Director of Public Prosecutions v Styles
[2017] VCC 96
•9 February 2017
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA | Revised Not Restricted Suitable for Publication |
CR 16-01395
CR-16-01881
Indictment Number: G11277954
Indictment Number: G11318212
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| v |
| CHRISTIAN PATRICK STYLES |
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| JUDGE: | HIS HONOUR JUDGE MISSO |
| WHERE HELD: | Melbourne |
| DATE OF HEARING: | 21 October 2016 and 31 January 2017 |
| DATE OF SENTENCE: | 9 February 2017 |
| CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | DPP v Styles |
| MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2017] VCC 96 |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
---Subject: CRIMINAL LAW
Catchwords: Sentence – burglary – theft – attempted theft – criminal damage – plea of guilty – Community Correction Order – undertaking to cooperate
Legislation Cited: Crimes Act 1958; Sentencing Act 1991; Building Act 1993 (Vic)
Sentence:Released on a Community Correction Order for a period of 30 months with conditions.
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APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the Director of Public Prosecutions | Mr J Henderson | Solicitors for the Office of Public Prosecution |
| For the Accused | Mr P McClure | Balmer & Associates |
HIS HONOUR:
1Christian Patrick Styles, you have pleaded guilty to a large number of offences. I propose only to summarise them briefly:
·On 7 May 2016, at Nar Nar Goon, you stole a Myki machine belonging to Public Transport Victoria, carrying a maximum penalty of ten years’ imprisonment.
·On the same day, at Nar Nar Goon, you intentionally, and without lawful excuse, damaged the Myki machine, carrying a maximum penalty of ten years’ imprisonment.
·On the same day, and at Bass, you entered a hotel as a trespasser with the intent to steal, carrying a maximum penalty of ten years’ imprisonment.
·On the same day, and at Bass, you stole an ATM machine belonging to the hotel, carrying a maximum penalty of ten years’ imprisonment.
·On the same day, and at Grantville, you went to a BP service station as a trespasser with the intent to steal, carrying a maximum penalty of ten years’ imprisonment.
·On the same day, and at Grantville, you stole a bottle of Coca-Cola and a bag of lollies from the BP service station, carrying a maximum penalty of ten years’ imprisonment.
·On the same day, and at Grantville, you attempted to steal an ATM machine belonging to the BP service station, carrying a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment.
·On the same day, and at Grantville, you damaged the ATM machine belonging to the BP service station, carrying a maximum penalty of ten years’ imprisonment.
·On the same day, and at Lang Lang, you stole a tray of bread, 12 cans of V, and 3 bags of chips belonging to a Shell service station, carrying a maximum penalty of ten years’ imprisonment.
·On the same day, and at Lang Lang, you attempted to steal an ATM machine belonging to the Shell service station, carrying a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment.
·And lastly, on the same day, and at Lang Lang, you damaged the ATM machine belonging to the Shell service station, carrying a maximum penalty of ten years’ imprisonment.
2Your involvement in the offending conduct relevant to each of these charges is set out in the summary of the prosecution opening. I propose to only summarise some of the facts to allow my sentencing remarks to be properly understood.
3You met your three co-offenders on the evening of 6 May 2016. You and your co-offenders consumed cannabis and ice. At some stage, one of your co-offenders suggested that all of you steal a Myki machine from the Nar Nar Goon railway station.
4You drove your Ford Ranger dual-cab utility with your co-offenders on board to the railway station at about 1.30am. You and your co-offenders had obtained equipment, which was no doubt considered necessary to remove the Myki machine and to access money, which you hoped was inside it.
5You and your co-offenders attached chains between the Myki machine and the tow ball on your vehicle. The Myki machine was removed from its footings. You and your co-offenders were unable to place it onto your vehicle because it was too heavy. You and your co-offenders then decamped.
6You and your co-offenders next turned your attention to the Bass Hotel, where some of your co-offenders obtained access through a rear door at 2.59am. An ATM machine was unbolted. It was then loaded onto the rear of your vehicle. You and your co-offenders used a sledgehammer and pinch bar to break open the ATM machine. No money was in the cash boxes inside it.
7You next turned your attention to the BP service station at about 4.00am. One of your co-offenders smashed one of the front doors of the service station. You and one of your co-offenders entered the service station. You and one of your co-offenders used a sledgehammer and a pinch bar to try to open the ATM machine. Those attempts were unsuccessful.
8You next turned your attention to the Shell service station at about 4.22am. You and one of your co-offenders smashed one of the front doors of the service station. Two of your co-offenders entered the service station. You passed one of them a cold saw, which they used to remove a lock on the ATM machine. Your co-offenders were unable to open it. On their way out, they stole a dozen cans of V energy drinks, three packets of chips, and some loaves of bread.
