The Tribunal's consideration of the factors from WKCG
17 The Tribunal structured its subsequent consideration of the appellant's circumstances by reference to each of these factors, although it found that some overlapped and could be considered together.
18 In relation to the nature of the crimes committed, the Tribunal summarised the appellant's adult convictions as follows (AAT para 52):
(a) violence, such as 'unlawful assault', 'recklessly cause injury', and 'affray';
(b) the possession of weapons, such as 'possess controlled weapon without excuse' and 'possess prohibited weapon without exemption/approval';
(c) theft and stolen goods, such as 'burglary', 'theft from motor vehicle', 'obtain property by deception', 'theft', 'theft of bicycle' and 'handle/receive/retention stolen goods';
(d) driving offences, such as 'unlicensed driving', 'drive whilst disqualified' and 'driving whilst authorisation suspended';
(e) breaches of court orders (specifically several charges for 'fail to answer bail');
(f) a disregard for lawful authority, such as 'resist police officer', 'state false name when requested' and 'state false address when requested';
(g) property offences, such as 'criminal damage (intent damage/destroy)' and 'intentionally damage property'; and
(h) other offences, such as 'drunk in a public place' and 'possess cannabis'.
19 The Tribunal described in detail the circumstances of some of the offending by reference to the sentencing remarks. Its description of the offences that involved violence was as follows (AAT paras 55-57, references removed):
The 'unlawful assault' incident referred to above, involved the Applicant holding the victim's arms while his new girlfriend pulled the victim's hair and hit her in the face with an open hand. The sentencing remarks state that '[t] he victim was crying in pain'. The victim flagged down a passer-by in a car and used the passer-by's telephone to call 000. When reporting the unlawful assault incident to police, the victim told police that the Applicant had a firearm underneath his mattress. When police searched the house, they found a small imitation revolver under the bed.
Regarding the 'recklessly cause injury' offence, the Applicant 'struck the victim to the face using his fist, causing a cut above the victim's right eye and swelling of the same' while they were both in the back seat of a vehicle. At the time of the offence, the Applicant had been in a relationship with the victim for approximately a year. The victim escaped the Applicant through the rear car window because the doors were locked. The Applicant continued to chase her on foot and had to be restrained by his friends from further assaulting the victim. When police arrived, the Applicant continued to chase the victim's friend and ignored police demands to stop. Police were forced to use capsicum spray on the Applicant 'in an attempt to prevent further assaults'. The victim was described as 'unable to open her right eye and was very distressed' and had to be taken to hospital by ambulance for treatment.
As noted above, the 'affray' charge resulted from the Applicant being in a drunken brawl where he was fighting with other males in an alleyway. When seated on the ground by police, the Applicant was seen attempting to remove and conceal a 'sheath kitchen knife'. When searched by police the Applicant, 'proceeded to thrash about whilst continuing to swear and scream abuse in the direction of police'. When police searched the Applicant, they found five mobile phones which were believed to be stolen. As was further stated in the sentencing remarks:
[The Applicant] has attempted to decamp resulting in the same to be restrained and taken to the ground and subdued by police. Upon being taken to the ground, he had been forced into the pod and also kicked the door numerous times, preventing police from closing the pod door.
20 The Tribunal's description of the driving offences, and other associated offences, was as follows (AAT para 58, references removed):
The Applicant has also committed numerous driving offences. On 10 July 2015, he drove to a petrol station with two co-offenders, who started stealing items from the petrol station store, despite the Applicant's driver's licence having been cancelled on 20 May 2015 for failing to provide a drink driving education certificate. When he later attended the police station, police searched him and found him to be in possession of a stolen credit card. On 16 January 2016, the Applicant also drove at a speed of 107 kilometres per hour in a 60-kilometre zone despite his licence having been cancelled at that time. On 27 July 2017, the Applicant's licence was suspended in relation to demerit points. However, on 8 September 2017, when police pulled his car over for a licence check, the Applicant stated that '[he] didn't know [the license] was suspended'. The Applicant was again pulled over by police when driving on 14 December 2017, despite his licence having been cancelled, and was found to have a blood alcohol reading of 0.270 grams per 210 litres of breath.
21 Other offences described by the Tribunal include an incident where the appellant and two co-offenders 'walked around a suburb breaking into cars and stealing money and personal items from cars' (AAT para 59), where the appellant 'smashed a car window with a brick to obtain a handbag from the front passenger seat and used the victim's credit card to buy liquor' and another where he pushed a shopping trolley into the window of a hotel causing it to smash and subsequently gave police a driver's license in another person's name. The Tribunal summarised the appellant's offences as 'broad ranging and [including] violent offences, weapons possession offences, offences involving the destruction of property, and other offences including theft and breaches of bail' (AAT para 62).
22 The Tribunal then considered the seriousness of the crimes committed. It observed that the appellant's violent offences, particularly those involving violence against women, were serious and risked the safety of the community because victims can potentially suffer serious harms including injury, disablement or death.
