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[2014] ACTSC 210
Supreme Court of the ACT
2014-07-22
Penfold J
Original judgment source is linked above.
SUPREME COURT OF THE AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY
CRIMINAL LAW - JURISDICTION, PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE - Judgment and Punishment - offender sentenced for aggravated robbery and drive motor vehicle dishonestly and without consent - aggravated robbery approaching mid-range seriousness - replica firearm shown to victim of robbery - firearm not able to be fired but appeared to be real and induced fear in victim - offender previously sentenced in Magistrates Court for offence in breach of parole order transferred from NSW - Magistrate suspended new sentence after time served and released offender - conviction cancelled offender's parole order - shortly before committing aggravated robbery, offender became aware of requirement to return to custody due to cancellation of parole order - offender affected by methamphetamine and other drugs at time of aggravated robbery - totality - offender already serving remainder of NSW sentence - Magistrates Court good behaviour order cancelled and Magistrates Court sentence imposed - offender sentenced to total of three years nine months for robbery and motor vehicle offences - non-parole period set.
Crimes (Sentence Administration) Act 2005 (ACT), ss 110, 139, 167, 168
1. Ricky Lee Sampson has pleaded guilty to one charge each of aggravated robbery and driving a motor vehicle dishonestly and without consent. There are also two scheduled offences, being possession of stolen property and driving as an unaccompanied learner driver, to be taken into account in the sentencing for the aggravated robbery.
2. These offences arise under the Criminal Code 2002 (ACT) and the Road Transport (Driver Licensing) Regulation 2000 (ACT), under s310 of the Criminal Code, the maximum term of imprisonment for aggravated robbery is 25 years. Under s 318 the maximum term for drive motor vehicle dishonestly and without consent is five years, and under s 324 the maximum term for possessing property reasonably suspected of having been stolen is six months. The unaccompanied learner driver offence carries a maximum $3,000 fine.
3. The offences were committed on 11 December 2013. Early in the morning, Mr Sampson drove a stolen vehicle to a service station in Mawson. There was only one person, a young woman, on duty in the service station shop. Mr Sampson showed her what appeared to be a handgun, forced her to lie on the floor, and threatened to hurt her if she looked at him. He took nearly $500 from the two tills, as well as at least 13 cartons of cigarettes, and left the shop. The stolen vehicle was abandoned at the Griffiths shops and Mr Sampson took a taxi home.
4. The scheduled offences relate respectively to Mr Sampson's possession of a singlet and shopping bag taken from the stolen vehicle and to his driving the vehicle by himself while he held only a learner's permit.
5. Mr Sampson was identified from CCTV footage taken at the service station and was arrested on the day of the robbery. He has been in custody ever since.
6. He pleaded guilty on 6 March 2014, before the matter had been committed to the Supreme Court for trial.
7. The offence of aggravated robbery covers a wide range of behaviours. This robbery appears to have been premeditated, given that Mr Sampson was driving a stolen vehicle and entered the shop with the handgun and the shopping bag. The statutory aggravation was the use of a weapon. The reference to the gun being a replica handgun apparently means that the gun could not have been fired; thus the actual danger to the victim was less than if it had been a real gun, but the fear felt by the victim depended on her belief that it was a real gun rather than on the fact that it wasn't. Noting also Mr Sampson's threat to the victim, I consider this to be an offence approaching mid-range seriousness.
8. The offence was also aggravated by the fact that it was committed only about three weeks after Mr Sampson had been released under a suspended sentence imposed in the Magistrates Court for burglary and theft in April 2013. I accept that Mr Sampson was distressed by the prospect of returning to prison in connection with an earlier offence, a matter which will be further explained shortly, but I cannot see that this mitigates a frightening robbery of a vulnerable young woman.
9. The motor vehicle offence too was aggravated by being committed while Mr Sampson was on conditional liberty.
10. The service station employee who was the victim of the robbery provided a Victim Impact Statement. She described the incident:
When he followed me behind the counter I felt that something was just not right, I was just remembering my training and thinking just give him what he wants and just get him out of there. I saw that shiny silver thing, I thought it was a gun and I was just going to do what he wanted me to do because I didn't want to be hurt. I didn't know if it was loaded, if it was real. I was scared and frightened and didn't know what he was going to do, it made me feel a bit paranoid. When he left I slowly got back up and was relieved to see that there was no one on my forecourt (where the pumps are). I pressed the hold-up alarm and locked myself in. The security company rang to ask if I had accidentally pressed the alarm and if I wanted the manager rang. A customer turned up and I banged on the window and told him that I had just been held up.
