STATE OF TASMANIA v THOMAS-JOHN PHILLIP WILLIAMS 4 JUNE 2024
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE JAGO J
Thomas-John Williams, you have pleaded guilty to one count of dangerous driving, contrary to s 172A of the Criminal Code and related summary offences committed on the same day, namely drive whilst disqualified and driver failing to ensure passenger wearing seatbelt. The offences occurred on 2 December 2022. At the time of the offending you were aged 20 years. On 30 September, so only a little over two months earlier, you had been disqualified from driving for a period of five months for an offence of driving a motor vehicle while exceeding prescribed alcohol limit with a blood alcohol reading of .076.
On 2 December you were at the Wharf Hotel at Wynyard. You were there between approximately 5.20pm and 8.00pm. During that time you consumed alcohol. CCTV footage from within the hotel depicts you appearing to consume at least three schooners of beer and two cans of pre-mixed alcohol. You then left the Wharf Hotel and walked to your vehicle which was parked in the hotel’s carpark. You got in and began to drive away. Some friends approached and two other people then got into your vehicle. They both had alcohol with them. You drove out of the carpark. The front passenger did not fasten his seatbelt. All of this was captured on CCTV.
After you exited the hotel carpark, you drove onto Moore Street. At the intersection of Moore Street and Goldie Street you accelerated heavily causing a loss of traction. You drifted into Goldie Street and then drifted back onto Moore Street. The loss of traction left skid marks on the road and created a large plume of smoke. Two vehicles that were entering the same intersection had to brake in order to avoid colliding with your vehicle. There were pedestrians on the nearby footpath who filmed your driving. Another vehicle travelling in the area captured the incident on their dashcam. I have seen that dashcam footage. Your driving behaviour was very reckless and irresponsible given the proximity of your vehicle to other vehicles and pedestrians.
At one point as you proceeded to drive though the intersection of Moore Street and Goldie Street, you stopped and accelerated heavily doing what is colloquially referred to as a “burn out”. This caused skid marks on the road and again your vehicle emitted a large cloud of smoke. You then continued to travel West on Goldie Street. As you were travelling along Goldie Street you came up behind a bus. When the bus reached the roundabout at Goldie Street and Jackson Street it came to a stop to give way to a vehicle. You crossed onto the incorrect side of the road and then travelled through the roundabout on the incorrect side in order to overtake the bus. Other vehicles were at the roundabout and in my view it is fortunate there was not a collision. You then resumed travelling on Goldie Street.
This all occurred at approximately 8.00pm on a Friday evening in December. There were pedestrians and other vehicles around. The roundabout at the intersection of Jackson Street and Inglis Street is a heavily utilised one. Your driving behaviour was most irresponsible.
You were next seen by police travelling along Inglis Street. By this time you were alone in your vehicle. You were travelling under heavy acceleration and at speed. Police gestured for you to slow down. You looked at police and then accelerated further, travelling at an estimated 90 kilometres per hour in a 50 kilometre zone. As you proceeded along Inglis street, you overtook two vehicles when it was unsafe to do so as you did not have a clear line of sight to assess for oncoming traffic. Whilst the total distance travelled by you was not excessive, all of your driving occurred on the heavily utilised main street of Wynyard and, of course, it cannot be overlooked that you were not permitted to be driving at all given your disqualification.
As noted, you were 20 years old at the time of the offending. By way of prior convictions you were dealt with in the Magistrates Court for the drink driving offence I have referenced. At the time of that offence you held a provisional driver’s licence and therefore should not have had any alcohol within your system. In addition to that matter, you also have traffic infringement matters of speeding and failing to keep left of dividing line. Given you have only held your licence for a short period of time, you have already displayed an arrogant disregard for your obligations as a road user. I am told you now recognise that your attitude towards driving must change and you acknowledge that your driving behaviour on this particular occasion was far from acceptable.
As to your background, since completing school you have held a number of positions of employment, mainly working in labour based positions. You have never been without work. When you were 12 your brother sadly passed away and you have experienced many difficulties since then, often feeling overwhelming loneliness. You therefore consider your friendships to be of great significance. On this evening you acknowledged that you were “showing off to impress your mates”.
Since this crime occurred, however, you have changed your circle of friends and you have also joined a car club so that you can enjoy your passion for motor vehicles in a sensible way. I am also told that you have greatly reduced your alcohol consumption. I note you continue to retain employment and you are well regarded by your employer. You have expressed remorse for your driving and have entered a plea of guilty at a relatively early stage. Because of the good progress it appears you have been making since the commission of this crime, I had you assessed for home detention. The report indicates you have been in a positive relationship with your partner for the past 12 months; that your employment is stable and that you have stable accommodation. In terms of your attitude towards the offending, you told the author of the Home Detention report that it was a “stupid decision” and you recognise the potential for your driving to have caused significant harm or worse, to yourself or others. You have been assessed as suitable for a Home Detention Order.
There is no question that your driving was dangerous. It involved you travelling in a busy, built up area, including both business areas and residential areas. You were travelling too fast for the circumstances given the number of other vehicles that might reasonably be expected to be using the road at that time. You had been consuming alcohol and, given the amount you had consumed, it inevitably, in my view, would have impacted your decision making and driving. And, of course, all of this is exacerbated by the fact you were disqualified from driving. In my view, you displayed a selfish disregard for the clear danger you presented to other motorists and pedestrians.
General deterrence is obviously an important sentencing consideration. It is not uncommon for lengthy periods of actual imprisonment to be imposed for driving behaviour of this nature. However, I bear in mind the positive considerations that apply to you. You remain a relatively young man. You have stable employment and are in a supportive relationship. Your employer is willing to work with you to ensure you are able to obtain lifts to and from work in light of the inevitable disqualification. Whilst your prior convictions, accumulated over a relatively short period of time, reflect a poor attitude to driving, it does seem that in more recent times you have reflected upon that and now recognise the need for a change in attitude. In all of the circumstances I have determined it is appropriate to impose a Home Detention Order.
Mr Williams, you must understand however that a Home Detention Order is a type of imprisonment. It is imprisonment within your own home. If you breach the conditions of the Home Detention Order I impose, the consequences will be most serious. If you commit further offences during the life of the Home Detention Order it is likely that it will be cancelled and a sentence of actual imprisonment put in its place.
I make the following orders. I record convictions in respect to all crimes and offences to which you have pleaded guilty. In respect to the summary offences, I impose no further order. In respect to the crime of dangerous driving, I make a Home Detention Order for an operational period of 12 months. The terms of the Home Detention Order will be set out in a written document that will be provided to you. The Home Detention Order takes effect from today.
The core conditions of the Home Detention Order will apply throughout the 12 month period. They include the following:
- You must not commit an offence that is punishable by imprisonment;
- You must reside at the Home Detention premises of [address stated];
- You must for the duration of the operational period of the Order submit to electronic monitoring and have any electronic monitoring device fitted and comply with reasonable and lawful directions given to you with respect to such monitoring.
There are also special conditions that attach to the Home Detention Order. They are as follows:
- You must be at the home detention premises at all times, except when you are not there for a “relevant reason” as specified in s 42AB ss 4 of the Sentencing Act 1997, this includes going somewhere, including going to your employment, with your probation officer’s permission.
- You must permit a probation officer, a police officer, or other prescribed officer to enter those premises.
- You must permit a police officer to conduct a search of the premises, conduct a frisk search of you and take a sample of any substance found on the premises or on your person.
- You must submit to electronic monitoring, including the wearing or carrying of an electronic monitoring device.
- You must not remove, tamper with, damage, disable or interfere with the proper functioning of that device or equipment used for the purpose of electronic monitoring.
- You must not allow anyone else to remove, tamper with, damage, disable or interfere with the proper functioning of that device or equipment used for the purpose of electronic monitoring.
- You must comply with all reasonable and lawful directions given to you in relation to the electronic monitoring device, including directions relating to the installation, attachment or operation of the device, if those directions are given to you by a police officer, a probation officer, another prescribed officer or any other person whose functions involve the installation or operation of the electronic monitoring device, or a system used for that purpose.
- You must maintain in operating condition an active mobile phone service, provide the contact details to Community Corrections and be accessible for contact through that device at all times.
- You must not take any illicit or prohibited substances.
- You must not take any medication containing an opiate, benzodiazepine, buprenorphine, hydrochloride or pseudoephedrine unless you provide written evidence from your medical practitioner that you have been prescribed that medication.
- You must not during the operational period of the order consume alcohol and you must, if directed to do so by a police officer, or community corrections officer, submit to a breath test, urine test or other test for the presence of alcohol.
- You must submit to the supervision of a Community Corrections Officer as and when required by that Officer.
I order that you attend Community Corrections, Reece House, Burnie by 10.00am Wednesday, 5 June 2024 for induction in respect to this order.
I impose a licence disqualification of two years. That period of disqualification will commence immediately.