STATE OF TASMANIA v GRANT-LEE HAWDON MARSHALL AJ
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE 24 AUGUST 2021
On the first day of his scheduled trial when the charges on the indictment were put to Mr Hawdon, he pleaded guilty. The matters are one count of armed robbery contrary to s 240(3) of the Criminal Code and one count of attempted aggravated armed robbery contrary to s 240(4) and s 299 of the Code.
The particulars of count one are that at West Hobart on 8 December 2019, Mr Hawdon robbed a staff member at the Thirsty Camel bottleshop at the Marquis Hotel of a quantity of cash and at the time of the robbery was armed with a knife. The particulars of count 2 are that at Derwent Park on 23 December 2019, in the company of Rachelle O’Brien, Mr Hawdon attempted to rob a staff member at the Derwent Park Newsagency, and at the time of the attempted robbery was armed with a knife. The knife referred to in each case was in fact a sword, though nothing turns on that fact as it may be considered to be a large knife. A photograph of it was tendered in evidence at the sentencing hearing, and it looked intimidating.
On 8 December 2019, Mr Hawdon entered the Thirsty Camel bottleshop at the Marquis Hotel in West Hobart wearing a backpack. He was disguised with a piece of black material covering his face and a hood over his head. He was armed with a large sword. He approached a staff member and said “give me your money”. He gestured towards the counter with the sword, waived it at the staff member and told him to hurry.
Mr Hawdon moved behind the counter and placed the weapon very close to the staff member who opened the till. Mr Hawdon then moved back to the front of the counter. The staff member removed $980 in cash from the till and gave it to Mr Hawdon. Mr Hawdon placed the cash in his backpack and left the bottleshop.
At about 6.30am on 23 December 2019, about a fortnight after the West Hobart incident, Mr Hawdon and Ms O’Brien, with whom he was in a relationship, travelled to the Derwent Park Newsagency. Both were disguised. Mr Hawdon entered the newsagency ahead of Ms O’Brien who walked behind him. Mr Hawdon was carrying the same sword used at the West Hobart incident. He walked up to the counter where the staff member was standing and holding the sword said “give us your money”. Bravely, the staff member retrieved a wooden baseball bat from beneath the counter. He shouted at Mr Hawdon, saying “how dare you”. He then chased Mr Hawdon and Ms O’Brien from the newsagency. Police located Mr Hawdon in the Hobart CBD at 1.50pm that afternoon and interviewed him about the Derwent Park incident. He denied being at the newsagency and told police he was home in bed at the time. At the conclusion of that interview, Mr Hawdon was charged with conduct comprising count 2 on the indictment and was remanded in custody. Police seized the sword used that day by Mr Hawdon when they found it in an abandoned vehicle which had been used by him.
On 8 April 2020, detectives interviewed Mr Hawdon about the West Hobart incident. He said that he had no recollection of the events of 8 December 2019 due to his drug use. At the conclusion of that interview he was arrested and charged in relation to count 1 on the indictment.
Mr Hawdon was 44 years old at the time of the West Hobart incident and 45 years old at the time of the Derwent Park incident. He is now 46 years old, turning 47 in December. He has an extensive criminal history in three jurisdictions; Tasmania, Queensland and New South Wales, but especially in his original home state of Queensland. In 2010, Mr Hawdon pleaded guilty to a charge of burglary. That offence involved taking his daughter to the complainant’s home, to assist with a combination for a safe. It also involved stealing a substantial amount of cash and jewellery from the safe partially in order to fund the abortion of the pregnancy of his then partner. An appeal against a sentence of six years for burglary which was imposed by the District Court at Gladstone was heard by the Full Court of the Supreme Court of Queensland and on 2 September 2011 the Full Court affirmed that sentence in R v Hawdon [2011] QCA 219. The leading judgment of White J at [5] referred to Mr Hawdon being 35 years old at the time of that offence. Her Honour said:
“He has a very extensive criminal history including numerous offences of breaking and entering and other offences of dishonesty, drug offences, arson and breaches of bail.”
Not long after his release from prison in Queensland, Mr Hawdon commenced offending in Tasmania, including a common assault on a female in August 2018. Earlier in June and July 2018, Mr Hawdon committed three stealing offences and two motor vehicle stealing offences. The current offences occurred just short of eighteen months’ later. It appears that the six year term of imprisonment in 2011 was not a sufficient deterrent for Mr Hawdon. The current offences are particularly serious given that both were premediated and disguises were used. The first offence involved a deal of planning, including the placement of a getaway car accessed by a laneway. The use of a large intimidating sword was also an aggravating feature of the crimes.
Ms O’Brien, the co-offender on count 2, was much less culpable than Mr Hawdon. She followed behind him into the newsagency and followed swiftly behind him when the baseball bat was produced by the staff member. She made no threats and carried no weapon. She was sentenced by Estcourt J on 7 May 2021 for that crime as well as a dangerous driving offence described by his Honour as “a bad example of the crime”. She was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment for those crimes, as well as a period of five months’ pre-trial imprisonment. It appears that her offending was based on a desire to finance drug purchases. The same could be said in respect of Mr Hawdon by his comments to police in April 2020 about effectively being in a drug haze in December 2019. That is confirmed by his counsel’s submission that Mr Hawdon has been drug addicted for most of his adult life, and robbed the Marquis Hotel to pay a drug debt and was seeking to do the same at the Derwent Park Newsagency.
The crimes of armed robbery and that of attempted aggravated armed robbery justifiably cause significant concerns in the community. Workers at retail establishments should be able to go about their employment without lawless thugs intimidating them and robbing the places where they work. This type of offending often causes psychological damage to employees and owners of such establishments as well as family members. People are entitled to feel safe at their workplace. These crimes are particularly serious and the victim at West Hobart would have rightly feared for his safety, as would the victim at Derwent Park despite his reaction. Although no victim impact statements were tendered, I infer that the experience of both complainants, especially the staff member at the Thirsty Camel bottleshop at the Marquis Hotel was not good for the mental health of either gentlemen.
I convict Mr Hawdon of the crimes to which he has pleaded guilty, being count 1 and 2 of the indictment. Despite his very late plea of guilty to these crimes, a sentence reflecting personal deterrence is required. The sentence must also take into account the need for general deterrence and the vindication of the two complainants, as well as denunciation of the crimes. I sentence Mr Hawdon on the charge on count 1 to 7 years’ imprisonment with a non-parole period of half that term. I further sentence Mr Hawdon to 4 years’ imprisonment on count 2 to be served concurrently with the term of imprisonment on count 1, given the short period of time between the two offences. The period of imprisonment of 7 years is backdated to 3 February 2020. This takes into account a period of time when Mr Hawdon was not in custody as he was on bail. In arriving at that period of imprisonment, I have had regard to the substantial criminal history of Mr Hawdon as evident from the above discussion concerning his relevant prior convictions. He should be aware that any further transgression of this sort will likely lead to even longer terms of imprisonment in the future and little likelihood of spending his twilight years as a free man. On the other hand he has shown some late remorse in the instructions he has given to his counsel as to the reason for his late change of pleas, including his desire to overcome his addiction to drugs.
Pursuant to s 68(1) of the Sentencing Act 1997 I make a compensation order in favour of the owners of the Marquis Hotel in the sum of $980. I also, under s 16 of the Crime (Confiscation of Profits) Act 1993, make an order that the sword seized by police on 23 December 2019 and used at the West Hobart and Derwent Park incidents be forfeited to the State of Tasmania.
For the purposes of s 16(4) of that Act, it is noted that the State contends that the value of the weapon is assessed at $100.