R v Baxter [2019] NSWDC 535

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: R v Baxter [2019] NSWDC 535 Hearing dates: 13 September 2019 Date of orders: 13 September 2019 Decision date: 13 September 2019 Jurisdiction: Criminal Before: Grant DCJ Decision: Mr Baxter is convicted and he is placed on a Community Correction Order for 12 months, subject to the following conditions: a) The offender must not commit any offence. b) The offender must appear before a court, if called upon. c) The offender must submit to supervision by a Community Corrections officer. d) The offender is to participate in a rehabilitation program or to receive treatment. Catchwords: CRIME — Property offences — Aggravated Robbery SENTENCING — Relevant factors on sentence — Mental Health Legislation Cited: Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 Crimes Act 1900 Mental Health Act 2007 Cases Cited: DPP (Commonwealth) v De La Rosa (2010) 79 NSWLR 1 Markarian v The Queen (2005) 215 ALR 213 Muldrock v The Queen (2011) 244 CLR 120 R v Anderson (1981) VR 155 Category: Sentence Parties: Regina (Crown) Bradley Martin Baxter Representation: Solicitors: M Dickinson (Crown) S Rees (Offender) File Number(s): 2017/0020376

Judgment 1. Bradley Martin Baxter is a proud indigenous man. Proud though he may be, he hears voices and talks back to them. He believes that the Comancheros Outlaw Motorcycle Club are out to get him. He has "a chip in his brain that was placed there by the bikies and is being used to take all his memories". He was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2014. On 26 August 2019 the Mental Health Review Tribunal, pursuant to s 51 of the Mental Health Act 2007 placed him on a Community Treatment Order which expires on 25 February 2020. 2. He now comes before me for sentence having pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated robbery contrary to s 95(1) of the Crimes Act. The maximum penalty is 20 years imprisonment. It is an important guidepost in the assessment of sentence. He has spent two months and 22 days in pre-sentence detention.