LODGE, J J

STATE OF TASMANIA v JARROD JAMES LODGE                                 MARTIN AJ

COMMENTS ON PASSIONG SENTENCE                                        22 OCTOBER 2019

Mr Lodge, you are a 19 year old young person who, at the age of 18, went off the rails because you were living on the streets with little or no income and had become addicted to methamphetamine.  Other than being cautioned, before this short period of offending, you had not been in trouble with the law.

At about 7.50pm on 7 September 2019 you entered the Coles supermarket at Kingsmeadows.  After you selected meat and other groceries, to the value of approximately $610, you pushed the trolley to a fire door exit and approached a staff member saying “this door opens, doesn’t it?”.  When told that the door did not open, you put your right hand into your jacket pocket and produced a 30cm long knife saying angrily, “yes it fucking does”.  You walked toward the Coles employee who stepped behind a pallet-jack and swung it around to protect himself.  You then grabbed the trolley and forced your way out of the fire door exit.

Staff members followed you out of the store and saw you push the trolley onto a grass area.  However, you left the trolley and ran off.  All the property was recovered.

Enquiries included obtaining CCTV of the incident, and you were arrested on 19 September 2019.  In the interview that followed, you cooperated fully with the police and made full admissions.  You said you went to Coles to steal food to eat because you were starving, and decided that you might as well get food for a fortnight rather than stealing a small amount.  You explained that you did not have any money and were currently homeless.  As the Crown facts put it, you told the police that you were “cracked off your head” and did not know what you were doing.  You were a user of methamphetamine and your drug habit cost a fait bit, but you did not know exactly how much.

Mr Lodge, you told police that you did not remember saying anything to the male employee, but when the employee’s statement was read to you, you agreed with its contents.

Your motivation was hunger, but you also admitted that you intended to sell some of the meat because you needed to fund your drug habit.  The knife you had stolen from a house you had visited, but you did not know where the knife was at the time of the interview.

Your conduct in Coles is the subject of the crime of armed robbery to which you pleaded guilty in the Magistrates Court on 2 October 2019.

In the interview about the armed robbery, not only did you cooperate fully with respect to that crime, but at the conclusion of the interview you volunteered that you had “burnt out Jamie’s car”.  You then made admissions that in May 2019 you had burnt out a Holden Commodore that you understood belonged to a person called Jamie, although it belonged to his mother.

On 18 May 2019 police intercepted a blue Commodore being driven by Jamie.  This was the vehicle owned by his mother which you subsequently burnt.  There were three passengers in the vehicle, and while police were checking Jamie’s licence, one of the passengers forced Jamie out of the vehicle and drove away with it.  There were two passengers in the vehicle.

Later that day you drove the vehicle to Holybank, knowing that the vehicle belonged to Jamie.  At Holybank, using a lighter, petrol and degreaser you set fire to the vehicle.  It was destroyed.

The vehicle was not insured and was worth approximately $800. I make a compensation order in the amount of $800 in favour of Susan Irene Lewis.

In the interview on 19 September 2019 you told the police you received the car from someone, but you were not prepared to say who.  You made full admissions to setting fire to the vehicle and said you did so because it was stolen.  You admitted that you knew the vehicle was associated with Jamie, and when asked why you burnt it, you said it was tied into other things and you did not like Jamie.

On 2 October 2019 you pleaded guilty to unlawfully setting fire to the Commodore.  Before me on 18 October 2019 you pleaded guilty to stealing the motor vehicle on the basis that you had used the vehicle without the consent of the owner or some person in lawful charge of it.

You were born and raised in Tasmania and attended Brooks High School where you met your former partner.  In a lengthy relationship, at the age of 17 you became the father of a child.  Your former partner was then 18.

