DPP v Duguid [2019] VCC 713

The maximum penalty for that offence is six months' imprisonment or a fine of 25 penalty units.

11. You pleaded guilty at committal mention, and I have taken your early plea into account in your favour in mitigation of sentence. Your plea has spared witnesses and the community generally the burden of a series of criminal trials. I also accept that it is evidence of some remorse for your offending.
12. You have admitted an extensive criminal history for a range of offences.

On 23 March 2013 in the County Court at Sale, I sentenced you to five years imprisonment with a non-parole period of three years in relation to one charge of armed robbery. Your offending now before the court occurred not long after your completion of that sentence.

13. Dispositions imposed by courts intended to support your rehabilitation have failed, and sentences of imprisonment have also failed to deter you from reoffending. The protection of the community and specific deterrence are now prominent sentencing considerations in your case.
14. A prosecution opening was read to the court and tendered in evidence, and your offending may be summarised as follows -
15. On 5 November 2018, you were arrested driving a Holden motor vehicle in Sale. An interlock device fitted to the vehicle had been damaged and the device was a condition of your driver's license.
16. At the time of your arrest, police were also investigating a burglary committed at rural premises in Munro and other offences.
17. On 28 September 2018, you entered premises at 278 Raglan Street in Sale and were filmed on CCTV entering a shed at those premises.
18. Between 17 October 2018 and 20 October 2018, you entered premises at

5 Knight Street, Maffra by forcing a window and a rear door. You stole two chainsaws from a shed there and also damaged a vehicle that was parked in that shed.

19. Between 22 October 2018 and 5 November 2018, you entered the rural property at Munro occupied by a person who you knew. You there forced entry to a shipping container and stole a motorcycle and trailer from it. You also forced open a locked firearm cabinet in the container and stole seven firearms.
20. Following your arrest, police located a number of items at your brother's house in Sale, and you also assisted them to recover three of the firearms and motorcycle and trailer. Four of the firearms have not been recovered, and you have not provided any information as to their whereabouts. You were also on bail for other offending at the time of this offending.
21. In my opinion, the offences of burglary and theft are serious examples of those crimes. The offence of theft of a firearm is also a serious example of that offence as it involves seven weapons, four of which have not been recovered. This was a series of serious offences committed by you, and the sentence

I impose must also be calculated to deter others from offending in this manner.

22. The theft of seven firearms by a prohibited person is an offence that clearly requires me to impose a penalty calculated to deter others from offending in this manner. Specific deterrence and the protection of the community are, as I have said, prominent considerations in your case. You must also be punished for your repeated criminal disregard of the rights and property of others.
23. I now turn to your personal circumstances.
24. You were born in Sale on 30 January 1984 and are now aged 35. You have four siblings who all reside in Gippsland and who are supportive of you. You also have the support of your mother, who you are close to. You have a partner who is present in court today to support you.
25. Your formal education was disrupted, in all probability, due to learning difficulties and by the separation of your parents when you were ten years old. You do not have any contact now with your father. Your work history has been a limited one, although you have been engaged in farm labouring and other like duties.
26. You developed polysubstance abuse disorder in your early teens, and this has, in turn, led to your offending. It remains a significant issue for you, and programs to rehabilitate you have, to date, as I have said, failed.
27. However, it must be said that to some degree, you have also chosen a life of crime, as clearly demonstrated by your almost immediate offending upon your release from prison after more than five years.
28. I have received in evidence a series of certificates demonstrating that you have engaged in programs in the prison system, and I have also received character references on your behalf. Furthermore, I have read the report of Mr Geoffrey Cummins, forensic psychologist, which was tendered on the plea hearing before me in 2013 and again tendered in this proceeding, together with my reasons for sentence.
29. Having regard to all of the material before me in this case, in my opinion, your prospects of rehabilitation must be approached with significant caution.
30. Nevertheless, I accept that you are remorseful for what you have done, and as you get older, your insight into the destructive path you have taken may improve. In that context, I also accept that you will require ongoing treatment and support for your drug addiction.
31. Much of your adult life has been spent in prison or youth detention, and I also accept, as was submitted by your counsel, that there is a risk that you will become institutionalised. So much was accepted by your sister in her reference, where she states that you "thrive in prison" due to the structure it provides to you. I have also had regard to this factor in arriving at an appropriate proportion of penalty in your case.
32. In the result, the sentence of the court is as follows -
33. On Charge 1, the charge of burglary, you are convicted and sentenced to be imprisoned for 18 months.
34. On Charge 2, the charge of theft, you are convicted and sentenced to be imprisoned for nine months.
35. On Charge 3, the charge of intentionally damaging property, you are convicted and sentenced to be imprisoned for three months.
36. On Charge 4, the charge of burglary, you are convicted and sentenced to be imprisoned for two years.
37. On Charge 5, the charge of theft, you are convicted and sentenced to be imprisoned for nine months.
38. On Charge 6, the charge of theft of a firearm, you are convicted and sentenced to be imprisoned for two years.
39. On Charge 7, the charge of being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm, you are convicted and sentenced to be imprisoned for six months.
40. On the related summary offences, breach of interlock, you are convicted and sentenced to be imprisoned for one month.
41. On the charge of committing an indictable offence on bail, you are convicted and sentenced to be imprisoned for one month.
42. On the charge of trespass, you are convicted and sentenced to be imprisoned for two months.
43. Charge 6, the charge of theft of a firearm, is the base sentence.
44. I direct that 12 months of the sentence on Charge 1, 12 months of the sentence on Charge 4 and three months of the sentence on Charge 7 be served cumulatively on each other and cumulatively on the sentence imposed on Charge 6.
45. This makes for a total effective term of imprisonment of four years and three months.
46. I direct that you serve two years and nine months before becoming eligible for release on parole.
47. I declare that you have served 198 days by way of pre-sentence detention, not including today.
48. But for your plea of guilty, I would have imposed a total effective term of imprisonment of five years and six months, and fixed a non-parole period of four years.
49. All licenses held by you are cancelled. You are disqualified from obtaining a driver's license for a period of 12 months.
50. Are there any further orders required?
51. MR HAYWARD: No, Your Honour.
52. HIS HONOUR: Thank you. Mr Brown?
53. MR BROWN: No, Your Honour.
54. HIS HONOUR: Thank you.