R v Williams

[2018] ACTSC 325

SUPREME COURT OF THE AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY

Case Title:

R v Williams

Citation:

[2018] ACTSC 325

Hearing Date:

3 July 2018

DecisionDate:

3 July 2018

Before:

Burns ACJ

Decision:

See [22] – [23]

Catchwords:

CRIMINAL LAW – JURISDICTION, PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – Judgment and Punishment – Sentence – Aggravated robbery – plea of guilty in Supreme Court – significant criminal history – substance abuse – mental health issues – rehabilitation programs

Parties:

The Queen (Crown)

Ayshia Williams (Offender)

Representation:

Counsel

Mr T Hickey (Crown)

Ms B Dunne (Offender)

Solicitors

ACT Director of Public Prosecutions (Crown)

ACT Legal Aid (Offender)

File Number:

SCC 222 of 2015

BURNS ACJ:

1. Ayshia Williams, you appear before me today for sentence with respect to one count of aggravated robbery (CC2015/7352). A Statement of Facts was tendered on 16 September 2016 following your plea of guilty with respect to this charge on 16 September 2016. I will not recite in full the Statement of Facts. It is sufficient to note that in the early hours of Tuesday 5 May 2015, you and an unknown female went to the Woolworths service station in Calwell and robbed it threatening the attendant with a syringe filled with what appeared to be blood and making off with items to a value of $1,285.

1. The maximum penalty for this offence is 25 years’ imprisonment and a fine of $375,000. You were originally charged with this offence on 1 September 2015 in the Magistrates Court. On 14 October 2015 you pleaded not guilty to the charge. On 20 October 2015 you were committed for trial to this court. In the meantime the prosecution prepared a brief of evidence which was served on you. In July 2016 the matter was given a trial date of 4 October 2016. On 16 September 2016 you pleaded guilty to the charge.

1. As such your plea cannot be said to be an early plea. I will, however, reduce by approximately 15 per cent the sentence that I would otherwise have imposed in order to reflect your plea of guilty. I note that you have a significant criminal history including offences of robbery and assault with intent to rob in New South Wales and numerous offences of dishonesty as well as some offences relating to violence. There is little by way of leniency that this court can show to you in sentencing you for the present offence on the basis of your prior criminal history.

1. A Pre‑Sentence Report dated 17 October 2016 was prepared for your initial sentence hearing. The report indicated that you had reported having a difficult childhood characterised by your parents’ substance abuse, physical, sexual and emotional abuse by your father and a lack of support by your mother. Your lifestyle became itinerant when you were nine years old and you were moving between relatives’ homes, refuges and homelessness. You did not live with your parents again until after the age of 12 years.

1. You reported having no contact with your father who at that time was in custody. You maintained regular telephone contact with your mother who at that time resided in Sydney and you described your relationship in positive terms. You reported having six siblings and described feelings of grief and loss following the suicide of your sister in 2014. You were attending counselling through Relationships Australia to address issues related to that. You reported having a daughter aged 15 years who lives with your sister, and a son who passed away at the age of 18 months from sudden infant death syndrome.

1. You reported that your daughter was currently refusing to have contact with you due to your ongoing drug use and offending behaviour. At that time you said that your relationship with your most recent partner had ended as you wanted to address your substance use and he had continued to use illicit substances. You left school during Year 10 as you were pregnant and your drug use impeded your ability to work as required. You reported no formal employment history.

1. You were in receipt of a Centrelink benefit prior to the current remand period and reported no financial issues. There was some offer of part‑time employment upon your release from custody at that time. You reported that you commenced using alcohol when you were 12 years of age and drank heavily for a period of 12 months. You denied any problematic alcohol use as at the date of preparation of the report. You reported you commenced using cannabis when you were nine years of age and used approximately one ounce of that substance weekly.

1. You commenced using heroin from age 11 years, using that substance until approximately six months prior to being remanded in custody in 2016. You commenced methylamphetamine use when you were 23 years old using significant amounts of that substance daily while in the community. You also reported problematic use of benzodiazepines commencing with prescribed doses at the age of 18 years. You quickly became addicted to benzodiazepines and experienced psychotic behaviour and severe memory loss as a result.

