R v Ingram
[2017] ACTSC 398
•24 November 2017
SUPREME COURT OF THE AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY
Case Title: | R v Ingram |
Citation: | [2017] ACTSC 398 |
Hearing Date: | 30 January 2017, 24 November 2017 |
DecisionDate: | 24 November 2017 |
Before: | Burns J |
Decision: | [10]-[12] |
Catchwords: | CRIMINAL LAW – JURISDICTION, PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – Judgment and Punishment – Sentence – trafficking in a controlled drug – unlawful possession of stolen property – failing to answer bail – offending while subject to conditional liberty – significant residential rehabilitation |
Legislation Cited: | Bail Act 1992 (ACT) s 49(1) Crimes Act 1900 (ACT) s 116(3) Criminal Code 2002 (ACT) ss 603(7), 324(1) |
Parties: | The Queen (Crown) Jarred Ingram (Offender) |
Representation: | Counsel: Mr S McLaughlin (Crown) Ms R Bird (Offender) |
| Solicitors: ACT Director of Public Prosecutions (Crown) Rachel Bird & Co (Offender) | |
File Number: | SCC 233 of 2016 |
Burns J:
Jarred Ingram, you have pleaded guilty to offences of trafficking in a controlled drug pursuant to s 603(7) of the Criminal Code 2002 (ACT) (the Criminal Code), unlawful possession of stolen property pursuant to s 324(1) of the Criminal Code, damaging property pursuant to s 116(3) of the Crimes Act 1900 (ACT), and failing to answer bail pursuant to s 49(1) of the Bail Act 1992 (ACT).
A Statement of Facts has been tendered in the proceedings and I will not now recite the facts in the matter. The most serious offence which arises with respect to the matters before the court today is the charge of trafficking in a controlled drug. I note that at the time that you were spoken to by police you were found to be in possession of 300 tabs of LSD together with a sum of $3,575.00 in cash. By your plea you accept that you were trafficking in that drug on the date in question.
I accept that the quantity of LSD was significant albeit perhaps not at the top of the range for that type of offending. I note the motivation set out in the letter from your father in January 2017 to the effect that you had borrowed money in order to assist a friend who had got into trouble with respect to the use of drugs and owed a lot of money, and that you were using the money from trafficking in that controlled drug in order to pay back what you owed. In that sense, it must be conceded that there is an element of monetary gain with respect to that offence. I accept the submission made by the prosecutor that it is an offence that calls for a term of imprisonment, however I will return to that in a moment.
With respect to the offence of unlawful possession, that, in my opinion, falls within the lower to mid-range of offences of that nature. The damaging property, in my opinion, falls in the lower end of the range of such offences, and the failure to appear offence falls within the low to mid-range of offences of that nature. I note that with respect to all of these offences there is an aggravating circumstance that at the time that you committed these offences you were subject to conditional liberty, as you had been sentenced in the Magistrates Court in February 2015 with respect to offences of possession of a prohibited substance, on that occasion being cannabis, and also dangerous driving.
With respect to the offence of possession of a prohibited substance, you were sentenced to a term of five months imprisonment which was suspended with a Good Behaviour Order for a period of 18 months. On 27 January 2016 you were dealt with in the Magistrates Court for a breach of that order and that order was cancelled. You were re-sentenced to five months imprisonment which was again suspended forthwith and you were released again on a Good Behaviour Order for a period of 18 months. The second offence of dangerous driving, as I said, was also initially dealt with on 25 February 2015 in the Magistrates Court. You were again convicted and sentenced to five months imprisonment which was fully suspended with a Good Behaviour Order for a period of 18 months. That again was dealt with in the Magistrates Court on 27 January 2016 for a breach at which time that Good Behaviour Order was cancelled. You were again re‑sentenced to that five month sentence of imprisonment but that again was fully suspended and you were again released on a Good Behaviour Order for a period of 18 months.
