STATE OF TASMANIA v DILLON RAYMOND POPOWSKI 18 NOVEMBER 2025
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE JAGO J
Dillon Popowski, you have pleaded guilty to the crime of armed robbery. I am also dealing with an associated summary offence of unlawfully possessing a dangerous article in a public place.
At 12.20am on Thursday, 10 July 2025, the complainant was at the Commonwealth Bank ATM in William Street, Devonport. She was there to collect her pension payment. It was her habit to withdraw her pension as soon as it was deposited into her account. The complainant was 56 years of age and in receipt of a Disability Pension as she suffered from schizophrenia. She was driven to the ATM by a friend and was accompanied by her partner. On arrival, the complainant exited the vehicle and used her bankcard to withdraw $450.
Around the same time, you were travelling in a vehicle being driven by your partner, Ms Ainsley. At around 12.15am, at a time broadly simultaneous to when the complainant was at the ATM, you asked your partner to pull up near the intersection of Oldaker and Barker Street in Devonport. She did so. You got out of the vehicle and told her to stay there but to keep the vehicle running. You crossed into William Street and walked directly towards the complainant, who was standing at the ATM. You were wearing black track pants and a black hoodie, with the hood pulled up.
You approached the complainant and said to her “Give us your money or I’ll stab you”. The complainant turned when she heard you say this. She saw you holding a medium sized kitchen knife. She recognised you because you were friendly with a Ms Fraser, whom the complainant knew quite well. You held the knife approximately 30 centimetres from the complainant, walked towards her and demanded that she hand over the money. The complainant tried to retreat backwards and get into the vehicle, but before she could reach it, you grabbed hold of her and began punching her. You threw her to the ground in the middle of the roadway. She landed on her right arm and felt immediate pain. She struck her forehead on the ground. You then stood over the complainant and punched and kicked her several times, including to the head area. The complainant was yelling for you to stop. Throughout your attack on the complainant, she held onto the money and the bankcard. You continued to demand that she hand it over.
At one point, the complainant’s partner attempted to intervene. You raised the knife in his direction and told him to get back. His intervention, however, gave the complainant the opportunity to stand up and she moved back towards the footpath. You quickly pursued her and again pushed her to the ground and started kicking and punching her. The complainant continued to hold the money to her chest. Eventually, you prised open her hand and forcefully removed the money and bankcard from her. You then fled in the direction of Oldaker Street.
The complainant was transported to the Devonport Police Station where she reported the matter. She subsequently attended the Mersey Community Hospital. She had bruises and abrasions to her head, arm and back and was bleeding from her forehead.
All of your behaviour was captured on CCTV footage. I have watched the footage. You inflicted a persistent, cowardly and brutal assault upon the complainant. She resisted you to the extent she was able, but you responded by escalating the violence to achieve your purpose. The complainant has since passed away. I do not have an impact statement from her. Having observed the footage, I have no doubt that she found the entire incident terrifying. In addition to the physical injuries she suffered, I suspect she also experienced psychological trauma.
After fleeing, you returned to Ms Ainsley’s vehicle and told her that you needed to “get out of here”. You travelled to the Ulverstone area. You stopped along the way for petrol. You paid for it using a $50 note which, I infer, came from the complainant. You then continued to Burnie where you stopped at a fast-food outlet and purchased cigarettes and some drinks, again paying for it with cash presumably taken from the complainant. You then drove to your cousin’s home in Wynyard. You changed your clothes somewhere during this journey.
The complainant reported to her friend, Ms Fraser, what you had done. Ms Fraser in turn, contacted you and advised you that the complainant had seen your face and that police were looking for you. She suggested you hand yourself in. Around 9.00am on 10 July, you attended the Wynyard Police Station. You participated in a record of interview, but rather than taking responsibility for your conduct, you denied any involvement in the crime and claimed that you had spent the night in the Somerset and Wynyard areas and had not been in Devonport at all. When you were shown photographs of the complainant’s injuries, you again denied being responsible for causing them. When you were shown the CCTV footage of the incident, you denied that it was you.
