Director of Public Prosecutions v Taylor
[2022] VCC 1342
•19 August 2022
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA AT Melbourne CRIMINAL DIVISION | Revised Not Restricted Suitable for Publication |
Case No. CR-21-01573
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| v |
| CHANCE TAYLOR |
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JUDGE: | HIS HONOUR JUDGE D SEXTON | |
WHERE HELD: | Melbourne | |
DATE OF HEARING: | 15 August 2022 | |
DATE OF SENTENCE: | 19 August 2022 | |
CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | DPP v Taylor | |
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2022] VCC 1342 | |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject:CRIMINAL LAW
Catchwords: Sentence; Theft; Aggravated Burglary; Attempted Theft; Burglary; Obtain Property by Deception
Legislation Cited: Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic); Migration Act1958 (Cth)
Cases Cited:Bugmy v The Queen (2013) CLR 571; Guden v R [2010] VSCA 196; R v Verdins (2007) 16 VR 269.
Sentence: Total Effective Sentence of 3 years imprisonment
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APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the DPP | Mr R. Tudehope | Solicitor for the Office of Public Prosecutions |
| For the Accused | Ms V. Drago | Theo Magazis & Associates |
HIS HONOUR:
Introduction
1Chance Taylor, you have pleaded guilty to nine charges of theft which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years' imprisonment for each charge, one charge of aggravated burglary which carries a maximum penalty of 25 years' imprisonment, one charge of attempted theft which carries a maximum penalty of 5 years' imprisonment, one charge of burglary which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years' imprisonment and one charge of obtain property by deception which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years' imprisonment.
2You have also pleaded guilty to two related summary offences; one charge of committing an offence whilst on bail which carries a maximum penalty of 3 months' imprisonment and one charge of unlicensed driving which carries a maximum penalty of 6 months' imprisonment.
3You have also admitted your criminal record.
Circumstances of The Offending
4The circumstances of your offending were set out in the Summary of Prosecution Opening for Plea dated 18 July 2022, Exhibit 1 at your plea hearing. That document contains the agreed factual basis of the offending for which you now fall to be sentenced. Your offending can be briefly summarised.
5Between May and August of 2019, you committed numerous offences including theft of motor vehicles, burglaries, and using a credit card dishonestly.
6Charge 1 on the indictment relates to offending on your part on the evening of 13 May 2019 when you stole a red 2018 Mazda CX3. The owner of that vehicle was at home, upstairs, getting ready for bed at that time. He had earlier opened his garage door, but had forgotten to close it. At about 11:30 pm, either alone or with others, you entered the garage and then moved inside the house. The house was searched and car keys were located, including the keys to the Mazda CX3. You returned to the garage, got into the vehicle and drove away. The vehicle was valued at $30,000.
7A number of weeks later on 25 July 2019 at about 5:14 am, you were observed driving this stolen red Mazda CX3 at a BP Service Station in Montrose, and again later that day outside a house in Betts Way, Burwood East. At the time, the vehicle had false registration plates affixed and you were then unlicensed, hence your liability for the related summary offence of unlicensed driving. The stolen vehicle was later recovered on 7 August 2019, after it had been abandoned by another person following a police pursuit. Subsequent forensic examination of the vehicle revealed a thumb print belonging to yourself on the internal rear-view mirror.
8Charge 2 on the indictment relates to the theft of a Subaru Liberty vehicle, stolen by you on 3 June 2019. At about 8:10 pm in the evening on 3 June 2019, the owner of the vehicle parked it outside his house in Clayton. The following day at about 1:00 pm, the owner went outside his house and noticed that his car was gone. The owner still had in his possession the only key to the car. The vehicle was subsequently located by police at about 4:15 am on 14 June 2019, abandoned and with false registration plates attached. Subsequent forensic examination revealed your fingerprints on and inside the vehicle. The vehicle was valued at $3,400.
