R v Seefeldt

[2020] ACTSC 361

SUPREME COURT OF THE AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY

Case Title:	R v Seefeldt
Citation:	[2020] ACTSC 361
Hearing Date:	26 November 2020
Decision Date:	26 November 2020
Before:	Burns J
Decision:	See [22]–[29]
Catchwords:	CRIMINAL LAW – JURISDICTION, PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – Judgment and Punishment – Sentence – unauthorised possession of prohibited substance – six counts possessing prohibited weapon – possess 10 or more prohibited firearms – possess three or more, but less than 10 firearms – failure to comply with storage requirements – possession of material for making a false document – possess ammunition – pleas of guilty – whether moral culpability reduced due to offender’s mental impairments – consideration of protection of the
community
Legislation Cited:	Criminal Code 2002 (ACT), s 349(4) Dangerous Substances Act 2004 (ACT), s 77(1) Firearms Act 1996 (ACT), ss 42(1)(a)(i), 43(1)(a)(ii), 180(1)(a)(i), 249(1) Prohibited Weapons Act 1996 (ACT), s 5 Supreme Court Act 1933 (ACT), s 68D
Parties:	The Queen (Crown)
Andrew Seefeldt (Offender)
Representation:	Counsel
M Smith (Crown) S McLaughlin (Offender)
Solicitors
ACT Director of Public Prosecutions (Crown) Legal Aid ACT (Offender)
File Numbers:	SCC 208 of 2020; SCC 209 of 2020
BURNS J:

1. Andrew Seefeldt, you appear before me to be sentenced for the following offences: a charge of unauthorised possession of a prohibited dangerous substance on 19 March 2020, contrary to s 77(1) of the Dangerous Substances Act 2004 (ACT). This offence carries a maximum penalty of seven years imprisonment, a fine of $320,000, or both. This is charge CC2020/3574.

2. Six charges contrary to s 5 of the Prohibited Weapons Act 1996 (ACT), that on 20 March 2020 you possessed a prohibited weapon. The maximum penalty for each charge is five years' imprisonment, a fine of $80,000, or both. These are charges CC2020/4321, CC2020/4322, CC2020/4323, CC2020/4324, CC2020/4325, and CC2020/4326 respectively.

3. A charge contrary to s 42(1)(a)(i) of the Firearms Act 1996 (ACT) (the Firearms Act), that on 20 March 2020 you possessed 10 or more prohibited firearms. The maximum

penalty for this charge is 20 years’ imprisonment. This is charge CC2020/9015.

4. A charge contrary to s 43(1)(a)(ii) of the Firearms Act, that between 19 March 2020 and 20 May 2020, you possessed three or more, but less than 10 firearms. The maximum penalty for this offence is seven years' imprisonment. This is charge CC2020/10664.

5.       In addition, you are to be sentenced with regard to three offences transferred to this Court from the ACT Magistrates Court, pursuant to 68D of the Supreme Court Act 1933 (ACT). These offences are:

(a)	A charge contrary to s 180(1)(a)(i) of the Firearms Act, that on 20 March 2020 you failed to comply with storage requirements. This offence carries a maximum penalty of two years imprisonment. This is charge CC2020/4327.
(b)	A charge contrary to s 349(4) of the Criminal Code 2002 (ACT), that on 20 March 2020 you possessed material for making a false document. The maximum penalty for this offence is two years imprisonment, a fine of $32,000, or both. This is charge CC2020/4328.
(c)	Finally, a charge contrary to s 249(1) of the Firearms Act, that on 20 March 2020 you did possess ammunition. The maximum penalty for this offence is a fine of $1,600. This is charge CC2020/4329.

6.       You entered pleas of guilty to all charges in the ACT Magistrates Court after the provision of a brief of evidence. Bearing in mind the evidence before me concerning your mental health, a matter to which I will return in a moment, it is understandable that those advising and representing you would want to see a copy of the brief of evidence before determining to advise you on entering please of guilty. I will, because of your pleas of guilty, reduce by approximately 25 per cent the sentences that would otherwise have been imposed.

The facts

7.       In November 2018, you contacted various institutions and provided them with material including details of explosives tests said to have been conducted by yourself, photographs of yourself holding weapons, and descriptions of you purchasing firearms. This material was brought to the attention of the Australian Federal Police (AFP), which commenced an investigation. On 18 March 2020, while under police supervision, you attended the Civic Library and you were seen by police having discussions with an unknown person via a secure email server. These emails included discussions about constructing an explosive detonator using clocks, conductive glue and AAA batteries, and also construction of a firearm.

