STATE OF TASMANIA v CURTLY JAMES HODGE 9 JUNE 2020
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE PEARCE J
Curtly Hodge, you plead guilty to assault. On 4 July 2019 the complainant, Wayne Walker, visited his friend Jade Donohue at her unit in Invermay. You and another man were already there. Ms Donohue asked Mr Walker to do some dishes for her. When he asked you to help, you approached him and punched him several times in quick succession. When Mr Walker fell to the floor you yelled at him and demanded his wallet. You punched Mr Walker to his face. When Mr Walker was able to stand you punched him to the floor again and kicked his face and chest. The other man was holding a pair of scissors and threatened Mr Walker that he would be stabbed if he stood up. You are not criminally responsible for that threat, but it added to the fear suffered by the victim as a result of the acts which you subsequently undertook. You attempted to take his wallet, phone and keys, but Mr Walker managed to stop you from doing so. Before you left with the other man, Mr Walker was threatened that if he called the police there would be more violence. You said that his house would be burnt down.
The assault was reported the following day. Mr Walker suffered shocking bruising to his face and chest. His physical injuries were very painful, and although counsel for the State did not assert that there was any fracture or serious physical damage, the pain he experienced took months to resolve. He lost his job as a result of an inability to perform it. The psychological impact has also been significant. The victim impact statement describes the type of impact which might be expected from an attack of this nature. He remains anxious and fearful and has become more socially isolated.
You were 19 at the time of this assault and you are now 20. It is in your favour that you have pleaded guilty. You were charged with aggravated armed robbery but pleaded guilty to the alternative charge of assault as soon as the State indicated that it would accept that plea. You have however, demonstrated no remorse other than that which is inherent in the plea. You come from a background of severe disadvantage. You have been in State care since you were about 14 as a result of exposure to family violence, abuse, neglect and homelessness. You have had no meaningful engagement in education since 2013 when you were in grade 7. You became a heavy user of both cannabis and methylamphetamine. All of this is reflected in your record. You are still a young man but you spent much of the period between 2015 and mid-2018 in detention or in prison for serious offences of dishonesty and violence, including aggravated robbery, assault and numerous counts of stealing. On 11 May 2018 you were sentenced to imprisonment for 20 months for stealing and aggravated burglary. On that occasion you, in company with others, stood over a young man and demanded money. That sentence commenced on 4 September 2017 because of the time you had spent in custody, and you became eligible to apply for parole in July 2018. On 2 August 2019 you were sentenced to imprisonment for about seven weeks for possessing a firearm and ammunition without a licence and for possessing cannabis. About five weeks of that sentence was suspended but this crime was committed before then and thus is not a breach. However it is an aggravating factor that you were on bail at the time, and still subject to the probation order made in May 2018.
The mitigation which generally arises from youth carries much less weight for serious offences of violence, especially when committed by a person with a bad record. This is a bad assault seemingly committed for no reason other than arrogant thuggery. It involved the infliction of multiple blows of the type capable of causing serious harm, some while the victim was on the ground. It is fortunate that Mr Walker was not more seriously injured. Punishment, protection of the public and general and specific deterrence are all strong sentencing factors.
The pre-sentence report confirms many of the difficulties to which I have referred. You seem to have little understanding how your conduct may affect others and you have, so far, not indicated any willingness to reform. You have rejected the many attempts to help you engage with education or services or treatment to help you address drug abuse. You have not complied with the sentencing orders which have been made in the past, and breach action for the community correction order made in August 2019 is still to be determined. I will however make another community correction order to take effect on your release, not to punish you, although it may have that effect, but in the hope that you will eventually realise that unless you decide to change and accept responsibility for your behaviour you are likely to spend long periods in prison. I agree with the recommendation that you should be required to appear again before me so that compliance under the community correction order can be reviewed. The fact that you have indicated an unwillingness to comply with such a condition only serves to emphasise why it is necessary. However I will impose a condition which requires appearance only if thought necessary at that stage by Community Corrections, on a date about three months following your release. Because a release date cannot yet be determined, I can only leave it to Community Corrections to obtain an appointment with the Court through my associate and give you notice of the date.
You have been in custody since 21 November 2019 and so the sentence I impose must commence then. I will allow eligibility for parole but not until you have served the minimum time I consider necessary.
Curtly Hodge, you are convicted. You are sentenced to imprisonment for 16 months. I order that you not be eligible for parole until you have served 10 months of that sentence. I make a community corrections order for a period of 18 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 a special condition that you must, during the operational period of the order, submit to the supervision of a probation officer as required by the probation officer. I impose a further special condition that you appear in this Court at the place, day and time directed either by a probation officer or by the Court. If you breach any of those conditions you may be brought back to court and re-sentenced.