Director of Public Prosecutions v Sheehan, Huon

[2013] VCC 661

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

AT LATROBE VALLEY

CRIMINAL DIVISION

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

HUON SHEEHAN

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JUDGE:	HIS HONOUR JUDGE SMALLWOOD
WHERE HELD:	Latrobe Valley
DATE OF HEARING:
DATE OF SENTENCE:	1 May 2013
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Sheehan, Huon
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2013] VCC 661

REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject:  
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Cases Cited:            
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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the DPP	Ms J. Taylor
For the Accused	Mr C. Farrington

HIS HONOUR:

1       Huon Sheehan, you have pleaded guilty to one charge of aggravated burglary, one charge of criminal damage and one charge of recklessly causing injury. Those crimes carry maximum penalties of 25 years, 10 years and 5 years respectively. 

2       You are 19 years of age and were so at the time of the offending.  Obviously you are to be sentenced as a young offender and that is of real significance. 

3       I accept that your plea of guilty is in all probability accompanied by appropriate remorse and you must of course get the utilitarian benefit of such a plea.  You are 19 years of age and you do have a history of significance.  Most importantly I think in your particular situation is that on 28 November some few days after your arrest for this matter you were dealt with in the Bairnsdale Magistrates' Court and for offences of burglary and the like were given in total 12 months in youth justice centre.  You are eligible for parole on 6 May of this year.

4       The matter has been brought on expeditiously so that a sentence could be passed prior to your parole date being reached.  I am told and accept that you have no matters pending. 

5       The circumstances of the offending are that you and two others who have not been dealt with, on 23 November 2012, entered premises belonging to a Mr John Jackson.  John Jackson was 22 years of age and was in bed with his girlfriend.  You claim that you were owed a drug debt in the order of $1000.  I accept that throughout the offending you were heavily intoxicated, that provides no excuse but puts it into a context.  Your entire teenage years would appear to have been deeply affected by the abuse of alcohol. 

6       In any event at five o'clock on that morning somebody kicked in the door of the premises in which Mr Jackson was living.  From what I can gather three of you went in.  The criminal damage charge is the breaking of the door.  You stormed in to the bedroom demanding your "dope money".  You head-butted Mr Jackson, punched him to the jaw, grabbed him by the throat and pushed him into the wall.  That caused damage to the wall and to Mr Jackson.  The police were called and found you there.  You were taken to the Bairnsdale Police Station and placed in the cells to sober up before being interviewed.

7       I am told from the Bar table and accept that you were heavily intoxicated and even after being given time to sleep were still intoxicated.  You made what admissions you could remember and the matter proceeded from there.  Obviously your plea of guilty was made at a reasonably early opportunity and that is also very much in your favour.

8       You were brought up in the Bairnsdale area and you have strong family support.  Both your natural mother and father are in court today to support you as is your step-father.  You obviously have had a history of abuse of alcohol since what would appear to have been your relatively early teens.  I think it is best in this situation simply to focus upon what has occurred over the last six months.

9       I point out firstly that aggravated burglary is a serious offence and in this situation with your prior history it could carry no other penalty other than a detention because of the application of general and specific deterrence as well denunciation and appropriate punishment.

10      You have now been detained in youth justice for something in the order of six months.  A report has been sought and given promptly and I take that into account.  You are deemed to be acceptable for reasons of emotional immaturity and impressionability.  What you have been doing over the last six months is highly laudable.  Obviously you have been sober throughout that period of time.  You are doing VCAL and are doing well.  There is a letter from a teacher involved in the programs you are doing at Parkville College and I have read that. 

11      You have been involved in apprenticeship training and you seek to be apprenticed as a painter, that is a house painter and decorator as I understand it upon your release.  I accept from what I am told that you will be given every assistance to endeavour to have an occupation available to you when you leave and hopefully any other literacy problems and the like can be attended to whilst you are still in custody.

12      You do not have an intellectual disability although it is clear that you do struggle to a certain extent.  I think in all the circumstances the Crown range is pretty much appropriate.  You are entitled to an allowance for Renzella time because you have only got three days pre-sentence detention.  When I take all those maters into account it is my view that the appropriate sentence - I give aggregates for youth justice, don't I?

13      MR FARRINGTON:  Yes.

14      HIS HONOUR:  It is the same offence.  Do I - I don't give an aggregate.  Look I won't just in case it's wrong as a matter of law.  In this situation I would

15      MS TAYLOR:  I think that's right, Your Honour, I haven't got my Act with me.

16      HIS HONOUR:  No, it's all right, I'll give a separate sentence for each just in case I'm not allowed to  I thought you always gave an aggregate for youth justice but maybe I'm wrong.

17      MR FARRINGTON:  Certainly I'm just glancing at 413 of the Children's Youth and Families Act and all of the wording is in relation to aggregate sentences.  I can't take it any further.

18      HIS HONOUR:  No, look I won’t risk it being wrong.  If everything is supposed to be concurrent - I'll just make it concurrent everyone knows what I'm doing.

19      On the charge of aggravated burglary 10 months detention youth justice.

20      On the charge of criminal damage one month.

21      On the recklessly cause injury three months.

22      That gives an effective head sentence of 10 months.  I direct that three days be reckoned as having been served under this sentence.

23 That is really all I need to say other than but for your plea of guilty pursuant to s.6AAA of the Crimes Act I would say that - sorry,  but for your plea of guilty you would have been sentenced to be detained in a youth justice centre for a period of 18 months.  So you understand the benefit that you have got from putting your hand up and owning up to all this.

24      Now that is more a chat than a sentencing remarks but is there anything else, orders I need to make?

25      MR FARRINGTON:  No.

26 HIS HONOUR: Sorry, pursuant to s.464ZF of the Crimes Act I order that you are to provide a sample for DNA purposes, that order having been made I must advise you that if you refuse to provide a sample to police they may use reasonable force to take it from you.

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