Sentence: A term of imprisonment for a period of 54 days, as well as a Community Corrections Order for a period of two years
[2]
6AAA: A term of imprisonment for a period of two years, with an 18-month non-parole period
[3]
Assim Mohamed, early in the morning of Saturday 27 July 2024, you were walking around the Melbourne CBD.
At 5.19 am, you entered the Subway Store on Swanston Street and ordered a chicken sandwich. You were served by Sidakeer Sodhi, who was 19 years old, and working in the store on his own. There were no other customers.
To pay for your sandwich, you handed Mr Sodhi a counterfeit $100 note. Mr Sodhi opened the cash register, inspected the note, realised it was a fake and hesitated. You reached over the counter and tried to grab the cash. Mr Sodhi pushed your arm away and closed the register.
You moved to the side door of the counter, and took a silver flick knife out of your jacket pocket. You told Mr Sodhi to open the cash register. He refused. You said, "Do you want me to stab you?" and again demanded that he open the register. He did so. You entered the area behind the counter and took all of the notes and a large number of gold coins, totalling around $400. You then retrieved your counterfeit note, took the chicken sandwich and left the store.
At 6.08 am, you entered a McDonalds store on Collins Street. You ordered a McMuffin. Again, you tried to pay with a fake $100 note. The server showed the note to the store manager who called the police. The server asked you to wait for your food. You waited for a few minutes and then left.
At 6.45 am, the police intercepted you driving a red Kia Sportage. They searched you and found the knife, a large number of gold coins, some cash and several counterfeit $100 notes. At 9.30 am, they conducted an evidentiary breath test. You returned a BAC reading of 0.085%.
You have pleaded guilty to the following charges:
Charge 1, armed robbery (of the money taken from Subway), contrary to section 75A of the Crimes Act 1958, the maximum penalty for which is 25 years imprisonment;
Charge 2, attempt to obtain property by deception (the McMuffin at McDonalds), contrary to section 321M of the Crimes Act, the maximum penalty for which is five years imprisonment;
Related summary offence 8, driving while your licence was suspended, contrary to section 30 of the Road Safety Act 1986, the maximum penalty for which is two years imprisonment; and
Related summary offence 10, driving with more than the prescribed BAC, contrary to section 49(1)(b) of the Road Safety Act, the maximum penalty for which (in the case of a second offence) is six months imprisonment.
[4]
It is obvious that your most serious offending was the armed robbery. Indeed, were it not for that charge, it is hard to imagine that this prosecution would have proceeded in this court rather than in the Magistrates' Court. Armed robbery is indeed a serious offence.
However, in my view, your offence is at the lower end of the range of seriousness for an armed robbery:
The items you took were of relatively low value.
The incident was of relatively short duration.
You showed the knife to Mr Sodhi and said "do you want me to stab you", but were not otherwise overtly violent or threatening.
However, the store was a soft target, staffed by a young man, working alone. To his credit, Mr Sodhi managed the situation with a great deal of courage and calmness. Nevertheless, and although he has not provided a victim impact statement, the experience must at the very least have been frightening for him.
The parties referred me to several examples of current sentencing practice for armed robberies on soft targets. Those cases confirm that general deterrence, just punishment and denunciation are important sentencing purposes for offending of this kind. They also confirm that a combination sentence is open for less serious armed robberies, and that the imprisonment component of such a sentence can be limited to time served.[3]
You spent 54 days on remand before you were granted bail. The prosecution accepts that a combination sentence is open, but submits that a further term of imprisonment is required. The main issue for me to determine, therefore, is whether all of the relevant sentencing purposes can be served by a combination sentence where your imprisonment is limited to the time you have already served.
In my view, the first two charges form a series of offences of the same or a similar character. It is therefore open to me to impose an aggregate sentence.[4] I will do so. I also intend to impose a single sentence for the two driving offences,[5] but - for reasons of totality - to make that sentence concurrent with the first one. The counterfeit money charge is a Commonwealth offence and must be sentenced separately.
The drink driving offence has a mandatory minimum disqualification period. Given your BAC reading, and the fact that this is your second offence, that period is 16 months.
[5]
Personal circumstances and other subjective matters
[6]
You were born in Sudan in 1994, the second of five children. Your family left Sudan when you were five years old and came to Australia. Your family settled in Tasmania, and moved to Melbourne after you had finished high school.
You started tertiary studies at RMIT but left for financial reasons. You then worked as a pick packer, welder and barber. You lived at home until January 2024, moving into a rental home.
