R v Jason Wayne NICHOLAS [2009] NSWDC 365

New South Wales District Court

CITATION: R v Jason Wayne NICHOLAS [2009] NSWDC 365

HEARING DATE(S): 11 December 2009

JUDGMENT DATE: 11 December 2009

JURISDICTION: District Court Criminal

JUDGMENT OF: Berman SC DCJ

DECISION: In relation to the s 12 bonds imposed on 23 February 2007 revoke the order that they be suspended. Those sentences should therefore be served by way of full-time imprisonment to commence on 14 May 2009. In each case they will be fixed terms. For the offence of break enter and steal of 10 November 2008, the offender is sentenced to imprisonment for a fixed term of two years to date from 14 May 2010. For the offence of taking and detaining for an advantage, the offender is sentenced to imprisonment for a fixed term to date from 14 May 2011. For the offence of aggravated stealing and breaking out, I set a non-parole period of two and a half years to commence on 14 May 2012. It will expire on 13 November 2014. I set on that last matter a head sentence of six years. The overall sentence is thus a non-parole period of five and a half years with a head sentence of nine years. The offender is eligible to be released to parole on 13 November 2014.

CATCHWORDS: CRIMINAL LAW - Sentence - Form 1 - Taking and detaining for advantage - Aggravated stealing and breaking out - Breach s 11 bond - Occupied premises - Paranoid schizophrenia - Standard non parole period - Accumulation

PARTIES: The Crown Jason Wayne Nicholas

FILE NUMBER(S): DC 2009/11/0862

SOLICITORS: Director of Public Prosecutions Aboriginal Legal Services - Offender

SENTENCE

1 HIS HONOUR: Jason Nicholas first came before me in April 2006. He pleaded guilty to a number of offences and I was asked to take into account a number of other offences on a Form 1. Those offences were very serious. However, there were indications that Mr Nicholas was able to rehabilitate himself notwithstanding the seriousness of his offending. I gave him the benefit of a s 11 remand. He came back before me in February 2007. He had done well on the remand and he committed no further offences and so I acceded to the submission made on his behalf that whilst I should sentence Mr Nicholas to imprisonment, I should suspend those sentences. Things were looking good in February 2007 but they went downhill with the result that not only did Mr Nicholas breach the bond but he committed a number of further offences. In particular he committed two very serious offences on 24 March 2009. Notwithstanding the prospects of the offender's rehabilitation in the future and notwithstanding his tragic background, his behaviour on 24 March 2009 was of such serious criminality that a lengthy sentence must necessarily be imposed.