9The incident at the Bass Hotel, the BP service station and the Shell service station were captured on CCTV. About seven minutes of that footage was shown during the prosecution opening. The prosecutor pointed you out when you came into camera shot.
10What is very obvious in the CCTV footage is that you and your co-offenders travelled to each of the places just referred to in your vehicle. You had armed yourself with a chain, which was used to remove the Myki machine, and you had a number of tools to aid you and your co-offenders breaking into the Bass Hotel, the BP service station and the Shell service station to remove, or attempt to remove, ATM machines, and attempt to break into them.
11The escapade on which you and your co-offenders set upon was unsuccessful in netting you any money. It was an amateurish exercise, because you had difficulty breaking into some of the machines, and difficulty removing some of the machines, because you had not appreciated that they were of such solid construction that using a sledgehammer and a pinch bar were not enough to break some of them open. However, this was no spur of the moment exercise. You and your co-offenders planned what you intended to do, and you and your co-offenders armed yourselves with the equipment you thought was necessary to steal money from each of the machines. You also appear to have made efforts to disguise yourselves, and to wear gloves in order to avoid being identified.
Your plea
12You are 21 years of age. You are a single man. You left your secondary school part of the way through Year 10 so you could commence a plumbing apprenticeship. You successfully completed that apprenticeship, and have worked for your father, who is also a plumber, and who runs his own plumbing business. You earn a very good income of about $1,000 per week. You appear to come from a good family.
13There is nothing remarkable about your schooling or your work history, and you have no prior criminal history. The events which I have summarised are the first occasion that you have engaged in criminal conduct.
14Unfortunately, you began using cannabis when you were about 18 years of age, and then methamphetamine over the last two years. You are now free from the use of those illicit drugs. You have undergone drug counselling through a Youth Support and Advocacy service.
15You were arrested by investigating police on 12 May 2016. You were charged, and then released on bail. You made an offer to plead to these charges on
2 August 2016, and this was accepted on 5 August 2016. At the committal mention, you pleaded guilty, and you were committed to this Court by way of a hand-up brief.16When you were interviewed by investigating police, you made full and frank admissions of what occurred on 6 May 2016, and in particular, your involvement and the involvement of each of your co-accused. A summary of the admissions you made are set out in paragraphs 45 and 47 of the summary of the prosecution opening. It is unnecessary for me to summarise what you said formally, because it is conceded by the prosecutor that those admissions are full and frank admissions. Additionally, you made a seven-page statement in which you described your involvement, and the involvement in each of your co-accused in what occurred on 6 May 2016.
Your sentence
17What you and your co-accused did might be described as amateurish, but there was planning behind what each of you did, which I have already referred to, and which I will not repeat. I do not accept that you played a lesser role in what occurred on 6 May 2016 than any of your co-accused. It is reasonably clear to me that each of you played an active role in the planning and execution of what occurred. You each intended to steal money from the machines, and I assume you intended to share whatever monies you obtained. The offences you committed are without any question serious.
18It is only your cooperation with investigating police that has saved you from the imposition of an immediate term of imprisonment. The prosecutor conceded that were it not for the admissions you made when you were interviewed, and more particularly, your seven-page statement, that no charges could be brought against your co-accused. Apart from your evidence, there was no other evidence from any other witnesses, or forensic evidence such as DNA evidence or fingerprinting, which implicates your co-accused in what occurred on 6 May 2016.
19Your counsel called you to give evidence under oath during the plea. In essence, you identified the statement as a statement you made on
15 September 2016, and that the contents of it are true and correct. You gave an undertaking to the Court that you would cooperate with the relevant prosecutorial authorities in their investigation of the criminal liability of your co-accused, and that you would give evidence against them, consistently with the content of your statement. You were asked whether you understood what would occur if you breached your undertaking, and I emphasised what would occur by addressing you directly while you sat in the witness box. You acknowledged that you understood the meaning of the undertaking and the consequences of failing to be faithful to that undertaking.20Your level of cooperation and assistance to the relevant prosecuting authorities is likely to be very high, because without it, there is no evidence to implicate your co-accused, and provide the evidentiary foundation for verdicts consistent with their guilt. In these circumstances, the discount which I must afford you must be significant, and weigh heavily in favour of leniency. Additionally, there is a utilitarian value in your cooperation, because you have facilitated the course of justice.
21Before returning to the sentence which I consider I must impose on you, I need to say more about your offending conduct. Whilst specific deterrence is not relevant to your circumstances because you have no prior convictions, general deterrence is significant, because a message must be sent to like-minded individuals that conduct of this kind will be met with a stern sentence. So must denunciation figure prominently, because the community is entitled to feel outraged that young men like you would go on a rampage through a local country community, attempting to steal money and in the course of doing so, damage valuable infrastructure, on which that community would rely.
22Against these sentencing principles are some powerful factors going to mitigation. You are a youthful offender. You have no criminal history. You have shown remorse in a sincere way. You entered a plea of guilty at the earliest possible opportunity, and quite obviously you have cooperated with authorities to the extent which I have already outlined.
