R v PL [2000] NSWSC 918

New South Wales Supreme Court

CITATION : R v PL [2000] NSWSC 918 revised - 24/10/2000 FILE NUMBER(S) : SC 70210/99 HEARING DATE(S) : 04/08/00 11/08/00 JUDGMENT DATE : 11 August 2000

PARTIES : Regina PL JUDGMENT OF : Dowd J at 1

COUNSEL : Ms L Flannery- Young Person SOLICITORS : Mr M Stollery- Crown CATCHWORDS : Criminal law - Sentence - Robbery in company - Juvenile LEGISLATION CITED : Children (Criminal Proceedings) Act 1987 Crimes Act 1900 CASES CITED : R v R (1993) 71 A Crim R 95. R v Ellis (1986) 6 NSWLR 603. DECISION : 1. The young person is to be released on probation for two years subject to the following conditions: (a) that the young person subject himself to the guidance of the Juvenile Justice Department, and obey that department's reasonable guidance and directions; (b) that the young person is to reside with his mother, and in the event of his mother having to go overseas, that he be placed in the care of another responsible adult person nominated by his mother; (c) that the young person is to continue his present schooling or such other schooling as may be considered appropriate depending on his state of development; and (d) that the young person is not to commit any further criminal offences, and is to keep the peace.

THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW SOUTH WALES CRIMINAL DIVISION

DOWD J

Friday 11th August 2000

N70210/99

REGINA v PL

SENTENCE

1 HIS HONOUR: This matter, being heard under the provisions of the Children (Criminal Proceedings) Act 1987, s11 of that Act applies, which relates to the non-publication of the name, not only of the young person before the Court, but other young people. People who are not involved in the proceedings, with the exception of course of members of the press, should not remain in the Court. 2 On 30 April 1999, the young person, who I shall refer to by his initials, PL, was committed to this Court together with his co-accused, for trial on a number of serious offences, including murder and robbery in company. A trial date was fixed for 7 August 2000, but was vacated after PL indicated that he wished to change his plea to guilty of robbery in company. 3 On 22 June 2000, the Crown presented an indictment charging PL with one count of robbery in company, contrary to s99(1) of the Crimes Act 1900 ("the Act"). 4 On 11 January 1999, at Berkeley, in the State of New South Wales, whilst in the company of two other young persons and Johnathon Whitfield, PL was charged with robbing Ralph Mason of one compact disc player and one mobile phone, both of which were the property of Ralph Mason. 5 PL pleaded guilty to that charge, and the matter was stood over to 4 August 2000 for sentence, and in turn to today for submissions on sentence. 6 The facts are that on 11 January 1999, at 12.45 am, a neighbour of Ralph Mason, Mr Galea, was watching television at his home in Berkeley Street, Berkeley, and heard his dog bark and a person screaming for help. Mr Galea went to his front window and looked towards the front yard of the neighbour's premises. Mr Galea noticed that a person was standing near the white picket fence that divided the two properties, and that that person was waving an arm. That person then moved from Mr Galea's line of vision, and Mr Galea returned to watching television, believing that it was just the local kids playing around. 7 As Mr Galea walked towards the back of his house to resume watching television, he noticed that another neighbour had a light on in the backyard. Mr Galea then walked outside and had a short conversation with his neighbour, and later returned to watching television. 8 As he went back into his house, Mr. Galea went into the laundry area which looks out on to the deceased's property. Mr Galea looked out the window, and observed someone walking quickly inside the deceased's premises next door, leap forward on to something and then take a couple of steps forward and fall to the floor. Mr Galea contacted the police and then returned to his laundry window, where he could still see someone on the floor at the deceased's premises. 9 Shortly after 1am, police officers attended 29 Berkeley Road, Berkeley. As they approached the front door of the house, a sensor light came on and they observed a trail of blood on the concrete leading to the front door. The front screen door was buckled. At the rear of the house, police found bloodstains on the carpet. The deceased was lying on the floor beside a lounge. A telephone cord stretched from the wall to the deceased, with the handset under the deceased. Bloodstains on the carpet were present in the room adjacent to the front door, and the pot-plant was knocked over. 10 The deceased was conveyed to Wollongong Hospital, where a post-mortem examination was conducted. The examination revealed two stab wounds in the deceased's back, one penetrating the aorta, inferior vena cava and the kidney. There were also some additional head injuries, causing a fracture to the skull. 11 On 16 January 1999, PL was arrested and taken to Warilla Police Station, where he was questioned. During an electronically recorded police interview, PL admitted to being at the scene of the murder with three other youths. PL said that Johnathon Whitfield had kicked the screen door, and that Whitfield had forced his way into the premises, and that he was followed by the other two. PL said that one of the other youths took a metal pole from him, and gave the PL a knife. PL admitted during the interview that he knew who stabbed the deceased. PL said that Whitfield said- after running away from the premises and catching up with the other youths- "I stabbed him", whilst Whitfield was washing the blood off. 12 PL admitted during the interview that some pre-planning had been discussed concerning the incident. They had chosen the deceased's premises to rob because he was a rich man, and that they were going to "tie the bloke up and just keep all the stuff". PL claimed that there had been no talk of hurting the deceased. 13 PL was born on 2 May 1986. He was twelve years of age when he was involved in this offence. It is, therefore, necessary to have regard to the provisions of the Children (Criminal Proceedings) Act 1987 in imposing sentence. 14 Part 2 Div 4 of that Act, which deals with penalties imposed, provides as follows: Application