Director of Public Prosecutions v Rick James Young
[2020] VCC 1505
•29 September 2020
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA AT MELBOURNE CRIMINAL DIVISION | Revised Not Restricted Suitable for Publication |
Case No. CR-20-00792
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| v |
| RICK JAMES YOUNG |
---
JUDGE: | HER HONOUR JUDGE LEWITAN | |
WHERE HELD: | Melbourne | |
DATE OF HEARING: | 29 September 2020 | |
DATE OF SENTENCE: | 29 September 2020 | |
CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | DPP v Rick James Young | |
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2020] VCC 1505 | |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
---
Subject: Armed Robbery
---
APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the DPP | Ms E. Farger | |
| For the Accused | Mr B. Tait | Tait Lawyers |
HER HONOUR:
1 Rick James Young, you have pleaded guilty to one charge of armed robbery. The maximum penalty for this offence is 25 years' imprisonment.
Circumstances of Offending
2 On Thursday 11 March 2020 at 1.55 am the victim, Michael Stephenson (then 32 years old), was walking north on Bourke Street, Ferntree Gully. When he arrived at the intersection of Fuchsia Street, you and an unknown co-offender approached him and demanded his wallet. When the victim refused, both you and the co-offender (the offenders) produced knives. The offenders then demanded the victim’s backpack, wallet and mobile phone, which the victim handed over. The unknown co-offender demanded the victim’s mobile telephone PIN. and held the knife to his neck, causing a small cut approximately one inch long. After the victim disclosed the PIN, the offenders entered it and unlocked the phone. The victim was scared because the offenders both had knives. The victim had never seen either of these males before.
3 The property stolen from the victim included a black 500GB XS max iPhone; a brown leather wallet containing various ID cards, a Victorian heavy endorsed motor licence, a Westpac Bank card and a Bendigo Bank card in the name of the victim’s mother; and a black and green backpack containing a Milwaukee impact driver, a Barco socket set, a small case with some screwdrivers and bits and a Mountain Designs puffer vest.
4
The offenders then walked to a red Holden Commodore, which was parked, telling victim 'not to call the fucking jacks.' The offenders got into the car and drove off. The victim noted the colour, make and registration number as
1FY 4TH, which the victim repeated to himself as he went home. Once there, he called the police. He also noted blood from the cut, but did not seek medical treatment.
5 At 6.55 am on Friday 20 March 2020, police attended your home address of 3/14 Stradbroke Road, Boronia and executed a search warrant. You were found sleeping on the couch in the lounge room at the address. You were found in possession of a Victorian heavy endorsed motor car licence in the name of Michael Stephenson, which had been stolen from the victim at the time of the armed robbery. Police also seized a grey Razor brand folding pocketknife.
6 You were conveyed to the Knox Police Station, where you were interviewed and largely answered 'no comment'. You admitted being in possession of your friend Callum White’s red Holden Commodore, registration 1FY 4TH, but denied that your friend was involved in the armed robbery.
7 The facts in this case are very serious.
8 As has been pointed out by your counsel, there are however some mitigating factors. You have pleaded guilty. You are entitled to have that fact taken into account in your favour and I do so. The community has, by your plea, been spared the time and cost of a trial. Witnesses have been spared the ordeal of giving evidence upon your trial. Further, I take it into account in your favour that you intimated your intention to plead guilty to these charges at the earliest opportunity. In the circumstances I accept that your plea indicates some remorse for your actions.
9 The victim was not known to you. However, you instruct that the victim was not a random member of the public. A female associate set up the purchase of illicit drugs from the victim via a mobile phone application named 'Skout'. Arrangements were made for a meeting where the victim was to sell drugs to the female associate.
10 There was an arrangement between you, the female associate and the unknown male co-offender whereby the offenders would steal the victim’s drugs. You instructed your counsel that your motivation for the offending was to steal drugs from the victim. You did not have money to purchase the drugs, and due to your drug addiction, you were 'desperate'.
11 I have been told something of your personal history and your circumstances. You were born on 24 April 1984 and are 36 years old. At the time of the offence you were 35 years old. You were recovering from a substantial injury to your left hand and were wearing a distinctive blue plastic wrist and hand support that covered your left hand.
12 Your parents separated when you were 18 months old and you continued to live with your mother. Your mother remarried when you were five years old. You were raised by both your mother and your step-father and describe your upbringing as a good one.