I was in tears, because it was all just so overwhelming. The customer stayed and told other customers that I had just been held up and left just before the police turned up. My brain wasn't functioning and I couldn't concentrate when police were trying to look through the CCTV footage and find the numberplate.
11. She described the investigative process, the difficulties caused to her such as pain related to her rheumatoid arthritis from having to lie on the floor, her fears about returning to work, the impact of the robbery on her career plans, and the emotional stress she has suffered, including in dealing with her employers and the insurance company. She concluded:
Everything from then has just been a blur. Doctors appointments, rehabilitation services appointments, phone calls with people, an overdose attempt on the medications provided, flashbacks, not eating, not wanting to be around people, not wanting to be at work, not being able to communicate with my housemates as they didn't know what to do. I don't know what I am going to do career wise now, I had wanted to work my way up and try and get a job in the support office, but now I don't have the experience to get there because I don't want to be a site manager anymore. It feels like I have to transfer into another division because I don't want to work in the site and feel the pressure to be able to serve customers and do the normal duties allocated to me when I am still trying to process what happened and things that trigger me to be scared and frightened. I can't concentrate on paperwork, or any tasks that need a lot of attention. I don't remember a lot of my days, most of it is just a blur.
12. The Pre-Sentence Report author described Mr Sampson's attitude to the new offences:
Mr Sampson stated he agreed with the facts as they were presented and did not engage in minimisation or blame. He stated he could not recollect some of the events, although took responsibility for those he could.
Mr Sampson was able to acknowledge the impact his actions had on the victims, the community, his relationship and family, as well as the consequences for himself. Mr Sampson expressed what appeared to be genuine insight into his offending behaviours. Though he is able to articulate the steps required to address his criminogenic needs, he is waiting on assessment for programs to commence his rehabilitation.
13. In talking to the CADAS reporter, Mr Sampson said:
he would plead guilty because 'It's time to take responsibility' and 'I'm sick of gaol but I accept it (as part of taking responsibility)'. He said that he has reflected a lot on the victim of his crime and 'it doesn't matter how many years I do, she will live with that forever'.
14. The psychologist who provided a forensic mental health assessment of Mr Sampson said that:
At interview, he spontaneously described at great length his feelings of guilt and his appreciation of the effects of his actions on the victim. When asked what had led to his changed view, given his extensive history of previous violent offences, he stated that his partner and mother had given him a different perspective on his crimes.
15. This sentencing process is complicated by the interaction between Mr Sampson's ACT matters and a matter which has been the subject of New South Wales proceedings and sentences in the last few years.
16. In NSW, Mr Sampson was sentenced to 20 months imprisonment for a break and enter offence, to begin on 26 October 2012. I shall refer to this as the NSW offence. This was not an isolated offence, and Mr Sampson had been serving other sentences immediately before this one. He was released on parole after three months, on 24 January 2013, leaving 17 months outstanding. At some point, his NSW parole order was transferred to the ACT under s 167 of the Crimes (Sentence Administration) Act 2005 (ACT) and, under s 168, operated as an ACT parole order. On 27 April 2013, Mr Sampson committed the ACT burglary and theft already mentioned, which I will describe as the ACT offences. He was arrested shortly afterwards and remained in custody until he was convicted and sentenced on 20 November 2013, for those offences, to a total of 18 months imprisonment backdated to 2 May 2013. That sentence was, as already mentioned, immediately suspended with a three-year good behaviour order, so Mr Sampson had at that stage served six months and 19 days of that sentence.
17. When Mr Sampson was convicted of the April offences in November 2013, his parole was automatically cancelled, and under s 161 of the Crimes (Sentence Administration) Act, the sentencing Magistrate should have ordered that Mr Sampson be placed in the Director-General's custody to serve the remainder of the earlier sentence. Instead, as mentioned, and apparently despite the fact that ACT Corrective Services was aware from at least May 2013 that Mr Sampson's April offences might have implications for his parole on the NSW sentence, her Honour sentenced Mr Sampson in a way that required him to be released that day, and re-set his parole period on the former NSW sentence at the same three months as had originally been set. Under s 139 of the Crimes (Sentence Administration) Act, the period Mr Sampson spent in custody after his arrest for the ACT burglary and theft, but before he was sentenced, was not treated as time served on the NSW sentence.
