STATE OF TASMANIA v TIMO MURTO 14 OCTOBER 2019
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE BLOW CJ
Mr Murto has pleaded guilty to a charge of armed robbery. At about 10.20pm on Saturday, 5 January he entered the McDonalds branch at Moonah, robbed staff members at knifepoint, and was arrested before he left the building. He suffers from schizophrenia. He told the police that he committed this crime because God had threatened to cremate him and resurrect him as a result of him not studying the Bible.
There were 10 employees working at the premises at the time. At least seven customers were present. The youngest of them was only 5 years old. Mr Murto began by walking up to a 17 year old female employee. He exposed his knife, which had a blade about 30 centimetres long. He yelled at the girl to open the safe. He yelled at others not to be heroes, telling them that they could get hurt. He held the blade of the knife against the skin of the female employee and continued to yell at her. She put her hands up and walked towards the manager’s office with Mr Murto holding the knife behind her. They walked past a number of employees who were cooking food. Mr Murto yelled at them too. He entered the manager’s office and told the manager to open the safe. The manager took him down a passageway to the safe, keyed in a code, and explained that there was a time delay lock which meant that the safe would not open for three minutes. Mr Murto reacted angrily, and then got the manager to take him to the cash registers. Mr Murto yelled at some more employees, and pushed one of them out of the way. He removed money from a cash register and started placing it into a backpack. He told the manager to open a second cash register. The manager had difficulty opening it, and Mr Murto threatened to stab him. He put money from that second cash register into his backpack. He then returned to the safe with the manager. At that stage the police arrived. One officer drew his firearm and twice told Mr Murto to drop the knife, which he then did. He was arrested and has been in custody ever since.
This was a very upsetting experience for quite a number of people. Several customers fled from the restaurant when they saw what was happening. McDonalds arranged counselling for their employees. One employee, who had not been menaced with the knife herself, developed a range of psychological symptoms and had to leave her job. When Mr Murto pleaded guilty in August, that woman was still unemployed.
Mr Murto has prior convictions for similar crimes. In 1996 he robbed a woman of her motor vehicle in the car park of a suburban shopping centre in Melbourne, armed with a hunting knife. After a successful sentencing appeal, he was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment with a non-parole period of six months. In 1999 he committed another armed robbery in the Australian Capital Territory, resulting in a sentence of five years’ imprisonment, a non-parole period of 18 months, and a recommendation that he be held in the prison psychiatric hospital at Long Bay in Sydney. In 2001 he was tried on another armed robbery charge in Sydney, found not guilty by reason of mental illness, and detained in the psychiatric unit at Long Bay.
Since 2000 he has been taking medication known as Clozapine. It is an antipsychotic drug that is reserved for individuals with the most treatment-resistant forms of schizophrenia. He spent two years in Long Bay, and then two more years in a rehabilitation hospital. Since then he has lived with his mother for most of the time, or possibly all of the time. He has been living with her in Tasmania since 2014. At the time of his arrest he had been at liberty for nearly 15 years without getting into any serious trouble.
During 2018 his dose of Clozapine was gradually reduced because of perceived side effects. A number of psychiatric reviews were undertaken, without any deterioration in his mental state being noted. I have been provided with reports by two psychiatrists. Both have said that it is possible that the reduction in his dose of Clozapine caused a deterioration in his mental state that was not detected.
On the evening of the robbery, Mr Murto was in his bedroom reading a pornographic magazine and masturbating when his mother happened to walk into the room to offer him a drink. He felt intense guilt and embarrassment. He has a knife collection. He took a knife from his collection, got into his car, and decided that he would commit an offence in order to return to prison.
He has now been in custody for a little over nine months. His dose of Clozapine has been gradually increased. It is proposed that the dose will continue to be increased until he reaches the dose which maintained a stable mental state prior to 2018. It appears that his mental state deteriorated as a result of him being remanded in custody. However he has been compliant in relation to his treatment, and he understands that he suffers from a mental illness. One of the psychiatrists has opined that being in custody is detrimental to his recovery from his current psychotic episode. Apparently being in custody reinforces delusions that he has of being persecuted by God. Both psychiatrists have recommended that, whatever sentence I impose, I should also make a supervision order under s 75 of the Sentencing Act 1997.
Mr Murto is currently receiving the treatment that he needs for his mental illness as an inmate of the Wilfred Lopes Centre within the Risdon Prison complex. He will need to remain there for some time before his dose of Clozapine is stabilised. Thereafter, it would be appropriate for him to be released on parole as the subject of a supervision order, and to live with his mother.
His mental state at the time of the robbery appears not to have been as bad as it became after his arrest. He committed the robbery as part of a strategy to deal with his embarrassment in relation to his mother, rather than because of hallucinations or delusions. His conduct terrified a number of employees and customers at McDonalds. It is significant that one of them has been disturbed so badly that she had to leave her job and remain unemployed for months.
In the circumstances, I think I should impose a significant prison sentence, with the shortest possible non-parole period. I am satisfied that Mr Murto is suffering from a mental illness that requires treatment, and that that treatment can be obtained by releasing him under the supervision of the Chief Forensic Psychiatrist. I have a report from a delegate of the Chief Forensic Psychiatrist that recommends his release under such supervision.
Timo Murto, I convict you and sentence you to three years’ imprisonment with effect from 5 January 2019. You will not be eligible for parole until you have served 18 months of this sentence. I order that, upon your release from prison, you are to be released under the supervision of the Chief Forensic Psychiatrist, subject to the following conditions:
(a) You must take medication and submit to the administration of medical treatment as determined by the Chief Forensic Psychiatrist.
(b) You must comply with any directions as to supervision given by the Chief Forensic Psychiatrist or any of his delegates.