Director of Public Prosecutions v Rogers

[2018] VCC 539

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

AT SHEPPARTON
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

CR 17-01819

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

KATRIEONA ROGERS

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JUDGE:	HIS HONOUR JUDGE RYAN
WHERE HELD:	Shepparton
DATE OF HEARING:	23 April 2018
DATE OF SENTENCE:	23 April 2018
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Rogers
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2018] VCC 539

REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject:  CRIMINAL LAW

Catchwords:  Sentence – Robbery – Commit indictable offence whilst on bail – Plea of Guilty

Legislation Cited:     Sentencing Act 1991

Sentence:Community Corrections order for a period of 2 years; Section 6AAA declaration: 12 months Youth Justice Centre Order.

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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the Director of Public Prosecutions	Ms M. Mahady	Ms T. Schultz Office of Public Prosecutions
For the Accused	Mr T. Lynch	Mr B. Birrell

1Ms Rogers, you may remain seated until I ask you to stand.  On Friday 20 April 2018 you pleaded guilty to one charge of robbery and a related summary offence of committing an indictable offence whilst on bail.  The plea was adjourned until today, the 23rd day of April 2018.

2The maximum penalty for robbery is 15 years' imprisonment, whilst the maximum penalty for the related summary offence of committing an indictable offence whilst on bail is three months' imprisonment.

3Tendered as Exhibit A on the plea was the amended Crown opening on the plea.  At approximately 9 pm on Tuesday 14 February 2017 you telephoned the victim in this matter and arranged to catch up with him for some dinner.  This was a ruse. After meeting for a short period of time you drove in his motor vehicle around Shepparton, you told him that you were feeling unwell and he returned you to where he had met you outside the Tudor Motel.

4At the Motel, when he opened the door for you to lean out in an apparent attempt to be physically ill, your co-offender entered the motor vehicle armed with a knife and he at knifepoint robbed the victim in this matter of some $500, together with sundry other items, being a mobile phone and, a National Bank Card and a Medicare Card.

5You left the motor vehicle and returned to a silver Camry, which you had obtained from an acquaintance some hours earlier, as appears from the contents of the depositions.  The telephone call that was made to the victim came from the telephone possessed by your co-offender, and your offending involved planning and was not without sophistication.  Your plea was entered on the basis that the joint criminal enterprise that you had agreed to was one of robbery and not of armed robbery, and that you were unaware that your co-offender was armed with a knife.

6You are without prior convictions, however you have subsequent matters, being on 13 June 2017 without conviction your charges were adjourned to
12 June 2018 being charges of burglary, theft, learner driver driving a vehicle without an experienced driver, use unregistered motor vehicle on the highway, obtain property by deception and handle stolen goods.

7In addition, in respect to a further subsequent appearance on 4 December 2017 possess methylamphetamine, you were released without conviction on an adjourned bond for 12 months.  That last matter runs contrary to the tenor of the information provided to me in respect to your rehabilitation, but I accept the evidence given to me by Ms Wings unreservedly.

8I was told that you were on bail at the time of committing the instant offence whilst awaiting a hearing in respect of wilful damage, however no such matter appears upon your police criminal record.  Regardless of that, you have pleaded guilty to that offence.

9You are 20 years of age, and you are the mother of two children.  Sianah is aged two years, and she presently resides with you.  Your son Malaki resides with your father.  You are pregnant with your third child to your partner,
Mr Yates.  You do not reside with Mr Yates, but reside in public housing with your daughter.  Mr Yates and his family are supportive of you.

10You left home at age 12 and effectively were homeless until the instant offending.  At the time of the offending, you were living with your co-offender in a storage shed.  Your co-offender pleaded guilty on 20 April 2018 to armed robbery, and his plea was adjourned and will be heard by the Koori Court in July this year.  He is 15 years your senior and has a lengthy criminal record for which he has served a number of terms of imprisonment. 

11At the time of your offending, you were abusing ice.  After arrest, you spent some 34 days by way of presentence detention at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre.  You were released on supervised bail, and a confidential progress report dated 10 April 2018 formed part of Exhibit 1.

12Exhibit 1 consisted of a number of documents, as well as an outline of submissions by Mr Lynch of counsel, who appeared on your behalf.

