In the matter of the Corrections Act 1997
and
In the matter of an Application for Parole by Phillip Lloyd Littlejohn
14 November 2003
(GIVEN ORALLY UPON HEARING APPLICATION)
Mr Littlejohn, you were charged with – in essence – three lots of offences. On the 10th October 2000 you were convicted of an aggravated armed robbery, aggravated burglary and stealing and assault and sentenced to 5 years and 6 months.
Subsequently on the 14th May 2001 you were convicted of receiving stolen property and received 4 months cumulative, and on the 5th April 2002 you were convicted of dishonestly acquiring financial advantage and other matters and sentenced to 2 years and 6 months. A total of 6 years and 7 months.
We have decided to grant you parole. We are obliged to take into account various factors set out in the Corrections Act and to satisfy ourselves that you are not going to be a danger to the public, that you’re not likely to re-offend and that your rehabilitation will be served if you are placed on parole. We have considered all the factors required by the Act.
We note that you have, despite an extensive criminal record, that your criminal record at least as far as it’s recorded ceased in about 1982 and that prior to that date your criminal record consisted of, essentially, non-violent offences.
That the offences for which you are now serving a prison sentence were out of character insofar as they involved violence, and you had not previously engaged in any violent acts. We also note that the offences were probably the result of a gambling addiction that you now recognise and have taken steps to remedy. We note that you are remorseful and you have written what we regard as an appropriate letter to one of the victims apologising for your actions, and that you have also cooperated with the authorities in other matters which I won’t deal with today other than to say that your cooperation with the authorities on those other matters shows, not only specific remorse, but also general remorse and your willingness to cooperate with authorities.
We note that you are in bad health, of course that’s bought about by your own actions and your own assault, but however that is still a relevant matter as far as whether or not you are likely to re-offend and we would think, if anything, your bad health would – and your age – would now stop you from re-offending as far as violent offences are concerned.
As I said you are aware of your gambling problems and you have taken steps to overcome those problems. Of course any conditions that we impose will assist you in overcoming those problems and will involve you not attending licensed premises and racetracks and other places where you can be tempted. However, you are aware that this is a problem that you have got to overcome it and that we can impose a lot of conditions but we really can’t stop you gambling if you wish to. So you have got to take that into hand yourself.
We note that you have a stable place to go upon release, that is your mother will provide you with good support and that you have two job offers in the residential maintenance area, that’s a position or area that you have succeeded in the past – by working for the Salvation Army – and we are confident that if you get those jobs that you will be able to, again, keep out of trouble.
In summary we regard you as not being a danger to the public and we consider that your rehabilitation is likely to be benefited by parole.
Of course if you breach parole in any way, you will be back here and you will have the danger of serving out the remaining three years.
You will be released on parole effective from the 25th November, 2003 and remain on parole until the 23rd February, 2007.
