DPP v Chauveau [2025] ACTSC 553

1. Jaydon Michael Chauveau, you are to be sentenced for the following offences: (a) SC CAN 446/2025: Accessory to culpable driving causing grievous bodily harm, contrary to s 717(1) of the Criminal Code 2002 (ACT). That offence carries a maximum penalty of imprisonment for five years, 500 penalty units, or both. (b) CAN 8704/2024: Arson, contrary to s 404(1) of the Criminal Code. That offence carries a maximum penalty of imprisonment for 15 years, 1500 penalty units, or both. (c) CAN 8707/2024: Ride or drive in a motor vehicle without consent, contrary to s 318(2) of the Criminal Code. That offence carries a maximum penalty of imprisonment for five years, 500 penalty units, or both.

2. You are also to be sentenced on the following transfer charges: (a) CAN 8705/2024: Aggravated dangerous driving, contrary to s 7(1) of the Road Transport (Safety and Traffic Management) Act 1999 (ACT). The offence carries a maximum penalty of imprisonment of two years, 200 penalty units, or both. The offence also carries a minimum licence disqualification period of 12 months: s 63(2)(b) of the Road Transport (General) Act 1999 (ACT). (b) CAN 8706/2024: Driving disqualified (repeat offender), contrary to s 32(1) of the Road Transport (Driver Licensing) ACT 1999 (ACT). The offence carries a maximum penalty of imprisonment for one year, 100 penalty units, or both. The offence also carries a minimum licence disqualification period of 24 months: s 32(5)(b).

3. I am also taking into account account, in relation to the arson charge, the additional offence of: (a) CAN 649/2025: Ride or drive in a motor vehicle without consent, contrary to s 318(2) of the Criminal Code. That offence carries a maximum penalty of imprisonment for five years, 500 penalty units, or both. This offence occurred several days earlier than the arson offence.

Facts

4. All of the offences were committed between 14 and 17 April 2024.

5. The facts in relation to the first three offences are that, between 9:30pm on 14 April 2024 and 7:30am on 15 April 2024, a Genesis motor vehicle was stolen from an address in Curtin.

6. In the early hours of 17 April 2024, you were the driver of that black Genesis motor vehicle travelling in tandem with another stolen vehicle (a white Camry) on main roads around Deakin near Capital Circle. The speed of the vehicle you were driving was calculated to be no less than 127 km/h, and the speed at which the Camry was travelling was calculated at no less than 110 km/h.

7. A few moments after passing the Prime Minister’s residence, as both vehicles travelled at high speed towards Capital Circle, the Camry lost control and collided with a concrete retaining wall on the eastern boundary of Capital Circle, rolling several times and coming to rest on its roof. According to the event data record retrieved from the Camry, about 4.6 seconds prior to impact, the Camry was travelling at 131 km/h.

8. Three young people were in the Camry: a young person (who was the driver), one of your co-defendants (who was in the passenger seat) and another person (who was in the rear driver’s side seat). The deceased was ejected from the vehicle and suffered catastrophic head injuries which led to his death the next day.

9. Immediately after the collision, you stopped the black Genesis. You knew there had been a crash. One of your passengers left the Genesis and observed the deceased lying on the road. You and others screamed at her to get back into the car, and you then drove the remaining two occupants of the Camry away from the scene.

10. In the hour after the collision, after dropping off two of your passengers from the Camry, you then drove to a park in Theodore where you torched the black Genesis. You did so in order to conceal your involvement in the other offending.

11. You acknowledged that, in respect of the third count (driving the stolen vehicle), you were the driver and not just passenger in the vehicle and that the duration of the driving was the evening of, and into the early morning of, 16 and 17 April. At the time, you are already driving whilst disqualified as a consequence of earlier offending.

12. The full circumstances of your involvement in all of these offences are set out in the agreed facts annexed to this judgment and marked as Annexure A.