8.       On 19 March 2020 you were arrested. At that time, you were carrying a backpack which was found to contain a packet of Fun Snap Throwdowns, class 1 fireworks. This is the basis of charge CC2020/3574, the charge of unauthorised possession of a prohibited, dangerous substance. You were subsequently interviewed by police and admitted to having several gel blasters and live .22 ammunition at your residence. You expressed an interest in firearms and explosives, but said you had no intention of harming anyone. You said that you believed that you were subject to mind control, and that you had been the subject of satanic ritual abuse. A search warrant was executed on your premises on 20 March 2020.

9.       In the course of that search, the following were located:

(a)	10 replica firearms, being the basis of charge CC2020/9015, the charge of possession of 10 or more prohibited firearms;
(b)	Three non-operational imitation firearms, being the basis of charge CC2020/10664 a charge of possession of firearms while not authorised;
(c)	Eight individual .22 live rounds, being the basis of charge CC2020/4329, a charge of possession of ammunition;
(d)	A dark-coloured homemade conducted electrical weapon, being the basis of charge CC2020/4323, a charge of possession of a prohibited weapon;
(e)	Dark-coloured metal knuckledusters, being the basis of charge CC2020/4324, a charge of possession of a prohibited weapon;
(f)	A silver-coloured browning flick knife, with a brown-coloured handle, being the basis of charge CC2020/4325, a charge of a prohibited weapon;
(g)	A dark-coloured butterfly knife, being the basis of charge CC2020/4326, a charge of possession of a prohibited weapon;
(h)	A dark-coloured crossbow, being the basis of charge CC2020/4321, a charge of possession of a prohibited weapon;

(i)          A wooden homemade crossbow frame, being the basis of charge CC2020/4322, a charge of possession of a prohibited weapon;

(j)	A number of blank white cards, New South Wales driver license holograms, and a printing press used to create fraudulent New South Wales drivers licenses, being the basis of charge CC2020/4328, a charge of possession of material for making a false document; and
(k)	An extensive amount of written material, specifically instructions and drawings made by yourself on the construction and modification of firearms, crossbows and ammunition.

10.     All 10 of the replica firearms were found in an insecure drawer in your bedroom. This is the basis of charge CC2020/4327, a charge of failing to comply with storage requirements.

11.     All 10 of the replica firearms were tested, and it was ascertained that they were able to discharge either airsoft pellets or gel balls, which I understand to be also known as paintballs, by means of compressed air (CC2020/9015). The dark-coloured homemade conducted electrical weapon was tested and found to have a low battery charge (CC2020/4232). When connected to a charged battery and discharged, a visible arc of electricity was produced. The dark-coloured crossbow to which charge CC2020/4321 relates was tested, and it was ascertained that a crossbow bolt was able to be propelled from the item. The wooden crossbow frame was unable to propel an arrow or bolt in the condition in which it was found (CC2020/4322). Similarly, the three non-operational imitation firearms were incapable of propelling a projectile by means of an explosive force (CC2020/10664).

12.     Considered in isolation, the facts relating to the offences range from relatively trivial to moderately serious.

Moral culpability

13.     It is necessary, before finally determining your moral culpability for these offences, to consider your mental state at the time. A report dated 29 October 2020 from a psychologist, Mr Sam van Meurs, includes diagnoses of Schizophrenia and Schizoid Personality Disorder. This condition, he says, is part genetic and in part due to adverse childhood experiences, and was further exacerbated by drug use in your late teens and early 20s.

14.     Mr van Meurs states that mental health records show that you have suffered recurring psychotic episodes. Since the age of 16 years, you have demonstrated recurrent paranoid thinking, disorganised behaviour, restricted affect and social activity, and you have required a number a mandated treatment and inpatient hospitalisations. Mr van Meurs stated that your underlying mental illness impaired your ability to exercise appropriate judgment, because your judgment was based on delusional thinking. He also believed that your underlying mental illness impaired your ability to think clearly, and also impaired your ability to have a clear understanding of the wrongfulness of having these weapons.

15.     Mr van Meurs said that he had no doubt that you would not have committed these offences but for your underlying mental illness. Based upon this report, I am satisfied that at the time of these offences, you were suffering from a mental impairment, which may be described as Schizophrenia and Schizoid Personality Disorder, which were causally connected with your offending.

