Director of Public Prosecutions v Taylor

[2021] VCC 387

IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA

Revised

Not Restricted

Suitable for Publication

AT MELBOURNE

CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

CR 19-02411

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

CANDICE TAYLOR

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JUDGE:	HIS HONOUR JUDGE MULLALY
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:	3 April 2020
DATE OF SENTENCE:	3 April 2020
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v TAYLOR
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2021] VCC 387

REASONS FOR SENTENCE

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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the Director of Public Prosecutions	Mr D. Brown	Office of Public Prosecutions
For the Accused	Ms K. Chilbert	Victoria Legal Aid

HIS HONOUR:

1I just say by way of introduction, in the current constrained circumstances, I propose to announce the sentencing order and give very brief reasons here now, which will be expanded upon in written sentencing reasons which would be published later.  The brief reasons hopefully will explain to the accused and the community, sufficient to understand, the order and my path of reasoning. 

2Candice Taylor, on 16 September 2019, you were with your 16-year-old sister and two other young friends aged 14 and 15.  You were 19 years old.  Your group was on a bus heading to central Geelong.  The victim got on the bus after school.  When she sat down, you went to sit next to her.  You got out your large dangerous flick knife and demanded she hand over her mobile phone.  The victim refused and pushed you away.

3Your young male friend grabbed the victim.  Your young female friend started to punch the victim.  You took the opportunity to rifle through the victim's schoolbag.  The victim got up and tried to get her bag back.  You kicked her and your younger sister threw punches.  The victim fell to the floor and you and your sister continued the attack, kicking and stomping on her.  Her glasses were broken.  She sustained a swollen lip, scratches and grazes.  Understandably, she was shaken up and in fear. 

4The bus driver realised what was occurring.  Ultimately, he opened the doors to get your group out.  As he was dealing with your group, you brandished your knife at him.  Ultimately, you were arrested and interviewed by police on
9 October 2019.  You made some admissions but denied the attempted armed robbery of the young victim.  You have now pleaded guilty to the attempted armed robbery, recklessly causing injury of the young female victim and common assault of the bus driver, that is brandishing the knife at him, and a summary offence of contravening a condition of bail.  That breach was for failing to be at home and complying with the curfew, as part of bail, set just after this offending.  This violence and frightening attack on a young victim just getting on the bus to go home is deplorable.  The community is concerned about weapons and violence being inflicted on users of public transport.  It creates fear in those who use or have to use public transport and the parents of children on school buses.  These crimes must be condemned and properly punished.

5Those who may think of committing these crimes must understand that harsh punishment will follow.  That said, this conduct was impulsive and plainly ill considered.  Looked at as a whole, comparatively with others, it is not at that serious end of the attempted armed robberies.  You and your group were persistent and moved into a physical attack and that is a troubling feature.  But overall, the gravity of all the offences are in the lower range.  The brandishing of the knife at the bus driver is also concerning.

6As to your personal circumstances, they have been comprehensively set out in your counsel's first written submissions, together with the helpful reports from Ms Carey, the neuropsychologist that I mark as Exhibit 1 in the plea and
Mr Cummins, psychologist, which is Exhibit 2.  As I indicated at the outset, I intend what I say now, to give only a very brief summary that reveals the path of reasoning.  That is, particularly the case because your personal circumstances are complex and unfortunate.

7You are now 19, still a young offender.  I must say I have applied the important principles of sentencing young offenders as set out in The Queen v Mills, and Azzopardi & Ors v The Queen.  However, the emphasis on your rehabilitation must be tempered because of your very troubling prior criminal history over a number of years in the Children's court and now in the adult courts.  You were a month or so out of the Youth Justice Centre when you committed these crimes.  The history and the nature of the offences, and the fact that you were on bail meant you were ultimately remanded in adult custody for the first time, upon your arrest.  You have now spent 177 days in adult custody.  That is no small matter, especially given the current pandemic.  The account of your upbringing establishes deprivation, exposure to serious criminality and significant and numerous periods of state care and other child protection interventions.  Your counsel's concise summary in her written submissions at paragraph 93, lead me to the conclusion that the mitigatory principles articulated by the High Court in Bugmy v The Queen apply in considerable measure to you.  The prosecution do not cavil with this.

