prospects of rehabilitation. And that is only because your motivation to look after your daughter and abstinence from drugs is a cause for some optimism.
32The sentence I impose will weigh heavily on you in the circumstances where your time in custody will prevent reunification with your daughter.
33I accept the period you will spend in custody will be more onerous due to the restrictions in the prison such as the suspension of visits and limited access to rehabilitative programs resulting from the pandemic. These restrictions are likely to remain a feature of prison life for some time. I have taken these matters into account as a mitigating factor.
34Deterrence both specific and general, just punishment and denunciation are all important sentencing principles in this case. Because of your relevant prior convictions, I must give significant weight to specific deterrence. That is the need for the sentence to be sufficiently punitive to deter you from further offending, particularly, further violent offending.
35Ms Eddington was dealt with in the Magistrates' Court for criminal damage. She received an adjourned undertaking. She had no prior convictions. Considerations of parity are not significant given your substantial criminal history and the criminal damage offence in your case occurred at the same time as a serious assault. But I have had regard to the sentence she received in fixing a sentence for the criminal damage offence.
36The totality principle requires that the overall sentence I impose must be just and proportionate. The assault charge and the criminal damage involved overlapping criminality and occurred as part of the single incident. This is a feature of the offending, which requires very substantial concurrency between the sentences for those offences.
37I have taken into account the fact you were on bail as an aggravating feature of those two offences, so the issue of double punishment is relevant to the penalty for summary offence of committing an indictable offence whilst on bail.
Could you please stand, Mr Richards.
38In relation to Charge 1 on the indictment, of intentionally causing injury, you are convicted and sentenced to two years' imprisonment.
39In relation to Charge 2 of criminal damage, you are convicted and sentenced to eight months' imprisonment.
40In respect of the summary offence of committing an indictable offence whilst on bail, you are convicted and sentenced to seven days' imprisonment.
41I direct that two months of the sentence imposed on Charge 2 be served cumulative on the sentence imposed on Charge 1, making a total effective sentence of 26 months. I fix a non-parole period in this matter, of 15 months. Pursuant to Section 6AAA of the Sentencing Act, I indicate to you that had you not pleaded guilty, the sentence imposed would have been three years and four months' with a non-parole period of two years and two months.
42I declare pre-sentence detention of one day in this matter.
43HIS HONOUR: All right, Mr Richards can go into custody. -.-.-
0