9Charge 3 on the indictment relates to the theft of alcohol from a BWS liquor store in Boronia on 23 June 2019. On that day, you entered the store and went to the cool room, picking up a carton containing 24 cans of Jack Daniels and cola, before leaving the shop without paying for the alcohol, which was valued at $87. This incident was captured on CCTV footage. You were on bail at the time, hence your liability for the related summary offence of committing an indictable offence whilst on bail.
10Charges 4 and 5 on the indictment relate to a burglary at a property in Lilydale between 7 and 8 July 2019, and the theft of various items, including a number of weapons, a boat, a trailer, passports and various other household items. Sometime between 2:00 pm on 7 July and about 6:30 am on 8 July 2019, you entered the property in Edinburgh Road, Lilydale by removing the entire locking mechanism of a side door to gain access to the house. You then ransacked the house before leaving a consumed bottle of Great Northern beer on the kitchen bench, the subsequent analysis of which implicated you. You left the house having stolen a Norica .22 air rifle, a Browning lever action rifle, an Eibar double barrel shotgun, a Marlin centre fire rifle, gold plated cutlery, passports, and various other household items. You then went to the backyard of the house where a boat was stored, and you connected the boat to a car and then left the property with it and the items you had stolen from inside the house. The total value of all the items amounted to $143,400.
11Charges 6 and 7 on the indictment relate to the theft of a Ford utility and the subsequent theft of fuel between 7 July and 8 July 2019. On 7 July, the owner of a white Ford dual cab utility vehicle parked it in a parking bay opposite his house in Lilydale. He placed a club lock on the steering wheel before locking the vehicle. The following morning, at about 6:45 am, the owner left his property to discover that his vehicle had been stolen. He was in possession of the only set of keys to the car. Just a few minutes later at 6:50 am, you drove the stolen vehicle into the 7-Eleven Service Station in Manchester Road, Mooroolbark. Your actions were caught on CCTV. Upon putting petrol into the vehicle, you drove away without paying for the fuel.
12At about 7:50 am that morning, the stolen White Ford vehicle, which was then towing a large boat belonging to the victim in relation to Charges 4 and 5, collided with the rear of another vehicle in Bayswater North. Both the white Ford and the boat were later found abandoned nearby.
13Charges 8 and 9 on the indictment relate to an aggravated burglary and the attempted theft of a motor vehicle on 8 July 2019. At about 1:22 am, your victim was asleep at his house in Templestowe, along with his wife and daughter. At that time, he was suddenly awoken by a motion sensor alarm that had activated in the garage. The victim went to the garage, where he observed the interior light of his wife's blue Holden Commodore on and the driver's door slightly open. Your conduct in relation to this vehicle forms the basis of Charge 9, attempted theft of motor vehicle. The victim then noticed the electric garage door had been forced open and that it was resting on a pressure cleaner, leaving a gap under the door that was sufficient for a person to crawl through. Outside the garage, two sensor lights had been removed from the wall and damaged.
14Police attended and examined the scene. As part of the investigation, CCTV footage from the home was viewed by police, which depicted you and a co‑offender, Kyle Beattie, entering the garage area under the roller door with the intent to steal at 1:19 am. Thankfully, nothing was stolen from the house or cars. Your conduct in this regard forms the basis of Charge 8, aggravated burglary.
15Charges 10 and 11 on the indictment relate to a burglary and theft at a business premises on 20 July 2019. At about 1:20 am, you and your co‑offender, Kyle Bettie, travelled in separate cars to a building in Ferntree Gully Road, Scoresby. That building was the premises of a business known as X3E Motorsports, a car parts store. The two of you gained access to that building by forcing open the front door, hence your liability for Charge 10, burglary. Once inside, you located various items, including car accessories, an EFTPOS machine, a payWave machine and $300 cash. CCTV footage subsequently viewed by police showed you and your co‑offender entering the building and taking the various items, the total value amounting to $15,300.
