[1] Daniel Cameron, you appear for sentence having pleaded guilty to one charge of aggravated robbery and five charges of kidnapping for your part in a robbery of The Warehouse, Dargaville in May 2017. The maximum penalty for each of these charges is 14 years imprisonment.1 This is your second-strike offence. This means that you must serve the full term of the sentence I impose on you without parole.2

[2] You have also pleaded guilty to one charge each of driving while disqualified,3 driving under the influence of drugs,4 possession of cannabis,5 and breach of prison release conditions, charges on which you are also to be sentenced today.

The facts of the offending

[3] The summary of facts to which you have pleaded is the factual basis for your sentence. I need to make clear that, to the extent that my sentencing remarks may refer to co-defendants yet to be tried, I make no findings about the guilt or innocence of those co-defendants.

[4] On 28 May 2017 at around 11.00pm, you and a co-offender, Mr Anderson – who has already been sentenced for his role in this offending – went to the rear of the Warehouse store in Dargaville. You were wearing black clothing, homemade balaclavas and latex gloves. You removed two wooden fence palings which led to an area where workers can sit outside and smoke. From there you entered the building’s administration area through a ranchslider door which had been left insecure.

[5] You were armed with a cut down .22 calibre rifle. Mr Anderson armed himself with a screw driver and a pair of scissors from the office. You watched the workers via the CCTV system from the manager’s office until the supervisor called over the store’s intercom system that it was time for “smoko”. By that time, you had both put on red Warehouse vests taken from workers’ lockers.

1      Crimes Act 1961, ss 235(c) and s 209.
2      Sentencing Act 2000, s 86C(4).
3      Land Transport Act 1988 ss 32(1)(c) and 32(3); maximum penalty three months imprisonment or
$4,500 fine, and mandatory disqualification of at least six months.
4      Land Transport Act, ss 58(1)(a) and 58(2); maximum penalty three months imprisonment or
$4,500 fine, and mandatory disqualification of at least six months.
5      Misuse of Drugs Act 1975, maximum penalty three months imprisonment or $500 fine.

[6] There were five staff working in the main store area that night. As the first two employees entered the administration area, you confronted them and told them that if they did anything stupid…

Grounds of appeal

[14] The appellant contends that the primary judge erred in finding that the respondent had discharged the onus of establishing the matters required under the relevant provision.

[15] It was submitted that his Honour failed to give adequate weight to the evidence of the second witness, and that the findings of fact were not reasonably open on the material before the Court.

[16] The respondent, for its part, submits that no error is disclosed, and that the conclusions reached were well within the range of outcomes available to the primary judge.

Consideration

[17] It is convenient to deal first with the question of construction, as the resolution of that issue informs the remaining grounds advanced by the appellant.

[18] For the reasons that follow, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed in part and the matter remitted for further determination.

Continue reading R v Cameron

Details

AGLC: R v Cameron [2018] NZHC 2046
Case: [2018] NZHC 2046
Decision Date: 9 October 2018

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Daniel Cameron appeared for sentencing having pleaded guilty to one charge of aggravated robbery and five charges of kidnapping. The charges related to a robbery of The Warehouse, Dargaville, in May 2017. The court also heard guilty pleas to charges of driving while disqualified, driving under the influence of drugs, possession of cannabis, and breach of prison release conditions. The legal issues were determining an appropriate starting point for the aggravated robbery charge, and whether to impose an uplift for the other charges. The court found a starting point of seven years imprisonment appropriate, taking into account factors such as the level of premeditation, use of a firearm, and the trauma caused to victims. However, the court declined to impose an uplift for the other charges, finding that any uplift would be disproportionately severe given the long sentence without parole. The court also considered mitigating factors such as the offender's age and prospects of rehabilitation, applying discounts of 9 months and one year, one month respectively. The final sentence was five years and two months imprisonment for the aggravated robbery, to be served without parole, and one year imprisonment concurrently for each kidnapping charge. The other charges were discharged but the offender was disqualified from driving for six months.

Orders