Director of Public Prosecutions v Umi

[2025] VCC 243

IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA

AT MELBOURNE

CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

Revised
Not Restricted
Suitable for Publication

Case No. CR-24-01659
CR-24-02244

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

TYSON UMI

---

JUDGE:	HIS HONOUR JUDGE GAMBLE
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:	20 February 2025
DATE OF SENTENCE:	11 March 2025
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Umi
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2025] VCC 243

REASONS FOR SENTENCE

---

Subject:CRIMINAL LAW – Sentence.

Catchwords:              Attempted aggravated burglary – Attempted armed robbery – Intentionally damage property – Theft.

Legislation Cited:      Crimes Act 1958, ss 74, 75A, 77, 197, 321M; Sentencing Act 1991, ss 6AAA, 18.

Cases Cited:R v Verdins (2007) 16 VR 269; Bugmy v The Queen (2013) 249 CLR 571; R v McKee & Brooks (2003) 138 A Crim R 88.

Sentence:                  Global total effective sentence of 4 years’ imprisonment with a non-parole period of 2 ½ years.

s 6AAA:But for the plea of guilty, a sentence of 6 years with a non-parole period of 4 years would have been imposed.

APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the Director of Public Prosecutions	Ms G. Hogg	Office of Public Prosecutions
For the Accused	Ms S. Gillahan	Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service

---

HIS HONOUR:

Introduction

1Mr Umi, you have pleaded guilty to the following five offences contained in two indictments: two charges of intentionally damage property,[1] one charge of attempted aggravated burglary,[2] one charge of attempted armed robbery[3] and one charge of theft.[4]

[1] Charge 2 on Indictment Q11254824 and Charge 2 on Indictment Q11570883, laid pursuant to s 197(1) of the Crimes Act 1958 (Vic).

[2] Charge 1 on Indictment Q11570883 laid pursuant to ss 77 and 321M of the Crimes Act 1958 (Vic).

[3] Charge 1 on Indictment Q11254824 laid pursuant to ss 75A and 321M of the Crimes Act 1958 (Vic).

[4] Charge 3 on Indictment Q11254824 laid pursuant to s 74 of the Crimes Act 1958 (Vic).

2The maximum penalty for each of attempted aggravated burglary and attempted armed robbery is 20 years’ imprisonment, while for intentionally damage property and theft it is 10 years’ imprisonment.

3Your offending occurred on 10 and 14 June 2024, at which time you were 24 and without any fixed abode, living in temporary accommodation in public housing in Fitzroy. You are now 25, having been born in December 1999.

4In the days leading up to and between your current offences, you had been consuming alcohol in combination with the prescription drug, Xanax. You were substance affected on each occasion and were a complete stranger to the victims of your offences.

5You have a relevant prior criminal record and were on a community-based order at the time you committed all of the current offences and on bail for the first set of offences when you offended on the second occasion four days later.

Circumstances of the offending

6The circumstances of your offending are set out in the typed summary of prosecution opening.[5] The basis on which you now fall to be sentenced was also discussed during the plea hearing. I have had regard to that opening and to those discussions when determining the appropriate sentence to impose in this case.

[5] Dated 10 February 2025 (Exhibit A).

7For present purposes, your offending can be summarised as follows.

First Incident: 10 June 2024

8At approximately 9:00pm on 10 June 2024, Gavin Robson, Natalie Watson and Helen Watson were inside their residence located in Paramount Court, Tullamarine when Mr Robson heard noises coming from the side door. When he became aware that you were at the side door aggressively demanding to be let into the property, he asked you to leave and Natalie to contact the police.

9In response, you went to the front door and made repeated demands for entry while indicating that you needed to collect money owing to you. You then picked up a piece of concrete and smashed the middle window adjacent to the front door. You then attempted to reach through the window and unlock the front door but Mr Robson pushed your hands away to prevent you from gaining entry.

10At this time, Natalie and Helen Watson retreated to the hallway in fear.

