STATE OF TASMANIA v TYLO HUNTER TARGETT-HOBBS 4 JULY 2025
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE CUTHBERTSON J
Tylo Hunter Targett-Hobbs, you have pleaded guilty to a charge of aggravated assault. Pursuant to s 385A of the Criminal Code, I am also dealing with your pleas of guilty to charges of possessing a firearm while not the holder of a firearm licence for the appropriate category, possess a firearm part namely magazines and rifle bolt, possess ammunition while not the holder of the appropriate firearm licence, breach of bail, reckless driving, unlicensed driving, using an unregistered motor vehicle, using a motor vehicle with no premium cover, riding a motorbike while not wearing a helmet, possessing a controlled drug (methylamphetamine) and possessing a thing used for the administration of a controlled drug.
On 13 November 2024, the complainant listed a motorcycle for sale on Facebook Marketplace. Bailey James Lethborg contacted the complainant and arranged to see the motorcycle the next day. On 14 November 2024, Mr Lethborg took the complainant’s motorcycle for a test drive but did not return it. A few hours later, the complainant got into his mother’s car and drove around George Town to look for his stolen motorcycle. He came across you and Mr Lethborg riding on separate motorcycles together on Davies Street in George Town. The complainant pursued the two of you in an attempt to reclaim his stolen motorcycle. On Davies Street, between Agnes Street and Jacobs Avenue, you produced a handgun from a shoulder bag while you were riding your own motorcycle. You turned towards the complainant, raised the gun in one hand and fired a shot towards the complainant. The bullet struck the car he was driving on the front bumper. The complainant was terrified that he would be shot. He gave up chasing you and Mr Lethborg and called police instead. There was apparently CCTV footage of this incident, although I have not been provided the details of what was captured by the camera or cameras involved.
At the time of riding the motorcycle, you were the subject of a bail condition imposed in the Launceston Magistrates Court that you not drive a motor vehicle or be at the controls of a motor vehicle or astride a motorcycle. Your conduct in pointing the handgun at the complainant and firing it while riding a motorcycle forms the basis of the charges of aggravated assault, reckless driving and breach of bail. You were not wearing a motorcycle helmet at the time of this incident. On your pleas of guilty, you also admit to being unlicenced and to the motorcycle being unregistered and uninsured.
Later on 14 November 2024, police attended a property in George Town where they arrested you in the backyard. Police obtained a search warrant and found a used Ice pipe on your bed. A Ruger rifle magazine, a bolt, three additional magazines, scope rings and ammunition of various calibres were located in a vehicle belonging to you parked in the backyard. A loaded homemade .221R pistol was found in the bumbag you were seen wearing in CCTV footage. Although it is not described in the facts for the prosecutor, it also appears that quantities of white power, namely methylamphetamine were found during the course of the search,
You were arrested by police and participated in a record of interview. You admitted riding a motorcycle. You claimed to have been followed by a blue car which was driving erratically and trying to ram you off the road. You claimed to be waving your arms at the car telling them to “fuck off” when riding along Davies Street. You told police the car stopped following you and you returned home. You denied firing or pointing a gun at the complainant and claimed to have waved your hand. You denied having a gun with you. You told police the satchel bag located at the premises was yours but said that the ammunition and gun located in it was not yours. You told police your DNA would probably be on the gun because you found it in the bag and touched it about 30 minutes before police had arrived. You denied any knowledge of the ammunition and firearm parts and said that they did not belong to you. You admitted the Ice pipe was yours.
The complainant has not provided a victim impact statement. I have no doubt he would have been terrified by your conduct. I am quite sure he was not expecting a firearm to be pointed in his direction, let alone fired.
You have relevant albeit limited prior matters. In November 2016 when you were 12 years old you were formally cautioned and participated in a community conference for two incidents of unlicenced driving and evading police. You participated in a community conference in 2018 when you were 14 years old in relation to a common assault charge. In 2019 you were dealt with in the Youth Justice Court on charges of common assault and using abusive language to a police officer. Those matters were dismissed and you were reprimanded pursuant to the Youth Justice Act. Your only adult prior matter was one dealt with in the Launceston Magistrates Court in November 2022 where you were convicted and fined in relation to charges of using abusive language to police and damaging a vehicle.
At the time of this offending you had a number of matters pending in the Launceston Magistrates Court. They included three separate allegations of evading police and associated driving charges including unlicenced driving and using an unregistered and uninsured motor vehicle. You received a suspended sentence in respect of those charges together with a community corrections order which required you to perform 35 hours community service.
You were originally granted bail in respect of these matters on 19 December 2024. You were returned to custody on 1 April 2025 and you have been in custody since then. It is accepted that any sentence imposed ought be backdated to reflect the period of time you have spent in custody.
You are now 20 years old as you were at the time of these offences. You are aboriginal. I am told that during your childhood your father was regularly violent towards your mother. He was eventually imprisoned for the violence perpetrated against her. Unfortunately, you have been affected by witnessing these events. You have been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder by the Tasmanian Aboriginal Health Service. You have also been previously diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
Due to the family violence experienced in your home, child safety services had involvement with you and your family from an early age. You lived with your mother until you turned 12. At that time she kicked you out of home and moved to Victoria. You have been raised by your grandmother and other family members since that time. Your adolescence has been marred by the use of illicit substances. You first commenced using cannabis from the age of 12 and tried methylamphetamine for the first time at 14. You have been a regular user of that drug since you were 15 years old. At the time of this offending, I am told you were using a few grams of methylamphetamine a day.