16.     In my opinion, your moral culpability for these offences is significantly reduced because of your mental impairments. Your mental impairments make you an inappropriate vehicle for deterrence. You have a limited criminal history not involving any offences of violence. In 2015, you were sentenced in the ACT Magistrates Court for firearms offences, but it may be inferred from the penalties imposed that these were minor offences.

Subjective features

17.     A Pre-Sentence Report was prepared. You are currently 31 years old, and you had a childhood marred by emotional neglect. You reported that your parents' relationship was verbally aggressive, which you found distressing. You completed your formal education to the end of Year 12, and then began an undergraduate degree in Information Technology, but you withdrew from that course. In the community you have been in receipt of the Disability Support Pension. You do not appear to have any friends or associates. You denied any ongoing abuse of alcohol or drugs, although there is evidence that in the past you have abused at least cannabis.

18.     You told the author of the Pre-Sentence Report that you had not intended to cause fear or alarm in committing the present offences. You had no intention to harm others, only to satisfy your compulsion to have access to firearms.

19.     You stated that you were not aware that some of the items discovered were illegal, as they were readily available on eBay. You further stated that your desire to have access

to, and to construct and experiment with firearms and explosives, were “driven by a
compulsion as a result of mind control”.

20.     I note that the Pre-Sentence Report confirms that you have been compliant with mental health reviews and medication while at the Alexander Maconochie Centre. You have been in custody on these charges since 19 March 2020. I do not consider that any further period of full-time custody is required. I accept that you were not in possession of the various items for any nefarious purpose.

21.     The real danger to the community is that someone else may have come into possession of these items, possibly by stealing them from you, and using them to commit criminal offences. While I accept that you were not intending to commit any offences of violence using these firearms or other items, the protection of the community must still be considered. It is important for your benefit and that of the community that you be subject to stringent mental health supervision, at least in the short-to-medium terms.

Sentence

22.    On the charge of unauthorised possession of a prohibited dangerous substance CC2020/3574, I record a conviction. There will be a Good Behaviour Order for a period of one month from today, 26 November 2020, confined to the core conditions.

23.     On the charges of possession of prohibited weapons, being charges CC2020/4321, CC2020/4322, CC2020/4323, CC2020/4324, CC2020/4325, and CC2020/4326 respectively, on each charge I record a conviction and on each charge you are sentenced to two months' imprisonment, reduced from three months by reason of your plea of guilty. Each such sentence will commence on 19 March 2020 and expire on 18 May 2020. You have, of course, now served those sentences.

24.     On the charge of possession of three or more but less than 10 firearms, charge CC2020/10664, I record a conviction and you are sentenced to two months imprisonment, reduced from three months by reason of your plea of guilty. That sentence will commence on 19 May 2020 and expire on 18 July 2020. Again, you have already served that sentence.

25.     On the charge of possessing material for making a false document, CC2020/4328, you are convicted and there will be a Good Behaviour Order for a period of six months from today, 26 November 2020, confined to the core conditions.

26.     On the charge of failing to comply with storage requirements, CC2020/4327, I record a conviction and there will be a Good Behaviour Order for a period of six months from today, 26 November 2020, confined to the core conditions.

27.     On the charge of possessing ammunition, CC2020/4329, I record a conviction and there will be a Good Behaviour Order for a period of one month from today, 26 November 2020, confined to the core conditions.

28.     On the charge of possessing 10 or more prohibited firearms, CC20/9015, I record a conviction and you are sentenced to nine months' imprisonment, reduced from 12 months by reason of your plea of guilty. That sentence will commence on 19 July 2020 and expire on 18 April 2021.

29.     The period from 19 July 2020 to 25 November 2020, that is yesterday, is to be served by way of full-time imprisonment. The balance will be suspended, with a Good Behaviour Order for a period of 18 months from today, 26 November 2020, with conditions that:

(a)	you are to accept the supervision of the Director-General responsible for ACT Corrective Services or that person's delegate, and obey all reasonable directions of each such person for that period of 18 months, or such lesser period as deemed appropriate by your supervising officer;
(b)	you are to undergo such assessments, counselling or treatment for mental health issues and drug abuse as directed; and
(c)	you are to report to the corrections intake officer in this Court before leaving the Court today.

I certify that the preceding twenty-nine [29] numbered paragraphs are a true copy of the Reasons for Sentence of his Honour Justice Burns

Associate:

Date: