STATE OF TASMANIA v TAMARA JANE MARTIN 14 MARCH 2025
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE BRETT J
I am going to take into account the fact that you have done the right thing by the justice system in accepting responsibility at an early stage. You have then had to go through the process of being dealt with in this Court, which I am sure is a little bit more impactful than would otherwise have been the case. What you did was wrong. I suspect that you were cooperating with your partner, who I suspect you probably well knew had stolen this property.
It was not property of great value. That does not really matter but it is something that I do take into account. You sold it with other property which is not part of the particulars in the indictment, so I am going to assume that that property was not stolen. It is the catalytic converters which are the problem, and you simply can not continue to do this because if you do, the penalties are going to get worse and worse.
It sounds to me that at the moment you are caring for children, including a child with a disability. You are homeless. Living with your family in a tent. I am not going to require you to perform community service. What I intend to do, I think an adequate penalty to impose, having regard to all of those factors, is to impose a conviction for this crime which will be on your record and if you do anything else, particularly in the near future, it will be a very recent conviction so it will be taken into account by the court dealing with you. I am going to accept your undertaking, or your promise, to be of good behaviour for a period of two years from today. If you give me that promise now, then I will accept that.