Bruce v The State of Western Australia [2006] WASCA 236

Bruce v The State of Western Australia [2006] WASCA 236 - WASCA 2006 case summary — Zoe

[94]

"BRUCE All you do is fucken tell em say yeah alright I was there I never had any involvement in it. Right? But well you can fucken. I know you've gotta word it properly. You gotta say, yes I knew about the operation. I knew all about it but I never actually took part in it. Right?

HALLIDAY Yeah, yeah.

BRUCE That's what you'll have to say. I never actually took part in it. But I knew all the parties that were involved.

HALLIDAY Yeah.

BRUCE And fucken Mr Bruce was not one of them.

HALLIDAY Yep. Right well what they said to me, right.

BRUCE If you denied all knowledge of it then you can't help me in court then I'll stay here till fucken another three years.

HALLIDAY No, no well that's what I tried to get across to them, but without saying too much.

BRUCE Mm.

HALLIDAY You know what I mean? 'Cos..

BRUCE Well what it is, is your going to court on the twenty sixth. If you stand up and plead not guilty to everything right?

HALLIDAY Yep.

BRUCE Well then that fucks me, becos then you come to my court case next month, a month after and you turn up and say, yes I was involved and I fucken, Mr Bruce wasn't there......

HALLIDAY Yep.

BRUCE ....well you're contradicting yourself.

HALLIDAY Yep, yep. Right well this is what I want to get with you now. Right, so keep on with the story that I went there two days afterwards and seen what they had.

BRUCE If that's what you too told 'em, yeah.

HALLIDAY Yeah alright.

BRUCE Alright.

HALLIDAY And I told 'em that the reason that you come to having so much stuff from the first trailer was becos they loaded the aerodyne up that night with some shit for us.

BRUCE Mm.

HALLIDAY So I actually told them that but I wanted some bath mats there, I said chuck that shit in and I said that's what I want for helping you start the truck.

BRUCE Mm.

HALLIDAY 'Cos I definitely have to go for helping steal the truck.

BRUCE Mm.

HALLIDAY So I sort of admitted to that. And receiving the truck. Receiving goods from the truck and receiving goods from the Cope trailer, fuck the criminal damage on it.

BRUCE Mm.

HALLIDAY So I don't know how the fuck we're gonna um have you heard or talked to Casserley at all? Like about his what he actually told them he did?

BRUCE Nah. I haven't fucken got hold of him. Janine went and saw him apparently and he well, from what the coppers even said mate I don't know, ...he's pleaded guilty to fucken unloading it.

HALLIDAY Yep."

[97]

"BRUCE But on my material facts it says that the fucken um, co-offenders were handed a roller, house paint and roller and a hair-dryer.

HALLIDAY Yeah well see I never saw that.

BRUCE You and I weren't there mate when that happened.

HALLIDAY No I, I know.

BRUCE So that would have been when fucken fucken Casserley and that were there.

HALLIDAY Yep, yep.

BRUCE And then it says that and then it says that Duffy gave and Duffy says that he gave me the keys on my material facts. Duffy reckons he gave me the key.

HALLIDAY Yea well something's wrong there. Yeah right well I wonder what his story is now?

BRUCE Well he's fucked. He's a dog mate.

HALLIDAY Yeah.

BRUCE That's all he is. That's what his fucken story is. Cos he's gone on about the house paint and roller and rah rah rah and he didn't realise it wasn't me. I wasn't there just yet. And then fucken go goes on about me fucken givin me the keys. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

HALLIDAY When Doddy actually give you the keys to it.

BRUCE Mm.

HALLIDAY Fucken hell.

BRUCE So he's fucken dog mate. If he comes in here, he's dead. He's fucken dead when he gets in here. Not for me but for the other boys who want to kill him.

HALLIDAY Yeah, I'm sure there's an array of fucken people who want to kill him.

BRUCE Mm. But fucken yeah going, plead guilty to as minimum as possible that you can actually, but you can account for you being there and being a witness.

HALLIDAY Yeah.

BRUCE That's all you gotta do. You gotta go in and say, yes I was involved in the truck, rah, rah, rah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But if you say you weren't there, rah, rah, rah, rah, rah. You're not a witness to say that I wasn't.

HALLIDAY Yeah I know.

BRUCE You have to say that you were there. And that when you went to fucken that place two days later....

HALLIDAY Yep.

BRUCE ... I stayed at home

HALLIDAY Yep.

BRUCE ... rah, rah, rah. You left my house. You left from my house you left....

HALLIDAY Leaving you there.

BRUCE ...and fucken yeah leaving me there.

HALLIDAY Yep, alright.

BRUCE Right?

HALLIDAY Well that's all good cos that gotta work in anyway, 'cos that's the truth to it you know?

BRUCE Yeah.

HALLIDAY They can't prove otherwise there. But um if.

BRUCE And if they say anything about a fingerprint later on right, about me the fingerprint at Maida Vale, No problem mate, I've been there before.

HALLIDAY Yeah, yeah, right.

BRUCE I've been there before."

[139]

78 However, in case there are different views on this, I will proceed by assuming that his Honour erred by starting with the maximum. That being so, it will become necessary to decide what sentence this Court should impose. In my opinion, counts 1 and 3 are in the category of the most serious stealing charges. This is a case involving what is popularly called organised crime, meaning crime which is not petty and opportunistic, but which is deliberately organised by people who act collectively and on a large scale. There was a gang, consisting of at least five members. It had a command structure and an infrastructure dedicated to criminal activity. It is evident, from the recorded conversation, that the appellant was in some position of command. Even while he was in prison he felt that he had the authority to issue instructions to Halliday about what evidence he should give, and indeed to order Halliday that he should plead guilty in order to protect the appellant. By way of an implied threat, he advised Halliday of what would happen to a "dog" - a person who said something against the appellant's interests - if he came into the prison system. Later, Halliday refused to testify against the appellant. The gang had an infrastructure. It had premises from which their criminal activity could be conducted. The Brant Street industrial unit and Duff's shed at Clayton Street were used for these purposes. The appellant had taken the trouble to purchase a mobile telephone, registering it under a false name, presumably in the hope that he could communicate concerning his illegal activities without detection. The stealing was carefully planned to the point where gang members were available to unload the trucks once they had been stolen. The amount involved in these thefts was considerable. The victim impact statements show that the thefts affected many people and caused disruption to commerce. The offences were committed by the appellant when he was on bail for other offences of a serious kind.

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Judgment (163 paragraphs)

Bruce v The State of Western Australia [2006] WASCA 236 (10 November 2006)

Parties

Legislation Cited (3)

Cases Cited (19)