STATE OF TASMANIA v BRODIE JOHN SELF 9 SEPTEMBER 2019
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE GEASON J
Mr Self, you have pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, contrary to s 172A of the Criminal Code. You have also pleaded guilty to a charge of driving whilst disqualified, and another charge of evading police.
In imposing penalty for dangerous driving, I have regard to the comments of the Court of Criminal Appeal in relation to the principles to be applied in sentencing for this offence in Banks v Tasmania [2019] TASCCA 1, and more recently in the matter of Director of Public Prosecutions v Brown [2019] TASCCA 11.
The culpability which attaches to the charge of dangerous driving varies significantly. The seriousness of your driving is at the higher end because of the distance travelled, the time of the offending, with the consequent risk to other road users and pedestrians, and the fact that at the time traffic was in fact heavy and there were pedestrians about. In other words, your conduct was attended with abject disregard for the likely risk of your driving, and an actual risk was created in the particular circumstances of your driving.
Summarised, your offending began when you were observed driving a vehicle on Main Road in Glenorchy. You were recognised by police officers who observed that there were passengers in your vehicle. Whilst your vehicle was stationary at traffic lights police activated their lights and sirens. A police officer got out of the police vehicle and approached your car. You reversed the vehicle towards that police officer, forcing him to jump out of the way, before driving away at speed and mounting the footpath in front of the Club Hotel. Pedestrians on the footpath at the time were forced to take evasive action. You continued driving on the footpath for about 20 metres before turning back onto Main Road in Glenorchy. You failed to indicate as you proceeded through an intersection, and you ignored a red light, forcing other vehicles to come to a complete stop in order to avoid a collision with you. You were observed to swerve into the right hand lane without indicating and cause oncoming vehicles to stop or take evasive action to avoid a collision. You accelerated away from an unmarked police car, turned right into another street without indicating and against a red light, and drove at such speed that the rear of the vehicle lost traction and began to slide.
You continued into the Glenorchy Bus Mall which was occupied by elderly persons, children and other pedestrians who were waiting for public transport. That area is signed at 40 km/h but you were travelling at an estimated speed of 80 km/h. You travelled along Tolosa Street where you swerved in and out of the right lane on multiple occasions, overtaking other vehicles without indicating. Again, oncoming traffic was forced to stop to avoid a collision. You approach the roundabout to Bowden Street, again failing to give any indication, and forcing another vehicle to brake heavily. You accelerated and continued at a speed estimate at 100 km/h along Bowden Street, and then turned into Leonard Avenue. The speed in both streets is 50 km/h. You travelled onto Springfield Avenue, again without indicating, travelling at a speed that caused the vehicle to lose traction again and to slide onto the wrong side of the road. You drove at an excessive speed on Springfield Avenue through the roundabout with Culvern Street. Again, you failed to give way to oncoming traffic, forcing that traffic to brake suddenly in order to avoid a collision. You continued to accelerate away from the unmarked police car, turning right onto Main Road in Glenorchy without indicating.
Police deactivated emergency lights and sirens because of the risk to the public. You continued to travel at an excessive speed, and travelled to Lampton Avenue before turning onto the Brooker Highway where it is estimated that you were travelling at approximately 130 km/h. The speed limit there is 80 km/h. You were observed to repeatedly swerve in and out of your lane and to overtake other vehicles.
In all, your driving continued over a distance of about seven kilometres, and for a period of about 15 minutes.
When apprehended by police you told them that you were trying to get away. You apologised to the police officer you had reversed towards in Glenorchy, telling him that at the time you were scared. You participated in a record of interview, but made no comment except to acknowledge that, at the time of your driving, your licence had been disqualified.
The aggravating features of your crime include the fact that you narrowly missed hitting pedestrians by driving on the footpath; you drove erratically and unpredictably, at excessive speeds, that you drove through multiple red lights, and had passengers in your vehicle whose lives were placed at risk. Your purpose was to evade police, making the driving more likely to continue for as long as your felt it necessary to do so, to avoid apprehension by them.
None of the matters put by your counsel mitigate the objective seriousness of your offending, and nor do they influence the need for a penalty which adequately addresses the issue of general deterrence. That matter requires particular emphasis in relation to offences such as this. You have prior convictions which evidence a complete disregard for your obligations to responsible motor vehicle use and for the safety of others. This includes a conviction for negligent driving in October 2016, and a number of prior convictions for driving whilst disqualified. Your past convictions, more generally, suggest a very low level of compliance with your legal obligations or court orders. Whilst you are not to be punished a second time for your prior convictions, they deprive you of any legitimate basis for you claiming to be of good character. Your conduct on this occasions cannot be properly characterised as an aberration. It is in fact a continuation of your past lawless conduct.
As I have said before, dangerous driving is an offence which is easily committed because access to motor vehicles is readily obtained. Used inappropriately, as here, significant risk to the general public is created. It is one of the reasons that Parliament has determined that this offence should be dealt with in the Supreme Court.
I have received a detailed pre-sentence report in relation to your personal circumstances. I am assisted by that report and, generally, by the submissions made on your behalf by your counsel. Of concern to me is the apparent lack of engagement by you with Community Corrections. I accept that on some occasions in the past other events have overtaken matters, but observe that you did not attend, even for the purpose of having this report read to you.
In the circumstances, a term of imprisonment is required. I acknowledge your plea of guilty, which I accept was indicated early, and I will discount the penalty I would otherwise have imposed by 15% therefor. For the offence of dangerous driving, you are sentenced to 2 years and 3 months’ imprisonment with a non-parole period of 16 months. For the charge of evading police, you have prior convictions for that offence, and, as I have said, your driving history exhibits almost total disregard for your lawful obligations. In fixing a penalty for that offence, I have regard for the need to consider the totality principle. For that reason I intend to impose a penalty shorter than I otherwise would. You are sentenced to 4 months’ imprisonment to be served cumulatively to the sentence I have just imposed. You are disqualified from holding or obtaining a driver’s licence for a period of three years, to commence upon the expiration of any current period of disqualification, or the expiration of your sentence, whichever occurs first. I record a conviction in respect of the other matter, which is the matter of driving whilst disqualified, and I disqualify you for a period of three years, concurrent with the period of disqualification I have just imposed.
The net effect of that, Mr Self, is that you are sentenced to prison for 2 years and 7 months, and you may apply for parole after having served 16 months.