R v Mark Edward KIPLING [2010] NSWDC 97

New South Wales District Court

CITATION: R v Mark Edward KIPLING [2010] NSWDC 97

JUDGMENT DATE: 23 March 2010

JURISDICTION: District Court of New South Wales

JUDGMENT OF: Cogswell SC DCJ

DECISION: Non-parole period of 2 and a half years. Balance of term of 2 years.

CATCHWORDS: CRIMINAL LAW - sentence - armed robbery - use of knife - plea of guilty at earliest opportunity - history of drug and alcohol addiction - extensive criminal history - objective seriousness just below middle of the range - guideline judgment - delay in dealing with offence due to offender being in custody in Queensland - no appropriate penalty other than full-time custody

LEGISLATION CITED: Crimes Act 1900 s 97(1)

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

PARTIES: Regina Mark Edward Kipling

FILE NUMBER(S): 2009/129899

SOLICITORS: Ms Pawliw (NSW Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions) Mr Vertigan (Legal Aid Commission of NSW)

JUDGMENT

1. I am sentencing Mark Edward Kipling for the crime of armed robbery. That is a crime under S 97(1) of the Crimes Act 1900. It carries a maximum of twenty years imprisonment.

2. Briefly what happened is that on 16 October 2007 Mr Kipling, armed with a twelve centimetre long stainless steel serrated-edge knife, robbed a corner shop in Burwood. Mr Kipling presented the knife to the shop-keeper and calmly asked him for money and was supplied with money by the shop-keeper. Mr Kipling made his escape but was detained the following day at Fairfield when he was said to be attempting to undertake some shop-lifting.

3. In the meantime Mr Kipling went to Queensland. The police did not have a strong case against him for the armed robbery until a year or so later when they applied for and were granted an arrest warrant. In Queensland Mr Kipling had been adding to a long record in that State of criminal offences by committing other offences for which he was sentenced by both the Magistrates' Court and the District Court in that State.