18. At some point the significance of the transferred NSW parole order was realised, and it came to Mr Sampson's notice that he was to be returned to custody. The NSW sentence, and associated events, are relevant in this sentencing exercise for three different reasons.
(a) First, it is put that when Mr Sampson discovered that he would be returned to custody, he made a suicide attempt shortly before committing the current offences.
(b) Secondly, the NSW sentence raises questions about what, if anything, I can or should do about that transferred NSW sentence.
(c) Finally, the NSW sentence is relevant to my consideration of totality in this sentencing exercise, and would need to be taken into account in setting a new non-parole period.
19. After Mr Sampson's transferred parole order had been cancelled by his November conviction, and he was arrested on 11 December 2013 for the current offences, he was remanded in custody. That remand was in respect of the aggravated robbery and motor vehicle offences for which I am to sentence him, but the period since his arrest has also counted towards the outstanding 17 months of the transferred NSW sentence, which will now expire on 11 May 2015.
20. Mr Sampson, who is now 33, has a substantial criminal history in the ACT including six burglaries, eight thefts, seven offences relating to possession of stolen property, eight offences of obtaining or attempting to obtain property by deception, and three car theft offences. There is one matter recorded in Queensland, and he also has a substantial record in NSW, where he has been convicted of multiple armed robberies and burglaries, as well as car theft offences.
21. The Pre-Sentence Report provides the following information about Mr Sampson's background:
Mr Sampson described a stable and supportive family and stated his upbringing was positive. He claimed his contact with the criminal justice system had affected his relationships with his siblings, though he maintains supportive relationships with his parents and extended family. Though attempts were made to confirm this, no contact was achieved with his parents.
Mr Sampson reported he had been in a relationship with his partner for the last five years. He described his partner as loving and their relationship as positive and he expressed the many benefits and the protective nature of their bonds. He expressed the couple had experienced a late term stillbirth in November 2013 and this had put pressure on their relationship. This was confirmed by Mr Sampson's partner who stated when Mr Sampson is not influenced by illicit or prescribed drugs, their relationship is loving and supportive.
Mr Sampson reported he resided with his partner and her children prior to being remanded. He described his accommodation as stable and a protective factor for him. This was confirmed by his partner, however she stated Mr Sampson's return to custody was disruptive to her son and she would expect in the future, when he is released from custody, Mr Sampson would live independently, with the support systems in place that he would require.
Mr Sampson reported he left school in year nine. He stated he had been suspended on multiple occasions. He informed that this as well as his early contact with the criminal justice system, problematic behaviour and poor attendance at school resulted in him eventually not returning to complete any further studies.
Mr Sampson stated he had made the most of the educational opportunities afforded to him while incarcerated and had completed many programs including bricklaying, concreting and horticulture. Mr Sampson reported he would like to complete courses related to his vocational pursuits in the social work field, although he added he was aware he needed to address several other areas in his life prior to embarking on this.
Mr Sampson reported he had never been employed in the community for any lengthy period due to prolonged periods of incarceration. He reported he had held several positions of employment while in custody, including in a work-release program while incarcerated in New South Wales.
22. It is apparent that substance abuse is central to Mr Sampson's offending. He began using heroin at age 14, and claims to have been incarcerated for nine years ... for a number of armed robberies linked to his heroin use. He has been taking methadone for five years, but this has only reduced his heroin use. He has also been using methamphetamines since 2009 during periods when he has been in the community.
23. Mr Sampson told the CADAS reporter that he had been using methamphetamine for five days before the current offences as well as methadone, heroin and Serapax on the morning of the offences.
24. Mr Sampson had completed the Solaris Therapeutic Community program during his last period in the AMC, but does not appear to have benefited from it. The CADAS reporter said:
CADAS agrees with Mr Sampson's suggestion that should he be required to serve a full time custodial sentence that entering a residential program occurs at the end of his sentence. He expressed an understanding that he needs gradual re-entry into the community, given his history of imprisonment.
25. I note in passing that while in custody in late 2013, Mr Sampson had pursued a possible admission to Karralika, but this was not advanced in the brief period he was at liberty in November and December last year.
