Parole Board Decision

In the Matter of Corrections Act 1997

and

In the Matter of an application for Parole by Shaun Robert Armstrong

10 December 2021

Reasons for Decision

The Background:

Shaun Robert ARMSTRONG (“the applicant”) is serving a sentence of imprisonment imposed upon his conviction for Drive a motor vehicle whilst a prescribed illicit drug is present in your oral fluid, Common Assault x3, Breach of Police Family Violence Order x2, Fail to Appear, Driver not holding Australian driver licence, foreign driver licence, international driving permit with alcohol in body, Drive whilst not the holder of a driver licence and Attempted Aggravated Armed Robbery.

The applicant became eligible to be considered for a parole order on the 21/12/2021.

The applicant appeared before the Parole Board at its hearing on the 10/12/2021.  On that occasion the applicant was present at the hearing and was invited to provide any information he had in support of his application and made himself available for questioning by the Board.

A pre-parole report prepared on behalf of the Board was read to the applicant prior to his appearance at the hearing.

The purpose of parole:

The High Court, in Power v The Queen (1974) 131 CLR 623 rejected the proposition that the primary purpose of parole is the rehabilitation of the offender, deciding that it is "to provide for mitigation of the punishment of the prisoner in favour of his rehabilitation through conditional freedom, when appropriate, once the prisoner has served the minimum time that a judge determines justice requires that he must serve having regard to all the circumstances of his offence".

The system of parole does recognise, however, the capacity of people to change and reform, the benefits of supervision, treatment, and program delivery in the community and ultimately the potential this has for the protection of the community in reducing recidivism.

When considering eligibility for parole this purpose must be weighed against the risk each prisoner may pose to members of the community if released to serve the remainder of their sentence amongst them, the ability to remove or mitigate that risk by the imposition of appropriate conditions and understanding the victim’s “voice” and the desire to continue to punish for the criminal wrongdoing.

Consideration:

The applicant’s offending occurred over the period June to November 2019.  In that period he engaged in domestic violence against his long term partner and mother of his child by punching her and choking her, threatening by gesturing that he would slit her throat and driving whilst under the influence of methylamphetamine, amphetamine and delta-9-tetrehydrocannabinol.  The applicant has a criminal history commencing in 2013 and consisting mainly of driving and drinking offences but escalating into offences of dishonesty and violence.  He has not successfully completed any community based orders thus far including a parole order in 2018 which was revoked.  Most recently he was under a Court Mandated Diversion order however reports indicated that he failed to engage with the order and continued drug use during it.

The applicant’s drug use and associates have been identified as contributory to his offending behaviour. He has attempted to address this by engaging with alcohol and drug counselling during his prison term and arrangements have been made for alcohol and drug counselling to continue upon his release in the community given the importance of his abstinence from drugs and alcohol for compliant and pro social behaviour.  The report of his drug and alcohol counsellor at the prison described him as a “very committed participant” and that he completed his tasks to a “very high standard”.

Aside from an offence of stealing chicken kievs from the kitchen in June 2021 the applicant has been of good behaviour.  He is classified at minimum and has received positive case notes describing him as having demonstrated a strong level of engagement with staff and a willingness to assist whenever he can.  He is employed in the prison as a leading hand-multipurpose cleaner and in that context is described as showing initiative and happy to go above and beyond to complete the work.

Whilst serving his sentence the applicant’s partner gave birth to their baby daughter.  The inability of the applicant to be with his partner at this time and to bond with his child has been keenly felt by him. The desire to return to his home and be with his daughter are significant motivating factors for him. That address has been assessed as suitable for him to serve a parole period.  The applicant has had the benefit of a period of s42 leave from the prison to be with his partner and child and that leave was conducted without incident.

Assessment of the applicant by Community Corrections appears to reflect that he is wanting to work toward change and live a pro social way of life.  This represents a change for him from past assessments.  Supervision on parole will provide some assistance in this regard.  Risk management is enhanced through the use of electronic monitoring.

The Board’s determination:

Parole is approved

Special conditions applied:

• Electronic monitoring

Paroled from 21 December 2021 - 24 July 2022