R v Unus HENDRICKS [2009] NSWDC 391

New South Wales District Court

CITATION: R v Unus HENDRICKS [2009] NSWDC 391

HEARING DATE(S): 11 December 2009

JUDGMENT DATE: 11 December 2009

JURISDICTION: District Court Criminal

JUDGMENT OF: Berman SC DCJ

DECISION: The offender is sentenced to imprisonment. I set a non-parole period of eighteen months and a head sentence of three years..

CATCHWORDS: CRIMINAL LAW - Sentence - Armed robbery

CASES CITED: R v Henry (1999) 46 NSWLR 346

PARTIES: The Crown Unus Hendricks

FILE NUMBER(S): DC 09/11/1001

SOLICITORS: Director of Public Prosecutions Legal Aid Commission

JUDGMENT

1 HIS HONOUR: Unus Hendricks pleaded guilty to an offence of armed robbery committed on 24 April 2009. On that day, the offender had been out drinking with some family members. He became intoxicated to the extent that he was asked to leave the premises where he had been drinking. As he was heading off, he took a spur of the moment decision to commit a very serious crime. He came across a damaged golf club, picked it up, and took it into the bottle shop at the East Hills Cellars. He went into the shop, raised the golf club into the air, and smashed it down on the counter a number of times. He said to the shop attended "Till, till", and gestured towards the cash register. The shop attendant did not cooperate, probably because of the nature of the weapon (something I will discuss later). The shop attendant said "You will not get the money", which caused the offender to once again smash the golf club on the counter, but this time he shattered the top of the glass counter and broke the head of the golf club.

2 There was a customer nearby purchasing a four-litre cask of wine. The shop attendant threw that cask at the offender and then picked up a hammer that was under the counter and held it raised up. On seeing this, the offender virtually gave in. He grabbed a few packets of cigarettes and ran away.