R v Jaafar

[2003] VSC 157

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF VICTORIA Not Restricted

AT MELBOURNE

CRIMINAL DIVISION

No. 1466 of 2002

THE QUEEN

v

THOMAS JAAFAR

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JUDGE:	TEAGUE J
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:	2, 3, 6 December 2002 & 3 April 2003
DATE OF SENTENCE:	21 May 2003
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	R v Thomas Jaafar
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2003] VSC 157

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Criminal Law – Sentencing – Attempted murder and armed robbery – Use of hammer to cause serious head injuries – effective sentence of 12 years with non-parole period of 9 years

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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the Crown	Mr J Saunders	Office of Public Prosecutions
For the Accused	Mr M O’Connell	Slades & Parsons

HIS HONOUR:

1. Thomas Jaafar, you have pleaded guilty to two offences, both arising out of events on 5 June 2001.  The offences are of the attempted murder of Peter Gillespie, and of the armed robbery of Peter Gillespie.  On 5 June 2001, Peter Gillespie ran a shop in Clayton Road, Clayton called the Futon Factory.  On that day, you brutally bashed him with a hammer.  You did not kill him, but you made the rest of his life a misery.

1. In June 2001, you were addicted to heroin.  On 4 June 2001, you wanted money for heroin.  You were then in the company of Kylie Perkins.  She was more than twenty years younger than you.  She was also a heroin addict.  I have already sentenced her for her part in what occurred that day.

1. You and Kylie Perkins wanted money for heroin.  The two of you decided that the Futon Factory would be an easy target.  Only Peter Gillespie was working there.  Further, customers were not coming in and out all the time.  You and Kylie Perkins decided to carry out a robbery the next day.  You made plans for the robbery.  You planned that you would go into the shop and pretend to Peter Gillespie that you wanted to buy a bed.  You would wait for the right time.  Your role was to deal with Peter Gillespie.  The role of Kylie Perkins was to get the money from the till.

1. On 5 June, you chose a time when no-one was in the shop.  You and Kylie Perkins entered the shop.  You had a hammer hidden in your clothes.  As planned, the two of you pretended that you were interested in buying a bed.  Choosing a time when Peter Gillespie was most vulnerable, you hit him to his head with the hammer.  Peter Gillespie put his hands up to his head to try to protect his head.  You just continued to hit him on the arms and on the head.  Kylie Perkins was meanwhile at the till.  She took from it what was there.  It was a mere $140.  You called no ambulance to help Peter Gillespie.  You left the shop.  You and Kylie Perkins hailed a taxi.  You were driven to where you could score heroin in Springvale.  There, you got rid of the hammer.  Shortly after you left Peter Gillespie, two women came into the store.  They got help for him.  If he had not received that help, he would almost certainly have died.

1. I have read the various medical reports which spell out the disastrous medical and psychological problems which have afflicted Peter Gillespie and which will continue to afflict him.  I have read the victim impact statements of Peter Gillespie and of Elisabeth Gillespie.  I have seen Peter Gillespie when he gave evidence on the plea of Kylie Perkins.  His life has been devastated.  For him, there will be no quality of life, no satisfaction from work and hobbies.  Just continuing pain and inconvenience and discomfort.  The financial losses he has endured are disastrous.  Further, he is not the only one seriously disadvantaged.  The ongoing adverse effects for his mother, wife and daughter are serious and long-term.

1. Your conduct calls for strong denunciation.  These are serious examples of serious crimes.  I have no option but to impose a long prison sentence.  That has to be for a man who picks up a hammer to wield on the head of a defenceless man, a soft target.  A man who swings the hammer at the head of the victim again and again and again.  A man who follows such cowardly actions by callously leaving the victim close to death.  And all because two heroin addicts wanted to score.

1. You are 47 years of age.  You were born in September 1955.  I have read the report of Jeffrey Cummins, with its details of your background in Lebanon and Australia.  There have been good times, as well as bad, but more of the latter in the last 20 years.  I have noted the details in the report of health issues, including severe depression.

1. You have had a significant number of appearances before the courts, going back to 1983.  You have had two substantial periods in prison.

1. The prospects of your rehabilitation cannot be rated particularly highly.  Your craving for heroin has been your downfall for a long time.  But there are some good signs, including that you are the head chef at Barwon prison.

1. You have shown signs of remorse.  You have pleaded guilty to the two offences for which I am now sentencing you.  Given the intent element, that is a matter of significance. You told the police of the guilt you felt for the harm done to Peter Gillespie.  You expanded on that to Jeffrey Cummins.  You also indicated at an early stage a willingness to plead guilty to the lesser offence of intentionally causing serious injury.

1. I must allow for the need for parity as between you and Kylie Perkins.  I sentenced her to prison for 7 years.  She has a number of factors operating in her favour that you do not have.   They include her youth, and her lack of convictions.  I have allowed for the matter of dependency noted by Jeffrey Cummins, and apparent from the intercepted telephone calls, as operating the other way.  The fact is that you made the really devastatingly bad choices.  You, a mature man, chose to use a hammer.  You chose to hit a man on the head with the hammer.  And you chose to do so, again and again and again.  Also, and significantly as to parity, Kylie Perkins co-operated with the police in providing information.  Moreover, she undertook on oath before me to give evidence if required.

1. You have served to today, 21 May 2003, 638 days by way of pre-sentence detention.  I direct that that be entered in the court records.   On the count of attempted murder, I impose a sentence of imprisonment of eleven years.  On the count of armed robbery, I impose a sentence of imprisonment of three years, concurrent as to two years.  The effective sentence is twelve years.  I fix a non-parole period of nine years.

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