16Charge 12 on the indictment relates to obtaining property by deception on 24 July 2019. The owner of a 2012 Ford Ranger Utility had parked that vehicle in the driveway of his house in The Basin. The following morning, he was notified by a neighbour that his car doors were open. The owner checked the vehicle and noticed that the centre console had been opened and that his wallet had been taken. CCTV footage from the house showed a vehicle pulling up at about 4:00 am and then someone at the door of the Ford Ranger Utility, leaning inside. Subsequent checks of the vehicle owner's bank account and mobile phone revealed that his credit card had been used at a BP Service Station in Montrose to purchase items to the value of $34.99 at 5:13 am that morning. Subsequent examination of CCTV footage by police revealed you arriving at the service station driving the earlier stolen red Mazda CX3 (Charge 1) and then using the stolen credit card to buy a packet of cigarettes, hence your liability for Charge 12.
17Charge 13 on the indictment relates to the theft of a Nissan Patrol vehicle on 26 July 2019. At about 6:25 pm, the owner of the Nissan drove the vehicle to a
7-Eleven Service Station in Forest Hill. He parked the vehicle near a petrol bowser and entering the shop to purchase some items, leaving his keys in the ignition. Whilst he was inside the store, you got into the Nissan and drove away.18On 30 August 2019, police attended at a unit in Berwick Street, Lilydale, having received information that you were present at the unit. You were located inside and arrested.
19Upon conducting a search of the property, police discovered a motorcycle at the rear of the property and subsequent checks revealing that the motorcycle belonged to another person and that it had been stolen. This forms the basis of your liability for Charge 14 on the indictment, theft of motor vehicle. When asked about the motorcycle, you informed police that if it was stolen, it was yours. You subsequently provided a 'no comment' interview with regards to all allegations.
20You were remanded in custody after your arrest on 30 August 2019. As indicated in the hearing chronology attached to the Summary of Prosecution Opening, the procedural chronology is a complex one. Some of the charges relating to alleged offending of a similar, but more serious nature, were the product of a severed indictment and a trial before me. Ultimately, you were acquitted of those charges on 4 July 2022.
21Clearly, there have been significant delays with regard to the disposition of the charges that are currently contained in the plea indictment. You have remained in custody since your arrest, a period of 1,085 days in pre-sentence detention up to but not including today. This is notwithstanding that you were arraigned and pleaded guilty to the charges on this indictment on 28 July 2021. As conceded by the Prosecution, you pleaded guilty at the earliest reasonable opportunity in relation to the matters now before me.
Nature and Gravity of the Offending
22Your offending spanned a period in excess of three months. It was sustained and serious. There are a total of 12 victims. Often, an individual's ownership of a motor vehicle represents a significant personal asset, and one that is frequently critical for day-to-day living. Your repeated involvement in such activities, which can be described as involving a systematic methodology, is highly concerning. As indicated by the Prosecution, Charges 4 and 5 involve the ransacking of somebody's home, and a large value of items stolen, amounting to $143,400. Again, as indicated by the Prosecution, Charges 3 and 7 involve brazen conduct on your part, and I note in relation to Charge 3, that you were on bail at the time, further accentuating the gravity of that particular conduct and your level of culpability for it. Charges 8 and 9 involved entering the garage area of a family's home while they were inside asleep. The maximum penalty with regards to Charge 8, 25 years' imprisonment, highlights the gravity of this particular conduct. Whilst Charges 10 and 11 involved a burglary and theft on a commercial premises, as opposed to entry as a trespasser to someone's home, your conduct with regards to that incident nevertheless represents serious offending, again involving a value of items stolen in excess of $15,000.
23Given the period of your offending and the nature of it, I regard your conduct as representing a spree of offending of a highly concerning nature. Your conduct requires a penalty that will serve to denounce such serious offending and to send a message to the community that such serious criminality will not be tolerated. Given your extensive and relevant criminal history, you must have known of the gravity of your conduct, and that you would offend in those circumstances enhances, in my view, your moral culpability for your behaviour. Furthermore, given your criminal history, any penalty imposed must seek to deter you from such future conduct.
