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[2026] ACTSC 175
Supreme Court of the ACT
2026-05-29
Kelly AJ
Original judgment source is linked above.
Source: the ACT Courts (www.courts.act.gov.au). Converted to plain text by ZoeLaw. Not the official version.
SUPREME COURT OF THE AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY
Case Title: R v Taylor Citation: [2026] ACTSC 175 Hearing Dates: 20 October, 13 November 2025, 30 March, 25 May 2026 Decision Date: 29 May 2026 Before: Kelly AJ Decision: See [29] Catchwords: CRIMINAL LAW – JURISDICTION, PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – Judgment and Punishment – Sentence – Aggravated burglary in company – Damage Commonwealth property by joint commission – where the offender was subject to conditional liberty at the time of offending – recognizance release orders imposed Legislation Cited: Crimes Act 1914 (Cth), ss 16A(1), 20(1)(b), Pt IB Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth), ss 11.2A, 132.5(1)(a), 132.8A Cases Cited: DPP v Blundell; DPP v Booth [2025] ACTSC 16 Parties: Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions James Gary Taylor (Offender) Representation: Counsel L Hannigan (DPP) A Kernaghan (Offender) Solicitors Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions Good Legal (Offender) File Number: SCC 267 of 2024 KELLY AJ: Introduction
James Gary Taylor, you pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated burglary in company contrary to section 132.5(1)(a) of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth) (‘Criminal Code’) and one count of damage Commonwealth property by joint commission, contrary to ss 11.2A and 132.8A of the Criminal Code.
The maximum penalty for aggravated burglary in company is 17 years’ imprisonment. The maximum penalty for damage Commonwealth property by joint commission is 10 years’ imprisonment.
Two of your co-offenders were sentenced by Baker J on 6 February 2025. I have been guided and assisted by her Honour’s remarks on sentence and, so far as is relevant to your circumstances, I will ensure that no issue of parity between your sentence and the sentences Justice Baker imposed arises.
The court is required to sentence you in accordance with provisions contained in Part IB of the Crimes Act 1914 (Cth) (‘Crimes Act’). The overarching requirement imposed by Part IB is that the court impose a sentence which is of ‘a severity appropriate in all the circumstances of the offence’ as s 16A(1) of the Crimes Act provides.
Facts
The facts on which you are to be sentenced are agreed as follows.
At some time in the early hours of 5 May 2024, you got into a white utility vehicle with your three co-offenders, Wayne Blundell, Bradley Booth and Brendan Palmer.
You all drove in the utility vehicle to Belconnen Naval Transmitting Station (BNTS) in Lawson, which is owned by Defence Housing Australia, a Commonwealth entity. The BNTS site is listed in the Commonwealth Heritage List. The transmitting equipment, aerials, buildings and surrounding native grasslands were entered in the Register of National Estate in 2002.
A tall wire fence topped with barbed wire surrounds the BNTS site.
At approximately 4:10am, the utility vehicle drove into the BNTS site through a hole in the wire fence. You knew that you did not have permission to enter the site. Your intention on entering the site with your co-offenders was to steal copper wire contained in the buildings on the site. To carry out the intended theft, you and your co-offenders brought torches with them, as well as tools including rope, two powered saws and a prybar.
Three of the co-offenders got out of the utility vehicle and conducted reconnaissance on foot at the site, including of the building called the Main Transmission Building Garage Workshop (‘the Workshop’).
At approximately 4:17am, you or one of your co-offenders reversed the utility vehicle through the garage door of the Workshop. The other co-offenders then used tools to expose the cables below the floor and connected ropes from the utility vehicle to the cables. The utility vehicle was then driven in and out of the Workshop several times in an attempt to rip out the cables from the floor and obtain the copper within the cables.
These actions cause damage to the floor of the Workshop. At the sentencing hearing for your co-offenders, Mr Blundell and Mr Booth, the prosecution accepted that the objective seriousness of the offending was to be assessed on the basis that the damage caused by your conduct amounted to $20,760.16.
Your presence on the site triggered security motion detectors and live CCTV. As a result, the security company called the police to attend the site as an emergency. One of your co-offenders escaped in the utility vehicle, but you and your other two co-offenders who were inside the Workshop when the police arrived were arrested at the time.