11You then started to kick at the front door while continuing to demand money. You also yelled at the victims to come outside and threatened to ‘bash’ them if they did not open the door. You made further repeated attempts to open the front door via the broken window.

12Your conduct as just described forms the factual basis for the offence of attempted aggravated burglary alleged in Charge 1 on Indictment Q11570883 ('the first indictment').

13After failing to gain entry, you then kicked the bottom window next to the front door, causing it to smash. You also threw a lime tree from its pot through another window. In response, Mr Robson boarded up the window with a coffee table and couch to prevent you from entering.

14You then picked up the victims’ letterbox and threw it through another window, prompting Mr Robson to call for help. You then decamped on foot.

15The damage sustained to those windows forms part of the factual basis for the offence of intentionally damaging property alleged in Charge 2 on the first indictment.

16At approximately 9:35pm, police attended at the scene and spoke to the victims. Police then located you nearby a short time later. You told them who you were and admitted damaging the property. That fact was confirmed by the footage police obtained from Mr Robson’s smart doorbell.

17You were arrested and taken to Broadmeadows Police Station. You were later charged and released on bail without being interviewed on account of your state of intoxication.

Second Incident: 14 June 2024

18At approximately 2:00am on 14 June 2024, you were walking along Gertrude Street, Fitzroy carrying a meat tenderiser measuring approximately a foot long.

19As you passed the Anada Bar and Restaurant, you used that meat tenderiser to smash one of the front windows of that restaurant. The damage sustained to the window forms the factual basis for the offence of intentionally damaging property, alleged in Charge 2 on Indictment Q11254824 ('the second indictment').

20You then continued to walk along Gertrude Street until approaching an 18-year-old male named Alexander Shannon, who was sitting with a friend on a bench outside a bar named ‘Yah Yah’s’. You then pointed the meat tenderiser towards Mr Shannon while demanding his wallet. Mr Shannon told you that he did not carry cash and, in an effort to diffuse the situation, he asked you if you wanted a cigarette. After taking one, you said 'just one?' before snatching the whole packet from him. Your conduct as just described forms the factual basis for the offence of theft alleged in Charge 3 on the second indictment.

21You then continued to demand his wallet and began to count down from three.

22Fearing an imminent assault, Mr Shannon ran behind the bench to get further away from you.

23You then chose to decamp the scene on foot.

24Your actions in demanding Mr Shannon’s wallet while holding the meat tenderiser forms the factual basis for the offence of attempted armed robbery alleged in Charge 1 on the second indictment.

25CCTV footage obtained from nearby premises depicted you damaging the restaurant window and offending against Mr Shannon.

Arrest and interview

26A short time after attending the scene, police arrested you at your temporary residence. You were then taken back to the Melbourne West Police Station for interview.

27During that interview, you confirmed that it was you shown in the relevant CCTV still images for 14 June 2024. Otherwise, you exercised your legal right to give ‘no comment’ answers.

Pre-sentence detention

28You were then charged and remanded in custody where you have remained ever since. The total period of pre-sentence detention for this matter is therefore 270 days, up to but not including today’s date. A declaration to that effect will be made shortly.

Victim impact

29Although each of your victims have elected not to make a victim impact statement, I have no doubt that they would have been placed in considerable fear by what you did, which was no doubt your intention.

Guilty plea

30You made clear your intention to plead guilty to these offences at a very early stage, namely at the committal mention hearings. By pleading guilty as and when you did, you have demonstrated a willingness to facilitate the course of justice, saved the community the associated cost and time of a trial and, importantly, spared your victims from the ordeal of having to give evidence in court.

31As such, you are entitled to and will receive a significant sentencing discount.

Remorse

32I am prepared to infer from the fact and timing of your pleas that you regret your criminal actions and are remorseful for what you did.

Prior criminal history

33I note that you have a relevant prior criminal record, Mr Umi.

