STATE OF TASMANIA v CRAIG RAYMOND SILVA PEARCE J
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE 20 MAY 2019
Craig Silva you were found guilty by a jury of aggravated burglary, stealing and unlawfully damaging property. On 16 June 2018 you forced the rear door and entered a home in Blackmans Bay. Before going in you knocked on the door and bedroom window. The occupant of the home was away at the time. You went to the office, moved the free-standing safe from its position next to the desk and dragged it down the hallway and out through the front door. As you did so, you scuffed one of the floor-boards, and dented a metal flooring strip. Some minor damage was done to the door you forced. You did not get far and you left the safe un-opened on the front landing. Your crime was picked up on a monitored close circuit surveillance system and police were quickly notified. The evidence does not establish why the safe was left where it was. There are only two plausible explanations. The first is, that you became aware that police were coming. The second is, that once you got the safe outside you realised it was either too heavy or could not be opened and you decided to leave it. It makes no difference for sentencing purposes. You took the safe intending to steal it and its contents. The safe contained gold and jewellery and other valuable items, although it is not suggested that you knew what was in there. Everything was restored to the owner.
You were quickly identified by police from the images on the CCTV and arrested at your home within a few hours. It was obviously a planned burglary. It is not difficult to think of more serious examples of the crimes of aggravated burglary and stealing. It is also relevant that no-one was in the house and you took some care to ensure that was so before entering. That reduced the chance of some unpleasant confrontation in the home. It is relevant that you did not get away with anything. However, I am satisfied that you intended to steal what you could. You did not admit what you had done to the police, or plead guilty. You have not demonstrated any remorse. The invasion of a home is always a serious matter, and can be quite traumatic and unsettling for the occupier even if he or she is not present.
You are 35. You have a partner and four children. You come from a background of considerable disadvantage. You started committing crime as a teenager. You have continued to commit crime ever since, but I do not think that it can any longer be attributed to your difficult childhood. You have held some employment, but only intermittently, and your dishonesty is motivated by possible financial gain. You have also used illicit drugs, but I was given no further detail of that.
Your record includes offences of dishonesty and violence as well as firearm and driving offences. In 2003 you were given community service for offences including burglary, aggravated burglary, stealing and motor vehicle stealing. In 2004 you were sentenced to imprisonment for three years for burglary, stealing and injuring property. Between then and 2016, you had four convictions for stealing, one for motor vehicle stealing, four for destroying property, one for possession of stolen property, two for aggravated burglary, two for assault, one for dangerous driving and two for aggravated assault. The two aggravated assaults resulted in a single sentence of imprisonment for 18 months in 2010. Your recent record is of considerable relevance. On 9 September 2016 you were sentenced, for the most recent aggravated burglary and stealing, to imprisonment for four months wholly suspended for two years. You breached that suspended sentence by only a month later, in October 2016, receiving stolen property and dealing with the proceeds of crime. On 6 December 2018 Brett J activated the four month suspended sentence and sentenced you to a further term of three years. The result is you are currently serving a total term of three years and four months commencing 23 November 2018, with eligibility for parole after 25 months.
In considering the appropriate sentence, the combined effect of all the sentences is to be taken into account so that the result is a just reflection of your total criminality. Your counsel submitted that I should impose a sentence that does not extend the term which you are currently serving. He says that your partner has informed you that if a longer term is ordered she will not await your release and will end your relationship. He contends that this would make it a crushing sentence. I do not agree. In general, the effect of a sentence on other family members is not mitigating. It is part of the price to be paid for committing serious crime. You would have known the possible impact when deciding to break into this home. In addition, the crime for which you are now to be sentenced, having been committed on 16 June 2018, involved separate criminality and it is aggravated because it was committed while you were still subject to a suspended sentence and on bail for further crimes. Nevertheless, I accept that imprisonment will be more burdensome for you if it is to be served knowing the burden you have imposed on your partner and the risk that she and the children may not be there when you are released.
Craig Silva you are convicted on each count on the indictment. I make a compensation order in favour of the complainant whose name will be specified on the formal order, and adjourn the further terms of that order to a date to be fixed.
I impose one sentence. You are sentenced to imprisonment for 12 months. I order that 2 months of that sentence be served concurrently with the sentence you are currently serving. The balance is to be served cumulatively. That is, you are liable to serve an additional 10 months. I order that you are not to be eligible to apply for parole until you have served 7 months of the 12 month sentence, which will mean that you will become eligible to apply for parole after having served an additional 5 months. To avoid uncertainty, I specify that the result of the orders I have made is that:
- The total combined term which you are liable to serve with respect of all of the sentences imposed by Brett J on 6 December 2018, and by me today, is 4 years and 2 months from 23 November 2018; and
- The total period you must serve before becoming eligible for parole is 2 years and 6 months.