STATE OF TASMANIA v AMANDA MARGARET RICHARDSON 3 JUNE 2019
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE BLOW CJ
Ms Richardson has pleaded guilty to charges of armed robbery and wounding. At about 10pm on 13 December last year, she and her mother went to a pizza shop in Devonport to order a pizza. Shortly after collecting the pizza, she returned, entered through a staff entrance, and began to steal money from the cash register. The 21-year-old female manager of the shop approached her and tried to retrieve the cash, but Ms Richardson yelled, “I’ve got a knife.” The two women struggled. Ms Richardson stabbed the manager to the right bicep, causing a wound a few centimetres long, after which she fled with the drawer from the cash register. She rejoined her mother and hurried away, pausing only to menace a witness who had shouted at her.
Within two hours, police officers located Ms Richardson at her home, searched the premises, and found various incriminating items including the knife with blood on it, $105 in Ms Richardson’s underwear, and a further $99.30 and part of the cash drawer in Ms Richardson’s handbag. She was arrested, and has been in custody since the early hours of 14 December.
She was interviewed by police officers, but made no significant admissions. During April, after it was established that DNA found on the knife matched that of the manager, it was indicated that she was likely to plead guilty to the charge.
The manager’s arm wound was repaired with seven stiches. She had to have two weeks off work. For some time she was unable to drive or use her right hand. She has no ongoing physical symptoms, except that she has been left with a scar about 2.5 centimetres long. However the psychological impact on her has been significant. She decided to leave her employment, which often involved working alone late at night. She has not been able to find a new job, and has not worked since February.
Ms Richardson is 26 years old. She has not been sentenced to imprisonment before, but she has a lot of convictions for driving, dishonesty and drug offences, as well as two convictions for assault. Both of those convictions relate to violence towards her partners. She was on bail on the second assault charge, and several other charges, when she committed this crime.
Ms Richardson was dependent on a Newstart allowance at that time. She was living in a Housing Tasmania unit, but lost her lease of that unit as a result of being remanded in custody. She has four children, none of whom were in her care at the time of her arrest. They are aged 11, 6, 7 and 1. The eldest was born when she was in grade 8. She loves them, but has had a drug problem since she was 14 years old, before her first pregnancy. She has abstained from drugs since her arrest, for the first time in over 10 years. She has undertaken parenting courses in prison, as well as studying maths and English. She is keen to rehabilitate herself, and to take on the care of her youngest child.
This crime was unplanned. Ms Richardson left her home intending only to buy a pizza. After she collected it, she saw that there was an open door, and took the opportunity to steal from the cash register. She routinely carried a knife in her bag. She had no intention of injuring anyone when she commenced to steal from the cash register, but reacted by stabbing the manager when she tried to stop her. She is now horrified that she stabbed the manager, and willing to take responsibility for what she did. Her counsel told me that she was upset by the contents of the manager’s victim impact statement.
Although this was an unplanned and opportunistic armed robbery, it was a serious one because a vulnerable unarmed young woman was stabbed while working alone at night. Because Ms Richardson pleaded guilty at a fairly early stage, I think she should receive a sentencing discount of about 20 to 25%. It is also significant that she is young, and has never been to prison before. However the only appropriate penalty is a sentence of imprisonment.
Amanda Margaret Richardson, I convict you and sentence you to 21 months’ imprisonment with effect from 14 December 2018. You will not be eligible for parole until you have served 10½ months of that sentence. I make a restitution order requiring the cash totalling $204.30 seized by police officers from you to be returned to the franchisee of Domino’s Pizzas at 139 William Street, Devonport.