Personal Circumstances
24You are now aged 28. You were 25 at the time of all your offending, and accordingly you fall to be sentenced as a relatively young offender. You were born in New Zealand and migrated with your family to Australia as a toddler, at around six months old. You are one of twin boys. According to your Counsel, your upbringing was chronically dysfunctional, riddled with physical abuse and neglect, and you were exposed to drugs and alcohol from a very young age. Your parents separated when you were five years old. Your father was an alcoholic and extremely physically abusive to you, your six siblings and your mother. Your mother was a heroin addict and an alcoholic.
25Following your parents' divorce, you and your brothers primarily lived with your father and your sisters lived with your mother. You and your brothers were subjected to physical violence on a daily basis, as were your father's new partners. At your plea hearing, your Counsel provided details regarding your father's then anti-social connections and behaviour, and your exposure to inappropriate behaviour, including being the subject of physical violence, which I will not now repeat, suffice to say your childhood and youth was clearly marked by instability, violence and trauma.
26You grew up in the Emerald and Monbulk area. You left school halfway through Year 8 and started work. You spent much of your early years at a friend’s home, with that family effectively providing a safe haven for you given the discord and dysfunctionality at home. You essentially consider them as foster parents, and, apparently, they remain strong and stable supports of you to this day.
27Throughout your teen years and into adulthood, you have worked at various places and in various roles including at a nursery, glazing, carpet laying and general labouring.
28You had a significant relationship with a woman when you were aged between 23 and 26, and from that relationship you have two children, Harlow, nearly six years of age, and Devlin, five years of age, both of whom currently reside with their mother, Olivia. Whilst that relationship has now ended you have maintained a degree of contact for the sake of your children, but have apparently had no contact with your children for the past 12 months.
29Much of your personal history was contained in the report of consultant psychologist, Ian Mackinnon dated 9 February 2022, tendered at your plea hearing and marked Exhibit B. Mr Mackinnon refers to your mother suffering domestic violence historically, struggling with heroin dependency and other mental health issues. She is of Māori background and currently resides in Monbulk. She has apparently overcome her addiction issues and has co-founded an organisation connected to Anglicare that deals with women experiencing domestic violence and addiction related issues. She has a chronic illness, which I have no doubt has impacted her greatly. Notwithstanding her extensive physical and psychological issues, you reported to Mr Mackinnon that you usually enjoy a good relationship with your mother. She lives with one of your sisters and a child of another sister who is now deceased. You hope, upon your release, to live either with your mother and sister, or your 'foster' parents. Your father is currently imprisoned at Marngoneet prison. You reported to Mr Mackinnon having communicated with your father whilst in custody, and to an extent you seem to have rekindled your relationship.
30In terms of your substance use history, you reported starting to use amphetamine and ecstasy from the age of 13, and by the age of 15 you were also smoking cannabis and drinking alcohol daily. You reported that your father had been one of your first suppliers of illicit substances. Since your teenage years, you have apparently often engaged in polysubstance abuse, including the use of mushrooms, cocaine, benzodiazepines, alcohol, Ice and GHB. In recent years, for extended periods, you habitually smoked about 0.5 grams of Ice and consumed about 25 millilitres of GHB during each 24-hour period.
31According to Mr Mackinnon, your formative years were apparently complicated by significant developmental traumas, including exposure to many frightening incidents of domestic violence, emotional abuse, parental abandonment, neglect, homelessness and associated disruption to your ability to engage satisfactorily during your formative educational experience.[1] According to Mr Mackinnon, you have developed longstanding complex Post-traumatic Stress Disorder as a result of these events and this disorder is currently being manifested at a mild level, with symptoms including anxiety, hypervigilance, rumination, sleep disturbance, paranoid tendencies, a propensity for reacting out of proportion to perceived threats, intense fears of abandonment and rejection from significant others.
