STATE OF TASMANIA v DYLAN ROY BRAMICH 27 MARCH 2020
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE BRETT J
Mr Bramich, you have pleaded guilty to one count of demanding property with menaces and one count of stealing.
You committed the crimes on 4 October 2019. At about 9:45 am on that day, you entered a pharmacy in Bridgewater, and demanded of a staff member that she give you “all the money out of the till”. She gave you the money from one till. You then demanded that she give you the money from a second till, which she did. Throughout this episode, you kept your hand in your pocket positioned in a way to make it look as if you were holding something. The store worker believed that you were holding a handgun in your pocket. She was terrified that you might threaten or even use the gun if she did not comply with your demands. Your agitation during the incident contributed to her fear. Of course, you did not actually have a gun, but you told police that you kept your hand in your pocket as a tactic to keep the store working guessing. As we have just discussed, it was not an overt threat of violence, but there was a clear implication of violence, and it is clear that you acted in this menacing way in order to ensure that store worker did as you wished.
You obtained $475 as a result of this crime. This money has not been recovered. Your motive for committing this crime was to obtain money in order to pay a drug debt.
The victim impact statement that has been provided to me, not surprisingly, suggests and demonstrates that the victim has suffered a very significant, traumatic consequence as a result of your commission of these crimes. The impact on her has included ongoing psychological and emotional trauma. She has had to receive medical assistance and is continuing to take medication. She has described the impact on her children, a significant impact on her relationship, and, of course, there has been the consequential effect on her capacity for employment and her overall financial welfare. This type of impact is not unusual in cases involving crimes of this nature. As I have said before in relation to the closely associated crime of robbery committed, in particular, against innocent and unsuspecting workers in retail stores, this crime is a crime against people, although it effectively involves the stealing of property. The consequences described by this worker, I think, are very consistent with what the Court often sees in cases such as this, and I accept that the impact on her has been considerable and as she has described.
You are 30 years of age. You have a lengthy criminal history, which includes numerous convictions for serious offences of dishonesty, as well as numerous other offences, including some involving violence. You have been sentenced to actual and suspended imprisonment on a number of occasions. In 2012, you were sentenced by this Court to 15 months’ imprisonment for the crime of robbery. That crime involved robbing a store owner in his shop. You have had a serious drug problem for many years and many of your crimes have been committed in order to obtain money to pay for drugs. Your counsel has discussed your difficult childhood and teenage years, and other problems in your life which may, to some extent, account for your use of drugs. You are not being sentenced, of course, because you have a drug problem. You are being sentenced because, on this occasion, you committed serious criminal conduct in circumstances that were related to what you perceived to be a need to obtain some money to pay for drugs.
I regard these crimes as very serious. You targeted vulnerable premises at a time when it might be expected that trade was busy. In fact, there were eight staff members and eight customers in the store at the time. Your actions involved an implicit but clear threat of serious harm to the store attendant. She was not physically hurt, but, as I have described, the impact on her has been considerable, and she was understandably terrified during the course of the event. There is a need to emphasise general deterrence in the sentence. Having regard to your record of offending, I think it is also necessary to place some emphasis on personal deterrence. I will take into account in your favour your co-operation with the police, and fact that you entered a plea of guilty to this charge at an early opportunity. I will make allowance for this plea by reducing the sentence which I would have otherwise imposed. I will also take the early plea into account in assessing a non-parole period.
Dylan Bramich, you are convicted of the crimes to which you have pleaded guilty and sentenced to a global term of imprisonment of 2 years and 6 months, which will be backdated to commence on 5 October 2019. I order that you not be eligible for release on parole until you have served a period of 18 months of that sentence. But for your early plea of guilty, I would have imposed a sentence of 3 years’ imprisonment.
I order that you pay to the proprietors of the Priceline pharmacy at Bridgewater compensation in the sum of $475.