Director of Public Prosecutions v Willis-Bentley

[2016] VCC 954

IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA Revised
(Not) Restricted
Suitable for Publication

AT LATROBE VALLEY
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

CR-16-00821

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

TOBY WILLIS-BENTLEY

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JUDGE:	HIS HONOUR JUDGE SMALLWOOD
WHERE HELD:	Latrobe Valley
DATE OF HEARING:
DATE OF SENTENCE:	21 June 2016
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Willis-Bentley
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2016] VCC 954

REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject:
Catchwords:
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Cases Cited:
Sentence:

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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the Director of Public Prosecutions	Mr. A.J. Moore	Office of Public Prosecutions
For the Accused	Ms. S. McCrickard

HIS HONOUR:

1Toby Willis-Bentley, you have pleaded guilty to one charge of armed robbery and two uplifted summary matters, one of contravention of bail condition and one of commit an indictable offence on bail.  Armed robbery carries a maximum penalty of 25 years imprisonment and the other two matters, maximums of three months' imprisonment. 

2You are now 22 years of age and were 21 years of age at the time of the offending.  Clearly, you are still a young offender.  You pleaded guilty at the earliest reasonable opportunity and must get the benefit of that.  I accept that your plea is accompanied by appropriate remorse and you must also, of course, get the utilitarian benefit of it.

3You do not have a long criminal history, though you do have matters of relevance and they would appear to have come later in life when you became addicted to amphetamine.

4I also take into account that you have undergone a sentence of three months' during the time you have been on remand and I take that into account in a Renzella way, obviously not mathematical but as a totality. 

5The circumstances of the offending are that on 7 February 2016 at approximately 6 am in the morning, you attended at a service station in Morwell.  You entered the rear of the service station shop and loitered in the corner of it for a period of time near the magazine stands.  You waited until two other males had left the shop and you then walked up to the service counter.  You unzipped your jacket and pointed what appeared to be a sawn-off shotgun at the victim and stated, "Open the till" and "Give us the money." 

6The victim started taking the notes out of the till and you told him to hurry up.  The total received by you was $431.75.  You had with you a sawn-off shotgun.  I am told that was inoperative, but I have absolutely no doubt that the victim was not aware of that. 

7You then ran out of the shop and left the service station on foot.  As was pointed in very helpful submissions by your counsel, it was a relatively amateurish attempt at an armed robbery.  You were identified fairly quickly and there was very little attempt at disguise, however the fact of the matter is, that armed robbery is a serious charge and circumstances of doing it with a sawn-off shotgun are terrifying indeed for the victim. 

8I do not have a victim impact statement before me, but am well aware of the consequences that can occur to people who have been the object of this sort of conduct.  In any event, you made a no-comment interview which was your right and as I understand it, you have been in custody ever since.

9The offending has to be regarded as serious and calls for the application of general and specific deterrence as well as denunciation and appropriate punishment. 

10Matters personal were put on your behalf and I do not need to go into great detail about that.  Tendered was a report from Mr Jeremy Parker, a psychologist, who essentially says that you do not have any psychiatric disorders or psychological disorders, and this offending would appear to have occurred in circumstances of addiction to drugs. 

11That fact that you do not have those other problems gives me confidence in your capacity to rehabilitate, and if you stay off drugs, bearing in mind your relatively clean history, the likelihood of you re-offending should be low.  The situation is that you are now of an age where you cannot be given a Youth Justice Order and imprisonment is realistically the only option. 

12It is agreed by the Crown that a combination sentence of custody plus a Community Correction Order is appropriate in all the circumstances.  You have now obviously not used for a period of time and I am well aware of the authorities in regard to young offenders. 

13The situation is that you've clearly had a very difficult childhood.  Your father was a heavy drinker and your mother was addicted to ice.  There was separation involved there and your mother re-partnered into another violent relationship.  Her drug use remains an issue for her. 

14You do have a good relationship with your maternal grandmother and upon your ultimate release, it is your intention to reside with her.  A former partner has become pregnant and is due to give birth shortly, and the child is yours.  That would appear to have given you some aim in life and it is to be hoped that upon your ultimate release, that that will assist you in remaining drug-free.

15You were diagnosed at the age of five with Attention Deficit Disorder which under that can often lead to amphetamine and ice addiction in the long run. 

16You have attempted at one stage to get your schooling back on track.  You are semi-literate and got about half way through high school.  You have a limited employment history but you would ultimately like to be a plasterer.  As I have said, you have no serious psychological or psychiatric disorders.  You have been diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma but you are currently in remission and there is nothing to suggest that that is not the case.  The family apparently have a genetic disposition to it. 

17You started using amphetamines at around about the age of 18 and yours is probably a good example of what happens to young people who do go down that path. 

18However, taking all those matters into account on your behalf and taking into account the fact you have already done some time on a Renzella basis, armed robberies with shotguns just have to attract a significant sentence.  Accordingly, on the charge of armed robbery, I sentence you to be imprisoned for a period of 15 months.  On each of the other two charges, seven days each to be served concurrently.

19Upon the completion of that sentence, you are to enter onto a Community Correction Order which will be of 18 months duration and will include conditions on supervision, mental health and any programs deemed necessary to reduce the risk of re-offending.  That will be with conviction.  Because it is a combination order, a 6AAA does not apply, and obviously, 45 days pre-sentence detention. 

20MR MOORE:  What was the term of imprisonment again?

21HIS HONOUR:  Fifteen months.

22MR MOORE:  Thank you.  Compensation?

23HIS HONOUR:  I have made that, yes.  Where does his grandmother live?

24MS McCRICKARD:  I will just check that address sir.

25HIS HONOUR:  I just need a town to report to for Corrections. 

26MS McCRICKARD:  Yes sir.  His grandmother is in Traralgon, Your Honour, at 26 Alvin Crescent, so Morwell I think.

27HIS HONOUR:  Morwell, yes.  All right, thank you.

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