[1]Psychological Report by Ian MacKinnon dated 9 February 2022 at [6].
32You have also self-medicated through substance abuse. In the opinion of Mr Mackinnon, during times of elevated personal distress, you are likely to suffer an elevation of your complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder symptoms and to seek relief through substance abuse.[2] According to Mr Mackinnon, perhaps unsurprisingly, you have long suffered from a polysubstance abuse disorder, primarily with regards to the use of ICE and GHB. You have, it seems, resorted to substance abuse as a means of self-medicating your chronic distress. According to Mr Mackinnon, your polysubstance abuse disorder is currently in an advanced stage of remission, having regard to your prolonged period in custody, although you remain vulnerable to relapsing into substance abuse, especially if your
post-release living circumstances become unstable, or you again mix in unsavoury social circles. Indeed, Mr Mackinnon opines that your criminal history suggests that you labour with some antisocial and criminal traits. Nevertheless, according to Mr Mackinnon, you present with a genuine desire to complete a long period of residential rehabilitation, and a desire to work towards reintegrating into your children's lives and establish a legitimate and law-abiding lifestyle.[2]Ibid.
33According to Mr Mackinnon, your offending occurred in the context of your complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and polysubstance abuse disorder, both of which made significant contributions to your offending by degrading your ability to reason and make sound judgment, raising your propensity for reckless and angry responses, lowering your powers of consequential thinking, reducing your ability to empathise and diminishing your awareness of your personal and community responsibilities.
Your Level of Responsibility and Culpability for your Offending
34In my view, your chronically disadvantaged and dysfunctional background serves to moderate your level of culpability notwithstanding your criminal history, pursuant to the well-known principles articulated in the High Court decision of Bugmy.[3] I have little doubt that your unfortunate personal circumstances during your formative years have impacted upon your development as an adult, and therefore your ability to essentially behave pro-socially. A mitigatory allowance with regards to your moral culpability is warranted.
[3] Bugmy v The Queen (2013) CLR 571.
35Your counsel submitted that your moral culpability was further diminished by virtue of Verdins principle one,[4] given the opinions of psychologist Mr Mackinnon. In my view, it is difficult to disentangle the impact of your longstanding polysubstance abuse issues and the impact of complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder on your offending. In my view, it is likely that your sustained and, it must be said, fairly premeditated offending was likely borne of drug addiction and entrenched patterns of criminality on your part. In my view, any reduction in your moral culpability therefore is primarily related to the Bugmy principles rather than the Verdins principle one, given the absence of clear evidence from Mr Mackinnon's report in this regard. In all the circumstances, whilst your culpability is lessened for the reasons I have explained, it remains significant for this serious offending.
[4] R v Verdins (2007) 16 VR 269.
Applicable Sentencing Factors, Purposes and Principles
36The Sentencing Act1991 requires me to have regard to various factors, purposes and principles when formulating an appropriate sentence in your case. I have already referred to the maximum penalties, the nature and serious of your offending, your level of culpability and your previous character. I have also had regard to current sentencing practices with regards to the offending for which you now fall to be sentenced, noting that significant sentences of imprisonment have been imposed where appropriate, in particular for the serious offence of aggravated burglary.
37As accepted by the Prosecution, you pleaded guilty at the earliest reasonable opportunity, given the procedural chronology that I have previously outlined. You are entitled to a significant discount for your pleas of guilty, particularly given the impacts of COVID‑19 on the administration of justice in Victoria. In particular, the utilitarian benefit to your plea of guilty is very much enhanced by virtue of it occurring in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and its unprecedented impacts upon backlogs in this Court. There is a strong need for the encouragement of those who are guilty to so plead, and your plea of guilty in these circumstances has saved the Court and the community a considerable amount of time that would otherwise be required for contested proceedings, whereas I have stated there are 12 victims, in circumstances where the Court is experiencing unprecedented delays with regard to trials.
