STATE OF TASMANIA v CHRISTOPHER JAMES BENNETT 19 NOVEMBER 2020
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE PORTER AJ
Mr Bennett, the defendant, has pleaded guilty to one count of being unlawfully armed in public, and I am also dealing with his plea of guilty to a summary charge of recklessly discharging a missile to the danger of another person or property. The facts are that on 7 July 2020 at about 10am, the defendant went to a firearms supply shop in Mowbray where he purchased what was described as a “youth recurve bow set” which included a bow, arrows and other archery equipment. He left the store and unpacked the items he had bought. He then walked south along Invermay Road. After a short time he placed an arrow into the bow and drew the bow string back into a position ready to shoot. As he continued to walk he moved the loaded bow about thereby pointing it in the direction of nearby business buildings and the roadway on which there were cars. He fired the arrow into the front yard of a house where it landed in some bushes. After retrieving it, he moved further south. He was seen by a woman whose daughter was walking with a school group in a nearby area. She saw him carrying the bow and some arrows. She described him as “muttering to himself, walking briskly with purpose, and … agitated”. The defendant was seen to take arrows from where he had them inside the back of his jacket, and putting them back as though he was uncertain whether to load the bow or not. He then loaded the bow with another arrow and pulled back the bowstring. About 10 minutes or so into this journey, the defendant walked to the entrance of an automotive glass supplier and fired the arrow into a pallet box. The box was penetrated to a significant degree. He retrieved the arrow and continued walking south on Invermay Road. At this time police had been notified by a number of concerned members of the public. He was arrested still carrying the bow and one arrow in his hand which he dropped when directed to. This was at a point about 1.1 kilometres south of his starting point. The defendant has been in custody since that time although on 31 August 2020 he was sentenced to a two month term of imprisonment backdated to 7 July 2020. Accordingly he has been in custody on this matter from 6 September 2020.
The defendant is now 39 years old. He had a regrettably unsettled upbringing. His father left when he was 2. His mother’s life appears to have been unsettled and he was made a ward of the State in 1996. In State care he was variously placed in multiple foster homes and was only able to complete grade 9 of his schooling. He has had intermittent employment of various types, and I was told he has work for a builder waiting for him. I was told that he has an interest in bows and arrows and the mechanics of their operation. After buying this bow and arrow set, he was looking at it and decided to shoot the arrows, but had no intention to scare anyone. He fired at inanimate objects without any sinister or danger intent or purpose. I find that to be the case. He accepts, though, that members of the public were frightened. It was put that he had a lack of appreciation for the consequences of his actions. Of particular significance in this matter is the fact that the defendant has a lengthy record of offending starting as a youth in 1996. He spent time in Ashley. Perhaps consistent with his dysfunctional upbringing and lack of proper role models are numerous convictions of dishonesty and offences of violence, those things having often resulted in various sentencing options including terms of imprisonment. Prominent in the list of convictions are 14 instances of the summary offence of carrying a dangerous article in a public place. The first of these was in July 2004. Eight of the convictions were recorded on the one date, that being 31 August 2020; the sentence I earlier referred to. Of course, the convictions post-date the commission of this offence, although all were committed beforehand; that is, in late 2019 and again in June 2020. Items the subject of those charges included bow and arrows, a tomahawk, a machete, a baton, a jab saw, knuckle dusters, another bow and arrow set, and a set of throwing knives, and lastly a pair of wooden nunchucks. There is a break in the recorded history of his offending in this State, but that coincides with time he spent in Victoria. There, in October 2016, he was convicted of and imprisoned for possessing a controlled weapon, and in April 2018 convicted of and sentenced to imprisonment for carrying a prohibited weapon and using a controlled weapon. Plainly specific deterrence is a very prominent factor in this case. General deterrence is also of significance given the public nature of the offending, and the alarm and distress caused. I take into account that the defendant has led rather a transient and vulnerable existence. I was told that his more recent time in custody has caused him to reflect on his behaviour, resulting in greater insight as to the consequences and possible consequences of his actions. He has found the time in prison with the COVID-19 restrictions to be salutary. I was told that he does not want to return. I take into account the plea of guilty. Although not at the earliest opportunity, the defendant was unrepresented for a time, and things quickly moved to resolution after he sought and was granted legal assistance. The plea is of utilitarian value and does indicate a degree of acceptance of his wrongdoing.
Mr Bennett, I have set out what I see to be the relevant factors in your case. As I have said, an important consideration is the number of times you have committed similar offences with various objects. You had not been convicted of the majority of those matters before committing this offence but you had conducted yourself that way over a lengthy period of time. As to this offending you may have been amusing yourself but you did so to the distress and alarm of members of the public. You and others need to be deterred from acting in such a way. A term of imprisonment is necessary. You are convicted of both matters and sentenced to what I see to be the appropriate term of three months’ imprisonment, to commence on 6 September 2020. I order the forfeiture of the bow and arrows and archery equipment seized by police on 7 July 2020.