Despite your clearly unsettled upbringing, you did manage to complete year 10. You have also worked as a tree planter for approximately two and a half years. You now have a relationship with your mother and had been living with her in Victoria prior to the revocation of your bail.
Although you have been the subject of a community corrections order, you did not get any therapeutic intervention as you were granted bail to live with your mother in Victoria. A spontaneous decision to return to Tasmania to see your partner resulted in that bail being revoked. You have been in custody since that time.
As to the offending, I am told that the incident was not planned. On your version of events, the complainant was driving erratically and you made a spontaneous decision to fire a shot. There is no indication that anyone else was present. As to your possession of the firearm, this has not been fully explained, although your counsel tells me that you did not have it in your possession for the purposes of protection. I am not sure this is mitigating. I am left to speculate why you would be riding a motorcycle in a public street with a loaded hand gun.
It is submitted on your behalf that as a youthful offender rehabilitation is a genuine consideration for you. By your plea of guilty, you have accepted responsibility for your conduct. You have no relevant prior matters for firearms. It is also submitted on your behalf that the reckless driving overlaps significantly with the particulars of the aggravated assault. The particulars of the reckless driving are that while riding the motorcycle, you had control of that motorcycle with one hand, whilst turning your body to face behind you whilst handling a firearm. Although the charge arises out of the same conduct as the aggravated assault, it encompasses different elements namely the risk of interference with your ability to control the motorcycle properly when engaging in that conduct. You have no other outstanding matters. I am told that you have found your time in custody to be sobering.
Taking into account the time you have already spent in custody, you have now served approximately four months on remand. I accept that you are a young offender with few prior relevant matters. Your offending is, however, extremely serious, particularly in the context of the use of a motorcycle and the potential risk that posed. The use of a firearm to threaten the complainant together with the discharge of that firearm in a public place in the uncontrolled circumstances of riding a motorcycle are extremely concerning. Your riding of the motorcycle occurred against a background where you were already facing a number of charges relating to your driving and were subject to unambiguous bail conditions prohibiting you from riding or driving at all. Your conduct demonstrates a highly concerning attitude towards authority and the regulation of the use of motor vehicles. Your possession of the firearm, firearm parts and ammunition are also serious as your possession was without authority and is also serious in light of the overall circumstances.
There are, however, some signs that you are a person capable of rehabilitation. I note that despite what must have been a very difficult childhood, you did manage to finish school and have held employment. Apart from an offence relating to your return to Tasmania in breach of your bail, I am told there are no further offences pending. This may well be a function of the fact that you have had little time out of custody since these offences were committed. You are however a young person, and it is the case that you have now spent some time in custody reflecting on your conduct. I cannot rule out that this experience has provided you the incentive to stay out of trouble in the future. You have pleaded guilty which has, at the very least, saved the Court’s time.
Your offending does however warrant the imposition of a period of imprisonment. I am however satisfied that it is appropriate to suspend part of that sentence of imprisonment to provide you with further incentive to stay out of trouble in the future. I also propose to make a condition of the suspension of the sentence that you comply with a community corrections order. I am aware that you have previously had such an order revoked, but I understand that was at your request when you moved interstate. It seems to me that you would benefit from supervision on your ultimate release from custody.
Tylo Hunter Targett-Hobbs, you are convicted of all charges. On the charges of reckless driving and breach of bail (charges 11 and 12) on complaint 36236/24 you are sentenced to 6 weeks imprisonment backdated to 23 February 2025. On the charge of reckless driving and charges 13, 14 and 15 which are the unregistered and unlicenced driving charges you are disqualified from driving for 12 months to commence at the end of any other orders of disqualification to which you are subject. On the charge of aggravated assault and possess a firearm when not the holder of a firearm licence (count 3) on complaint 36236/24, you are sentenced to a period of 12 months’ imprisonment cumulative to the sentence imposed for reckless driving and breach of bail. Six months of that sentence will be suspended for a period of 2 years from your release from custody on condition that you (a) do not commit another offence punishable by imprisonment during the period the order is in force; and (b) you are subject to the supervision of a probation officer. It is a condition of the order for supervision that you must report, on or before 4.00 pm on the first business day following your release from custody, to the Office of Community Corrections at Cameron Street, Launceston. In addition, during the operational period of the order, the following conditions apply:
- 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 supervisor;
- you must submit to the supervision of a probation officer as required by the probation officer;
- you must not leave, or remain outside, Tasmania without the permission of a probation officer;
- you must give notice to a probation officer of any change of address or employment before, or within 2 working days after, the change;
- you must , attend educational and other programs as directed by a probation officer;
- you must submit to and undergo assessment and treatment for drug dependency as directed by a probation officer;
- you must submit to testing for drug use as directed by a probation officer.
I make no further orders in relation to the remaining charges on complaint 36236/24 in light of the penalties I have already imposed.
Mr Targett-Hobbs, if you breach the conditions of the suspended sentence, the suspended period must be activated unless it is unjust to do so.
Pursuant to s 149(2)(a) of the Firearms Act 1996, I order that all items listed on the Firearms Receipt No 27389 dated 14 November 2024 be forfeited to the Crown. In addition, I order pursuant to s 38 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 2001 that items 3, 19, 22, 23 and 27 on Property Seizure Record Receipt No. 23703 and 23704 be forfeited to the Crown. Finally, pursuant to s 149(2)(A) of the Firearms Act I order that the balance of the items listed on Property Seizure Record Receipts 237303 and 237304 be forfeited to the Crown.