Objective seriousness
The matters relevant to the objective seriousness of the aggravated burglary include: (a) the premises were not residential, nor were they commercial. The likelihood of people being physically present at the premises at the time of the offending, which was in the early hours of the morning, was small; (b) entry to the premises was initially through a pre-existing hole in the fence rather than by force; and (c) while the offending was unsophisticated, the offending evidenced a degree of planning demonstrated by the tools which the co-offenders brought to the premises.
The matters relevant to the objective seriousness of the offence of damage property include: (a) the premises were heritage listed; (b) the premises were decommissioned at the time of the offending; (c) damage was occasioned to the premises by the use of the utility vehicle; and (d) while the offending was unsophisticated, tools were brought to the premises showing a degree of planning.
At the time of commission of this offence, you were subject to a good behaviour order. The good behaviour order was imposed by the ACT Magistrates Court on 12 February 2024 for a period of nine months, for an offence of possessing an offensive weapon with intent. The fact you were subject to conditional liberty at the time of the offending for which you are to be sentenced today is an aggravating feature on sentence.
At the pre-sentence assessment interview, you mainly agreed with the AFP Statement of Facts and accepted responsibility for your involvement in the offending. You attributed your behaviour to your drug addiction and a desire to obtain financial gain.
You pleaded guilty in the ACT Magistrates Court at the earliest opportunity and there is, therefore, significant utilitarian value in the cost and delay of a trial being avoided and in bringing finality to the proceedings. Like your co-offenders, I intend to discount your sentence by 25% as a result.
You are now 29 years of age and you are currently living with your maternal grandparents on the south coast of New South Wales. You have lived here since your release from custody in 2024. You have significant support from your grandparents and also from your partner of five years. They have all attended sentencing hearings with you.
For a man who is still quite young, you do have an extensive criminal history which seems to be sadly consistent with your history of drug use and mental health issues which arise out of your childhood trauma and exposure to family violence as a child.
Notwithstanding your history, there is no question that your offending calls for an immediate term of imprisonment. Your counsel frankly conceded that your history places you somewhere in between your two co-offenders who were sentenced by Baker J. I agree with this submission.
Your co-offender, Mr Booth, had a more significant criminal history than you. For the offence of aggravated burglary in company, Baker J sentenced him to imprisonment for two years and six months’ imprisonment, discounted by 25% to one year 10 months and 14 days’ imprisonment.
For the offence of property damage by joint commission, Mr Booth was sentenced to one year, 10 months and 14 days’ imprisonment, discounted by 25% to one year, four months and 14 days’ imprisonment.
Mr Blundell’s criminal history was significantly less serios than Mr Booth’s. For the offence of aggravated burglary in company, Baker J sentenced Mr Blundell to a period of imprisonment of two years, discounted by 25% to 18 months’ imprisonment.
For the offence of property damage by joint commission, Baker J sentenced Mr Blundell to 18 months’ imprisonment, discounted by 25% to one year, one month and 14 days’ imprisonment.
In your case, whilst your prospects of rehabilitation must be considered as guarded in light of your history, I am heartened by the involvement of your grandparents and your partner in your life. There is no doubt that you are currently benefiting from their support in many ways, particularly in the form of stable accommodation for you and your partner. It appears that you have managed to abstain from both drug and alcohol abuse in the time that you have been on bail and very recent urinalysis drug tests conducted during an assessment for an intensive corrections order by ACT Corrective Services returned results consistent with consumption only of prescribed medications.
You have had the opportunity to be on bail for quite an extensive period now due to various adjournments of these proceedings, which are certainly no fault of your own. These adjournments were necessary as your counsel wanted to investigate the possibility of making an intensive correction order, notwithstanding the fact you now reside in NSW. Ultimately, it became unnecessary to pursue that path as both parties agreed that, in the interests of parity between all co-offenders in this matter, similar orders should be made.
I note there has been no suggestion of any further offending or antisocial conduct in that time. Therefore, I am prepared to follow in substance the approach of Baker J. I also note that you have served one day in custody in relation to this offending and will backdate your sentence accordingly.
Orders
I certify that the preceding twenty-nine [29] numbered paragraphs are a true copy of the Reasons for Sentence of her Honour Acting Justice Kelly. Associate: Date: 29 May 2026
R
Taylor