34You have previously been sentenced in the Children’s Court on four occasions between October 2016 and November 2019 in respect of burglary, thefts, assault, multiple offences involving the causing of damage to property and offending whilst on bail. By way of sentencing in that jurisdiction, you have been given probation and placed on three good behaviour bonds, all without conviction.

35Of more significance is your record in the adult jurisdiction of the Magistrates' Court, where you have appeared on six occasions between December 2018 and August 2023.

36On the first of those appearances, you were given a without conviction bond for an unlawful assault. You then received a further bond without conviction in December 2019 for multiple graffiti and criminal damage offences.

37Then, in January 2020, you received an 8 month community correction order, without conviction, for assaulting a female, contravening a family violence intervention order, criminal damage and committing an indictable offence whilst on bail.

38You were first convicted in April 2022, at which time you were fined for multiple offences of criminal damage, assault, contravening a family violence intervention order and contravening a condition of bail. At the same court hearing, you faced breach proceedings in respect of the earlier CCO and that contravention charge was found proven.

39A little over a year later, in March 2023, you were fined with conviction for theft and committing an indictable offence whilst on bail.

40At your most recent prior court appearance on 18 August 2023, you were convicted and placed on a 12-month CCO in respect of a further 21 offences, including but not limited to attempted burglary, theft, criminal damage, unlawful assault, assault with a weapon, assault in company, reckless conduct endanger life, contravene family violence intervention order and commit indictable offence whilst on bail.

41As a study of that criminal record shows, the courts have, through the attachment of appropriate conditions to probation, bonds and community correction orders, tried to assist you to rehabilitate whilst remaining in the community. Thus, you have been offered the assistance of a number of community-based organisations, including culturally appropriate means of connecting to your indigenous heritage, treatment and counselling for your drug and alcohol and mental health issues and ongoing court supervision and monitoring.

42Unfortunately, you have not taken full advantage of those opportunities as is clear, for example, from the fact that you have breached each of the two community correction orders that you have received to date.

Personal circumstances

43I now turn to consider your personal circumstances, Mr Umi. Your background has been helpfully set out in your counsel’s written submissions[6] and in the report of the psychologist, Carla Lechner.[7]

[6] Dated 13 February 2025 (Exhibit 1).

[7] Dated 24 October 2024 (Exhibit 2).

44Your aboriginality comes from your mother’s side of the family. Your father is of Samoan heritage. You are the second eldest of four children and also have two half-siblings.

45You have only seen your father on two occasions since your parents separated when you were about 11 or 12. After the separation, you lived with your mother until, at about age 15, you were kicked out of the family home after falling out with her new partner. As a result, you were rendered homeless.

46You have two children, a daughter and a son, who are now aged 3 and 2, respectively. They live with their mother, Miriam, with whom you shared a relationship until separating some 12 to 15 months ago. You had been seeing your children on a weekly basis before being remanded. Since you have been in custody, you have been able to speak to them fairly regularly on the phone and by means of video chats. As your counsel put it, notwithstanding that contact, you still miss them greatly.

47You remain close to many of your other family members, including your mother and younger siblings, with whom you have ongoing contact.

48Your secondary schooling was brought to an abrupt and premature end in Year 10 as a result of you being kicked out of home and thereby becoming homeless. You had been subjected to occasional bullying at school and learnt to respond by fighting.

49On account of your earlier homelessness, you had found it difficult to work although that changed after the birth of your daughter, you became more settled and motivated to support your young family. During that time, you worked in a range of jobs, including construction, car detailing, painting and cleaning. But then, when the relationship broke down and you again became homeless, you lost your desire to work and became unemployed.

50Since being held on remand, you have worked in the prison laundry.

51You commenced using drugs at a young age. Your use of cannabis commenced when you were 12 but progressed to heavy and daily use within a few years. By the time you were a young adult, you were using ecstasy, cocaine, LSD and prescription medications, including Xanax as well as oxycontin and codeine.

52In the lead up to the current offending, you had commenced to combine Xanax and alcohol which left you with significant memory loss, including as to the circumstances of that offending.