26. The Forensic Mental Health psychologist provided the following assessment of Mr Sampson:
Mr Sampson is a 33-year-old Aboriginal Australian man reporting a history of early trauma, chronic substance dependence since adolescence, and mood instability over several years in the context of situational stress. He has spent the majority of his adult life in custody due to chronic criminal recidivism related to illicit substance use and antisocial attitudes supportive of crime as a means to obtain material goods and personal advantage. His clinical presentation appears to be characterised primarily by antisocial behaviour and attitudes, with episodes of acute, reactive, emotional dysregulation secondary to situational crises or negative life events and exacerbated by a lack of adaptive coping skills.
Although he reports chronic depressed mood, his mental health record failed to document a formal diagnoses of a depressive disorder, most likely due to the reactive, transient, and often-instrumental nature of his depressive episodes. It is likely that his experience of depressed mood is a characterological feature of his personality, in which he sees the world and future as primarily negative and hostile, and of his inability to cope with stressful situations, rather than as a consequence of a major depression with underlying biological correlates. Regardless, it is my opinion that he is not suffering from a major mood disorder currently.
In addition, he has reported experiencing psychotic symptoms in the context of methamphetamine use. Transient psychosis is a common side-effect of amphetamine use and as such it is likely that at times his presentation might have attracted a diagnosis of substance-induced psychotic disorder, had he come to the attention of mental health services. However, based on the information available to me,I could find no evidence to support the presence of chronic psychotic disorder such as schizophrenia, although his accounts suggest that he is likely to be vulnerable to developing psychotic symptoms in response to prolonged methamphetamine use.
Therefore, based on my clinical assessment and the information available to me, it is my professional opinion that Mr Sampson does not suffer from a serious mental illness currently as defined in the Criminal Code (2002), as evidenced by the absence of significant disturbance of thought, mood, or perception. His current presentation is consistent with the clinical diagnoses of (Opiate Use and Amphetamine Use; currently in early remission in a protected environment); ; and as per the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - Version 5 (DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association, 2013).
27. In oral evidence, the psychologist agreed that the personality disorder she had identified, together with substance abuse, would have impaired Mr Sampson's judgment and made him less likely to make rational choices, and that in general people with those kinds of personality disorders tend to react poorly to negative situations, may engage in self-destructive or self-sabotaging behaviour, and may have limited coping strategies. On the other hand, she rejected any suggestion that Mr Sampson might not have realised that his actions were wrong, or that the current offences were impulsive or reactive.
28. The psychologist made the following recommendations:
Illicit substance use presents as the single most significant risk factor for Mr Sampson's ongoing risk of offending due to its role in disinhibiting the more antisocial aspects of his personality and exacerbating his effective and behaviour instability. In addition, the need to obtain funds to maintain his drug habit has been a significant antecedent to his past offending. As such, I would recommend that Mr Sampson engage in a prolonged period of drug and alcohol rehabilitation. Whilst this process could be initiated in custody, ultimately, he would benefit from engaging in residential rehabilitation in the community, being the environment in which he is most likely to relapse to drug use and the environment in which he will have to learn to manage his drug use effectively if he is to achieve his goals.
Mr Sampson's history and personality vulnerabilities suggest that he would be unlikely to engage in any such program in the absence of mandated treatment and also that he is highly likely to disengage or to fail to benefit from treatment without clear and tangible consequences for non-engagement.
In light of his history, and his presentation as experiencing significant emotion dysregulation with limited skills to manage negative emotions**, I would recommend that he be referred for psychological intervention aimed at grief counselling, anger management, adaptive coping skills and developing distress tolerance**. His personality vulnerabilities suggest that he could benefit from engaging in psychological treatment incorporating the principles of mindfulness and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) due to their established effectiveness in patients with borderline personality features. Whilst I would anticipate that the availability of such interventions is reduced within the custodial setting, this must be weighed against the likelihood of non-engagement in the community.
Mr Sampson appears to perceive some benefit in terms of his mood regulation from treatment with antidepressant medications. Improved stability of sleep and mood could be expected to be important to his effective engagement in other interventions and as such, I would recommend that he continue to seek regular consultation and treatment from his General Practitioner for ongoing management of his medication for mood dysregulation. I would anticipate that he could do so equally in custody through Justice Health Services, or in the community through the Winnunga Aboriginal Health Service.