13 You attended school at Ferntree Gully High. You left at the end of Year 9 to complete an apprenticeship in carpentry. Given your substance addiction issues, you have had difficulty maintaining employment since your apprenticeship.
14 You commenced taking illicit substances when you were thirteen years old and by the age of fourteen your drug taking behaviour evolved into heavy use. You used heroin and also some ice. Your early initiation into drug use was as the result of older, unsavoury friendships with people who were regularly using and were in and out of prison. You were heavily reliant on these friendships, due to not having siblings of your own.
15 You have not been able to access any drug rehabilitation programs while on remand. You are however prescribed methadone in custody.
16 You have three children aged 15, 10 and 4. The two older children are mothered by your ex-partner whilst the youngest child’s mother is your current partner, Rachael Mackenzie. You describe Ms Mackenzie as someone who is 'straight' in character and as a result you had a period of separation after your release in May 2019 due to your struggle to remain on the right path.
17 On 4 February 2020 you were victim to a violent home invasion. The assailants kicked in the door and attacked you with a tomahawk and a golf club. A female associate present at the time of the incident called 000 and the police attended.
18 You were transported to the Alfred Hospital by paramedics and underwent surgery. You remained in hospital for three weeks. You sustained horrific physical injuries. The pinkie finger on your right hand was cut off and was unable to be reattached. Your ring and index fingers were also cut off but have been reattached. The use of the reattached fingers is limited. Your right arm was nearly completely severed. You underwent surgery to reattach the arm; however, again, the use of your arm is limited. You experience numbness from your forearm to your hand as a result of the injury. The assailants also hit you on the back of your head with a golf club and a tomahawk. You went into a coma and suffered fractures to the back of your neck.
19 You are currently accessing appointments with a physiotherapist every three weeks whilst in custody. Despite ongoing pain, you have been unable to be prescribed any pain medication due to the restriction of such medication to persons in custody.
20 There is concern that you suffered neurological injuries as a result of the incident; you have developed a stutter and cannot read. You told your counsel that the Alfred Hospital are wishing to complete a CAT scan and neurological assessments; however there have been difficulties arranging for this to be done while you have been in custody and the extent of the neurological injuries is currently unknown.
21 After you suffered the life threatening injuries when you were a victim in the home invasion in February 2020, Ms Mackenzie took on the role of your carer and you rekindled the relationship.
22 The effect of the injuries on your current period of incarceration has been 'immense' for both yourself and your partner, Ms Mackenzie. You have had to rely on your cell-mate to assist you in eating due to the limited use of your hand and arm. You feel guilty because you are aware that Ms Mackenzie has been concerned for your welfare in custody with such injuries.
Prison more burdensome on you than for someone in normal health
23 The nature of the injuries to your arm requires intensive rehabilitation in the form of physiotherapy, neuro-physiotherapy and occupational therapy. Whilst the defence acknowledges that you are unlikely to be released for some time, you are concerned that these forms of rehabilitation will not be available to you. Your counsel submitted that rehabilitation is best undertaken immediately after sustaining injuries as opposed to sometime afterwards.
24 I accept your counsel’s submission that your period of incarceration will be more burdensome for you than for someone in normal health as a result of your physical and potential neurological injuries. I take this into account in your favour in mitigation of sentence.
25 You have admitted before me to prior convictions. There are 57 such convictions, involving 14 court appearances between 2002 and 2018. The nature of some of those prior convictions and in particular the convictions for aggravated burglary (offensive weapon), assault with weapon, possess controlled weapon without excuse and theft are such that they are highly relevant to my task of sentencing you today.
26
Your most recent court appearance was before the Ringwood
Magistrates’ Court on 1 November 2018 where you received an aggregate sentence of twelve months’ imprisonment with a non-parole period of six months. You were not granted parole and served the entirety of the 12 month sentence. You were released from custody on 31 May 2019 and remained in the community until your remand for this offending on 20 March 2020.
Rehabilitation
27 You continue to have strong familial support by your mother, step-father and Ms Mackenzie. You have expressed that you felt extremely guilty for leaving Ms Mackenzie to care for your children on her own whilst you are in custody. You instructed your counsel that this has been a 'wakeup call' that you need to redirect the path your life is on.
28 In my view your prospects for rehabilitation remain guarded in view of your history of drug use and the offending to support your addiction to illicit substances. Your prospects for rehabilitation will depend upon your ability to remain free from drugs.
