R v Lasalo [2021] NSWDC 109

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: R v Lasalo [2021] NSWDC 109 Hearing dates: 4 February 2021 Date of orders: 4 February 2021 Decision date: 04 February 2021 Jurisdiction: Criminal Before: Buscombe DCJ Decision: Sentence imposed one of 18 months imprisonment to be served by way of Intensive Corrections Order. Catchwords: CRIME — Complicity — Conspiracy CRIME — Violent offences — Aggravated robbery — In company Legislation Cited: Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act, ss 3A, 10, 73A(2) Category: Sentence Parties: Director of Public Prosecutions (Crown) Puluno Lasalo (Offender) Representation: Counsel: Mr J Chin (Crown) Mr B Longville (Offender)

Solicitors: File Number(s): 2019/00384079 Publication restriction: Nil

SENTENCE

Introduction 1. The offender stands to be sentenced having pleaded guilty to an offence that between 4 December 2019 and 6 December 2019 at Sydney he conspired to rob Newman Li of certain property, being Australian currency and prohibited drugs, whilst in company with a Brendon Edralin, a Karim Sultan and a Christopher Touma. The penalty for a common law conspiracy charge is at large. The maximum penalty for a robbery in company offence is 20 years' imprisonment and the general principle is that the maximum penalty for the substantive offence when sentencing for conspiracy is to be used as a yardstick or guidepost.

The Facts 1. The facts are agreed and the following is taken from the agreed facts. The co‑offenders are a Brendon Edralin, who has already been sentenced, and I will refer to that a little later; a Karim Sultan, who I understand is to be sentenced later in the year; a Christopher Touma; a Dora Zabu and a Desiree Enriquez. Zabu is Karim Sultan's girlfriend and Enriquez is Edralin's girlfriend. 2. As a result of an unrelated investigation, police were lawfully intercepting the co‑offender Sultan's mobile phone and as I understand it, that is how the police became aware of the subject offence. Newman Li is a gentleman who lives in an apartment or lived in an apartment above family‑owned shops in Regent Street in Redfern. At about 10.15pm on 4 December 2019, he was at home with two girls and another male. 3. The co‑offenders Sultan and Touma were in Redfern in the vicinity of his address. The police were intercepting phone calls and text messages made to and from the co‑offender Sultan's phone in which Li was discussed; locating his address and who he was with and what he was doing. The co‑offenders, Sultan and Touma, were unable to find Li and it was decided the robbery would not go ahead on 4 December 2019. 4. A new plan was suggested by Edralin and Enriquez to rob Li when Enriquez was at Li's home the next day. That plan, as I would understand it, came into existence on 4 December 2019. During the afternoon of 5 December 2019, the police intercepted phone calls made to and from Sultan's phone in which the plan to rob Li that night was discussed. Sultan arranged for this offender, Mr Lasalo, Touma and Edralin to come to his unit in Campsie where they would drive in two cars to Redfern. 5. In was arranged that Enriquez would open the door for the offenders when they arrived. There is set out in the agreed statement of facts certain intercepted telephone conversations. I am not going to read them all onto the record because they are not all involving this offender. One of some significance is one at 3.17pm between the co‑offenders, Sultan and Enriquez, in which Sultan says, "We're going to go in two cars, yeah? I'm going to have the thing on me so I don't want to - want you up there when I have it." Enriquez says, "Yeah, yeah," and Sultan is recorded as saying, "We're going to split it all the way, you know." 6. Then of central significance in relation to this offender's involvement is a conversation at 3.53pm between Sultan and this offender. As the call is set out in the agreed facts, it reads that it appears that Sultan has rung this offender, who responds, "Yo, yo" and Sultan says, "Yo, yo, on 7 o'clock, me, Chris, you, everyone," this offender responds, "7 o'clock." Sultan says, "7 o'clock, we've got a person that's going to be inside." This offender, "What is it?" Sultan, "We've got a person that's going to be inside opening the door for us" and this offender is recorded as saying, "All right, done." Sultan, "All right. We'll go in two cars." This offender, "Sweet." Sultan, "Yeah." This offender, "Yeah, done. Done. Done." Sultan, "All right, all right. If I - the only reason we have to do it today before he fucking realised tomorrow." This offender, "What is it?" Sultan, "Do it today before he realised. Tomorrow he spends his money because, ah, his best mate says that he's got the money. He's going to buy tomorrow pounds and ockers", which I understand may be slang for "ounces", "so I've got to go tonight." This offender, "Done." Sultan, "And I'm with Chris now so we're all in for tonight." This offender, "Sweet." Sultan, "All right, 7 o'clock, be at mine." This offender, "See you then." Sultan, "Yo, yo." This offender, "Yo, yo." 7. On the evening of 5 December 2019, Li was at home with his girlfriend, Enriquez. Whilst Enriquez was there she was in contact with her boyfriend, Edralin, as arranged. She relayed information to Edralin who in turn relayed information to Sultan. Between 6.40pm and 7.19pm, police were monitoring Sultan's phone and intercepted calls to and from him. He spoke with Zabu, it says in the facts, and Edralin. Zabu is Sultan's girlfriend as I mentioned earlier. 8. At 6.40pm, there was a conversation recorded between Sultan and this offender in which this offender tells Sultan, "Just letting you know I'm on the way" and Sultan responds, "We're all waiting up here already." At 6.59 there is a communication between the two of them in which Sultan says, "Call me. Call me when you're out the front. He's, he's at home by himself but." This offender tells him, "I'm just going past Burwood." And Sultan says, "All right. He's home by himself. We're all ready, um, all right, sweet, sweet, call us when you're out the front anyway or come in the basement" and this offender says, "All right." 9. Then at 7.05pm this offender and Sultan are in communication and this offender tells him, "I'm here." Sultan says, "All right. Drive in the basement and go, we'll jump in with ya, all right." There are then further conversations between Sultan and others who were involved in this criminal enterprise, which I do not see the need to read out. It is clear that they were then on their way to where it was anticipated there would be the robbery. 10. Police were conducting surveillance having been monitoring the phones. They observed the vehicle driven by, as I understand, this offender, which was occupied by Sultan and Touma and another vehicle with Edralin and Zabu, driving in convey from the Fifth Avenue, Campsie and it stopped in Cope Street, Redfern. This offender, the co‑offenders, Touma and Sultan, got out of the vehicle, they walked down the laneway towards Regent Street. Police stopped them, searched them and placed them under arrest. They were taken to Mascot Police Station. They all declined, including this offender, to participate in a record of interview with the police.