STATE OF TASMANIA v JACK DALE 16 AUGUST 2024
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE PEARCE J
Jack Dale, you plead guilty to aggravated burglary, aggravated assault and recklessly discharging a firearm. Just after 6.00 pm on 8 January 2024 you drove to the home in Upper Scamander in which Kellie Thomas lived with her partner Jason Gurr. Your cousin David Dale lived in a separate residence on the same property. You had driven from your father’s property which was next door. You had some grievance against Jason Gurr and you went looking for him. David Dale was there. You asked him where Mr Gurr was. When he said he didn’t know you returned to your car and retrieved a twelve gauge under and over shotgun you had taken with you. With the gun you walked straight into Ms Thomas and Mr Gurr’s house through an open sliding door. Ms Thomas was inside but Mr Gurr was not. She had attempted to conceal herself behind a door but when you called out for Mr Gurr she came out. You were in a highly agitated state. You pointed the shotgun directly at her and aggressively demanded to know where Mr Gurr was. When she said she did not know you told her that she should be scared and threatened to shoot her dead. When you said this you were only about a metre and a half away. You again asked where Mr Gurr was and told Ms Thomas that you intended to shoot him and then yourself. You then demanded her phone and removed it from the kitchen bench before going outside. From outside near where your car was parked you discharged the shotgun three times back in the general direction of the house. By that time Ms Thomas had gone into the bathroom to hide again.
Your father and another male arrived and spoke to you in the driveway. You then left in the vehicle you had arrived in. You spent the night in the bush but presented yourself to the police the following afternoon. You have been in custody since then. When you were interviewed by the police you admitted what you had done, said you realised you had done the wrong thing and were sorry.
You are now aged 41. You were raised in north east Tasmania, and although you attended the local district school to grade 10 you had some learning difficulties. You have a long record of violent offending and for committing offences involving firearms. You have served a number of short terms of imprisonment and been made subject to a number of other wholly suspended terms. One of the suspended sentences expired only two months before these crimes. None of your prior convictions concern use of firearms for a violent or sinister purpose. Your relatively early plea of guilty is in your favour. It facilitates the administration of justice, avoids the need for a trial and thus spares the victim from the additional trauma of having to give evidence. I was given a report prepared by Dr Georgina O’Donnell, a forensic psychologist. You have a history of chronic depression, situational anxiety and substance abuse, principally alcohol and cannabis. At the time of these crimes you were in a situational crisis arising from the death of your mother at the end of December 2023 and your father’s serious illness. Your mental health declined. When, only the day before, the relationship between you and the mother of your child broke down, you became suicidal. You drank a large amount of alcohol and consumed cannabis and decided you wanted to kill yourself in front of your neighbour for no better reason than that you did not get on with him. In Dr O’Donnell’s opinion your depression, compounded by your excessive drinking, contributed to the crimes because it impaired your ability to exercise appropriate judgment and to make calm and rational choices. In addition I have a report from a clinical psychologist, Ruth Paul, who indicates that you presented for assessment in September 2023, before these crimes were committed. She refers to a range of conditions including PTSD, major depressive disorder and difficulties with impulse control and regulation of emotions. You were already undertaking psychotherapy when you went into custody and while in custody you have successfully engaged in a resilience program. I accept that there may be some prospect of rehabilitation with the appropriate treatment, and your primary motivation is to resume your role in the care of your son.
I take all of those matters into account. However in my view, your impaired mental functioning is a factor of limited weight in sentencing. It was not particularly likely, in the circumstances, that by discharging the firearm as you did you would strike a person, but you admit that you realised the risk and you acted regardless of it. Even before then, you subjected Ms Thomas to a terrifying and traumatising experience. She was frightened that you would carry out your threat to shoot and kill her. You claim that you had no intention of doing so but she was not to know that. In her victim impact statement she described the profound psychological effect that your crimes have had on her which have also impacted on her relationship with her partner and children. She requires ongoing trauma counselling and treatment and the effects are likely to continue for a long time.
The only appropriate sentence is a significant term of imprisonment. I will allow for parole but only after you have served a term which sufficiently addresses the need for punishment, deterrence and protection of the public.
Jack Dale, you are convicted on each count on the indictment. I order that the firearm and ammunition listed on Tasmania Police Firearms Receipt 25312 are forfeited to the State. I impose one sentence. You are sentenced to imprisonment for two years from 9 January 2024. I order that you not be eligible for parole until you have served 15 months of that term.