38Your counsel submitted that a further mitigatory allowance was warranted on the issue of your remorse, as evidenced through your plea of guilty at the earliest possible opportunity and your sentiments expressed to Mr Mackinnon. In my view, your sentiments to Mr Mackinnon were vague and fairly tepid on the issue of remorse. Whilst a plea of guilty in and of itself can facilitate such a mitigatory allowance, in my view there is an absence of any evidentiary foundation upon which a significant discount could be afforded to you on the basis of remorse. However, your cooperation with authorities in particular with regards to Charge 14, where you admitted to the theft of the motorcycle immediately upon your arrest, and in the absence then of any inculpatory evidence save for your possession of this object, is in my view, capable of evidencing a degree of remorse on your part.
39As I indicated at the outset of my sentencing remarks, you have been in custody for a very long period of time. Indeed, it is a long period of time within which to worry about the outcome of these proceedings, and the anxiety caused by such a delay warrants a mitigatory allowance. Furthermore, you have spent this extended period of time in custody in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts upon the custodial setting. As is now well known, COVID-19 has entered the prison setting. There have been significant restrictions with regard to freedom of movement, access to personal visits, access to employment, rehabilitative activities and education. In addition, all prisoners have had to live with the anxieties associated with COVID-19 entering the prison system and given the compromised demographic.
40In your case, you have spent nearly all of your time at Port Phillip Prison. For some eight months, and because of COVID-19, prisoners at Port Phillip Prison were only allowed short periods out of their cells. Since then, and whenever the virus has become prevalent within the prison, the prison as a whole has been shut down, with resulting unit lockdowns. Units continue to be locked down as a whole. You have reported that this is the hardest time that you have spent in custody and, in particular, you have been unable to obtain the appropriate therapeutic services to properly manage and treat your longstanding and complex mental health issues. Significantly, you were unable to attend your sister's funeral some 18 months ago, due to your incarceration. According to Mr Mackinnon you are,
'finding imprisonment "harder than before", as he is very isolated by the restrictions of the Covid-19 crisis and has not had any personal visits for two years.'
41Whilst Mr Mackinnon did not directly address the matters related to Verdins principles five and six with regards to the impact of your mental health on the custodial setting, I am prepared generally to make a mitigatory allowance given the hardship of the custodial setting for you, given your psychological fragilities. Whether such a period of imprisonment would likely cause your mental health difficulties to deteriorate is in my view a matter for speculation, however, the particular hardships caused as a result of your psychological fragility in the custodial setting do require a mitigatory allowance pursuant to Verdins five.
42To the extent that I am able, I have also taken into consideration the issue of parity, in particular with regards to the most serious charge on the indictment, aggravated burglary. In that regard I note that your co-offender Kyle Beattie, pleaded guilty to a number of indictable charges including the aggravated burglary at Templestowe, and on 25 September 2019 he received a sentence of imprisonment of one year with regards to the aggravated burglary itself. As conceded by the Prosecution at the plea hearing, the principle of parity impacts upon the sentence that I can impose, particularly with regards to that serious offence.
43Your Counsel submitted that the prospect of your deportation, as evidenced by the letter from the Department of Home Affairs dated 24 February 2021 with regards to a notice of intention to consider cancellation under s501(2) of the Migration Act1958 (Cth) warranted a mitigatory allowance. This submission was not opposed by the Prosecution. You have not resided in New Zealand since you were a toddler and I accept that you have minimal, if any, connections to New Zealand. Moreover, your primary motivations for rehabilitation, your two young children, reside in Australia. I have little doubt that should you be deported this would cause significant hardship for you, and I also have little doubt that the prospect of deportation therefore has caused you, and continues to cause you, considerable anxieties. Pursuant to relevant authority, the anxieties caused as a result of the prospect of deportation warrant a mitigatory allowance.[5] Given the letter from Home Affairs, the risk of deportation exists, though the degree of that risk or just how likely the threat of deportation is in your case remains somewhat speculative, in my view. Nevertheless, for the reasons I have articulated, I have made a mitigatory allowance due to your anxieties in this regard.
