STATE OF TASMANIA v MICHAEL RODNEY SMITH 22 OCTOBER 2020
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE PEARCE J
Michael Smith, pleads guilty to burglary, stealing a firearm and trafficking in firearms. At around 6 am on Sunday 26 August 2018 he went to the home of his mother and her partner in George Town. He knew that were normally out on Sunday mornings. He had no permission to be there, and intended to steal. He entered the unlocked garage and, with bolt cutters, other tools and a drill, opened the firearm safe. He stole six firearms: four .22 rifles, a .303 rifle and a shotgun. The theft was discovered that afternoon. He had been seen by a neighbour and his fingerprints were on the gun safe. His partner returned three of the guns that night. He was spotted by the police on 29 August 2018 and, in the course of a chase, he threw one of the other rifles out of the car window. He was arrested on that day and interviewed the next day. He made admissions about what he had done. He claimed to have immediately sold two of the guns for about $300-$400 and kept the other for protection against persons he said had been threatening him. A few weeks later he told the police that he had not sold the two guns but had hidden them in a mining tunnel in the bush near Lefroy. Despite an extensive search the guns were not found. A pump action .22 rifle was recovered in November 2018 from a storage shed in a different location. The defendant has not offered an explanation as to how it may have got there. The shotgun remains unaccounted for.
The State does not assert, for the purpose of sentencing, that Mr Smith sold or otherwise disposed of any of the firearms to another person. However, by, without lawful excuse, conveying firearms not registered in his name from one place to another he thereby trafficked in them within the meaning of that term in the Firearms Act, s 110A(2). Stealing firearms and trafficking in firearms are serious crimes. There is a strong link between stolen firearms and crimes involving violence and dishonesty. Even if the defendant did not sell the guns, he hid two of them. It was almost inevitable that they, like most stolen firearms, would end up in the hands of criminals or be used for a criminal purpose. One of the firearms he took has not been recovered. General deterrence is a very strong sentencing factor. Those who steal guns must understand that punishment will follow.
The defendant is now aged 25. He disengaged from his family at an early age and has a long standing problem with drug abuse. He started using cannabis at age 13 and crystalline methylamphetamine from age 16. He has a moderate intellectual impairment. A cognitive assessment conducted in 2011 assessed his IQ between 44 and 55, in the lowest percentile of the population. His education did not advance beyond Grade 6. As a child he was medicated for conduct disorder and ADHD. He is susceptible to the influence of others and is easily led. This combination of factors led him to crime. He has a very poor record. He served periods of detention for offences of violence and dishonesty committed as a youth, including an aggravated armed robbery, assaults and aggravated burglaries. As an adult he has been to prison for offences involving dishonesty, driving and breaching bail. On 3 July 2015 I sentenced him to imprisonment for two years for two serious home invasions. He was released on parole in November 2016 but his parole was revoked. His offending did not stop. In 2017 he was sentenced to a further term of 11 months for driving and dishonesty offences. In January 2018 a three month term was imposed for motor vehicle stealing. On 18 April 2019, a drug treatment order was made for numerous driving, dishonesty and anti-social offences mostly committed between June 2018 and early 2019, the same period during which the crimes for which he is now to be sentenced were committed. The custodial part of the sentence was imprisonment for 18 months.
The sentencing proceedings before me commenced on 4 May 2020. At that stage his status on the drug treatment order was uncertain because of continuing drug use and offending. I agreed to defer sentence in the hope that he could take advantage of the assistance being offered to him to get his life in order and address his addiction. Despite a further deferral on 10 June 2020 his non-compliance continued. He did not appear for a drug treatment order review on 14 August or in this court on 31 August 2020 and was arrested on 5 September 2020. He has been in custody since then. It is now certain that the drug treatment order will be cancelled and, in addition, he faces sentence for a number of other charges. It is in his favour that he made some admissions to the police and pleads guilty. At present, given what has happened with the drug treatment order, it seems that his prospects for rehabilitation are bleak. It is certain that he will face significant terms of imprisonment in addition to the sentence I am about to impose. I will allow for parole but not until after the minimum term required to serve the various sentencing aims I have identified.
Michael Smith, you are convicted on each count on the indictment. You are sentenced to imprisonment for twelve months from 5 September 2020. I order that you not be eligible for parole until you have served eight months of that sentence.