8As a consequence of the Bugmy matters, your schooling and vocational training have been limited.  In amongst this, the beacon of hope and care is your maternal grandmother.  As so often is the case, someone from that generation is the one who has shown life-long care and will support you again on your release.  You have a three-year-old son, care of him and the relationship with his father has been problematic.  I take into account your more mature desire to become a good parent for him.

9Your early fierce addiction to drugs is both understandable, given your past and it explains much of your way with behaviour.  You need help to deal with your drug problem.  Your mental health is fragile.  I consider your low intellect and your underlying frail mental health justify some moderation in sentence.  Those matters combined with your inherent youthful immaturity and ration spontaneous ways of reacting, mean that your moral culpability is somewhat lower.  Thus, I have moderated somewhat, the weight for denunciation.

10Your mental health makes gaol harder, especially in the current health crisis.  I take into account the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, in the ways the Court of Appeal has made clear in Brown v The Queen, [2020], VSCA 60, handed down on 23 March 2020, in particular at paragraph 48 and Sazimanoska v The Queen, [2020], VSCA 66.  I also take into account the points made by the Court of Appeal, but also by Supreme Court Judges in bail and other applications.  Also, with respect to the value of your plea of guilty, it has added value for the reasons set out by Justice J Dixon in Bourke v The Queen, in a sentence handed down in the Supreme Court.

11Thus, I consider gaol for you, that is your first time in gaol, much harder generally and particularly so because of the COVID-19 crisis.  Your concern for your maternal grandmother is particularly acute and is a matter of considerable weight.  Thus, the point in Verdins of seeking alternative dispositions is very much engaged in all your circumstances.  The principles set out in Boulton are particularly apt here and I have applied those matters to enable punishment and importantly, rehabilitation to be simultaneously achieved.  Your remorse and growing insight gives me a little more confidence in your ultimate reform, but I remain guarded given your past failures to stay away from crime and drugs and comply with court ordered supervision.  The sentence of 177 days is substantial, especially given the current health crisis.  That is causing difficulty for all in the community, but perhaps in particular, Corrections.

12It is a significant matter that you are not able to have visits and programs have been constrained.  I had you assessed for a community corrections order through the great flexibility of the local Community Corrections offices.  They read the material overnight before the plea was done.  They then came to court and did the assessment using the same video link that we have today.  That approach in the circumstances is to be commended and I thank them for that.

13The report is that you are suitable for a community corrections order, although you presented a high risk.  As a consequence, there needs to be ongoing supervision, both by Corrections and by the court.  The key program conditions you need is help with drug treatment.  That will be assessment and treatment for your drug problem and may include a recommendation or an order that you undergo residential drug treatment in an appropriate place, such as those that are available for Aboriginal women or indigenous women.  You need some help with your mental help, and you should very speedily seek assistance from your general practitioner for a mental health plan and follow it.  So I intend to sentence you now to an aggregate term for the attempted armed robbery, the recklessly cause injury and the common assault and separately for the bail contravention.  I propose to impose a sentence that is the sentence of time served in custody, together with a community corrections order.  That was sought by your counsel and I should have noted that the prosecution says that that is within range in all the circumstances.

14So the order of the court is, as an aggregate sentence, you are sentenced for the attempted armed robbery, recklessly cause injury and common assault.  You are sentenced to 177 days of imprisonment, together with a 12 month community corrections order.  The conditions of that order, beyond the program conditions, are that you are to be under supervision.  You are to be assessed and treated for drug abuse.  You are to be assessed and treated for mental health problems and you are to be - undergo judicial monitoring, which will occur by you coming back to see me in six months time, just to make sure that everything has worked.  Now but for the bail - breach of the bail charge summary offence, that is proven and discharged.

15You have already served 177 days in custody.  Therefore, this figure having been reckoned, I declare that you have served 177 days and that is part of the sentence that I have just imposed.  In fact, it is every single day of the sentence I have just imposed.  I will then make sure this declaration is entered into the records of the court so that the prison authorities are left in no doubt that you are now eligible to be released.  It is always a matter for them, and they need to check all their records.