53Your counsel characterised your consumption of alcohol as the most problematic of your substance abuses. You began drinking at age 12 as a means of self-medicating your mental health issues. You were drinking on a daily basis and heavily leading up to and between the two dates on which you committed the current offences.

54As already noted, you had been placed on a 12-month community correction order in mid-August 2023. On 13 October 2023, you attended the Wulgunggo Ngalu Learning Place where you interacted positively until self-exiting a month later, on 12 November. You failed to return from weekend leave in the context of ongoing relationship difficulties and your desire to celebrate your daughter’s birthday. In the immediate aftermath, you maintained contact with community corrections, including by way of obtaining a referral to an AOD counsellor who you commenced to see on 5 December 2023. You ultimately attended two of the scheduled eight appointments with that counsellor.

55After exiting from Wulgunggo Ngalu Learning Place in mid-November 2023, you resumed living with your partner and children until your relationship broke down at the end of that year. You then moved in with your mother and her partner. That situation was difficult however on account of your strained relationship with that man and, as a result, it was not long before you were once again homeless.

56You remained so in the months preceding your current offending. Whilst living on the streets, you relapsed into alcohol abuse and commenced to use Xanax, a new combination for you, apparently. It would appear that you were heavily intoxicated during the first incident on 10 June and then continued to drink and abuse Xanax after being bailed and until you were arrested as a result of your offending in the second incident on 14 June.

57You were assessed by Ms Lechner on 12 September 2024. Ms Lechner gave viva voce evidence at the plea hearing on 20 February this year. I have had regard to the contents of her report and to her evidence when determining the appropriate sentence in your case.

58Ms Lechner noted your reported history of extensive exposure to family violence, both as a victim and as a witness, in your formative years which she considers prompted very early drug use as a means of coping with psychological distress. Furthermore, in light of the substance abuse engaged in by your parents in the family home, Ms Lechner is of the view that you were likely predisposed to developing an addiction problem of your own.

59On her assessment, you presented with symptoms of alcohol use disorder (in early remission), in addition to problematic use of benzodiazepines and prescription opioids. In addition, you present with symptoms of acute and complex post-traumatic stress disorder arising from your exposure to adverse childhood experiences. It is also to be noted that whilst living on the streets, you have also witnessed instances of violence, including a stabbing.

60The symptoms referred to above include low self-esteem, interpersonal mistrust, emotional and behavioural dysregulation, hypervigilance and intrusive thoughts and memories. As Ms Lechner has indicated, in effect, your attempts to manage these symptoms with substance abuse only aggravates your unstable mental health and increases the chances of you reoffending.

61After noting the particular circumstances in which you were living at the time of your current offending, including your homelessness, your relapse into heavy drinking and drug abuse and associated memory problems, Ms Lechner indicated that you are in need of intensive drug and alcohol counselling services and psychological support that is trauma informed.

62I note some concern, however, regarding your chances of successfully overcoming your alcohol and drug dependency in light of its entrenched nature, the fact that you have candidly admitted to using drugs whilst on remand, and your demonstrated ambivalence about attending a rehabilitation program again when speaking to Ms Lechner.[8]

[8] See page 4.9 of Ms Lechner’s report.

Matters in mitigation

63Your counsel was able to rely on a number of matters in mitigation on your behalf, Mr Umi, including the following.

64You co-operated with the police investigations to the extent that you immediately admitted to having caused damage to the relevant house in the first incident and to being the person shown in the relevant CCTV footage relating to the second incident.

65You entered pleas of guilty to these charges at a very early stage, for which you are entitled to a significant discount in your sentence.

66You are remorseful.

67At age 25, you are still a relatively young man for whom there is still some scope for further cognitive and emotional maturation.

68Through no fault of yours, you were exposed to a very difficult and disadvantaged upbringing, which in turn led to you resorting, from a young age, to alcohol and drugs as a form of self-medication for the psychological and emotional distress you experienced. Such alcohol and substance use has no doubt played a direct role in your past offending, just as it did in your current offending.

69On your behalf, your counsel sought to engage a number of the principles from Verdins[9] case as well as those from Bugmy.[10] In my view, there is scope for some application of the principles in those two cases and in light of what the Court of Appeal has said in the case of R v McKee and Brooks.[11]

[9] R v Verdins (2007) 16 VR 269.

[10] Bugmy v The Queen (2013) 249 CLR 571.

[11] R v McKee & Brooks (2003) 138 A Crim R 88.

70Accordingly, your moral culpability for this offending must be seen as reduced to some extent and the weight to be accorded to deterrence, both general and specific, must be sensibly moderated.

71Further, any consideration of whether to imprison you and, if so, for what length of time, must take account of the fact that, as noted by Ms Lechner, your experience of imprisonment is a more onerous one than for a prisoner who does not have your psychological profile, and in particular the symptoms of PTSD which include hypervigilance, being easily ‘triggered’ and startled in a setting of violence, and finding it difficult to regulate responses and behaviours.

Gravity of the offending

72In addition to those matters which are personal to you Mr Umi, this court must also have regard to the objective gravity of your offending.

73In relation to the first incident on 10 June, it must be noted that your behaviour was disturbing and no doubt very frightening for all of the victims inside the house for whom you were a complete stranger.

74The conduct in which you engaged for the purposes of the attempted aggravated burglary charge was very serious and no doubt placed all three victims in great fear at the time. You attempted to gain entry to a residential house by force and at night-time while threatening the occupants of that home and while having an intention to assault them.

75Notwithstanding that you acted alone, with little planning or premeditation and while unarmed, this represents a relatively serious example of the inherently serious offence of attempted aggravated burglary which, to my mind, falls at the middle part of the spectrum of seriousness for this type of offence.

76Whilst care must be taken not to doubly punish you in respect of the two charges relating to this first incident as your damaging of the middle window adjacent to the front door, together with your kicking of that door, was the means by which you sought to gain entry to the house, not all of the damage that is the subject of the criminal damage charge is subsumed by the ‘attempted entry’ element of the attempted aggravated burglary charge. For example, having been thwarted by Mr Robson’s efforts to resist you trying to reach through that newly broken window to unlock the front door, you then proceeded to damage three further windows by means of your foot, a letterbox and a potted plant without then trying to gain entry through any of those additionally damaged windows.

77As such, whilst care must be taken to guard against double punishment and so as to comply with the principle of totality, it is appropriate to impose some additional punishment on you for the criminal damage charge, including by way of a modest degree of cumulation.

78Whilst the value of the damage caused in relation to this charge is not known, I am confident it would not have been nominal or insignificant. Again, as with the other charge, your actions in damaging the windows as you did and in the circumstances that you did, would no doubt have contributed to the fear in which the victims were placed.

79In relation to the criminal damage offence you committed during the first part of the second incident on 14 June, it involved a lesser degree of criminality on your part, but was by no means trivial in nature. You appear to have smashed the window of the bar and restaurant somewhat spontaneously and rather gratuitously as there is no suggestion that you had any problem with that business or its owner. Again, the value of the damage is unknown but more than nominal. In addition, your actions left that business unsecured until such time as the necessary rectification works were undertaken.

80Your criminal conduct towards the next victim, Mr Shannon, was clearly serious and to be deplored. Whilst your actions were again, somewhat spontaneous in nature, you attempted to rob him of any money that he had whilst making sure that he was aware that you were in possession of a sizeable metal meat tenderiser. He must have been perplexed and very worried that you, a complete stranger, would behave towards him in that way. It was a fearsome looking and no doubt very dangerous weapon if used to physically assault someone. So much would have been known to you, even in your intoxicated state. You used that knowledge and pointed it in the way you did in order to place your relatively young victim in the necessary state of fear to maximise your chances of success.

