STATE OF TASMANIA v J J L 3 JUNE 2019
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE BLOW CJ
Mr L, you have pleaded guilty in the Magistrates Court to a charge of armed robbery. On the afternoon of Sunday, 10 March you went into a supermarket, robbed a shop assistant at knifepoint, and got away with $1,510.60, which has not been recovered. Your face was partly covered. You were wearing a hooded jumper, a cap, and a face-warmer. The knife was a butcher’s knife. The shop assistant was so scared that he emptied the till tray from the cash register into a bag that you had brought with you. The police identified you from CCTV footage and arrested you at your home the following night. You have been in custody ever since.
The victim of this robbery was only 16 years old. He had to have some time off work, and has continuing psychological symptoms. It counts in your favour that you are now very sorry for the effect that this robbery had on him. It also counts in your favour that you have pleaded guilty.
You are 17 years old. You have never been sentenced by a court before. However you were on bail when you committed this crime. In fact you were released on bail only three days beforehand. You had been charged with wounding, making off without payment, the possession of firearms, stealing, and some drug offences. You have since pleaded guilty to those charges in the Magistrates Court.
You committed this crime because you wanted to obtain money to pay a drug debt. You feared that violence would be inflicted on you or your family if you did not pay. You began smoking cannabis when you were 13, and you have been a daily smoker since you were 14. You started using Ice heavily in June or July last year. You had no income, and did not receive Centrelink benefits, but funded your drug use by committing crimes.
You had behavioural problems at school, which were associated with symptoms of depression and anxiety. Your school attendance was poor. It ceased altogether in the middle of 2018 at a time when your use of Ice increased significantly. You took part in a program for “at risk” young people twice in 2017, for 20 weeks at a time. That seems to have been successful. According to your youth justice worker’s report, your social skills improved, your self-esteem improved, you became fitter, and you lost weight. You were focussed, and enjoyed all the activities that were available to you. You can be a very different person when you keep away from people who get you into trouble.
Your drug problem has reached the stage where you have to take medication every morning and night, but that seems to be working. I understand you always take your medication when you are meant to, and that is a very good thing.
Armed robbery is a serious crime. This was not just a theft of $1,500. It was a hold-up that left the boy from the supermarket in a very bad state. If you were 10 years older, I would be sending you to prison for a long time. As it is, I will be sentencing you to more time in Ashley, and putting you on probation.
J J L, I convict you and sentence you to 12 months’ detention with effect from 11 March 2019. I make a probation order under s 65 of the Youth Justice Act 1997, to operate for 18 months after your release from detention, with special conditions that (a) you must attend educational, personal, health and other programs as directed by your assigned youth justice worker; (b) you must submit, as directed by a youth justice worker, to testing for controlled substances; and (c) you must undergo medical, psychiatric, psychological and drug counselling and treatment as directed by your assigned youth justice worker. I order you to pay $1,510.60 by way of compensation to the proprietors of the IGA supermarket at 113 George Town Road, Newnham. I specify that the earliest release date is 11 September 2019.