23I repeat that had it not been for the cooperation you have provided the relevant prosecutorial authorities, I would have sentenced you to an immediate term of imprisonment, after which you would have been released on a community correction order.
24However, given that I must significantly discount the sentence that I would otherwise impose upon you, and should favour leniency, I consider that all of the relevant sentencing purposes can be properly fulfilled by releasing you on a Community Correction Order. Your counsel submitted that I should do so without convicting you on each of these charges. He submitted that if you are convicted, you are liable to be refused a licence and registration as a plumber by reason of s220S(1) of the Building Act 1993 (Vic). The relevant authority may refuse to licence or register you if you are convicted of an offence involving, among other things, dishonesty.
25There are no doubt circumstances where it is appropriate to sentence an individual without recording a conviction, but that must necessarily occur by having regard to the gravity of the offence or offences committed by the particular individual. I am in no doubt that these are serious offences, and as I have already said now on two occasions, I would have sentenced you to an immediate term of imprisonment but for your cooperation with the relevant prosecutorial authorities.
26I do not propose to analyse the question of when a judge should convict or not convict in the course of a sentencing process any further than to say I consider that the gravity of your offending conduct calls for you to be convicted of each of the offences. A conviction is part of sentencing, and is a demonstration of seriousness. It is an unfortunate secondary consequence of conviction that there might be a fallout to the person convicted in many ways, including an impact on employment. I have given it serious consideration, and I have weighed up all of the submissions by your counsel on this issue in reaching this conclusion.
27I now want you to stand, please.
28You are convicted of each of the charges, and you are to be released on a Community Correction Order for a period of thirty (30) months on the following conditions:
·Supervision by the Secretary of the Department;
·Assessment and treatment for drug abuse or dependency, as provided for by s48D(3)(a);
·Assessment and treatment for alcohol abuse or dependency, as provided for by s48D(3)(b);
·You must attend programs to reduce the prospects of your reoffending, as provided for by s48D(3)(f);
·You must undertake 300 hours of unpaid community work, as provided for by s48C;
·You will be subject to judicial monitoring, as provided for by s48K. You must appear before me at 9.30am on 6 June 2017.
29I will also make an order that you pay Public Transport Victoria compensation in the sum of $175,786.00;
30I will also sign a disposal order so that the length of chain which was confiscated from your possession can be disposed of by the relevant authorities.
31I will have the fact that your sentence has been reduced for your level of cooperation noted in the records of the Court.
32If it had not been for your pleas of guilty, I would have convicted you on each of your charges and sentenced you to an immediate term of 12 months’ imprisonment, after which I would have released you on a community correction order for a period of two years with the same conditions, except for the requirement to do unpaid community work.
33You can now be seated.
34I will now have you sign what documents are necessary to give effect to the Community Correction Order, following which I will give you the necessary warning relevant to compliance with that Order. Would you go and do that please? Mr McClure, you can accompany my associate and speak to your client about this, if you wish.
35MR McCLURE: Thank you, Your Honour.
36HIS HONOUR: You can be seated while I address you further, Mr Styles, but I want you to listen to this very carefully. In addition to the conditions I have specifically imposed, you must also abide by the terms that apply to all community correction orders. These are that:
(a)You must not commit any other offences during the 30-month period the order is enforced - being any offence for which you could be imprisoned, even if a court would not choose to impose imprisonment;
(b)You must report to and receive visits from the community corrections officer.
(c)You must report to the Community Corrections centre at Cranbourne Community Corrections Services within two (2) clear working days of today.
(d)Also, you must not leave Victoria without first getting permission from a Community Corrections officer, and, you must inform the Community Corrections office of any change of address, where you live or work, within 48 hours of that occurring.
(e)Finally, you must obey all lawful instructions from and directions of Community Corrections officers.
Do you understand the conditions I have imposed and the general terms that apply?
37OFFENDER: Yes, Your Honour.
38HIS HONOUR: Before you consent to the making of such an Order, you must understand that the contravention of any condition attached to the Community Correction Order, except for a contravention of a direction by the Secretary, is itself an offence punishable by three months’ imprisonment.
39Contravention of a community correction order also carries with it the prospect that you will be brought back before me and resentenced for the original offences. Do you consent in those circumstances to the imposition of such an Order?
40OFFENDER: Yes, Your Honour.
41HIS HONOUR: Firstly, Ms Kerr, anything from you?
42MS KERR: Nothing further, Your Honour.
43HIS HONOUR: Mr McClure?
44MR McCLURE: No, thank you sir.
45HIS HONOUR: Yes, all right. Well Mr Styles, you can leave the dock, and you are released from custody, thank you.
46MR McCLURE: As Your Honour pleases.
47HIS HONOUR: I will just leave the Bench.
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