You have a fairly limited criminal history involving dishonesty, driving and drug offending. Apart from driving offences, there have been no court appearances since 2019. You have never been imprisoned before, or been given a CCO. The age and limited nature of your criminal history means that the need for specific deterrence is of less weight.
In the months leading up to your offending you had little work, and you father's health started to decline due to dementia. You felt like you were losing control of your life and started to drink excessively. You had been drinking on the morning of the offending.
Your father died while you were in custody. You chose not to attend his funeral for fear of the shame that your presence, accompanied by prison officers, might cause to your family. This obviously made your time in prison more onerous.
Since being released on bail you began the CISP program. You engaged with the program with an excellent attitude, including addressing your drinking issues. The prosecutor commented that she had not seen a more positive report. I agree. You maintained steady employment for most of the program. You have strong family support; and you have stable housing. These all suggest that you have very positive prospects for rehabilitation.
I am told that if you are sent back to prison, you are likely to lose your home. That would set your rehabilitation back. A community-based sentence, on the other hand, should support your rehabilitation. In my view, the best way of protecting the community is through your rehabilitation.
You pleaded guilty at the first available opportunity. Your plea saved the courts, witnesses, prosecuting agencies and the community as a whole time, money, inconvenience, uncertainty and stress. Your plea also shows your willingness to accept responsibility for your offending and confirms that you are remorseful for your actions.
I have decided that the best way to balance the competing sentencing purposes and factors is to give you a combination sentence involving a term of imprisonment and a punitive CCO. Before I can impose a CCO, you need to consent to it. If I cannot impose a CCO because you do not consent, then the only adequate sentencing option available to me would involve a longer term of imprisonment.
The CCO I intend to impose will be of two year's duration. I will now explain the conditions that would be included in a CCO, so you can decide whether or not you consent. [Read from draft CCO].
If you fail to comply with the CCO, you can be charged and a sentence of imprisonment is one of the options that can be imposed for that breach. You can also be re-sentenced for the offences which are currently before me. I will make an order that any breach of the CCO be brought back before me.
Do you consent to the imposition of a community correction order? [Yes].
[7]
If you had not pleaded guilty, I would have imposed a total effective sentence of two years imprisonment with an 18-month non-parole period. Because you pleaded guilty, I am instead sentencing you as follows:
For the armed robbery and attempt to obtain property by deception, I convict you and impose an aggregate sentence of 54 days imprisonment and a two-year CCO (this is the base sentence).
For the counterfeit money charge, I convict you and fine you $500.
For the driving charges, I convict you and impose a two-year CCO (to be served concurrently with the base sentence CCO).
I declare that you have already served 54 days of your sentence by way of pre-sentence detention.
I disqualify you from driving for a period of 16 months.
I make the forfeiture orders sought by the prosecution.
[8]
[1] The detailed circumstances of offending are set out in the Prosecution Opening on Plea (10 March 2025, Exhibit P1). I have watched the CCTV footage (Exhibit P4) which captures the first charge in the indictment. I have also considered the submissions of the parties and tendered material, including Prosecution Outline of Sentencing Submissions (7 August 2025, Exhibit P2), Outline of Defence Plea Submissions (4 August 2025, Exhibit D1); David Ball, Psychological Assessment and Court Report (14 March 2025, Exhibit D2); and character reference from Hussam Mohamed (Exhibit D4).
• DPP v Holmes[2020] VCC 994 (Judge Gwynn): post office; knife; criminal history; past non-compliance with CCO; early plea; efforts towards rehabilitation; convicted and sentenced to time served (277 days imprisonment) and a two-year CCO.
[12]
• DPP v Asmar[2020] VCC 1433 (Judge Todd): young man; service station; knife; $20 taken; Verdins; valuable plea; convicted and sentenced to time served (4 days imprisonment) and two-year CCO.
[13]
• DPP v Beacham[2021] VCC 1645 (Judge Tiwana): service station; knife; money from cash register; childhood disadvantage; early plea; convicted and sentenced to 12 months imprisonment and an 18-month CCO.
[14]
• DPP v Coyle[2022] VCC 984 (Judge Hannebery): convenience store; two armed robberies on separate occasions; one with screwdriver, one with knife; small amount of cash; relevant criminal history; committed while on bail and active CCO; mild intellectual disability; Verdins; early plea; convicted and sentenced to 12 months imprisonment and an 18-month CCO.
[15]
• DPP v Haass[2022] VCC 1800 (Judge Ellis): convenience store; knife; offending a breach of CCO; early plea; positive proactive steps toward rehabilitation; positive family supports; low risk of reoffending; convicted and sentenced to time served (53 days imprisonment) and a two-year CCO.