[5]Guden v R [2010] VSCA 196.
44Given your problematic personal history, extensive and relevant criminal history and the nature of the current offending, it is difficult to find your prospects for rehabilitation as anything other than guarded. I accept that you are motivated with regards to re-integrating into the community and developing a meaningful relationship with your children. I also accept that your extended period in custody has no doubt had a significant deterrent effect upon you, and therefore provided a motivation for change. The fact remains that you are in my view at risk of institutionalisation, particularly if you continue your now fairly entrenched pattern of criminality upon your release into the community.
45Your offending requires a sentence which reflects the important sentencing purposes of denunciation, community protection, specific and general deterrence. There is in my view a need for appropriate cumulation between the distinct aspects of your criminality, subject as always to the overarching principle of general deterrence. There is, in my view, a need for appropriate cumulation between the distinct aspects of your criminality subject as always to the overarching principle of totality. You have in my view served an inordinate and extraordinary period of time in custody awaiting the finalisation of this case. Those delays have been caused as a result of a number of factors, including in particular the impact of the pandemic upon the work of this Court, and the need to await finalisation of the contested matters which have resulted in an acquittal.
46Having carefully considered all of the relevant factors, principles and purposes relevant to the sentencing exercise, I have ultimately determined that the time served by you is fast approaching a period that is sufficient to appropriately reflect 'just punishment' in your case. Whilst ideally, specialist interventions would be in place to assist in your reintegration into the community in a safe manner, it is not appropriate for me to artificially inflate your sentence to have this effect. Indeed, the Sentencing Act 1991 prohibits me from taking into account executive action, and I would need to assume in such a case that you would serve the entirety of any such sentence.
47I have considered the operation of s11(1) of the Sentencing Act 1991, which requires me to set a non-parole period if imposing a sentence of imprisonment of 2 years or more, subject to certain qualifications. In my view, having decided that you have essentially served sufficient time in prison and should be released imminently, it would be inappropriate and indeed create a legal fiction to tailor such a sentence through the incorporation of a non-parole period which I know would never become a practical reality. I have therefore determined not to set a
non-parole period, having regard to 'the past history of the offender', to use the terminology in s11, namely the considerable time spent in custody by you by way of pre-sentence detention.
Sentence to be imposed
48Accordingly, Mr Taylor, in relation to all charges before me, you are sentenced as follows:
49On Charge 1, theft of a motor vehicle, you are sentenced to 10 months' imprisonment.
50On Charge 2, theft of a motor vehicle, you are sentenced to 9 months' imprisonment.
51On Charge 3, theft of alcohol, you are sentenced to 2 months' imprisonment.
52On Charge 4, burglary, you are sentenced to 15 months' imprisonment.
53On Charge 5, theft, you are sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment.
54On Charge 6, theft of a motor vehicle, you are sentenced to 9 months' imprisonment.
55On Charge 7, theft of petrol, you are sentenced to 2 months' imprisonment.
56On Charge 8, aggravated burglary, you are sentenced to 20 months' imprisonment. This is the base sentence.
57On Charge 9, attempted theft of a motor vehicle, you are sentenced to 6 months' imprisonment.
58On Charge 10, burglary, you are sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment.
59On Charge 11, theft, you are sentenced to 9 months' imprisonment.
60On Charge 12, obtain property by deception, you are sentenced to 4 months' imprisonment.
61On Charge 13, theft of a motor vehicle, you are sentenced to 9 months' imprisonment.
62On Charge 14, theft of a motor vehicle, you are sentenced to 9 months' imprisonment.
63On the related summary charge of unlicenced driving you are sentenced to 1 months' imprisonment and on the related summary charge of offending whilst on bail, you are sentenced to 1 month imprisonment.
