STATE OF TASMANIA v NICHOLAS MICHAEL BUTCHER 13 AUGUST 2019
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE BRETT J
Mr Butcher, a jury has found you guilty of one count of blackmail.
The crime is somewhat unusual. In April 2018, you sent a text message to a man who had provided you with support over a considerable period, and that support included having, on a number of occasions, provided you with financial assistance. In the message, you pretended to be a person who had unlawfully detained you. The message demanded that this man pay $4000 into a bank account and threatened that if this did not happen, then you would be maimed by having fingers removed. The message also warned that if the recipient went to the police, you would be found dead. The prosecution case was that you had, in fact, sent this message yourself in order to extract some money from this man, and that no one else was involved. The nominated bank account was your bank account. Your evidence at the trial was that you had been kidnapped by former drug associates and that during the course of your detention by them they had gained access to your telephone and sent the message. The only conclusion available from the jury’s verdict is that it rejected this version. There were no men, you were not kidnapped, and this was a ruse by you to gain money from the man in question.
Although the man was initially concerned by the message, quite understandably, it did not take him long to identify the message as a ruse. He had previously provided you with funds and a simple check of his records revealed that the nominated bank account was the account to which he had previously transferred money to you. He immediately went to the police and the true situation was discovered relatively quickly.
Crimes such as this represent serious criminality. Using threats and menaces to gain the payment of money from another is not only dishonest but also has the potential to cause apprehension on the part of the recipient. In this case, the false threats also had the potential to divert police resources in unnecessary investigation. Having said that, the amateurish nature of your plan meant that was never any real possibility that you would gain what you were seeking. The most serious aspect of your conduct, in my view, was that you had attempted to deceive, and place in a very difficult position, a man who had in the past shown you only kindness and generosity.
You are 35 years of age. You have a significant criminal history, consisting of crimes and offences of dishonesty, serious traffic offences and a significant history of family violence. Despite this, on the basis of your counsel’s submission, I obtained a home detention assessment report. However, the report assesses you as unsuitable for this option. Initially, a recommendation was made by the author for a community corrections order, but this recommendation has been withdrawn as a result of the appallingly inappropriate way that you responded to the report, which included verbally abusing the probation officer concerned.
Notwithstanding this abuse, and the attitude of community corrections, I think that probation supervision is necessary in your case. The report assessed you as having a high level of risks and needs, and this is consistent with my own impression, having heard your evidence in Court. However the objectively serious nature of the crime also demands a sentence reflecting general deterrence. In the end, I am satisfied that a wholly suspended sentence of imprisonment, conditional upon probation supervision, is the appropriate sentence.
Accordingly, the orders I make are as follows:
1 You are convicted of the crime of which you have been found guilty;
2 You are sentenced to a term of 6 months’ imprisonment, which will be wholly suspended for a period of 18 months on the following conditions:
(a) That you are not to commit another offence punishable by imprisonment during that period.
(b) That you will be subject to the supervision of a probation officer. You must comply with this condition for a period of 18 months. That period will commence from today. The court notes that the conditions referred to in s 24(5B) of the Sentencing Act apply to this condition. For the purposes of those provisions:
(i) the operational period of the order will be a period of 18 months;
(ii) you are to report to a probation officer at Community Corrections at Devonport within three clear days of today;
(iii) in addition to the core conditions of a community corrections order, the following and conditions will also be included in the order:
(a) you must, during the operational period of the order, attend educational and other programs as directed by the court or a probation officer;
(b) you must, during the operational period of the order, submit to the supervision of a probation officer as required by the probation officer;
(c) you must, during the operational period of the order, submit to medical, psychological or psychiatric assessment or treatment as directed by a probation officer.