13Under the supervised bail, you have performed well.  You have complied with and met all appointments, you attended upon YSAS for drug and alcohol counselling, and are now drug-free.  That fact was corroborated by Ms Wings, who gave evidence on your behalf, and who swore that as part of the program imposed by DHHS to facilitate the return of your son Malaki to you, you were obliged to undergo urine analysis, and they have proved negative.

14You attended at the Bendigo-base hospital for treatment in respect to depression and anxiety, and are now well and un-medicated in that respect.  It is hoped that those ailments have resolved and will not return.

15You have stable accommodation through Anglicare.  Ms Wings swore that she has attended at your home, and that it is kept in a spotless condition.  She swore that your daughter Sianah is always clean, and that you budget well.

16It is anticipated that your son Malaki will be returned to you sometime in the future.  You have hopes of returning to education in the future, as you have limited education, owing to you leaving home at the age of 12 years because of the position in which you found yourself within your home.

17Effectively, because of the circumstances that drove you from your home and thereafter until the intervention of the supervised bail arrangements, you were homeless. 

18You have pleaded guilty and are entitled to benefits that flow to you from your plea, being that it is of utilitarian benefit, and it is evidence of your remorse.

19You have become drug-free, any psychological issues have presently resolved, you are living independently, you are working to be reunited with your son Malaki.  You have a partner who is supportive of you, as is his family, and your own family is supportive of you.  If you remain on course, I regard your prospects for rehabilitation as good.

20Having received a report from Mr Alan Davidson, a Community Corrections Officer, he has found you suitable for a community corrections order, and initially I was minded only to place a condition of supervision, because of your personal circumstances, being that you are only 20 years of age, and in a very short time you will be a mother of three children, all under the age of two years.  I regard it as impractical that you be obliged to serve any unpaid community work given your personal circumstances.  But for your personal circumstances, I assure you I would have ordered unpaid community work, and of a reasonably substantial amount, to take something from your hide.

21In respect to both charges, I convict you, and with your consent I release you on a community corrections order for a period of two years with conditions:

22hat you be subject to the supervision of the Secretary or his delegate;

23that you undergo programs aimed at reducing your risk of reoffending and further, that you undergo any other treatment or rehabilitation programs as directed by a Community Corrections Officer.

24Are you prepared to enter into such a community corrections order?  Thank you.

25Pursuant to s.6AAA of the Sentencing Act 1991, but for your plea of guilty I would have sentenced you to a 12 months Youth Justice Centre order. Yes, that order is now being prepared. The criminal history and report will remain on the court file, please.

26Ms Rogers, I want you to understand this.  You have lived off your wits since you were 12.  In my experience of the law, which is now ranging up in the area of 38 years, it has always been my experience that the one person who knows their prior convictions is the person themselves.  I have some scepticism as to your professed knowledge of them and the instructions that you gave to your barrister.  Maybe that is an old habit of having to live on your wits since you were 12 years of age.

27I have released you on a community corrections order for two years, with conditions that can only be described as merciful.  Principally, they have come about because of the progress that you have made, I think, not in the least because of the influence of Ms Wings on you.

28If you breach this community corrections order, you return to me for sentencing.  I have the power to re-sentence you.  I would think, despite the fact that you are the mother of three young children, that I would think long and hard about sending you to Youth Justice Centre if you were still eligible.

29So understand this, if I think I have been misled by you today, and you return to me, you will not find the same sentencing judge as you found today.

30OFFENDER:  Yes.

31HIS HONOUR:  Can I make myself any plainer?  I beg your pardon?

32OFFENDER:  No.

33HIS HONOUR:  Good, I need to have you say that so there is no mistake between us.

34OFFENDER:  Yep.

35HIS HONOUR:  You may come out of the dock please, and sit behind your counsel.  Now, there will be copies of the orders for the Crown, for you Mr Lynch to provide to your instructing solicitor.

36MR LYNCH:  Thank you Your Honour.

37HIS HONOUR:  Also for Ms Rogers for her own records.

38MR LYNCH:  Thank you.

39HIS HONOUR:  I would like to thank counsel for their assistance in this matter, and - do you want to deliver those orders out, or will I just stand down? 

40(At this stage the court proceeded with another matter.)

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