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District Court 1 December 2016

R v Koroitamana

[2016] NSWDC 406

Assault & violenceTheft & property
CRIMINAL LAW SENTENCE ROBBERY IN COMPANY

Citation: R v Koroitamana [2016] NSWDC 406
Court: District Court of NSW
Date: 1 December 2016
Judge: Berman SC DCJ

Background

The offender, a 34-year-old man, was sentenced for robbery in company committed on 13 May 2015 at a bank in Elizabeth Street, Sydney. He and three other men, all inpatients at a psychiatric facility, travelled to the bank in a van. Two of them, including the offender, entered the bank wearing face coverings and used an implied threat of a weapon to force employees to the ground. The offender then directed one employee to the safe, from which approximately $24,000 was taken. The offender received around $6,000 of that sum.

The offender had a significant prior criminal history, including armed robbery offences for which he had been sentenced in 2005 to a term carrying a nine-year non-parole period. He was released from that sentence in October 2012, roughly three years before this offending.

The offender suffered from schizophrenia and borderline intellectual functioning. He was an admitted inpatient at the time of the offence. He had been receiving medication, but had also been using methylamphetamine ("ice"), which interfered with his medication and caused him to begin hearing voices again. Those voices directed him to commit the robbery.

  • What is the appropriate sentence for robbery in company under the R v Henry guideline, having regard to the offender's psychiatric condition, moral culpability, criminal history, and plea of guilty?
  • To what extent does the offender's mental illness (specifically, responding to command hallucinations) reduce his moral culpability and the weight to be given to general deterrence?
  • Whether special circumstances exist, justifying a departure from the statutory ratio between the non-parole period and the head sentence.

Decision

His Honour applied the R v Henry guideline, which sets a benchmark for armed robbery and robbery in company offences, each carrying a maximum of 20 years imprisonment. The judge identified features of the offence that pulled in both directions. Against the offender: his age and extensive prior history for similar offending, and the substantial sum stolen. In his favour: the early guilty plea (attracting a 25% discount) and the significant psychiatric context, which was not contemplated in Henry.

The Crown accepted that the offender's moral culpability was substantially reduced because the robbery was driven by command hallucinations resulting from his schizophrenia, worsened by his use of ice while an inpatient. General deterrence was therefore given reduced weight. The court acknowledged, however, that specific deterrence remained relevant, given the real risk that continued drug use upon release would destabilise the offender's mental health and lead to further offending.

His Honour was unable to impose a sentence of preventative detention exceeding what the objective gravity of the offending warranted, but found that the offender's expressed remorse, limited rehabilitative prospects, and demonstrated improvement in custodial behaviour (no misconduct charges compared to 86 in his earlier term) were all relevant considerations.

Special circumstances were found to exist, warranting a generous variation from the standard ratio between the non-parole period and head sentence. The extended parole period was designed to ensure close supervision upon release, including supervision of the offender's medication regime.

Orders Made

  • Non-parole period of 21 months, commencing 18 September 2015, expiring 17 June 2017.
  • Head sentence of four years imprisonment.
  • The offender is eligible for release to parole on 17 June 2017.

Key Takeaways

  • The District Court confirmed that the R v Henry guideline, originally formulated for armed robbery, applies equally to robbery in company, both offences carrying a maximum of 20 years imprisonment.
  • Where an offender commits an offence in response to command hallucinations caused by schizophrenia, the sentencing court may find that moral culpability is substantially reduced and that general deterrence carries less weight than it ordinarily would.
  • A psychiatric condition severe enough to substantially reduce moral culpability does not, of itself, eliminate the relevance of specific deterrence, particularly where continued drug use poses a foreseeable risk of relapse and reoffending.
  • Special circumstances relating to an offender's mental illness and the need for close post-release supervision can justify a significant departure from the standard non-parole period to head sentence ratio, extending the period of supervised parole.
  • The court may not impose a sentence of preventative detention that exceeds what the objective gravity of the offending otherwise warrants, even where the risk of reoffending is assessed as significant.

Legislation and Cases Referenced

Cases:
- R v Henry (1999) 46 NSWLR 346; (1999) 106 ACrimR 149 (guideline judgment for armed robbery and robbery in company)

Legislation:
- No specific legislation was cited in the provided judgment text. The offence of robbery in company carries a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment under NSW law (as noted by the court).