STATE OF TASMANIA v LUKE SAMUEL RANKIN 1 JULY 2025
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE JAGO J
Mr Rankin, you have pleaded guilty to three crimes, being unlawfully injuring property, aggravated burglary and assault. On 27 December 2022, you went to the home of the complainant, Mr Dare. You knew Mr Dare. You were a friend of his son. You forced entry to the property by kicking the locked door multiple times, causing the dead lock latch on the door to break. You entered the residence. Meanwhile, Mr Dare had heard the banging at the door and had approached the living area. He had with him a small baseball bat. He immediately recognised you. You approached Mr Dare and punched him twice to the left side of his face with a closed fist. He said, “What have I done to you Luke?”. He raised the bat in an endeavour to protect himself but did not hit you with it. You attempted to hit Mr Dare again before he pushed you away causing you to stumble and fall to the floor. Mr Dare told you the police were on their way and you fled.
You were arrested on 11 January 2023. You participated in a record of interview. You made admissions to forcing entry to the home, telling police that you believed Mr Dare owed you money and that you went to the premises intending to demand the return of it. You told police that your intention was to “bash” the complainant if he refused to give it to you.
The State’s case is that you entered the property as a trespasser with intent to commit the crime of assault and, in fact, committed the crime of assault.
You are 32 years of age. You have a number of relevant prior convictions, including for common assault, destroy property, disorderly conduct, assault a police officer, a number of driving offences and several bail offences. In June 2024, you were sentenced by this Court for the crime of assault. You were sentenced to imprisonment for a period of seven days, the execution of which was wholly suspended. That crime occurred in January 2023, so shortly after the commission of this crime. Obviously, it is not a prior conviction for sentencing purposes but it is reflective of the chaotic nature of your lifestyle around that time. I am told that when this crime occurred, you were struggling with an alcohol addiction.
You had a very difficult upbringing. Your home life was characterised by an alcoholic father and violence within the home. Your mother was often the victim of such violence, as were you and your siblings. In your adolescence and early adult life, you tried hard to resist the use of alcohol because of your childhood experiences, but when a significant relationship you shared with the mother of your eldest two children came to an end, I am told you experienced difficulty in coping and resorted to the use of alcohol. Your use soon spiralled into an excessive use, and it was during this period of time that the crimes occurred.
I am told that you have now not consumed alcohol for over two years, last consuming it in April 2023. Your lifestyle has stabilised considerably. You are in a long-term relationship. Your partner has a child from a previous relationship, and you are an active stepfather. You and your partner also have one child together and are expecting a second child in November of this year.
I obtained a pre-sentence report in respect to you. In my view, it is positive. It described you as “actively making attempts to distance yourself from anti-social persons and develop a pro-social lifestyle”. It certainly appears that since your abstinence from alcohol, there has been a slowing of your offending and a concerted effort to stay out of trouble.
That said, this was serious offending. People are entitled to feel safe within their own homes and those who consider it acceptable to force their way into another person’s home in pursuit of illegitimate claims and assault them, need to understand that such behaviour will be condemned and punished by the court. That factor, together with attempting to deter others from this type of conduct, are important sentencing considerations. In my view, a period of imprisonment must be imposed to mark the seriousness of the offending but given the endeavours you have made over the last two and a half years to address your alcohol difficulty, and the improvements you have made in terms of stabilising your life, I am satisfied it is appropriate to suspend the period of imprisonment I intend to impose.
I make the following orders. Mr Rankin, you are convicted of all the matters to which you have pleaded guilty. You are sentenced to 8 months’ imprisonment. The whole of that sentence will be suspended on condition that, for a period of two years from today, you commit no offence punishable by imprisonment, and I emphasise the word “no”. I am also going to order that you complete some community service hours. To that end, I make a Community Correction Order for a period of 18 months, with a special condition requiring you to perform 70 hours of community service within that time.
The statutory core conditions of a Community Correction Order are imposed. Those conditions will be set out in a document that will be provided to you. In summary, they will include the following conditions that will apply for the entire operational period:
- You must not commit an offence punishable by imprisonment;
- You must report to a probation officer as required by the probation officer;
- You must comply with the reasonable and lawful directions of a probation officer or a supervisor;
- You must not leave or remain outside of Tasmania without the permission of a probation officer; and
- You must give notice to a probation officer of any change of address or employment before or within 2 working days after the change.
I also impose the following special conditions:
- You must, during the operational period of the order, submit to the supervision of a probation officer as required by the probation officer; and
- You must comply with directions regarding referrals to and compliance with alcohol and drug services.