Director of Public Prosecutions v Wallace
[2014] VCC 1198
•25 July 2014
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA | Revised Not Restricted Suitable for Publication |
AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL JURISDICTIONCR-13-01907
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| v |
| STEVIE WALLACE |
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| JUDGE: | HER HONOUR JUDGE GAYNOR |
| WHERE HELD: | Melbourne |
| DATE OF HEARING: | |
| DATE OF SENTENCE: | 25 July 2014 |
| CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | DPP v Wallace |
| MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2014] VCC 1198 |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the Director of Public Prosecutions | Mr J. Shaw | |
| For the Offender | Mr D Cronin |
HER HONOUR:
1Stevie Wallace, you have pleaded guilty before me to one charge armed robbery.
2The facts underlying your offending are as follows.
3On 28 June 2013, at about 3.50 am, you drove two co-accused, Troy Dulic and Michael Harty, to Hungry Jack's Restaurant in Frankston. You were driving your white Holden sedan, and they were wearing balaclavas covering their faces. The two boys got out of the car and lay in wait near the drive-through window while you drove through the drive-through as though you were ordering. The attendant unlocked and opened the drive-through window to take the order, and Harty and Dulic appeared at the window and screamed at her "Give me money. Give me money." Harty dived headfirst through the open window into the premises and Dulic tried unsuccessfully to climb through the window. Harty was armed with a tomahawk and Dulic with a machete.
4Once inside, Harty screamed at the attendant "Give me money now. Give me the money." He forced the till, using the tomahawk, and tried to pass it through the window to Dulic, who was still outside but could not get it through the window. He then took the till and jumped over the front counter, running through the premises and exiting by smashing the glass in the front door and climbing through. You then drove the other two away.
5You conducted a "no comment" record of interview. The maximum penalty for armed robbery is 25 years' imprisonment. You have one prior criminal matter, which is a theft from a shop.
6I now turn to your personal circumstances.
7HER HONOUR: You are now aged 24, one of two children born to your parents. You had difficulties at school and, by the time you had finished school, essentially could not read or write. It has been subsequently determined that you are suitable for service delivery from intellectual disability services.
8Immediately before the time of committing this offence you had been through an extremely difficult period. When you were in your late teens, you formed a relationship with a man who was extremely violent towards you and this caused you great damage. However, you had a child to that man and left him, returning to live with your parents. That child unfortunately drowned accidentally in the indoor swimming pool of the home. The armed robbery occurred very much in the aftermath of that terrible incident.
9I was informed by counsel of the unkindness of a large number of people, that you had to endure a sort of a Facebook campaign about your capacities as a parent, that you had no support and indeed were being attacked, that this was an extraordinarily agonising period in your life.
10You were still only young and, unsurprisingly, you turned to drugs for some relief, but unfortunately chose one of the most dangerous and addictive drugs around these days, that is, ice.
11Your two co-accused were people who you had known for some time. I dealt with them both as co-accused with you. They were also long-term ice users, but they were friends from school, and in addition to you having your drug habit in common with them, they were two amongst a very few people who were kind and supportive to you after your daughter died and you formed the habit of associating with them.
12The armed robbery was part of a series of armed robberies conducted by Dulic and Harty, but this was the only one that you were involved in and you took the fairly passive role as driver and I am satisfied engaged yourself in offending which was entirely beyond anything you had ever done before because of the reasons that I have previously mentioned, that is, the death of your daughter, the Facebook campaign, your loneliness, your friendship and the support of your co-accused and, in addition, you had received dreadful threats and abuse from your former partner in the aftermath of this appalling incident.
13This is one of those rare cases where, in fact, offending can lead to a brighter outcome. I am satisfied that you have taken great efforts in terms of your ice use, but also you have been linked up with intellectual disability services for which you had not previously been found to be eligible or it might not have even been thought about.
14I received several reports from your case worker, who sounds as if she has taken a very supportive place in your life. Aspects such as training, employment, accommodation, drug use, grief counselling, these are all matters that are now being attended to, and it seems to me, and I hope I am right, Stevie, that perhaps today you are in a bit of a better shape than you were at the time you came to court and certainly at the time you committed this offending. Is that correct?
15OFFENDER: Yes, Your Honour.
16HER HONOUR: Good. I have received reports from both the Office of Corrections and from Disability Services in relation to a community corrections order, which, in my view, given the lack of previous history, the exceptional circumstances surrounding your offending, was appropriate in this case and you have been found to be suitable.
17It seems to me that ordinarily the gaol sentence that is imposed for an armed robbery is entirely inappropriate in your case. The offending occurred because of the various difficulties in your life that I have outlined and that led to your drug use. I have no doubt that if I placed you in gaol, those problems would only exacerbate and the community would be left with a far more difficult problem in the terms of your life and how you would then lead it than if those problems are attended to now. So, it is my view that a community corrections order is appropriate in this matter.
18You have to understand a community corrections order is a serious order. It involves a promise by you to stay out of trouble for a period of time, it involves supervision and commitment to the directions of the Office of Corrections, and I am going to order also that there be special conditions attached, which are mainly to assist you.
19Now, Stevie, I can only place you on a community corrections order if you consent to this. I should state that I note that you have got some driving offences outstanding. There are some small Magistrates' Court matters outstanding. But overall it is my view that you have made remarkable progress since being arrested for this armed robbery and this community corrections order is designed to ensure that that continues. All right?
20Could you stand up, please, Stevie?
21I need to tell you what the core or the basic conditions of a community corrections order are. They are, firstly, that whilst you are on the order, and I am going to order that you be on a community corrections order for two years, that you do not commit any offence punishable by imprisonment either inside or outside Victoria. If you get into trouble, Stevie, you will breach the order and you will brought back before me, all right?
