STATE OF TASMANIA v KURT BLAKE WATTS 10 DECEMBER 2021
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE BLOW CJ
Kurt Blake Watts, you have pleaded guilty to a charge of armed robbery. One night in August 2019, more than two years ago now, you went to the home of a young man that you knew for the purpose of collecting a debt of $700 that you said was owing to you. You went there after a long drinking session, close to midnight. The other young man was not at home. His father was there. His father let you in. You were armed with a baseball bat. You took about $700 worth of things from the house, threatening the father with the baseball bat. You said to him, “That fucking kid of yours owes me $700 and I’m taking the fucking stuff out of here, and if you put up a fight I’m smashing the joint up and you too.” The man apparently did not put up a fight. You left there with a virtual reality headset and a couple of sets of headphones. The things you took were apparently worth about $700. By doing what you did you committed the crime of armed robbery, and that is a crime that usually results in people being sent to prison.
You had a mate with you. He was driving. He had been drinking too. He tried to take a corner doing more than 100 km/h. He did not succeed. The car crashed. You were trapped in it for a little while. You were seriously injured. You managed to get yourself out. The car caught fire. The stolen goods apparently were destroyed in the fire. They were not recovered. They were lost to the victim of this crime.
You were seriously injured. You received spinal injuries, fractured ribs, and fractured right eye socket. I expect you will not be doing anything like this again, after that happened to you. Most significantly, you are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the crash. You are unable to work. You are trying to get a disability support pension.
You were only 22 on the night in question, and you are now 25. You have some relevant prior convictions. You were dealt with by a magistrate for motor vehicle stealing. That was an offence that you committed just before your 19th birthday. There was another incident on New Year’s Day 2017 when you threatened a police officer. You have a prior conviction for punching a man in the face about nine months before the night in question. You had a drug problem. I am told that you have been off drugs since your accident.
If you had not had this accident, and had not been seriously injured and ended up with post-traumatic stress disorder, I think I probably would not have sent you to prison, but would have given you a suspended sentence and required you to do a lot of community service. Because of your physical and mental health problems, I am not even going to think about ordering you to perform any community service. And because you seem to have stayed out of trouble since your accident, I do not see a need to put you on probation. So I am going to give you a wholly suspended prison sentence. You need to be aware that if you re-offend, you can expect to go into prison, and it will not be pleasant.
I convict you and sentence you to 10 months’ imprisonment, wholly suspended on condition that you commit no offence punishable by imprisonment for a period of three years from today. I order you to pay Michael James Patterson compensation for the loss suffered by him. I adjourn the assessment of that compensation sine die. That means without fixing a date.