In early 2019 you, together with your former partner and the child, moved in with your parents.  Shortly after, however, your former partner commenced a relationship with your brother who was also living in the home.  Placed in a very difficult position, your parents asked you to move out.  There followed a period during which you slept on couches at friends’ places, but eventually you ended up homeless and sleeping outdoors.  You had little or no support and extremely limited funds based on a Youth Allowance of only $250 per fortnight.  It was in this depressing situation, and in a vulnerable state of mind, that you accepted an offer of methamphetamine and quickly became addicted.

It is to your credit that you volunteered your involvement when you were interviewed by police in September 2019. It was not until you made those admissions that police were able to solve the crime of setting fire to the vehicle.  It is unlikely that the particular crime would have been resolved without your admissions.

At the time you committed the armed robbery, you were addicted and desperate.  You were struggling to feed yourself and pay for your addiction.  You were sleeping under an overpass.  When you entered Coles, you intended to steal food, but you did not intend any violence or the use of a knife.  Pulling out the knife occurred on the spur of the moment in a futile attempt to get away.  It was an impulsive and amateurish act, but still very frightening for the store employees, and dangerous because it carried the potential of harm being caused to innocent persons.

I accept your counsel’s submission that custody terrifies you.  I also accept that you have made peace with your brother, and you are able to move back into your home.  When you appeared before me on 18 October, I spoke directly to your parents and to you.  I was impressed with your parents and their assurance that you are able to live at home and that, if necessary, it would be your brother and your former partner, with the child, who would move out.  You assured me that you were desperate to return home and see your child.  You are confident that there will not be any problems if your brother, your former partner and your child are still at home.

As I said at the outset, you went off the rails for a short period in very difficult circumstances.  I am confident that you have learnt your lesson and that you will continue to receive ongoing support from your parents.  You will be able to live in a safe and secure home, but you will need additional support, and probably treatment, in order to ensure that you do not suffer an relapse, particularly into drug use.

Armed robbery, particularly of vulnerable people in stores, is too common in our community and causes great stress to those involved.  This type of offending is dangerous and can lead to very serious consequences.  It is important that you and others who are tempted to commit these types of crimes understand that normally they will be met with significant terms of imprisonment.  This is what we call general deterrence, that is, deterring others who are minded to engage in this type of criminal conduct.

As I have said, normally these types of crimes are met with significant terms of imprisonment.  By that I mean, terms of imprisonment to be served.  However, at times there are exceptional cases in which the Court can properly extend leniency.  It is in the public interest to keep young offenders out of gaol, particularly young first offenders who have never previously been in trouble with the criminal law.  Gaol can be a corrupting influence.  The community appreciates that where reasonably possible, and I stress the word reasonably, priority should be given to ensuring that young offenders are rehabilitated to become useful members of the community.

I have decided that yours is one of these special cases.  It is apparent to me that you deeply regret what you have done and you are distressed by the circumstances in which you have found yourself.  The combination of desperation caused by homelessness, lack of finance and drug addiction can be devastating, and it was devastating in your case.  Your behaviour was totally out of character and I am confident that you have excellent prospects of never offending again and becoming an honest and useful citizen of our community.

I will impose a single sentence, and in arriving at that sentence, I have given you significant credit for your plea of guilty.  I have also taken into account that you were in custody from 2 October 2019 to 18 October 2019 plus an additional day.

You are convicted of each of these crimes.  I have already made the compensation order.

Had it not been for your pleas of guilty I would have imposed a sentenced of 3 years imprisonment.  After allowing for your plea, I impose a single sentence of  2 years and 3 months’ imprisonment.  The execution of that sentence is suspended on condition that for a period of two years you commit no offence punishable by imprisonment.

I make a community corrections order for a period of 18 months from today.  During that period you are to be under the supervision of a probation officer, and you are required to obey the reasonable directions of a probation officer as to your residence, employment and associates.  Further, you are to submit to medical, psychological or psychiatric assessment and treatment as directed by a probation officer. You are not to use illicit drugs in any way and you are to submit to testing for drugs as directed by a probation officer or a police officer.  Finally, you are to undertake community service of not less than 100 hours as directed by a probation officer.