23 The Tribunal then quoted passages from the sentencing remarks of the Magistrate on 16 August 2018 which highlighted the serious nature of the violent offending. On that occasion, the Magistrate was sentencing the appellant for 31 offences. His Honour described the appellant as 'completely and utterly out of control'. He referred to 'repeated violence' and said 'his hitting of women is despicable'. Part of a passage from those remarks quoted by the Tribunal (AAT para 64) was:
Whether he is substance affected or not, he's a big fellow. I mean, he's not some little pipsqueak. He looks like he is about 185 centimetres tall and he probably weighs about 85, 90 kilos. He's big. He's strong and he chucks his weight around. He gets himself grogged up, possibly drugged up because there's some cannabis at least, and he hurts people and he smashes windows and he commits burglaries and he's just way out of control, you know, he's lawless. …
[H]is propensity to hit women is hugely concerning to me. … He is completely out of control. … the offending that pre-dates my involved [sic] with you in March last year and, more importantly, the offending that comes after that involvement is all serious. None of it is minor. The affray in the city is a serious offence. … Every time somebody gets punched there is a real risk that they receive a fatal injury. Any given punch at any time can kill. You are big. You are strong. Whether you intended it or not is irrelevant. You have the power just by punching people to kill them and hitting women, there isn't a culture in the world that says it's okay for men to hit women.
24 And, in relation to the 'recklessly cause injury' offence, the Tribunal quoted the Magistrate as saying (AAT para 65):
you hit her [the victim] so hard that her eye all blew up and she had to go to hospital for treatment and you pursued her and even when police come, you continue to behave outrageously, completely and utterly out of control.
25 The Magistrate had described the blood alcohol level of 0.27 while driving as 'a big reading' and said (AAT para 66):
If you had crashed and killed somebody with that blood alcohol reading, you would have been completely indefensible on a charge of culpable driving … It's just luck that the coppers pulled you up, only God knows what might have happened if they hadn't and you had no hope of properly controlling a car at that blood alcohol level. You may have thought you did, but you didn't and that's what's wrong with that offending.
26 The Tribunal concluded as to the seriousness of the appellant's offending (AAT para 67):
The Tribunal acknowledges that the Applicant has committed some offences that are of a less serious nature, for example, 'fail to answer bail' and 'drunk in a public place' in 2016. However, the Applicant's subsequent offending has become more frequent and serious, including weapons offences and offences involving violence. The Applicant's misuse of alcohol (which is discussed further below) is also very concerning because there is a link between his alcohol use and his offending. For the reasons set out above the Applicant's offences involving violence are very serious. Additionally, the Applicant's driving offences cannot be considered as minor misdemeanours given the serious consequences that can result from drink driving.
27 The balance of the Tribunal's consideration of the factors drawn (ultimately) from WKCG can be described more briefly. As to length of sentence, it found that the appellant's 15 month sentence imposed for the 31 offences on 16 August 2018 was 'illustrative of the volume and overall seriousness of the Applicant's offending, particularly given that the Applicant was only 22 years of age at the time of sentencing' (AAT para 71).
28 In relation to the extent of the criminal history, the period over which prior crimes took place, and the criminal record as a whole, the Tribunal found that 39 offences is an extensive criminal history for a 22-year-old. The Tribunal described the appellant as a frequent offender. The Tribunal did not accept the appellant's submission that he was not a danger to the community because his offending was confined to a three year period, stating that it does not follow that the offending would be isolated to that period.
29 In relation to mitigating circumstances, the Tribunal said that because of a lack of evidence, it could not make a finding that the appellant's childhood difficulties were a mitigating factor. It went on to say that even if it could make that finding, it does not necessarily follow that the appellant is not a danger to the Australian community. The Tribunal reasoned that while it might explain or excuse subsequent offending, without evidence of rehabilitation, 'unresolved and untreated childhood trauma may, depending on the circumstances, be a factor that increases the likelihood of future reoffending' (AAT para 76).
30 The Tribunal then considered the appellant's prospects of rehabilitation, risk of re-offending and recidivism and the likelihood of relapsing into crime. In discussing this, the Tribunal described in detail the appellant's 'problem with alcohol' (AAT para 77). After reviewing certain materials about his use of alcohol, the Tribunal said that it was concerned that his alcohol issues had not been adequately addressed as he had undertaken minimal treatment. This was concerning due to the link between alcohol and the appellant's offending. While his stated intention was not to consume alcohol, that had not been tested in the community. The Tribunal found that until the appellant's treatment needs were met, there was a prospect that he would consume alcohol again upon being released, which could elevate the likelihood of his reoffending and being a danger to the community.
31 The Tribunal then referred to two reported incidents involving violence which allegedly took place while the appellant was in immigration detention: one on 17 October 2019 where the protection visa decision record stated that the applicant pushed another detainee in the chest and stared at him, and the second on 15 November 2019 where the protection visa decision record said the applicant smashed a computer on the ground and then punched another detainee in the chest. The Tribunal concluded that the incidents raised concerns about the appellant's 'consequential thinking and his ability to control his anger' (AAT para 93).
32 The appellant also submitted that he had ended his association with 'negative peers' (AAT para 94). However, the Tribunal found that the appellant deflected responsibility onto those peers rather than accepting responsibility for his offending, and also that whether he can continue not to be associated with them if released 'remains to be seen'.
33 The Tribunal accepted that the appellant's time in prison and immigration detention, his separation from his family and the possibility of permanent separation if he is deported may deter him from reoffending (AAT para 97). The Tribunal noted that if the appellant was released and accessed community support services available, this would likely assist with his re-integration and rehabilitation (AAT para 98).