AI-generated summaries. Not legal advice. Always verify against the official judgment on NSW Caselaw.
← All decisions
District Court 24 October 2008

R v Samadi, Safi

[2008] NSWDC 307

Assault & violenceTheft & property
CRIMINAL LAW SENTENCE ROBERY IN COMPANY (X4) RECEIVING NUMEROUS HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS AGED 14 17 TARGETED OVER 3 MONTH PERIOD

Citation: R v Samadi, Safi [2008] NSWDC 307
Court: District Court of New South Wales
Date: 24 October 2008
Judge(s): Nicholson SC DCJ

Background

The offender was an 18-year-old male at the time of the offending, a refugee with compromised intellectual functioning and a minimal prior criminal history. Over a period spanning August to November 2006, he participated in a series of robberies and attempted robberies targeting high school students aged 14 to 17 near Carlingford railway station. Victims were approached in groups and demanded to hand over mobile phones and small amounts of cash; on some occasions weapons including a cricket bat, metal rod, and golf club were used.

Sentencing proceedings were protracted, spanning almost ten months from the offender's first appearance, largely due to adjournments sought on his behalf and multiple changes of legal representation. During this period, on 29 March 2008, the offender committed two further offences while on bail, namely an assault with intent to rob whilst in company and a receiving charge. These were placed on a Form 1 to be taken into account on sentence. He was refused bail after arrest for those matters and had been in custody since 5 April 2008.

The matter ultimately proceeded before Nicholson SC DCJ on 17 October 2008 and sentence was delivered on 24 October 2008. The offender faced four counts of robbery in company, two counts of assault with intent to rob whilst in company, and the Form 1 matters.

  • What was the appropriate objective seriousness of each offence, given the use of weapons, the targeting of vulnerable victims, and the offender's prominent role?
  • What weight should be given to the offender's subjective circumstances, including his youth, refugee status, compromised intellectual functioning, and claimed psychological causal link between his background and offending?
  • How should re-offending on bail affect the overall sentencing approach?
  • How should the principle of totality be applied across multiple related offences, and should special circumstances be found to adjust the ratio of non-parole to balance of term?
  • What discount, if any, applied for pleas of guilty?

Decision

Nicholson SC DCJ found the offending to be objectively serious. The robberies were committed in company, involved multiple vulnerable victims who were high school students, spanned several months, and in some instances included the use of improvised weapons. The offender's role was described as prominent rather than peripheral.

The court rejected a claimed psychological causal link between the offender's refugee background and his offending. While the judge acknowledged the offender's refugee status, compromised intellectual functioning, youth, and minimal prior criminal history as genuine mitigating factors, these did not displace the need for sentences that reflected the seriousness of the conduct and the imperative of community protection.

Re-offending while on bail was treated as a significant aggravating factor. The court noted that the delay in proceedings, attributable to the offender's own adjournment requests, had provided the opportunity for further offending, and that this weighed against him at sentence.

A 25 per cent discount was applied for pleas of guilty. The sentences were structured as a cascading series of concurrent and cumulative terms, with rehabilitation given particular emphasis given the offender's age. Special circumstances were implicitly reflected in the structure of the overall sentence, with the judge noting the importance of supervision upon release.

Orders Made

  • Assault with intent to rob in company (Benjamin Ling): Convicted. Non-parole period of 12 months from 5 April 2008, expiring 4 April 2009; balance of term of 6 months expiring 4 October 2009.
  • Robbery in company (Zachary DeGooyer, 3 November 2006): Convicted. Form 1 matters taken into account. Non-parole period of 15 months from 5 October 2008, expiring 4 January 2010; balance of 21 months expiring 4 October 2011.
  • Robbery in company (Lindsay Cluff, Timothy Cluff and Regan McDougall): Convicted. Non-parole period of 15 months from 5 April 2009, expiring 4 July 2010; balance of 16.5 months expiring 19 November 2011.
  • Robbery in company (Daniel Barabas and Chris Cooper): Convicted. Non-parole period of 15 months from 5 July 2009, expiring 4 October 2010; balance of 12 months expiring 4 October 2011.
  • Overall sentence of 3 years, 10 months and 13 days, with an overall minimum term running from 5 April 2008 to 4 October 2010.
  • Ordered release of the offender upon expiry of each non-parole period.

Key Takeaways

  • Re-offending whilst on bail during protracted sentencing proceedings was treated as a serious aggravating factor, directly influencing the structure and weight of the overall sentence.
  • The District Court rejected the proposition that a claimed psychological causal link between refugee background and offending could operate as a mitigating factor where the evidence did not establish that connection.
  • Youth and genuine prospects of rehabilitation can receive substantial emphasis in sentencing, even where the offending is objectively serious and involves multiple victims over an extended period.
  • A 25 per cent guilty plea discount was applied consistently across multiple counts, reducing what would otherwise have been lengthier head sentences.
  • Where multiple related offences are sentenced together, the totality principle shapes the cascading structure of concurrent and cumulative terms to ensure the overall sentence remains proportionate to the totality of the criminal conduct.

Legislation and Cases Referenced

Legislation
- Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act (NSW), including ss 11 and 37

Cases
- R v Gladue (1999) 1 SCR 688
- R v Cuthbert (1967) 2 NSWR 329
- R v Rushby (1977) NSWLR 597
- R v Hayes [1984] 1 NSWLR 740
- R v Rause (unreported, NSWCCA, 8 August 1992)
- Attorney General's Application under s 37 Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (2004) 61 NSWLR 38
- R v Henry and Ors (1999) 46 NSWLR 346
- R v Thomson and Houlton (2000) 49 NSWLR 383
- R v James Anthony Morris (unreported, NSWCCA, 25 September 1995)
- R v AEM Snr [2002] NSWCCA 58
- Pham (1991) 55 A Crim R 128