13. The circumstances of your involvement in the charge of ride or drive in a motor vehicle without consent committed on 14 April 2024 are set out in the agreed facts at pars 1 to 4, and I do not intend to repeat them here. Suffice to say that on that occasion you were not the driver but a passenger. Guilty pleas

14. You entered your pleas of guilty to these charges on 28 August 2025 after the prosecution filed a fresh indictment replacing the original charge of accessory after the fact to manslaughter with the charge of accessory after the fact to culpable driving causing grievous bodily harm.

15. Your counsel submitted that you should be accorded a discount of approximately 35 percent for your plea because it was entered six months before the trial date, on the first occasion when an updated indictment including the lesser offence of accessory to culpable driving was presented. Your counsel submitted that you should be given such a discount because of your assistance towards the administration of justice by pointing out to the Director of Public Prosecutions that the original charge of accessory after the fact to manslaughter was doomed to fail.

16. For the reasons submitted by the prosecutor, I do not accept that submission. The result of negotiations between your legal representatives and the Director resulted you in facing at least one less serious charge. Although your counsel submitted that it was your lawyer’s representations to the Director’s office that resulted in the lesser charge, I very much doubt that the Director needed your legal assistance to conclude that the lesser charge was the more appropriate in the circumstances.

17. In the circumstances as I find them to be, I will apply a discount of 18 percent to each of the sentences which I intend to impose.

The objective seriousness of your offending

18. Your counsel submitted that, as to the offence of accessory to culpable driving causing grievous bodily harm, I should assess the objective gravity of your offending as low because all you did was drive the young person from the Camry after the collision away from the scene, a decision made on the spur of the moment in highly stressful circumstances. In light of the report of the psychologist dated 30 October 2025, I accept that your profoundly disadvantaged upbringing has left you with impaired decision-making capacity and that that is directly relevant to your committing the offence of accessory on that night.

19. The offence of arson is in itself a very serious offence. Here, you committed that offence solely in an attempt to avoid responsibility for your involvement in the theft of the vehicle and the offence of aggravated driving and driving whilst disqualified. While I acknowledge that the vehicle was set on fire in the middle of a paddock away from other houses and people, nevertheless the lighting of a fire deliberately anywhere in this country is an intrinsically dangerous act which could have led to much greater damage. As it was, the vehicle (which was valued at approximately $130,000) was unsalvageable.

20. Furthermore, in committing these offences on the night, you willingly involved yourself in the conduct of all of the parties and events that led up to the crash, including the theft of the vehicles and driving in a manner that involved excessive speeds and dangerous manoeuvres, all involving young people who neither had the skill nor the experience to be behind the wheel of the car.

21. That includes you, and one of the orders I am going to make is that you be disqualified from holding or obtaining a driver’s licence until further order. The reason I am going to do that is because at this stage in your life, I do not consider you have the capacity, the maturity or the commonsense to be allowed behind the wheel of a vehicle. It may be that you will gain that maturity one day and you can apply for a licence then. But as I said, I do not think you are a fit and proper person to hold a licence and that is why I am going to make that order until further order.

Subjective factors

22. At the time of these offences, you were on conditional liberty, having been released on parole on 21 February 2024, less than two months prior to the current offences. During that time, three actions for breach of parole were also initiated. Your parole was ultimately cancelled on 14 May 2024 for further driving offences which are unrelated to the charges that I am required to sentence you for.

23. Your criminal history can only be described as woeful. You have received multiple terms of full-time imprisonment, and you have spent a substantial period of your young life incarcerated. I have read the report of the psychologist dated 30 October 2025. You are now 22 years old. You are a Wirradjuri man through your maternal line and of French and Welsh descent through your paternal line.

24. I have no hesitation in accepting the conclusions of Ms Edwige, the psychologist, that you have been exposed to cumulative traumas over your lifespan, and that this constant exposure has caused psychological distress and previous substance misuse. As I have previously mentioned with respect to the first count of accessory to culpable driving, there is no doubt that your mental health impairment significantly impacted on your decision-making judgment, behaviour and emotional regulation at the time of these offences.

25. Moreover, I do accept that your moral culpability is reduced, to some extent, by reason of the background of disadvantage described in the various reports tendered upon sentencing. As Justice Taylor said when sentencing you, sadly just over two years ago for similar offending, your background does give rise to the considerations enunciated in Bugmy v The Queen [2013] HCA 37; 249 CLR 571.

