A Wollongong judge has criticised the NSW Supreme Court's decision to grant bail to a violent Illawarra criminal who held up the Kiama Bowling Club at gunpoint two months after his release.
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Port Kembla man Trent Arndell was already on parole for a serious assault charge when he was arrested in October 2013 over his involvement with two others in a violent home invasion at Berkeley.
He was granted bail in the Supreme Court in February 2014 under previous bail legislation, which placed less emphasis on the strength of the prosecution case and the likelihood of jail, when determining the application.
The bowling club hold-up, in which Arndell fired off two shots - the second almost hitting a patron in the head - occurred two months later on April 26.
During District Court sentencing proceedings for both matters on Wednesday, Judge Paul Conlon said Arndell should never have been free to commit the Kiama robbery.
"Isn't this case a glaring example of the trouble the legal system got itself into with the previous bail laws?" he asked rhetorically.
"He wouldn't be in this position [facing sentencing for the Kiama incident] if someone had had a backbone and said 'no, you're not getting bail, you're facing more time in jail'."
"It was extremely unfortunate he was released on bail ... [effectively] having been placed out on the streets to commit these offences in Kiama."
In a handwritten letter to the court, Arndell apologised for the shame he'd brought to his family and the terrible impact of his actions on his victims.
"Time spent in custody has made me realise the error of my ways ... I have scarred people for life," the 22-year-old said.
"If I get the chance to go to rehab I will work hard to be an active member of the community. I want to repay the [$16,000] taken from the bowling club and repay the Kiama community any way I can."
Judge Conlon accepted Arndell's remorse was genuine, but said his ultimate rehabilitation would depend on him giving up drugs and alcohol and dealing with emotional trauma from his childhood.
He also said despite Arndell's contrition, there was no escaping the objective seriousness of the crimes, both of which had prior planning and involved the use of violence and intimidation.
"The facts in the Berkeley matter accurately reveal this was nothing other than an unprovoked, savage attack on the victims in their own home," he said.
Of the bowling club robbery, Judge Conlon said it would be difficult to imagine a more terrifying experience for the club's patrons that night.
"They were confronted with not only a person who was armed, but someone who was prepared to discharge that firearm. They will no doubt suffer psychologically for years to come."
Arndell was sentenced to 11 years' jail.