1. A drug abuse screening tool administered on 6 September 2016 indicated that your use of illicit substances was at a severe level in the 12 months prior to the remand period in 2016. You admitted to the author of the report that you had used illicit substances during the remand period in 2016. In August 2016 you tested positive for cannabis and amphetamine. A drug test conducted on 4 September 2016, however, detected no illicit substances.

10.  It was noted at that time that you had been accepted into the Canberra Recovery Services rehabilitation program and you were then on the waiting list for a placement. A treatment readiness questionnaire administered on 6 September 2016 indicated that you were treatment ready and you were currently prescribed pharmacotherapy. The report noted that you had been diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder and Post‑Traumatic Stress Disorder. You told the author of the report that you had no recollection of the present offence due to your level of substance abuse at the time.

11.  You, however, accepted committing the offence and accepted that you were responsible for your actions. You further acknowledged the harm that you had caused to your victim. You indicated a desire to address your criminogenic risks to avoid further offending. You stated that you were open to attending counselling for your substance abuse and mental health issues and you requested to enter the Cognitive Self Change program upon finalisation of the current matter.

12.  You were assessed as at medium high risk of re-offending. The report noted that your drug use had affected multiple areas of your life since you were a teenager including relationships with your daughter and your father. Your primary criminogenic risks included your substance abuse and mental health issues.

13.  I note that a CADAS report was also prepared which also provided information in relation to your early life and your history of drug abuse.

1. On 4 November 2016 the matter came before me for sentence and at that point I adjourned the matter to enable you to obtain a residential rehabilitation placement. On 14 February 2017, I further adjourned the matter to 8 September 2017 and granted you bail commencing on 21 February 2017 to travel to Canberra Recovery Services at Fyshwick and to undertake the residential rehabilitation with the Bridge Program at that institution. I should note that prior to that date on 7 August 2017 you were released on bail to enter the Karralika Therapeutic Community program.

15.  You reportedly were discharged after two weeks for refusing to provide for urinalysis drug testing. I will not provide details of your subsequent attempts at rehabilitation but it is clear at the present time that they have been unsuccessful.

16.  There appears to me to be no longer any point in deferring sentence. I take into account the fact that you were drug affected at the time you committed this offence and undoubtedly the offence was committed in part in order to feed your drug addiction.

1. Ordinarily that is not a mitigating circumstance but bearing in mind the very early age at which you were introduced to drug abuse in the particular circumstances of this case, I’m satisfied that it is a matter which can be taken into account in mitigation of sentence. I note that since you last appeared before me and the matter was adjourned to enable you to undertake residential rehabilitation you were arrested in New South Wales with respect to outstanding warrants and spent the period between 25 October 2017 and 28 January 2018 in custody.

1. I note that the 299 days that you have spent in custody with respect to the current charge means that based purely upon that period in custody any sentence I impose should be backdated to 7 September 2017. However, I propose to give some effect to part of the period that you also spent in custody with regard to warrants in New South Wales so that I will backdate the commencement date for the current sentence to 7 July 2017.

19.  I note that the updated Pre‑Sentence Report that has been put before me indicates that you still plan to return to Karralika Therapeutic Community Program with your partner when you are released from the AMC. It is certainly to be hoped for your benefit and for your future that you undertake such a program and that you do your best to address what is clearly a very difficult and longstanding situation with respect to drug abuse. I take into account the fact that you are now 32 years of age.

20.  You have reasonable prospects for success if you follow through with your intention to undertake a program such as the Karralika Therapeutic Community Program upon your release from custody.

Sentence

21.  My starting point with respect to the offence is a period of four years’ imprisonment but I will reduce that to three years and five months’ imprisonment in order to reflect your plea of guilty and also to take into account the periods that you have attempted to undertake residential rehabilitation.

1. I will backdate that sentence to 7 July 2017, so you will be convicted and sentenced to three years and five months’ imprisonment commencing on 7 July 2017 and expiring on 6 December 2020.

1. I will impose a non‑parole period of two years and two months commencing on 7 July 2017 and expiring on 6 September 2019.

I certify that the preceding twenty-three [23] numbered paragraphs are a true copy of the Reasons for Sentence of his Honour Acting Chief Justice Burns.

Associate:

Date: 23 November 2018