81Of concern also, is the fact that you carried out this offence in a public place and in the presence of the principal victim’s associate, who no doubt was also put in some fear. You were not distracted from your task by Mr Shannon’s indication that he had no money or by his proffering of a cigarette, as you continued to make demands and even began a countdown, which could only have been interpreted by him as a warning that you were about to escalate the situation if he did not comply. The fear that this created in his mind no doubt explains why he fled to the other side of the bench at that time. To your credit, you did not persist beyond that point as you could have chosen to do.

82In my view, this represents a relatively serious example of the intrinsically serious offence of attempted armed robbery. It falls at the mid part of the spectrum of seriousness for offences of this type.

83As for the less serious theft offence involving Mr Shannon’s packet of cigarettes, while it was mean and involved an additional and discrete element of criminality on your part, it was largely subsumed by the more serious and immediately surrounding circumstances of the attempted armed robbery offence involving the same victim.  In all of the circumstances, I consider it appropriate not to make any cumulation order in respect to that theft charge.

84Before departing from this topic, this court should make reference to the fact that all of your offences were committed whilst you were subject to a community correction order and to the further fact that the offences you committed on the second occasion were committed whilst on bail for the earlier offences that you had committed only days before during the first incident. Each of those circumstances falls to be considered as a serious aggravating factor in relation to the offences to which they relate.

Relevant sentencing principles

85When viewed globally, your offending is very serious and disturbing, Mr Umi. On two separate occasions, you utilised threats and intimidation against innocent members of the public in order to try and get what you wanted from them. They were unknown to you and just going about their ordinary affairs. Your actions were frightening to say the least and are such as to engender fear in the broader community not just in the minds of the immediate victims.

86Offending of this nature must be condemned and denounced on behalf of the community which has a justifiable expectation that offenders will face a significant punishment if caught.

87By the sentence that it imposes today, this court must play its part in discouraging you from engaging in such behaviour in the future and also discourage other like-minded members of the community from conducting themselves in this or any similar fashion. That said, and as already indicated, deterrence does not attract full weight in this sentencing exercise for the reasons already stated.

88Protection of the community is another relevant sentencing factor in this case, for a number of reasons. You have a relevant prior criminal record, including for offences involving violence, a weapon, dishonesty and the causing of damage. You have not availed yourself of past efforts by the courts to assist you and you have not been deterred by those earlier and somewhat lenient sentences. Unless and until you receive and fully engage in the necessary counselling and treatment for your alcohol and drug dependency and interconnected mental health issues, you will be at real risk of relapsing into further substance abuse once released from custody and, in turn, almost as night follows day, of reoffending.

89This court must also have regard to your age and prospects of rehabilitation. You are not yet institutionalised but at risk of becoming so unless you undertake the type of counselling and treatments recommended by Ms Lechner and the sooner you are able to do so, the better. I am acutely conscious of the need to afford you an opportunity to do so in a supervised and monitored fashion. Given your age and notwithstanding your guarded prospects, this court must do what it can, within the limits of the law, to facilitate and encourage what prospects you do have.

90Ultimately, this court is required to dispense individualised justice and to justly punish you for the criminal conduct in which you engaged. Such a punishment must be commensurate with your total criminality having regard to your personal circumstances and the relevant factors and principles which pertain to your offending. On any view, and despite the matters in mitigation upon which you can rely, the appropriate punishment in this case must be a relatively significant one.

91Of course, the parity principle is always important and totality considerations also come into play in light of there being multiple offences committed on each of the two episodes of offending which took place within the same week, only four days apart.

Sentencing submissions

92In her submissions, your counsel urged the court to impose a combination sentence involving a term of imprisonment which would have the effect of you serving up to a further 12 months in custody followed by a community correction order.

93In the alternative, she urged the court to impose the least punitive custodial sentence open and to afford you the opportunity for release into the community on an extended period of parole.

94For their part, the prosecution highlighted the seriousness of the offending in which you engaged and the consequent need to give effect to such sentencing considerations as denunciation, deterrence and just punishment. As counsel who appeared on behalf of the Director put it, your current offending mandated a sentence in the form of a head sentence and a non-parole period.