26. The difficulty in sentencing you today is that you have many times in the past received the benefit of consideration and leniency by other judicial officers, most recently by Elkaim J in 2022 and Taylor J in 2023.

27. I recognise that you are still a very young man. I also recognise that prolonged incarceration of people with mental illnesses is rarely justified and that the psychologist who assessed you most recently is of the opinion that, provided you have the right support and meaningful connections, you do have the ability to rehabilitate.

28. In that regard, your counsel submits that a significant support you now have, which was not the case in the past, is that since you were taken into custody on the last occasion, you have reached out to your father who, as was not the case in your earlier life, is now available and willing to play and important support role in your life while you are still incarcerated and upon your release. For this reason, and also to try and guard against the risk of your becoming institutionalised, your counsel submitted that I should impose a longer than usual period for you to be on parole when you get out.

29. Even though I accepted your counsel’s submission that the objective gravity of your offending on count 1 is low, I cannot accept that the threshold in s 10 of the Crimes (Sentencing) Act 2005 (ACT) has not been crossed. You have, as I said, received lenient treatment in the past by at least two other judges of this court. You have also been assessed as a high risk of general reoffending and suitable for a high level of supervision commensurate with the risks associated with your antisocial companions, your history of significant alcohol and drug abuse, together with your unemployment status and your mental health.

30. For all these reasons, I will have to impose sentences of imprisonment. I can, however, accede to your counsel’s suggestion that I can allow for a longer period than usual on parole. Because you are still serving the sentence imposed by Taylor J in 2023, I will need to reset the non-parole period. You have been in custody since 15 May 2025 solely referable to this offending. Therefore, I will backdate the sentence to commence from 15 May 2025.

31. I have taken into account the principle of totality by making the offence of aggravated dangerous driving (CAN 8705/2024) wholly concurrent with the accessory to culpable driving charge (SC CAN 446/2025), and there is therefore no need to introduce concurrency between the other offences. I consider that, by doing this, your sentence will not be crushing so as to ensure that you give up all hope.

32. The total effective sentence will be a period of three years, three months and 10 days (reduced by 18 percent from four years on account of your plea of guilty). The non-parole period will be a period of 21 months, to commence from 15 May 2025, which is a period of approximately 53 percent of the effective head sentence.

Orders

33. Therefore, the orders of the Court are: (1) On charge SC CAN 446/2025 (accessory to culpable driving causing grievous bodily harm), the offender is convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for 9 months and 23 days (reduced by 18 percent from 12 months), commencing on 15 May 2025 and ending on 9 March 2026. (2) On charge CAN 8704/2024 (arson), the offender is convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for 1 year, 2 months and 23 days (reduced by 18 percent from 18 months), commencing on 10 March 2026 and ending on 1 June 2027. (3) On charge CAN 8707/2024 (ride or drive in a motor vehicle without consent), the offender is convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for 9 months and 26 days (reduced by 18 percent from 12 months), commencing on 2 June 2027 and ending on 27 March 2028. (4) On charge CAN 8705/2024 (aggravated dangerous driving), the offender is convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for 9 months and 23 days (reduced by 18 percent from 12 months), commencing on 15 May 2025 and ending on 9 March 2026. (5) On charge CAN 8706/2024 (driving disqualified (repeat offender)), the offender is convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for 4 months and 28 days (reduced by 18 percent from 6 months), commencing on 28 March 2028 and ending 24 August 2028. (6) Charge CAN 649/2025 (ride or drive in a motor vehicle without consent) is taken into account with charge CAN 8704/2024 (arson). (7) The non-parole period begins on 15 May 2025 and ends on 14 February 2027. (8) In respect of the charges of aggravated dangerous driving (CAN 8705/2024) and driving disqualified (repeat offender) (CAN 8706/2024), I make an order pursuant to s 65(2) of the Road Transport (General) Act 1999 (ACT) that you be disqualified from holding or obtaining a driver licence until further order of the court.

I certify that the preceding thirty-three [33] numbered paragraphs are a true copy of the Reasons for Sentence of her Honour Acting Justice Kelly.