29. Mr Sampson's cousin, who has tertiary qualifications and has worked in the areas of drug and alcohol addiction and Aboriginal employment, gave evidence of the family's understanding of Mr Sampson's claims of childhood sexual abuse, and suggested that, although unwilling to report the abuse as a child, Mr Sampson had responded as an adolescent by mixing with the wrong crowd and engaging in drug abuse and crime. She also described how keen Mr Sampson had been to pursue rehabilitation after his release in November 2013, and how quickly his mood had changed after realising he would be returned to prison.
30. It is extremely unfortunate that the confusion in the Magistrates Court led to Mr Sampson being returned to custody after he believed that he had a real opportunity to pursue rehabilitation, but it is equally unfortunate that he responded to that by relapsing into excessive alcohol and drug use and then, possibly as a result, committing new offences the gravity of which cannot be overlooked.
31. I note also in general terms counsel's references to the fact that Mr Sampson has spent an inordinate proportion of his ... life in full-time custody, and may be becoming institutionalised, but I cannot see that the evidence currently before me points to such a dramatic change in Mr Sampson's approach to life, or his capacity to avoid serious offending, as to make this the point at which to provide an immediate rehabilitation opportunity instead of requiring him to serve a more reasonable part of his existing and the new sentences first.
32. General deterrence is always relevant to offences of this kind, especially since many of them are premeditated. Prospective offenders need to know that most robbers are eventually caught and receive significant prison sentences. Personal deterrence of Mr Sampson does not seem to have been effectively provided by past sentences, but that is not a reason for extending leniency to him this time.
33. Mr Sampson's guilty pleas came relatively early, and he will receive a guilty plea discount reflecting that timing and the utilitarian value of the pleas.
34. Although, except by setting a new non-parole period, I do not have any role in adjusting the timing of the remainder of the NSW sentence, I will need to take account of it in applying the totality principles to the sentences I will impose. For that purpose, I treat it as a 20-month sentence backdated to 12 September 2013, an approach which gives credit for the three months served in NSW before the parole was transferred.
35. As at today, 22 July 2014, Mr Sampson has served a total of 516 days in custody associated with one or more of the three sets of offences. The notional backdating of the NSW sentence does not account for all of those 516 days, and I consider that the remainder of the 516 days should be credited by backdating the Magistrates Court sentences further than was provided for by the sentencing Magistrate originally, specifically to 21 February 2013.
36. Mr Sampson, can you stand, please? Are you okay to stand? If you are having trouble, just sit down.
37. I record convictions on the charges of aggravated robbery and driving a motor vehicle dishonestly and without consent. I also note the scheduled offences of possessing stolen property and being an unaccompanied learner driver, and I shall take them into account in sentencing for the aggravated robbery.
38. Next, under s 110 of the Crimes (Sentence Administration) Act, I cancel the good behaviour order made in the Magistrates Court, which was breached by the current offences, and impose the Magistrates Court sentence of 18 months imprisonment. As noted, to take account of time served, I shall backdate that sentence to 21 February 2013, meaning that the sentence will expire on 20 August 2014.
(a) for the aggravated robbery, to three years and four months imprisonment, reduced from four years and eight months for your early guilty plea; and
(b) for the stolen motor vehicle offence, to 12 months imprisonment, reduced from 16 months for the early guilty plea.
40. The motor vehicle offence will be accumulated on the aggravated robbery sentence so as to add five months, giving a total sentence for the new offences of three years and nine months imprisonment.
41. I consider that the total term of imprisonment for the three sets of offences should be five years, compared with a raw total for the three sets of offences of six years and 11 months. The five years represents three years and nine months for the current offences, plus eight months accumulation for the NSW offences, and seven months accumulation for the earlier ACT offences.
42. In order to achieve the total term of five years imprisonment, the three years and nine months term for the new offences will be backdated to 21 May 2014; the aggravated robbery sentence will start then, expiring on 20 September 2017, and the motor vehicle offence will start to run on 21 February 2017. That means that your total sentence will effectively have started on 21 February 2013 and will run until 20 February 2018, and I will set a new non-parole period for that total sentence.
43. In recognition of the distressing aspects of your personal circumstances and background, and the undoubted fact that if you are to achieve your rehabilitation goals, including with an extended period of residential rehabilitation, you will also need an extended period of supervision on parole, I set the new non-parole period for the total sentence of five years at two years and nine months, to run from 21 February 2013 and therefore to expire on 20 November 2015.
44. The effect of the backdating and the non-parole period is that you will be eligible for parole, at the earliest, in about 16 months. By then the NSW and the earlier ACT sentences will have been completed.