16Had you pleaded not guilty to these offences and been found guilty of them I would have imposed a 20 month Youth Justice Centre detention.  Now I do not have the capacity here to print out a document setting out all the conditions and terms of the community corrections order to read to you, and then have you look at them and then have you sign them.  So I am just going to say what they are to you and some of them I have already said.  I will ask you whether you consent to that and if you do, ultimately documents will be given to you, which will have my signature on it and it will indicate that you did consent and you can sign that in due course.

17All right, so the community corrections order will last for twelve months and it will start upon your release.  The conditions that apply to everyone are these.  You must not commit any offence that is punishable by imprisonment during that twelve months.  Now you should understand that it does not matter whether the magistrate will just give you a fine, even a bond or something.  If it is punishable by imprisonment, and almost every offence you can think of is, so stealing a can of coke from the service station or something, that will bring you back before me.  I will not forget this case and you will more than likely have to go back to gaol and that will set you back.

18OFFENDER:  Yes, Your Honour.

19HIS HONOUR:  This is your chance, all right?  So the other conditions are, you have got to comply with the regulations.  They will need to take a photograph of you and make sure they know who you are.  You must cooperate with Corrections in a number of ways.  You have got to accept visits from the Office of Corrections.  You have got to tell them if you change your address or your job.  You cannot leave Victoria without getting permission to do so and you have got to obey all lawful directions and instruction.

20Importantly, you have got to go to the Office of Corrections.  They are in Little Malop Street, Geelong, within two clear working days.  You have got to tee it up, all right?  So go and get all that done and then work out with them - now the program conditions, so the conditions apply to you, is you have got to be under the supervision, that will be meetings, that will be face to face, that will be telephone, that will be all sorts, you have got to stay in touch. 

21You have got to undergo drug treatment and assessment.  You have got to undergo a mental health treatment and assessment and you have got to have judicial monitoring six months from now.  Can someone give me a calendar?  I normally have a calendar up here.  Just bear with me.  I have just got to say the date.  Just pick a Monday six months from - Monday 5 October, all right?  So that should be lodged in your head.  The Office of Corrections will take you through that.

22You can appear by video link, it does not matter where I am, but I just want to see a report to say everything has gone well.  That is what I want to see.  Easier said than done.  I do not have to face the difficulties of all sorts of people around me who want to get me back into the old lifestyle.  I do not have to face the difficulties, physical and mental, that cause people to use drugs.

23So I say it.  I know it is hard, but this is the time.  You will end up back in this gaol as a regular thing and your life will be like a life sentence done in little instalment, getting longer and longer each time.  You can see those women in there, do not be one of them.  Do you understand?

24OFFENDER:  Yes.

25HIS HONOUR:  You need to be the one who is the success stories and there are plenty of them, all right?

26OFFENDER:  Yes, Your Honour.

27HIS HONOUR:  People who end up like your grandmother, solid, decent people, all right?  That is you, all right?  Now do you consent to the community corrections order?

28OFFENDER:  Yes I do, Your Honour.

29HIS HONOUR:  All right.  So I will sign a document and underneath that will be the words that 'I understand and I consent to these' and there will be a space for your signature.  We cannot get that now, but ultimately it will be there.  But it is noted that you do consent, all right?  Is there anything further required
Mr Brown?

30MR BROWN:  No, Your Honour.

31HIS HONOUR:  Anything further required Ms Chilbert?

32MS CHILBERT:  No nothing further, Your Honour.

33HIS HONOUR:  Thank you very much.  What will happen is that an order will be drafted by someone in Melbourne, sent to me, signed, sent back to Melbourne and then sent to all the prison people as soon as possible, all right?  So hopefully you will be in contact with your grandmother and there is no reason to keep you in prison and you will be released, but you are released in respect of my order.  As to anything else, I do not have complete control over, all right?  Nothing further?

34MR BROWN:  No.

35HIS HONOUR:  We'll end the link to you Ms Taylor, thank you for your cooperation.

36OFFENDER:  Thank you, Your Honour.

37HIS HONOUR:  Thank you, we'll end the phone call to Ms Chilbert.

38MS CHILBERT:  Certainly.  Thank you, Your Honour.

39HIS HONOUR:  Thank you very much.

40UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER:  Thank you, Your Honour.

41HIS HONOUR:  Thank you for your assistance.  I'll get all that documentation to you in the usual way.  We'll come back at midday, I think.  Can you help me with one thing Mr Brown?

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