Parole Board Decision

In the Matter of Corrections Act 1997

and

In the Matter of an application for Parole by Tye John Baker

16 April 2021

Reasons for Decision

The Background

Mr Baker (“the applicant”) is currently serving a sentence of imprisonment of 6 months imposed upon his conviction for an array of drug, family violence, assault, breach of bail and driving offences.

The applicant became eligible for consideration for a parole order on the 31^st of January 2021.

The applicant appeared before the Parole Board at its hearing on the 16^th of April 2021 having been adjourned from an earlier date with a request for the applicant to focus on his behaviour in the custodial environment and for the Board to obtain further information relevant to the applicant’s opportunities to engage with therapeutic interventions whilst serving his sentance.

At the time of the hearing of the application the applicant was present 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 the Board was read to the applicant prior to his appearance at the hearing.

Statutory Criteria

In determining the application, the Board has had regard to the following statutory criteria:-

The Corrections Act 1997, s72, establishes a statutory criteria for determining suitability for parole.

S72 (4) specifically provides as follows:

“In determining whether or not a prisoner should be released on parole, the Board is to take into consideration –

• The likelihood of the prisoner re-offending; and
• The protection of the public; and
• The rehabilitation of the prisoner; and
• Any remarks made by the court in passing sentence; and
• The likelihood of the prisoner complying with the conditions; and
• The circumstances and gravity of the offence, or offences, for which the prisoner was sentenced to imprisonment; and
• The behaviour of the prisoner while in prison and, if he or she has been in a secure mental health unit, while in that secure mental health unit; and
• The behaviour of the prisoner during any previous release on parole; and
• The behaviour of the prisoner while subject to any order of a court; and
• Any reports tendered to the Board on the social background of the prisoner, the medical, psychological or psychiatric condition of the prisoner or any other matter relating to the prisoner, including in the case of a prisoner who is or has been a forensic patient any report of the Chief Forensic Psychiatrist; and
• The probable circumstances of the prisoner after release from prison; and
• Any statement provided under subsection (2B) by a victim, or, if subsection (2AB) applies, the parent or guardian of the victim, of an offence for which the prisoner has been sentenced to imprisonment; and
• If the prisoner is a sex offender prisoner, any notice or assessment given to the Board pursuant to section 31(6) or (7) concerning the prisoner's participation or non-participation in appropriate treatment; and
• Any other matters that the Board thinks are relevant.”

When considering the application for parole of a sex offender s31(3)(b) of the Act is also relevant:

• “The Director, on giving the sex offender prisoner the opportunity to participate in the appropriate treatment, is to inform the prisoner that…
• Participation, non-participation or unsatisfactory participation will, if the prisoner becomes eligible for parole, be factors taken into consideration by the Board in determining whether the prisoner should be released on parole.”

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

At the time of the hearing of his application for parole the applicant impressed the Board as an articulate individual with a good grasp of the factors that have led him to engage in offending behaviour and a desire to reform his lifestyle to one that is pro social and compliant with the laws of this State.

The applicant is now 31 years of age.  At that age it would normally be expected for him to have achieved a level of maturity and insight to assist him in making in the future, sound choices.  It is noted that at the time of sentencing in respect of some of the matters for which he is currently serving his sentence of imprisonment Escourt J noted that he had “…commenced steps to address his offending, including engaging with Youth Family and Community Connections, which is a non-profit provider of intervention and counselling services”.

However the applicant has a lengthy past record of offending behaviour including for matters of violence which sadly and ironically sees him repeating the behaviour meted out to him by his father as a child. The applicant’s compliance with past community supervision orders has been poor including by reoffending whilst under a community service order in 2010 and 2012.  As is so often the case, complicit in the applicant’s offending behaviour has been his own poor early life experience and the use and reliance upon illicit substances.  For the applicant to change his life trajectory it will necessarily require his considerable determination and effort to break the generational cycle of violence and offending and cease the use of drugs that have been a destructive part of his life since he was aged 14.

There are however positive signs that the applicant is in a position to do this.  He claims a motivation toward lifestyle change.  He has been able to moderate his behaviour whilst in the custodial environment with his last known internal offence occurring in January of this year. Prior to this, internal offending was a regular and frequent occurrence.  Case notes reflecting on his behaviour have noted considerable improvement in attitude and engagement since the applicant’s first appearance before the Board in January 2021.  The applicant has engaged in employment within the prison as a general hand in the laundry and has undertaken the resilience program.   The applicant remains on waiting lists for enrolment in other programs however has had the benefit of engagement with a psychologist through therapeutic services at the prison.   The work he has undertaken with the psychologist and through the resilience program has delivered to him a set of tools to enable him to achieve the lifestyle change he seeks.

The applicant has available to him suitable accommodation at which to serve his parole period.

It is noted by the Board that the applicant is particularly motivated to mend fractured family relationships harmed as a result of his past behaviour.

In the assessment of Community Corrections, whilst concern exists regarding the capacity of the applicant to comply with an order given his past poor performance on orders requiring community supervision as previously referred to, the interests of the applicant and the community are best served by providing the applicant with the supervision and constraints of a parole order during his transition back into the community so that he can be supported in his attempt for lifestyle change.  To borrow from him his own words he is in a “positive mind frame” and believes its “time to grow up and set his life up”.  A parole order will assist him achieve this, building upon the efforts already made to equip the applicant with the tools to find a new pro-social pathway in life.

The Board’s determination

Parole is approved

Special conditions applied

• To obtain and comply with a mental health care plan

Paroled from 26 April 2021 - 25 October 2021