45. I note also that in connection with the motor vehicle offence, I have the power to prohibit you from holding or obtaining a driver licence for a specified period. However, since you will be in custody for some time yet, and since it was apparent from the evidence I heard that getting yourself a driver licence is seen as an important early step in your rehabilitation, I shall not make any such order.
46. Mr Sampson, you have clearly had a troubled childhood, involving domestic violence and childhood sexual abuse, although apparently without the totally dysfunctional family background of many offenders, given that your siblings seem to have come through the experience relatively unscathed. That suggests to me that the childhood sexual abuse may be the most important thing for you to try to come to terms with as the start of any effective rehabilitation; for that reason in particular, I encourage you to make the most of the psychological help that is available to you at the AMC in the coming months.
I certify that the preceding forty-six [46] numbered paragraphs are a true copy of the Reasons for Sentence of her Honour Justice Penfold.
R
Sampson [2014] ACTSC 210
Mr Sampson is currently employed at the AMC as a hairdresser. He has completed several courses in order to be able to take this position, including a Workplace Health and Safety white card.
Mr Sampson described an extensive history of illicit and prescription drug use which started at approximately 14 years of age. He explained his initial use of illicit drugs was influenced by his peer group, and stated he developed a dependence on the drugs soon after, due to his partiality for the effects. He started after years of use he no longer had the same feeling towards his drug of choice, Heroin, and reported it now had the opposite result. Despite this, he continued to abuse illicit substances when most recently in the community.
Mr Sampson reported he was currently on a pharmaceutical treatment to address his drug use and he was stable on this dose. He added it is his intention to maintain his participation with this program through his incarceration and while in the community.
Mr Sampson stated he understood his previous attempts to address his drug use in the community were without success and he would be considered high risk without completing a program in the future. He added his belief that he is now ready to commit to this level of intervention and he would not be able to transition back into the community successfully without such a program.
Mr Sampson noted in the past he had made applications to attend residential programs but had been deemed ineligible on the grounds of history of violent behaviour and also due to being on pharmaceutical treatment. It seems that these issues will remain barriers, especially considering his intent to remain on pharmaceutical treatment when he is again released from custody.
...
Mr Sampson described a lack of pro social leisure activities and an absence of any organised activity since 2006 when he reported he ceased playing rugby league.
While on remand Mr Sampson engaged in art classes and commenced indigenous painting. He reported he enjoyed painting and it was the only leisure activity he had engaged in for many years not related to crime or illicit drug-taking.
...
Mr Sampson reported a long history of low mood and he had previously been medicated in relation to a Mood Disorder. He is currently prescribed medication.
Mr Sampson stated at the time of the offences he was in a state of grief following the stillbirth of his son in November 2013. He added he had been seeing a medical professional prior to being remanded and while on remand he had engaged with the Corrections Psychological Support Service to address his personal and grief issues. Participation in these sessions has been positive and engaged.
It is likely that Mr Sampson's behaviour is a manifestation of his early maladjustment, early and chronic substance use, and long periods in custody, along with his personality vulnerabilities, which have resulted in a maladaptive pattern of reacting to his environment which is at odds with his upbringing and self-image. As such, he maintains an idealistic vision of his future, but lacks the psychological resources to achieve that vision, which in turns leads him to repeatedly avoid his reality by engaging in substance use, while his antisocial attitudes facilitate his externalisation of blame and his engagement in crime and violence to both fund his drug habit and influence his social environment.
A structured risk assessment conducted using the HCR-20V3 (Douglas, Hart, Webster, & Belfrage, 2013) estimates that Mr Sampson is likely to be within the high-risk range for risk of violent recidivism when compared to the general forensic population. This estimate is based on the presence of a high loading of the historical, clinical, and future management risk factors known to be associated with an increased risk of violent recidivism. Most relevant for his future risk management are the presence of antisocial personality traits, his history of chronic substance use, his significant problems with effective and behavioural instability, and the high likelihood of poor compliance with, and response to, supervision and treatment.
Mr Sampson is estimated to be at chronically elevated risk of deliberate self-harm and of accidental or intended death due to his status as an Aboriginal male between the ages of 25 and 35 years, his personality vulnerabilities that lead him to use self-harm as a behavioural strategy to achieve personal gain, and his significant effective and behavioural instability that increases his risk of impulsive self-harm in response to emotional distress.