64I order that 1 month of the sentence on Charge 1, 1 month of the sentence on Charge 2, 4 months on the sentence on Charge 4, 2 months of the sentence on Charge 5, 1 month on the sentence on Charge 6, 1 month on the sentence on Charge 9, 3 months on the sentence on Charge 10, 1 month of the sentence on Charge 11, 1 month on the sentence on Charge 13 and 1 month of the sentence on Charge 14 be served cumulatively upon each other and cumulatively upon the sentence on Charge 8, the base sentence. This results in a total effective sentence of 36 months' imprisonment or 3 years imprisonment.
65Pursuant to s18(4) of the Sentencing Act1991, I declare that 1,085 days has been served by way of pre-sentence detention. This amount will be administratively deducted from your sentence, meaning that you will be eligible, on my calculation, for imminent release.
66I further order that pursuant to s89(4) of the Sentencing Act 1991, you are disqualified from holding or obtaining a diver licence for 12 months, commencing today, 19 August 2022.
67Pursuant to s 6AAA of the Sentencing Act1991, I declare that had you pleaded not guilty but been found guilty at trial, I would have imposed a total effective sentence of 4 years' and 6 months imprisonment with a non‑parole period of 3 years and 4 months’ imprisonment.
68I understand there are no ancillary applications in this matter and accordingly I make no orders with regard to any ancillary matters.
69Mr Tudehope, firstly turning to you, any issues or ambiguities with regards to the sentence?
70MR TUDEHOPE: Your Honour, no issue at the moment.
71HIS HONOUR: Yes, thank you. Ms Drago, any issues?
72MS DRAGO: Nothing that I can see so far, Your Honour, no.
73HIS HONOUR: Yes. Mr Taylor, I am going to direct my comments to you very briefly.
74ACCUSED: Yes.
75HIS HONOUR: It is not a matter for me at all, I am aware that prisoners have emergency management day allowances. I would expect perhaps that you may have a significant quantity available to you. I have no idea and it is not a matter for me. What I can tell you is this; taking into account pre-sentence detention and not taking into account emergency management days, on my calculation you have 10 days left on this sentence.
76ACCUSED: Yeah.
77HIS HONOUR: If you have emergency management days, they of course will be deducted from that. It is my anticipation and understanding in the way that I have constructed this sentence, that you will be eligible for imminent release from prison. That is a matter though for sentence management and the prison authorities. Do you understand the sentence that I have imposed?
78ACCUSED: Yes.
79HIS HONOUR: I only want to say this to you, Mr Taylor. This is a most unusual case given the amount of time that you have spent in custody and I am not going to repeat now the reasons for that. Usually, in a case such as yours, I would be structuring a parole sentence because it seems to me with your long history, you probably need significant assistance reintegrating into the community. This sentence will leave you released with no support, no supervision, nothing. You are an adult. You understand how the system works. It is really a matter for you. Can I encourage you in the strongest possible terms, Mr Taylor, please stay away from drugs, stay away from trouble. I do hope that you go and reside as you have indicated either with your mother or with the foster family and that you focus on staying out of trouble for the sake of your two young children. If you reoffend, and let me tell you this, the nature of your offending was not overly sophisticated, offending will inevitably, in my view, result in your apprehension and the sentences are just going to get longer and longer.
80ACCUSED: Yeah.
81HIS HONOUR: I referred to you being at risk of institutionalisation. What that means is, you could end up spending the rest of your life in jail. Now I am sure you do not want that.
82ACCUSED: Yeah.
83HIS HONOUR: I just want to say that to you in the plainest possible words. Please, stay out of trouble and try and stay away from prison, which has blighted your last few years and kept you away from your family. Do you understand?
84ACCUSED: Yeah. Yeah, thank you.
85HIS HONOUR: Thank you. The order with regards to Mr Taylor's driver's licence will apply only to the theft of motor vehicle charges.
86MS DRAGO: As Your Honour pleases.
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