R v Lawrence No. DCCRM-03-530

[2003] SADC 112

R v LAWRENCE
[2003] SADC 112

Judge Allan
Criminal

1. Michael Lawrence, you have applied to the court for the fixing of a non-parole period.

2. On 24 June 1997, in this Court, you received a head sentence of three years, six months and 13 days with a non-parole period of 20 months for the offences of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, two counts of larceny and two counts of illegal use of a motor vehicle. You were released on parole on 23 February 1999.  Your parole expired on 5 January 2001.

3. You breached conditions of your parole on 9 June 1999 by failing to report, breaching a residence condition, and driving without a licence.

4. You were taken back into custody on 17 March this year.  As a result of the breaches of your parole, you are liable to serve one year, five months and 27 days from 17 March this year, if a new non-parole period is not set by the court.   You would be due for release on or about 13 September next year. In effect, you seek a further non-parole period in respect of the sentence imposed on 24 June 1997.

5. On 17 June 2002, in the Melbourne Magistrates Court, you received sentences of imprisonment for a large number of offences including larceny, particularly larceny of motor vehicles, and driving offences, including unlicensed driving. The sentence of imprisonment you were sentenced to was to be served concurrently. You served about nine months.  On your release, you were extradited to Adelaide; and that is how you came to be imprisoned here on 17 March.

6. You are currently facing charges in the Holden Hill Magistrates Court. The charges relate to offences allegedly committed while you were on parole. As I understand it, the offences are alleged to have occurred at various times in 1999, before you went to Victoria. I also understand that you will be pleading guilty to some of the charges you face. The commission of those offences would be further breaches of your parole.

7. You have a number of previous convictions going back over many years. No useful purpose would be served in going through them.  They were dealt with by the judge who sentenced you in this Court on 24 June 1997; although I mention that the offences for which you were sentenced on that date seem to have been committed while you were on parole; and, when sentencing you, the judge said that “you have treated the law with a good deal of contempt”.

8. Your offending has largely been committed to support your drug habit: you are an addict of long-standing. Whilst in prison in Victoria, you underwent an intensive drug treatment program and it is said you are currently not taking illicit substances. The substantial reason advanced for the fixing of a non-parole period at this time is that you will be seeking a referral to the Drug Court in relation to some of the offences currently before the Magistrates Court; a program which is aimed at rehabilitation.

9. The Parole Board is of the view that you are not a good candidate for parole, and I must agree. On the material before me, I am not satisfied that it is appropriate to fix another non-parole period in respect of the sentence you are currently serving. Accordingly, your application is refused.