Associate: Date:

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Amendments

14 January 2026 Omit “Jayden Michael Chauveau” and substitute with “Jaydon Michael Chauveau” Cover page 14 January 2026 Omit “Jaydon Michael Chauvaeu” and substitute with “Jaydon Michael Chauveau” Paragraph: [1] ANNEXURE A: AGREED FACTS SCC2025/25 SCC2025/26

THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

against

JAYDON CHAUVEAU

AGREED FACTS

14 April 2024 - the stolen Camry

1. About 5:16am on 14 April 2024, a white 2016 Toyota Camry sedan with ACT registration YMU79T (white Camry) was stolen from an address in Conder, ACT.

2. At 5:20am on 14 April 2024, the white Camry was involved in a petrol 'drive off' at the Ampol Service Station in Conder. CCTV footage shows two male occupants of the vehicle. Ty- Ringa JOYCE (herein referred to as 'the deceased') is depicted exiting the passenger door of the white Camry and filling the vehicle up with petrol before the vehicle drives off. 3. At 9:01pm that same day, two individuals are filmed on Jayden CHAUVEAU's (offender) phone. They were the offender, who was in the passenger seat, and Jack SUMMERRELL-JENKINS (Summerell-Jenkins), who was driving the Camry. 4. Over the next 75-minutes, the Camry speeds around different parts of Canberra, at times exceeding the posted speed limit by over 80km/h. Two separate police officers attempted to stop the Camry but ceased their pursuits due to the risk posed from the excessive speeds.

15 April 2024 - the stolen Genesis

5. At 1:12am on 15 April 2025, CCTV footage outside a residence in Doris Turner Street in Forde, ACT captures SUMMERRELL- JENKINS exit the passenger seat of the white Camry and case a vehicle parked in the driveway. SUMMERRELL- JENKINS is depicted wearing beige shorts, black puffer jacket, black cap and a face-mask. He is identified by the distinctive tattoo on his rear right calf.

6. At 4:25am on 15 April 2025, the white Camry pulls up in front of a residence in McArthur. CCTV depicts SUMMERRELL-JENKINS exit the passenger seat and an unknown male exit the driver's seat. Both individuals walk down a driveway and return with a stolen motorbike. SUMMERRELL-JENKINS enters the driver's seat of the Camry and drives away.

7. Between 9:30pm on 14 April 2024 and 7:30am on 15 April 2024, a Genesis GV80 with ACT Registration AYAC78B (black Genesis) was stolen from an address in Curtin. 17 April 2024-the movements of the defendants in the lead up to collision

8. The deceased was staying with his grandfather, Sinish BLASKOVIC, on the night of 16 April 2024. The deceased received a phone call around 10pm. Mr BLASKOVIC heard two male voices on the phone who were asking the deceased to come out. Mr BLASKVOIC told the deceased he could not go out and the deceased told the male callers he could not come out.

9. Around 12am on 17 April 2024, Kiara RYAN-MEARES had a conversation with her ex-partner. Ms RYAN-MEARES asked him to hang out. He said he was too tired to hang out and arranged for Ms RYAN-MEARES to be picked up by the offender. Ms RYAN-MEARES and the offender had never met before and were introduced over text message. 10. At 12:09am the black genesis was recorded by a speed camera going southbound on the Monaro Highway in Gilmore going 161km/h in an 80km/h zone. 11. At 12:19am the black genesis was recorded by a speed camera going northbound on the Monaro Highway in Hume going 141km/h in an 80km/h zone.

10. At 12:28am, Ms RYAN-MEARES was picked up by the offender in the black genesis at her address in Throsby. She got into the rear passenger seat. The offender was in the driver’s seat and Kyle HENGST (young person) was in the front passenger seat.

11. About 12:35am, the deceased captured a three second video over Snapchat of the inside of the white Camry from the rear driver's side seat. 14. At 12:50am the black genesis was recorded by a speed camera going southbound on the Monaro Highway in Gilmore going 93km/h in an 80km/h zone.

