A 24-YEAR-OLD man who pushed a man out of a moving car onto a Launceston street while they wrestled over drug money was sentenced to 18 months in jail.
Kaleb Cameron Morey, 24, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty last week to the aggravated robbery of Alex Lillico and causing bodily harm in Newnham on November 3, 2020.
Morey previously received a two year jail sentence in January for numerous offences during a crime spree in the days after the aggravated robbery.
Justice Robert Pearce said that variety of sentences had not worked for Morey.
"Since you became an adult progressively harsher sentences have been handed to you but none seemed to have deterred you," he said.
"Because of the seriousness of the injuries caused and to protect the public I would normally sentence you to two years imprisonment. However, to ameliorate what would be a four year sentence I have reduced this sentence by six months."
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Justice Pearce said it was an aggravating factor in sentencing that Morey was on bail at the time of the crime after being released on bail on July 31, 2020 - just four months before.
He said Morey had a background of violence, alcohol and drug abuse and criminality.
"You have used ice (methylamphetamine) since you were 16-years-old and for a young man your record is a very poor one," he said.
He said courts had tried a variety of sentencing options including suspended sentences and the court mandated drug diversion program.
The court heard that Mr Lillico organised to buy two pounds of cannabis from Morey for $3200.
Morey became aggrieved after Mr Lillico asked him to deliver the cannabis to an address at Newnham and formed a plan to steal the cash and not hand over the cannabis.
He and a friend drove from Invermay to the address where they were handed the cash. Mr Lillico put his foot inside the vehicle and held onto the roof rack while the money was counted.
But Morey told the driver to go and accelerated away with the complainant inside the car.
The complainant threw handfuls of cash out the window of the moving car as the pair wrestled. In Arnold Street, Morey grabbed the complainant by the arm and pushed him out the open car door causing him to suffer fractures to the tibia and fibula bones in his right leg.
Justice Pearce said Morey and the co-accused collected banknotes off the road before driving away when they noticed someone was watching.
"You sent a message taunting him that he could pick up some of the money on the way home," he said.
The victim was in the Launceston General Hospital for three days and had required follow-up surgery.
A victim impact statement revealed what Justice Pearce described as very serious and entirely predictable consequences including chronic pain and an effect on the man's family relationships.
He said that Morey could lay little claim to remorse because he falsely told police that the man owed him money and had pulled a knife on him in the car.
Morey had 37 pages of prior convictions and had spent three of his six adult years in jail.
The sentence in the Launceston Magistrates Court was for a series of offences including motor vehicle stealing and driving while disqualified at Fingal on November 8, 2020.
He was also convicted for evading police and driving while disqualified at Waverley and Ravenswood on November 11 as well as evading police and driving while disqualified in Lambert Street, Ravenswood, on November 13. He was arrested on November 14. A co--accused will appear in the Supreme Court at a later date.
Nick Clark
I am the Supreme and Magistrates Court reporter for the Examiner for the past 18 months. My journalism career has clicked over 30 years and encompasses four different spells at Tasmanian newspapers.
I am the Supreme and Magistrates Court reporter for the Examiner for the past 18 months. My journalism career has clicked over 30 years and encompasses four different spells at Tasmanian newspapers.