The upshot of course of all of that is that at the time that you committed the present offences you were subject to those Good Behaviour Orders as part of suspended sentence orders made in the Magistrates Court on 27 January 2016. I note that you entered pleas of guilty to these offences at an early time. I will therefore reduce by approximately 25 per cent the sentences that would otherwise be appropriate with respect to these matters in order to reflect your pleas of guilty.
I also take into account the fact that you have now spent quite a significant period of time undergoing residential rehabilitation, and as such I will backdate the commencement of sentences beyond the period that would simply take into account the amount of pre‑sentence custody that you have spent prior to today.
I give very significant weight to the fact that you have spent a significant period in rehabilitation both at the Sherwood Rehabilitation Institute and also more recently at Canberra Recovery Services Centre. Indeed, I note that you are due to complete the program successfully at Canberra Recovery Services on Monday next week. The reports that I have from that institution speak positively of your engagement in the program and it is, I think, reasonable to infer from the material before me, and in particular the letter from yourself or letters from yourself and your father, that you have gained a great deal of understanding in relation to the factors that are likely to lead you to use drugs as a consequence of your participation in those programs.
Sentence
I will impose sentences of imprisonment with respect to all offences except the damaging property offence which in my opinion was not such as to warrant a term of imprisonment. I will however structure those sentences in such a way that you will not be required to immediately serve any further period of full-time imprisonment.
I will record a conviction with respect to the offence of trafficking in a controlled drug. The recording of that conviction means that you are in breach of the Good Behaviour Orders imposed in the Magistrates Court on 27 January 2016. I cancel each of the Good Behaviour Orders that were imposed in the Magistrates Court on that date and I impose in each case the sentence of five months imprisonment in each case commencing on 3 June 2017 and expiring on the 2 November 2017.
With respect to the charge of trafficking in a controlled drug, you will be convicted and sentenced to 18 months imprisonment, which I have reduced from two years in order to reflect your plea of guilty. That sentence will commence on 3 November 2017 and expire on 2 May 2019. The period commencing on 3 November 2017 and expiring on 23 November 2017 is to be served by way of full-time imprisonment. The balance will be suspended and there will be a Good Behaviour Order for a period of 18 months from today with conditions that you are to accept the supervision of ACT Corrective Services for that period of 18 months, or such lesser period as deemed appropriate by your supervising officer. Secondly, you are to obey all reasonable directions of officers of ACT Corrective Services, particularly in relation to engaging in rehabilitation for substance abuse.
With respect to the charge of unlawful possession, I record a conviction and you will be sentenced to one month imprisonment commencing on 24 November 2017 and expiring on 23 December 2017. That will be suspended forthwith and there will be a Good Behaviour Order for a period of six months from today, which will contain only the core conditions bearing in mind the conditions of the Good Behaviour Order that I've just imposed on the trafficking charge.
With respect to the charge of failing to appear, you will be convicted and there will be a sentence of one month imprisonment again commencing on 24 November 2017 and expiring on 23 December 2017. That also will be suspended forthwith with a Good Behaviour Order for a period of six months subject only to the core conditions. Finally, with respect to the charge of damaging property, you will be convicted and there will be a Good Behaviour Order for a period of six months which again will be subject only to the core conditions commencing today of course.
[Speaking directly to Offender]
Mr Ingram, it is gratifying to see that you have taken the opportunity that I have given you, however you must appreciate that this is just the start and you must maintain the commitment that you have demonstrated so far. It is gratifying to see that you have employment available to you and that you have been engaging in that employment now for some time. It's also very gratifying to see that your parents apparently have seen a difference in you and the way in which you have behaved since you have stopped using illicit drugs. Now, I wish you good luck and all the best but you're going to have to maintain that commitment that you've shown.
| I certify that the preceding fourteen [14] numbered paragraphs are a true copy of the Reasons for Sentence of his Honour Justice Burns. Associate: Karina Curry-Hyde Date: 7 February 2018 |
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