12. Around 1:30am, the black Genesis, the white Camry and a stolen Holden Barina are captured on various residential CCTV cameras arriving in Cropper Place, Gordon. The young person left the Genesis and the offender remained in the driver's seat of the Genesis for the remainder of the night. Ms RYAN-MEARES climbed through to sit in the front passenger seat of the Genesis. The stolen Barina was dumped on the street.

13. CCTV from an address in Weston captured the Camry and the Genisis and a conversation between four males. Based on the CCTV footage and the evidence of Ms RYAN-MEARES, these males were the offender, the young person, SUMMERRELL- JENKINS and Chayse SUMMERRELL-JENKINS, who is the younger brother of Jack SUMMERRELL-JENKINS. The young person and Jack SUMMERRELL-JENKINS got into the white Camry and left the street with the black Genesis.

14. About 3:45am, Chayse SUMMERELL-JENKINS left the Camry on a motorbike. .

15. Around 4:30am, Mannaaki TAMEHANA received a call from the deceased who told him he was outside. Mr TAMEHANA went outside and saw the w h i t e Camry and the Black Genesis parked outside his address in Issacs.

16. Mr TAMEHANA observed two males in the driver and passenger seat of the white Camry. The driver was wearing a black hooded jumper covering his head and of a very small build. The front passenger was also wearing a black hooded jumper covering his head and was a bigger build than that of the driver. Both males were wearing blue disposable face masks. At this time, the young person was seated in the driver's seat and SUMMERRELL-JENKINS was seated in the passenger seat of the Camry.

17. Mr TAMEHANA approached the Genesis and spoke to the deceased who was in the rear driver's side passenger seat with the window down. The deceased asked Mr TAMEHANA to come for a ride and Mr TAMEHANA said no. Mr TAMEHANA observed a male in the driver's seat and a female in the front passenger seat of the black Genesis. These were the offender and Ms RYAN-MEARS. 21. Both vehicles then departed Mr TAMEHANA's residence, turning towards the direction of the Canberra Hospital.

The Collision

22. A few minutes before the collision, Mr Ravi TAMANG saw the w h i t e Camry and black Genesis proceed through a red light, turning left onto Melrose Drive, Phillip heading towards Yarra Glen. He estimated that both vehicles sped off at over 100km/h.

23. Mr Scott HANCOCK was exiting Phillip roundabout onto Yarra Glen where he was overtaken by the white Camry and black Genesis. The black Genesis was travelling in front of the white Camry. 24. Mr HANCOCK observed the vehicles travelling at substantial speed with the white Camry weaving between the left and right lanes on Yara Glen. He was surprised the Camry was able to stay on the road given the erratic driving he witnessed. 25. CCTV footage from the Japanese embassy Captured the Black Genesis and white Camry traveling in tandem with the Genesis in the lead. The Genesis traveling at a calculated speed of no less than 127km/h and the Camry at a calculated speed of no less than 110km/h 26. At 4:47am, CCTV footage from the Prime Minister's residence at 5 Adelaide Avenue, Deakin ('the Lodge') captured the black Genesis and white Camry travelling at high speed towards Capital Circle.

24. A few moments after passing the Lodge, the w h i t e Camry lost control and collided with a concrete retaining wall on the eastern boundary of Capital Circle, rolling several times and coming to rest on its roof. According to the event data record retrieved from the Camry, at 4.6 seconds prior to impact, it was travelling at 131km/h. At the time of collision, the young person was driving the Camry, SUMMERRELL-JENKINS was in the passenger seat and the deceased was in the rear driver's side seat.

25. During the collision sequence, while the white Camry was rolling the deceased was ejected from the vehicle and came to rest about 15 meters from the final resting place of the white Camry. He suffered catastrophic head injuries as a result. 29. Immediately after the collision, the offender stopped the black Genesis and Ms RYAN- MEARES asked why he had stopped. The offender said something had happened and that he was pretty sure "they had crashed".

26. Shortly after this, the Young person entered the rear passenger seat and SUMMERRELL- JENKINS entered the rear driver's side seat of the b l a c k Genesis. SUMMERRELL- JENKINS said "he's laying on the road". Ms RYAN-MEARS exited the b l a c k Genesis and observed the deceased lying on the road. The occupants of the Genesis screamed at Ms RYAN-MEARS to get back in the car. Ms RYAN-MEARS hopped back into the passenger seat of the Genesis and started crying.