22OFFENDER: Yes.
23HER HONOUR: The second matter is that you must report to and receive visits from the Office of Corrections. You may not leave Victoria without permission of the Community Corrections officer. You must report to the appropriate Community Corrections Office within two days of being placed on the order. We will have the address for you. That is, by Tuesday of next week.
24OFFENDER: Yes.
25HER HONOUR: You must inform the Community Corrections officer of any change of address or employment within 48 hours of that change.
26I am going to order that you undergo assessment and treatment for drug use. I know that you have made very good strides there, but we need to have really something strong in place - - -
27OFFENDER: Yep.
28HER HONOUR: ‑ ‑ ‑ so you thoroughly understand - - -
29OFFENDER: Yep.
30HER HONOUR: ‑ ‑ ‑ and are thoroughly able to deal with things. I mean, life is never for anybody, Stevie, perfect. There are always really tough times. It is very important that people who have been using drugs understand that turning to drugs in tough times, the tough times we all have, is just simply usually a disaster and it would be for you.
31OFFENDER: Yep.
32HER HONOUR: There is another special condition that you undergo assessment and treatment for mental health. Now what that means is basically I want you to have some therapy. I understand that that has been discussed with Intellectual Disability Services. It seems to me you have got a way to go in exploring the grief around your daughter - - -
33OFFENDER: Yep.
34HER HONOUR: ‑ ‑ ‑ the issues around the sorts of difficulties that have arisen for you because of your fear of your former partner and the damage he did to you, things like that, and it sounds as if school was very difficult for you as well. If you are having difficulty learning, then school would be an unhappy, unpleasant place, you would have undergone some bullying, and that can really affect how you feel about yourself. These are all things that are designed to ensure that in the end you have a happy and more even life, all right?
35I note that there is a justice plan which will be attached to the community corrections order. This is a very important aspect because it is going to assist in achieving independent housing and to have support in that. It is going to assist you in perhaps being able to find employment, to be living a life that is more interesting and more fulfilling for you. All right, Stevie?
36OFFENDER: Yes, Your Honour.
37
HER HONOUR: I am pretty confident I will never see you
again - - -
38OFFENDER: Yep.
39HER HONOUR: ‑ ‑ ‑ and I am pretty confident that you will not get in any trouble again.
40OFFENDER: No.
41HER HONOUR: The only thing I am going to do, because you will be seeing me again, I am going to order judicial monitoring every six months. All that means is I like to see you, I want you to come back every six months and I can see how you are going, all right?
42OFFENDER: Yes.
43HER HONOUR: We can have a chat, and if things need tweaking or changing around, that can be done, all right?
44OFFENDER: Thank you, Your Honour.
45HER HONOUR: Are you prepared to enter that order?
46OFFENDER: I am.
47HER HONOUR: Thank you. Have a seat. I thank the authors for their reports very much. They were incredibly helpful, thank you. We will just print out the order for you.
48MR SHAW: While that's being done - - -
49HER HONOUR: Yes.
50MR SHAW: Could I just check if the s.464ZF order was made last time we were here? It's been such a long time since we were before the court.
51HER HONOUR: I have got no idea, Mr Shaw. I don't know.
52MR SHAW: Your Honour's associate is being very helpful. I think the answer's yes.
53HER HONOUR: They are very helpful, the associates. Yes, I don't know. I am not really inclined to grant it. I know it is a serious offence, but I think there are particular circumstances. Stevie does not present as somebody who is an habitual offender who requires - so that, you know, protection of the community requires her intimate sample on the record.
54MR SHAW: I suppose it could be said that over the next couple of years she will be watched fairly closely by a number of people in the system - - -
55HER HONOUR: Exactly.
56MR SHAW: ‑ ‑ ‑ including Your Honour, so - - -
57HER HONOUR: That's right, Mr Shaw. Yes, thank you.
58MR SHAW: Really what I was checking is whether the order had already been made last time.
59HER HONOUR: Yes. No.
60MR SHAW: No, it hasn't.
61HER HONOUR: Look, I am not inclined to make the order at this stage.
62MR SHAW: As Your Honour pleases. And thank you to Your Honour's associate for that assistance.
63HER HONOUR: No worries. Thank you. She's a whiz and a wonder.
64All right, Stevie. Do you think you can remember the conditions that I spoke to you about?
65OFFENDER: Yep.
66HER HONOUR: They are on this, but I know you have trouble reading. It would be really nice if we could do something about reading, too. It would make life a lot easier for you, wouldn't it. Are you able to sign all right?
67OFFENDER: Yep.
68HER HONOUR: All right, good, we will get you to sign that. Thank you.
69(Community corrections order signed and acknowledged.)
70Thank you very much. All right, Stevie. I have also discovered, Mr Shaw, that when I hand down a CCO, I don't have to do a s.6AAA declaration.
71MR SHAW: No, Your Honour doesn't.
72HER HONOUR: No-one ever told me that until about three days ago.
73MR SHAW: Better late than never.
74HER HONOUR: It's like being let out gaol. All right.
75MR SHAW: All right.
76HER HONOUR: Thank you very much. Stand up, Stevie. That is the end of this. Good luck with everything.
77OFFENDER: Thank you.
78HER HONOUR: I hope everything keeps going as well as it has been, and I congratulate you on having so much strength and courage and for getting through this very, very difficult time, all right?
79OFFENDER: Thank you, Your Honour.
80HER HONOUR: You look after yourself, and I will see you in six months' time - - -
81OFFENDER: Yes.
82HER HONOUR: And I hope everything is going really well, all right?
83OFFENDER: Thank you.
84HER HONOUR: Thank you very much.
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