Director of Public Prosecutions v Searle, Steven

[2013] VCC 674

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

AT MELBOURNE

CRIMINAL DIVISION

Case No. CR-13-00766

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

STEVEN SEARLE

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JUDGE:	His Honour Judge Ryan
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:	15 May 2013
DATE OF SENTENCE:	22 May 2013
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Searle, Steven
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2013] VCC 674

REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the DPP	Mr J Ong	OPP
For the Accused	Ms B F Franjic	Valos Black

HIS HONOUR:

1       Steven Searle, you have pleaded guilty to one charge of armed robbery upon indictment and a related summary offence of unlicensed driving.  The maximum penalty for armed robbery is 25 years imprisonment.  The maximum penalty for unlicensed driving is three months imprisonment or 25 penalty units. 

2       The facts that support the charges are set out in the summary of prosecution opening which was read aloud in court and tendered as Exhibit A on the plea.  In summary you robbed Nathaniel Weedon at knifepoint, of a car that was in his possession.  Nathanial Weedon met with Matthew Hird to purchase a Xanax tablet from him.  You were in Hird's motor car.  Weedon and Hird smoked some methylamphetamine together and when the two men parted, you got out of Hird's car and demanded Weedon's car at knifepoint saying "Give me the fuckin' car keys or I'll stab the fuckin' shit out of you."  You took the car and later abandoned it in a damaged condition. 

3       In his victim impact statement, Exhibit B, on the plea, Weedon states that he was scared for his life and that he has suffered loss, being the cost of repairs to his car.

4       You are a young man of only 20 years of age.  However, in your short life,  you have accumulated an extensive criminal history which includes a prior conviction for armed robbery for which you were sentenced to be detained in a Youth Justice Centre for a period of 10 months.  You have also four prior findings of guilt or convictions for unlicensed driving.  You are currently undergoing a sentence of 12 months’ imprisonment for crimes of dishonesty.   That sentence will expire on 31 October of this year. 

5       You are presently held at Port Philip Prison in the mainstream population where you care for your father, who, I am informed, is terminally ill with cirrhosis of the liver.  For some part of this time in prison, your older brother was also housed with you and your father.

6       You were educated to Year 8.  When speaking to Alison Maynard, Clinical Psychologist, whose report is Exhibit 1 on the plea, you told her that you were the class clown and that you were expelled from Fairhills School in Year 8 and completed but a few weeks of Year 9 at the Croydon Community School.  You have worked in a number of labouring positions from time to time since leaving school.  Your young life has been ruined by your addiction to alcohol, cannabis, methyl amphetamine and prescription drugs, amongst other drugs of dependence.  Alcohol, I am told, has had the most deleterious effect on you and has contributed to most of your offending.  Alcohol, it appears, was the basis of your relationship with your father, who is an alcoholic.  From your early teens you were his drinking companion. 

7       You suffer from anxiety and appear to self-medicate to reduce its effect on you.  This condition, however, is not relied upon in the Verdin's sense but as a part of your background to place your offending on context.  Exhibit 2 on the plea was a letter from your father, who says that until you were placed in the mainstream prison population, you had always been comfortable in the custodial settings in which you were placed, as they were appropriate for your youth.  Your father describes your experience with "the big boys" as bringing you "back to earth with a big thud."  I am told that you effectively nurse your father whilst in prison, attending to his medication and meals and that he is wheelchair-bound. 

8       Your counsel submitted on your behalf that I should take into account your plea of guilty, your age, that you are presently experiencing your first time in prison, the principal of totality when arriving at an appropriate sentence for these matters, that I should moderate your head sentence and order a longer parole period than is the norm, to facilitate your rehabilitation and the spontaneous nature of your armed robbery.  All  of these matters are relevant to the exercise of my sentencing discretion.  You are entitled to the benefit of your plea, particularly for its utilitarian value.  As to the question of remorse, that may come to you as you mature.  I doubt that remorse for this offending has entered into your conscious thought.  Your plea was entered at committal, but only once it became evident that the prosecution was in a position to proceed with this matter.  

9       You are a very young man and hope for your rehabilitation cannot be forsaken.  On the contrary, despite your extensive prior convictions, your rehabilitation must be fostered, as best as it can be, through the sentence that I will impose upon you.  I take into account that you are in prison for the first time in your life and the unusual circumstances of your present situation, caring for your father in a custodial setting, knowing that your father is terminally ill. 

10      The offence of armed robbery is a serious offence, punishable by 25 years imprisonment. Consistent with your prior offending, in the present circumstances, you simply decided to rob your victim of his car at knifepoint and use that car until you had no further need of it.  It was a callous act of a young man who cares little for others,  and perhaps even less for himself.

11      By my sentence, you must be deterred from committing further crimes.  Others who are minded to commit crimes of the kind committed by you also need to be deterred by this sentence.  You are to be punished and your conduct is to be publicly denounced. 

12 In respect of the crime of armed robbery, Charge 1, on the indictment, I sentence you to three years’ imprisonment. In respect of the summary offence of driving whilst unlicensed, I sentence you to three months’ imprisonment. Pursuant to s.16 of the Sentencing Act 1991 these sentences will be served concurrently with each other, and, the sentence that you are currently undergoing. I fix a non-parole period of 18 months. I declare 37 days by way of pre-sentence detention. Pursuant to s.6AAA of the Sentencing Act 1991 I declare that, but for your plea of guilty, I would have sentenced you to a total effective sentence of three years and 9 months with a non-parole period of two years. I order that all licences and permits held by you under the Road Safety Act 1986 are cancelled, and I disqualify you from obtaining any such licence or permit for a period of 18 months.

13      You may sit down please, Mr Searle.  In respect of the ancillary orders that were sought, I have made a disposal order in respect to the keys that were found in the stolen motor vehicle, and I have made an order for compensation in the favour of Peter Weedon in the sum of $3608. Are there any other matters, Mr Ong?

14      MR ONG:  No, Your Honour. 

15      HIS HONOUR:  Remove the prisoner, please. 

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