27. The offender began to drive the Genesis away and asked where they wanted to go. SUMMERRELL-JENKINS replied "to my nans".

28. Ms RYAN-MEARS said "stop the car, I'm going to jump out if you don't let me out". She took off her seatbelt and tried to open the door but found it to be locked. The offender grabbed her leg so hard it left a bruise and said "it was fine". Ms RYAN-MEARS later provided a photograph of the bruise to police.

29. At the time of the collision, Mr Padam NAPAL was driving to work from his address in Phillip. Mr NAPAL was overtaken by the white Camry and black Genesis, which is depicted on the CCTV footage from the Lodge, and observed the Camry leave the road and collide with the concrete wall, rolling two or three times, before stopping on its roof.

30. Mr NAPAL saw a woman get out of the Genesis, describing her as wearing a pink jacket, slim figure and five feet tall. He observed two people get out of the Camry, one from each side, before they ran to the Genesis and the Genesis drove away. The person that climbed out of the passenger side of the Camry was wearing a black hooded jumper and skinny build. Mr NAPAL cannot recall details of the person that climbed out of the driver's side of the Camry other than they ran to the Genesis before departing the area.

31. CCTV footage of the British High Commission depicts the Genesis enter the intersection of Coronation Drive and Commonwealth Avenue at 4:48:am. The total time between the Camry and Genesis leaving the view of the Lodge CCTV camera and the Genesis entering the view of the British High Commission CCTV camera is 39 seconds. Post-collision conduct and arson of Genesis

32. In the hour following the collision, 28 calls were made by the offender and SUMMERRELL-JENKINS: Seven calls were made by the mobile associated with SUMMERRELL-JENKINS to Carina SUMMERRELL (mother), Shikira BROWN (ex-partner) and an unknown number. 21 calls were made by the mobile associated with the offender to Kristy WINTERS (mother), Desmond SEISON (stepfather) and Grace BYRNE(ex-partner of the offender).

33. Sometime after the collision, the black Genesis stopped near SUMMERELL-JENKINS grandmother’s house in Kambah. Ms RYAN-MEARES observed the young person and SUMMERELL-JENKINS to exit the Genesis. 38. The offender then drove Ms RYAN-MEARS to a park in Theodore and parked the Genesis. Ms RYAN-MEARS observed a grass area with trees and a fence nearby and was told by CHAUVEAU to go and stand somewhere nearby. Ms RYAN- MEARS could not see what the offender was doing to the black Genesis. Shortly after, an unknown male arrived and collected Ms RYAN-MEARS and the offender and dropped them at the offender's residence.

34. Ms Anne MOY observed the black Genesis on fire from the backyard of her property at around 5:30am.

35. The offender caused the Black Genesis to become on fire and suffer damage as a result.

36. At the time the black Genesis had a retail value of approximately $130,000.

Forensic and medical evidence

42. The deceased was attended to by various civilian passersby at the scene of the collision. ACTAS attended the scene and transported the deceased to hospital. CT scans revealed the deceased had suffered an unsurvivable head injury. He was placed on life support until brain death was declared on 18 April 2024 at 3:32pm.

Police investigation

43. Both the white Carmy and black Genesis were seized for forensic examination on 17 April 2024. 44. The Offender's mobile was found to have been paired to the Bluetooth of both the Camry and the Genesis.

44. A vehicle inspection report conducted on 11 September 2024 by Mr Robert NICHOLAS found the Camry's brakes, steering system, wheels and seat belts in good working condition.

45. At the time of the collision, it is believed that the deceased was not wearing a seatbelt, SUMMERRELL-JENKINS was wearing a seatbelt and the young person had his seatbelt clipped in but was wearing it behind his back, so as to not be properly restrained by the seatbelt. 47. The offender was charged with the index offending on 23 September 2024. At the time, he was serving a period of imprisonment for other driving offences after having his parole cancelled on 14 May 2024.1