STATE OF TASMANIA v KATRINA GAIL CHICK 25 NOVEMBER 2019
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE PEARCE J
Katrina Chick, you plead guilty to being unlawfully armed in public. I also agreed to deal with your plea of guilty to the summary charges of handling a firearm whilst under the influence of alcohol, possessing a firearm without a licence, possessing an unregistered firearm and resisting a police officer.
On 5 October 2019 you were at the Commercial Hotel in Launceston. You were substantially affected by alcohol and you had with you a 6mm blankfire Rohan six shot pistol. It was a starter pistol. It was only capable of firing blanks and was not capable of propelling a projectile. However it had the appearance of a real pistol and was in working order. You told one of the security guards that you were going to shoot a person at the hotel who had injured your granddaughter. That was untrue. At the time your family and personal life was difficult, and your real motivation was so the police would be called and you would be taken into custody. Regrettably, others at the hotel became aware that you had a firearm. While the police were on their way you continued to act in a confronting way.
When the police arrived you admitted you had the pistol. They seized it, and you were arrested. You then resisted them by backing against a wall to attempt to avoid being handcuffed.
You are now 53. You have had a very difficult life, much of which is described in a report prepared by Dr Georgina O’Donnell dated 6 November 2018. I have taken all of it into account and there is no need to repeat it here. The end result is that you suffer from mental health conditions which have been variously diagnosed but which Dr O’Donnell thinks best described as borderline personality disorder with co-morbid addiction problems. One of your long standing problems is abuse of alcohol. More than 10 years ago you served terms of imprisonment for some alcohol related driving offences. Between then and 2018 there are a few instances of anti-social offending. However the most significant prior offence on your record is a wounding which was committed on 1 August 2018 when you stabbed your husband. On 8 February 2019 you were sentenced to imprisonment for 12 months from 19 November 2018 with six months of that term suspended for three years, as well as probation and community service. These offences were committed only a few months after your release and breach a condition of the suspended sentence. The suspended part of that sentence must be activated unless that is unjust, and there is no proper basis on which I could reach that conclusion.
At the time you committed this crime your life was in turmoil and you were strongly feeling the stress of that. Your wish to be taken into custody was, as your counsel expressed it, a cry for help. I accept that because of your mental health conditions the importance of general deterrence as a sentencing factor is reduced. Nevertheless, it is a serious matter to take a thing like that to a public bar and act as if you intended to use it, even if you had no intention of doing so and even though it could not have physically harmed anyone. The people who saw it were not to know what you intended or what the gun was capable of. No doubt those who saw you had it were very scared. You did not know that because the gun falls within the definition of a firearm you needed a licence for it, and that it was to be registered, not that either a licence or registration would have excused what you did. You were highly intoxicated, but that does not reduce the seriousness of your conduct. The police should not have to put up with resistance when properly discharging their functions.
It is in your favour that you have quickly pleaded guilty to the charges. That indicates some acceptance of responsibility and a willingness to facilitate justice. You say that you are sorry for what you did. You have been in custody since your arrest on 5 October 2019.
Katrina Chick, the six month suspended term imposed on 8 February 2019 is activated and is to be served from 5 October 2019. I order pursuant to the Crime (Confiscation of Profits) Act 1993, s 11(1)(a), that the pistol, serial number 12123, found in your possession is forfeited to the State and I specify in the order the value of that property at the time the order is made is $200. On the indictment and on counts 2 to 5 inclusive on complaint 34833/19, you are convicted on each count. I impose one sentence. You are sentenced to imprisonment for four months, cumulative to the sentence just activated. In addition, I make a community corrections order for a period of 12 months from your release. The core conditions of that order will be specified in the order you will be given and include that you not commit an offence punishable by imprisonment, that you report to and comply with the directions of a probation officer, that you must not leave Tasmania without permission and that you must notify of any change of address. I impose special conditions that you must, during the operational period of the order attend educational and other programs as directed by a probation officer, submit to the supervision of a probation officer as required by the probation officer; undergo assessment and treatment for drug dependency as directed by a probation officer, submit to testing for drug use as directed by a probation officer; undergo assessment and treatment for alcohol dependency as directed by a probation officer and submit to medical, psychological or psychiatric assessment or treatment as directed by a probation officer. If you breach any of those conditions you may be brought back to court and re-sentenced.