When challenged further by police, you admitted that you were responsible for the robbery but suggested you had been made to do it by Ms Fraser. There is no evidence that this is so. You eventually told police that you could not really recall the details of what you had done. You said you had some recall of throwing some clothing that you had been wearing out a car window. You also said that you spent the money you had obtained on drugs. At the conclusion of the interview, you were detained. You have been in custody since that time. You pleaded guilty to the charge in the Magistrates Court on 18 August 2025.
I accept that you entered an early plea of guilty and that counts in your favour, although I note given the CCTV footage, it was a strong case against you. Your plea of guilty, nevertheless, retains mitigatory value as the complainant was saved the ordeal of having to give evidence and in light of her passing, the State were saved the challenge of prosecuting the matter in those circumstances.
You are 30 years of age. You have a number of relevant prior convictions. You were first before the courts as a youth for matters involving violence towards person, property and an animal. As an adult, you have been convicted of several offences of dishonesty and violence – both actual and threatened. You also have a number of convictions for driving offences and offences involving damage to property.
You grew up in difficult circumstances. Both your mother and father struggled with alcohol and drug addictions. Your parents struggled to control your behaviour, most likely I suspect because of their own difficulties, and you spent much of your childhood in State care. You were physically abused whilst in care. You have three children to two previous relationships. There has been family violence associated with those relationships, and you currently have little contact with your children. You are hopeful of changing those circumstances into the future and developing a meaningful relationship with your children.
You began using drugs during your teenage years, but in 2006, when one of your brothers passed away, your use of illicit drugs escalated considerably. You describe becoming addicted to methyl amphetamine, LSD and cannabis. Around the time of this crime, you were using a number of substances heavily. You say through your counsel that you had been on a “bender” for about three days prior to the incident and have little recall of it.
You are in receipt of a Disability Pension for an intellectual disability. You also have a number of other serious health concerns. You suffer from Part Mosaic Syndrome, which is a heart defect. Ultimately, surgery will be required to correct the defect and on occasion your heart can become quite unstable, causing health concerns. You also have a long history of depression and anxiety and have experienced suicidal ideation.
I am told that the time you have spent in custody has given you cause for reflection. You recognise the terrible impact your use of illicit drugs has had upon you. You regret your behaviour and are ashamed of it. You are hopeful that upon your ultimate release from custody, you will be able to abstain from the ongoing use of illicit drugs and become a more positive role model for your children.
Armed robbery is a very serious crime, predominately because of the consequences to those who are robbed and the danger such a crime presents to any member of the public who may be in the vicinity. On this occasion, there were other members of the public in the immediate area, those who were with the complainant and also other vehicular traffic. The violence you perpetrated upon the complainant was persistent. She resisted you but you continued with your violence until you achieved your purpose. Even when others tried to intervene you were not deterred. Your conduct must have been pre-meditated at least to some degree. You told your partner to drop you off in the immediate vicinity and to wait for you with the car running. The complainant was a particularly vulnerable individual. She suffered from a significant mental health condition. She was reliant on her disability pension for financial support and you took that means of support from her. I take into account your plea of guilty. I accept that you now regret your behaviour but, of course, you initially demonstrated no remorse when questioned by police and indeed lied to police about your involvement in this mater. Principles of general deterrence, specific deterrence and denunciation have much work to do in this sentencing exercise.
In my view, the only appropriate sentencing response is a significant period of imprisonment. The sentence I am about to impose will be the longest period you have ever served in custody. Hopefully, it will be a sufficiently salient experience to motivate you to make the changes that you say you are desirous of making. I do not think rehabilitation is an entirely forlorn hope, so I will make allowance for parole at the earliest opportunity.
Dillon Popowski, you are convicted of both the crime and the offence. In respect to the offence, I make no further order. In respect to the crime of armed robbery, you are sentenced to imprisonment for a period of four years. You will be eligible for parole after you have served one-half of that sentence. The sentence is to commence on 10 July 2025 when you were taken into custody. I make a restitution order in favour of the estate of Sasha Brants.