29
Your co-offender has not been identified or dealt with by a court and as a result I am unable to take into account parity of sentence with your
co-offender.
30 No victim impact statement has been tendered in this matter. I have been informed that the victim was offered the opportunity of making such a statement but chose not to do so. The victim stated that both of the offenders had knives. The defence acknowledged that the victim would have been terrified.
COVID-19 Pandemic
31 You were subjected to the 14-day quarantine period upon your intake into custody. You found this period difficult as there was little in the way of activity to keep your mind occupied during this period of lockdown. Your initial month in custody was spent at the Metropolitan Remand Centre. The practice at this facility was for you to be locked down in your cell and only released for exercise between 9 am and 12 pm and then between 1.45 pm and 6 pm on alternate days. You have since been transferred to Fulham Correctional Centre. Although the regularity of lockdowns is much less frequent, there have still been three or four scares where prisoners have been locked down for between three and five days at a time until test results have been returned.
32 You have not received any personal visits given the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. You have had six 'virtual visits' with your partner and one virtual visit with your two older children via Zoom.
33 In Glen Brown (aka James Davis) v The Queen[1] the Court of Appeal (Priest and Weinberg JJA) accepted that the COVID-19 pandemic is 'causing additional stress and concern for prisoners and their families'. It is a matter I take into account in your favour in mitigation of sentence.
[1] [2020] VSCA 60, [48].
34 However, as well as those matters personal to you to which I have referred, including your prospects of rehabilitation, I must also take into account such matters as deterrence, especially general deterrence, which is of considerable importance in a case such as this. I must also consider the question of the protection of members of the community from you and bear in mind the likelihood of your re-offending. I am called upon by the Sentencing Act to manifest the community's denunciation of your conduct and generally to impose a just punishment.
Gravity of offending
35 The defence submits that the offending does not constitute a serious example of the offence for the following reasons:
(1) Other than the experience of fear that would have undoubtedly been caused by your actions, the victim suffered a relatively mild injury, being a small cut to the neck.
(2) While you accept responsibility for your role in the offending and the fact that you were acting in concert, it was the co-offender who held the knife to the victim’s neck and demanded the property.
(3) The value of the property stolen from the victim is relatively small and there is no allegation that you later utilised the ID and bank cards in the victim’s stolen wallet.
36 In my view this offending is at the middle end of the range of seriousness for offences of armed robbery. The offence was committed in company with the unknown offender. Both of you were armed with knives and the offence was committed late at night.
Submissions on sentence
37 The defence concedes that you have a relevant criminal history to the offending for which you stand to be sentenced. The defence concedes that a term of imprisonment is warranted.
Mandatory Sentencing Act provisions
38 Armed Robbery is a 'category 2 offence' under s.3(1) of the Sentencing Act 1991 (Sentencing Act) in circumstances where the offence was committed by the offender in company with one or more persons. Under s.2H of the Sentencing Act the court must make a custodial order for category 2 offences unless one of the criteria under s.2H(a)-(e) of the Sentencing Act applies. The defence concedes that the offence is a 'category 2 offence' and that the mandatory sentence provisions are invoked.
39 This is without doubt a serious offence. In all the circumstances I have no alternative to the imposition of a custodial sentence. On the charge of armed robbery you are convicted and sentenced to a term of imprisonment of three years. I direct that you serve a minimum term of two years before being eligible for release on parole.
40 I order that the property referred to in the schedule of the forfeiture order (the property) which I have signed this day be forfeited to the Minister.
41 As prescribed by s.18(4) of the Sentencing Act, I declare that the period of time you have already spent in custody is 193 days; is that agreed? Yes, 193 days.
42 MS FARGER: Yes, Your Honour.
43 HER HONOUR: Thank you.
44 MR TAIT: Yes, Your Honour.
45 HER HONOUR: I direct that such be noted in the records of the court.
46 Section 6AAA of the Sentencing Act requires me to state the sentence and non-parole period that I would have imposed but for your plea of guilty. Your plea has saved time, expense and the need for witnesses to give evidence, and is reflective of remorse. But for your plea of guilty, I would have sentenced you to a term of imprisonment of five years. I would have directed that you serve a period of three years before being eligible for parole.
47 Are there any further matters?
48 MS FARGER: No, Your Honour.
49 MR TAIT: No, Your Honour.
50 HER HONOUR: Yes, thank you. Now, I will adjourn the court, thank you.
- - -
0