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District Court 20 July 2023

R v Isaia

[2023] NSWDC 389

Assault & violenceTheft & propertyPublic order & justice offences
CRIME SENTENCE ROBBERY ARMED WITH A DANGEROUS WEAPON DAMAGE PROPERTY AOABH IN COMPANY INTIMIDATION

Citation: R v Isaia [2023] NSWDC 389
Court: District Court of New South Wales
Date: 20 July 2023
Judge: Bourke SC DCJ

Background

The offender, Sene Isaia, was sentenced following guilty pleas to four offences arising from a planned confrontation outside the Westfield Shopping Centre at Hornsby on the evening of 15 May 2022. The incident was not spontaneous. It was organised in response to a drug-related altercation two days earlier in which a co-accused had been injured, and a young woman named Ms Prochnik had allegedly arranged the earlier meeting. The offender was recruited specifically to attend, intimidate Ms Prochnik, and steal her phone.

The operation involved multiple participants. Two female co-accused lured Ms Prochnik and her friend to the location under the pretence of buying second-hand clothing through an app. The offender and another man, Joel Finau (now deceased), arrived to confront the victims. The entire incident was captured on high-resolution CCTV.

The victims were three people: an 18-year-old woman, a 17-year-old girl, and a 29-year-old male bystander who attempted to intervene. The offender's actions resulted in physical injuries to both young women and the destruction of the bystander's mobile phone.

  • What were the appropriate indicative sentences for each of the four offences, applying the relevant maximum penalties as guideposts?
  • What discount should be applied for early guilty pleas?
  • Was an aggregate sentence appropriate, and should special circumstances be found to adjust the standard ratio between the non-parole period and the head sentence?
  • What was the objective seriousness of the offending, and how did the offender's personal circumstances bear on the sentence?

Decision

His Honour applied a 25% discount to each indicative sentence, reflecting the offender's guilty pleas entered at the earliest opportunity. The court acknowledged this utilitarian value as a standard consideration under the sentencing framework.

The court assessed the objective seriousness of the offending as significant, given the planned nature of the confrontation, the use of a gel blaster pistol (which Ms Prochnik believed to be a real firearm), the violence inflicted on both young women, and the intimidation of an innocent bystander who tried to intervene. The armed robbery of Ms Prochnik while she was on the ground, held down by a co-offender, was treated as the most serious of the four offences, carrying a maximum penalty of 25 years imprisonment.

A finding of special circumstances was made to adjust the statutory ratio between the non-parole period and the head sentence. His Honour identified the offender's relative youth, this being his first term of full-time imprisonment, the impact of the pandemic on custodial conditions, and the need for extended supervision upon release as the bases for that finding. The court determined that no penalty other than imprisonment was appropriate under section 5 of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999.

Orders Made

  • Aggregate sentence of four years imprisonment imposed.
  • Non-parole period of two years and six months.
  • Both the head sentence and non-parole period dated from the date of arrest: 18 May 2022.
  • Head sentence to expire: 17 May 2026.
  • Non-parole period to expire: 17 November 2024.
  • Monetary compensation orders made by consent.

Indicative sentences (before aggregation, after 25% discount):
- Sequence 1 (robbery armed with a dangerous weapon): 3 years 6 months
- Sequence 2 (damaging property): 3 months
- Sequence 3 (assault occasioning actual bodily harm in company): 13 months
- Sequence 4 (intimidation): 4 months

Key Takeaways

  • A gel blaster pistol used to make victims believe they faced a real firearm was treated as a dangerous weapon for the purposes of the armed robbery charge, with the maximum penalty of 25 years serving as a significant guidepost.
  • Early guilty pleas, entered at the first available opportunity, attracted a 25% discount on each indicative sentence, reflecting the utilitarian value of those pleas under established sentencing principles.
  • The District Court found special circumstances warranting a departure from the standard non-parole to head sentence ratio, based on the combination of the offender's youth, his first experience of full-time custody, pandemic-affected custodial conditions, and the need for extended post-release supervision.
  • A planned group attack on vulnerable victims, involving pre-arranged luring, physical violence, and the display of what appeared to be a real firearm, was assessed as objectively serious across all four offences.
  • Where multiple offences arise from a single course of conduct involving different victims, an aggregate sentence may be imposed, but the sentencing court is required to state the indicative sentence it would have imposed for each individual offence.

Legislation and Cases Referenced

Legislation:
- Crimes Act 1900 (NSW)
- Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW), including s 5

Cases:
- R v Henry [1999] 46 NSWLR 346