R v Barnes

[2018] NSWDC 329

District Court

New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation:	R v Barnes [2018] NSWDC 329
Hearing dates:	5 July 2018
Date of orders:	05 July 2018
Decision date:	05 July 2018
Jurisdiction:	Criminal
Before:	Berman SC DCJ
Decision:	For the offence of assault occasioning actual bodily harm 12 months fixed term of imprisonment. For the offence of criminal damage 6 months fixed term of imprisonment. For the offence of supply prohibited drug, taking into account matter on a Form 1, the offender is sentenced to imprisonment consisting of a non-parole period of 12 months with a head sentence of 2 years.
Catchwords:	CRIMINAL LAW – Sentence – Form 1 - Offender consents to his Honour dealing with breach of bonds – Supply drugs on an ongoing basis – Deal with property suspected of being proceeds of crime – Assault occasioning actual bodily harm – Criminal damage
Category:	Sentence
Parties:	The Crown Matt Barnes
Representation:	Solicitors: Director of Public Prosecutions (The Crown) Lisa De Luca & Co (Offender)
File Number(s):	2017/235726 – 2014/87167 – 2016/9774

SENTENCE

1. HIS HONOUR: It is not often that you see a 49 year old appearing for sentence, and supported by his parents in court, but that has happened today.

2. Matt Barnes appears for sentence affair having pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity to an offence of supplying drugs on an ongoing basis. He asks that I take into account an offence of dealing with property suspected to be the proceeds of crime and also asks that I deal with two other matters for which he earlier received bonds which were breached by the present offence.

3. Mr Barnes has had troubles with drugs for a lot of his life. He has no doubt caused a lot of trouble to his parents, they are to be congratulated for not giving up on their son. I suspect Mr Barnes junior, Matt Barnes does not quite understand how significant it is that a person who has caused so much trouble to his parents still retains their support. Indeed they are willing to have him live with them, despite being in their late 70s, upon his release from custody.

4. This is a fairly standard offence, an offence of supplying drugs on an ongoing basis, but that is not to underestimate its seriousness. Mr Barnes was a user of drugs and funded his drug habit by supplying drugs. On four occasions in June 2017 he supplied to police registered sources.

5. On the first occasion he supplied 1.76 grams of methylamphetamine for $400. On the second occasion, three grams for $900. On the third occasion 1.85 grams of methylamphetamine for $500 and on the last occasion, showing his versatility, he called one of the registered sources, and told him he could supply heroin, and eventually supplying 1.43 grams of heroin for $700.

6. When he was arrested police found $1,600 in cash. He agrees that that was the proceeds of crime.

7. Mr Barnes grew up in Greystanes but moved to Swansea near Newcastle when he was 13 because his father had work available to him there. His parents provided well for him. They are not criminals or drug users. They provided him with an education, although Mr Barnes was not terribly good at school, leaving after finishing year 10.

8. After he left school, he worked for 24 years in various positions, never being terminated from a job and also maintaining positive working relationships with his employers and co‑workers. He stopped working in 2008 after he was diagnosed with some mental health issues that I will speak about later and has been on a disability support pension since then.

9. Although Mr Barnes had troubles with lethargy which arose from Hepatitis C, he has recently undergone some new treatment for that condition and has thus been working well whilst in gaol. He had a commendable lifestyle as he grew up, but things went downhill, of course, once he started to use drugs.

10. It is suggested that his Hepatitis C led to lethargy which led to him self-medicating with methylamphetamines in order to provide him with the energy he thought he needed. He has lived in Redfern since 2000. That is an unhappy combination of events which have led to Mr Barnes using drugs regularly. He has criminal convictions which commenced when he was about 18. They include an earlier offence of supplying drugs which he received a suspended sentence and other offences for which he received custodial penalties.

11. In 2008 he was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and paranoid schizophrenia. No doubt his drug use was a contributing factor to him being mentally unwell. In fact he told a psychologist that when he was not using drugs he did not have any hallucinations. He told the psychologist that he is not using drugs whilst in gaol and perusal of his custodial history suggests that that may well be accurate as he has no custodial offences involving drugs.

12. Not everything he said to the psychologist can be accepted. He told the psychologist the informant pressured him but as I have noted on at least one occasion, Mr Barnes contacted the informant. He told the psychologist that the money found on his possession was the proceeds of a poker machine win but has admitted today that the money was the proceeds of crime.

13. In order to reflect the utilitarian value of Mr Barnes plea the sentence I will impose him is 25% less than it would otherwise have been.

14. Mr Barnes is frankly getting a bit old for this. Gaols are no places for men in their 50s. It is to be hoped that with the support of his parents when he is finally released from custody he will finally make the decision (because it is only he who can make this decision) that he will no longer use drugs once he is in the community.

15. In assessing the objective gravity of the offence, I take into account that he was on two bonds at the time and I will mention them in a little while. I take into account that fortunately the drugs did not actually make their way to drug users but of course that was certainly Mr Barnes' intention. One thing that user dealers do know is the harm that their drugs cause because they have experienced harm themselves. Mr Barnes would have been well aware that what he was doing was harming people by supplying drugs to them. He did this as I have already mentioned, to fund his own drug habit.

16. I said that I would speak about the offences which Mr Barnes was put on bonds, one is a very nasty offence of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and one is a very nasty offence of criminal damage. Mr Barnes' offending extends beyond simply dealing in drugs. He was very lucky to have received bonds for those matters and having breached the bonds I have little hesitation in imposing custodial sentences for those matters.

17. Ms De Luca submits that I would fashion a sentence that would see her client released fairly soon. I suspect she had something in mind a bit shorter than the sentence I will ultimately impose. Part of the trouble, as the Crown accurately points out is that cumulative sentences or at least partially cumulative sentence have to be imposed for the breach of bond matters which were both serious offences, the criminal damage coming after a sustained period of abuse and violent behaviour.

18. I therefore impose sentences as follows. For the offence of assault occasioning actual bodily harm a fixed term of imprisonment of 12 months to commence on 2 August 2017.

19. For the offence of criminal damage, a fixed term of six months, also to commence on 2 August 2017. Those are fixed terms of imprisonment because of the sentence I will impose on the supply prohibited drugs matter.

20. Taking into account the form 1 on that matter, I impose a sentence of imprisonment consisting of a non‑parole period of 12 months and a head sentence of two years. That is to date from 2 May 2018; thus the non‑parole period will expire on 1 May 2019 on which day Mr Barnes is to be released to be released to parole.

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Decision last updated: 02 November 2018