STATE OF TASMANIA v DION JAMES CRAGG 9 AUGUST 2021
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE BRETT J
Mr Cragg, you have pleaded guilty to one count of robbery. You have also pleaded guilty to the associated summary offence of attempted computer-related fraud.
These offences were committed on the 24 January 2021. At about 2:30am, you approached the complainant as he was urinating in St David’s Park. He apologised to you because of what he was doing but you continued to approach him from behind. Your right hand was concealed behind your body. You told the complainant that you had scissors and you threatened to “stab him in the throat”. You then demanded his wallet, and threatened that if he did not give it to you, you would stab him. He gave you the wallet, which contained various cards including a bank debit card. You then let the man leave.
About 15 minutes later, you gave the debit card to an associate and told him to use it to buy some tobacco. The attempt to fraudulently use the card was unsuccessful.
It is clear from the complainant’s impact statement, and obvious in any event that your threats of violence caused him fear. You are not to be sentenced on the basis that you actually possessed a weapon, but the complainant believed that you were capable of carrying out your threats. He does not assert significant ongoing impact, but a traumatic event such as this can obviously have such an effect, and there is nothing to say that he will not experience some consequences as time goes on.
You are 44 years of age. You have a concerning criminal history. It commences when you were 18 and evidences consistent offending since that time. You have been convicted on a number of occasions for offences involving violence, including a number of counts of common assault. On 12 March 2019, you were convicted of a number of breaches of a family violence order and some bail conditions, which included at least one threat of serious violence, and you were sentenced to a term of imprisonment, 3 months of which was suspended for 2 years. The commission of the crime I am dealing with constitutes a breach of the terms of that suspension, and an application has been made for you to be dealt with for the breach. As a result, I am required to activate that sentence unless I am of the opinion that it would be unjust to do so. Given the seriousness of this offending, and the fact that it involved the use of threatened violence, I am not of the opinion that activation would be unjust and the suspended term will be activated.
I note that you were also subject to a community corrections order at the time of the offending. The fact that you committed these offences when you were subject to that order and a suspended sentence is an aggravating factor.
Your counsel submitted that I should obtain a drug treatment order assessment report because of a significant history of problems with drugs and alcohol. I agreed to do so, but the report assesses you as unsuitable for diversion to the CMD program. As I have just discussed with your counsel, and due to circumstances which were not necessarily your fault, you were not able to nominate a viable address. I also note a lengthy history of poor compliance with community-based sentencing orders, including the most recent community corrections order. I do not have confidence, in any event, despite the fact that you do not have a viable address, that you would be willing or able to comply with the very onerous demands of a drug treatment order. Finally, I am not satisfied that your drug use contributed to the commission of this crime. For these reasons, I do not intend to utilise that sentencing option.
This was a serious crime committed in a public place against a stranger. The circumstances in which the crime was committed meant that your victim was vulnerable, and was subjected to a terrifying experience. Your conduct was arrogant and selfish. The fact that you may have been under the influence of alcohol and/or illicit drugs at the time in no way mitigates the seriousness of your offending. The only appropriate sentence in my view is a sentence of imprisonment. I will moderate the head sentence to take account of your plea of guilty and the personal circumstances I have discussed to day with your counsel. Further, I will also provide an opportunity for early release on parole, which, if granted, will provide some opportunity for community-based supervision. I acknowledge the difficulty you are going to have with that in view of your homeless status. I think that that is a matter which can generally be regretted, but I do not think that it has a significant impact on the sentencing process.
Accordingly, the orders I make are as follows:
1 You are convicted of the crime and the offence to which you have pleaded guilty.
2 The suspended sentence of three months’ imprisonment which was imposed by the Magistrates Court on 12 March 2019 is activated. The sentence will be backdated and served from 24 January 2021. You are not eligible for parole until you have served one half of that sentence.
3 For the crime and offence to which you have pleaded guilty, you are sentenced to a global term of 15 months’ imprisonment, which will be served cumulatively upon the activated suspended sentence. You are not eligible for parole until you have served one half of this sentence.
4 For the purposes of s 92A(3) of the Sentencing Act, I specify that:
(a) The total term of imprisonment which you are liable to serve in respect of all of the above sentences is 18 months commencing on 24 January 2021.
(b) The total period that you must serve before you become eligible for parole is the aggregate of the non-parole periods relating to the said sentences, which is a total period of 9 months, calculated from 24 January 2021.
5 Finally, I make a compensation order in favour of the complainant in a sum to be assessed and I adjourn that assessment sine die.