Analysis

95This sentencing exercise has not been easy and has called for a nuanced consideration of numerous factors, some of which point in one direction, while others point in the opposite direction.

96A relatively young man who endured a difficult and disadvantaged upbringing with an associated and unsurprising descent into compromised mental health, related substance abuse and criminality, now falls to be sentenced for committing multiple offences, two of which were particularly serious and involved different victims.  In addition, such offending occurred against a background of past criminal offending and whilst subject to a community correction order imposed for prior serious offending and which was designed to assist him to rehabilitate while in the community.

97After having undertaken the necessary analysis of all of the relevant factors in this case, I have come to the firm conclusion that nothing other than a sentence of imprisonment in the form of a head sentence with a non-parole period is open.

98Given the number, nature and seriousness of the current offences and your past criminal record, which includes two previous community correction orders, each of which you have breached, I have concluded that a combination sentence, even one requiring the service of a further 12 months in custody, would fail to accord due weight to the relevant sentencing principles and represent an unjust and inadequate punishment for your current offences.

99However, I am conscious of your relatively young age, your capacity for further maturation and reflection, and the fact that this will be the first time that you have been sentenced to a term of imprisonment. It is in the community’s best interests, as well as yours, that any sentence be kept to the minimum that the justice of the case requires, so as to avoid an unduly lengthy exposure to the polluting atmosphere of the prison environment.

100And finally, mindful as I am that this is your first gaol sentence, I allow for its capacity to achieve a measure of personal deterrence in your case, a matter to which I have had regard when determining the appropriate sentence.

Sentence

101Mr Umi, after carefully considering, balancing and weighing the relevant sentencing considerations in your case as best I can, I have decided to sentence you as follows.

102In relation to the charges contained in both indictments, you will be convicted and sentenced to the following terms of imprisonment.

Indictment Q11570883

103On Charge 1, attempted aggravated burglary, two years and 10 months.

104On Charge 2, intentionally damage property, nine months.

Indictment Q11254824

105On Charge 1, attempted armed robbery, two and a half years.

106On Charge 2, intentionally damage property, one month.

107On Charge 3, theft, two months.

Global total effective sentence and non-parole period

108The sentence of two years and 10 months imposed for the offence of attempted aggravated burglary alleged in Charge 1 on the first indictment will be the base sentence.

109The following periods are to be served cumulatively on that base sentence and on each other: two months of the sentence imposed for the offence of criminal damage alleged in Charge 2 on the first indictment and 12 months of the sentence imposed for the offence of attempted armed robbery alleged in Charge 1 on the second indictment. That represents a total period of cumulation of 14 months.

110The global total effective sentence is therefore one of four years’ imprisonment.

111In respect of that four-year head sentence, I fix a non-parole period of two and a half years.

Pre-sentence detention

112Pursuant to s 18 of the Sentencing Act1991, I declare that you have served a total of 270 days' pre-sentence detention, not including today's date, in respect of this sentence. I order that such period is to be reckoned as already served under this sentence, and I further order that the declaration and its details be entered in the records of this court.

Section 6AAA indication

113Pursuant to s 6AAA of the Sentencing Act1991, I indicate that but for your plea of guilty, you would have been sentenced to a global total effective sentence of six years’ imprisonment in respect of which a non-parole period of four years would have been fixed.

Ancillary orders

114I grant the disposal order in the terms sought by the prosecution in an application that I note you did not oppose, pursuant to s 78(1) of the Confiscation Act 1997.

Other matters

115Are there any matters that either counsel need to raise at this stage in relation to either the sentence or the sentencing reasons, starting with you, Ms Gillahan?

116MS GILLAHAN: No, nothing from me, Your Honour.  

117MS HOGG: Nothing from me, Your Honour.

118HIS HONOUR: Thank you, counsel. Yes, I will now leave the Bench. Please adjourn the court but keep the video link open, Mr Tipstaff.

- - -