‘Rampage of crime’

Press, 18 May 1982, Page 4

‘Rampage of crime’

A youth, who went on a “rampage of crime” between Christmas and March 4 was jailed for four years and a half by Mr Justice Hardie Boys in the High Court yesterday on 27 charges. Duane Thomas Tito, aged 20, unemployed, had pleaded guilty to the charges, which included the armed hold-up of the North New Brighton Post Office, numerous charges of burglary, conversion of motor-vehicles, theft and one of stealing a car. Mr P. A. Boyce appeared for the Crown. Mrs P. Gibson, for Tito, said her client conceded that it was his idea to rob the Post Office but it was not a well executed crime. The choice of weapons was a very last minute detail. The slug pistol was not loaded and Tito had a blunt knife with a broken handle. He denied threatening the two

women staff members and an elderly man with the knife.

,No violence was used and Tito spent his share of the proceeds on food and clothing and much of the money was given away to friends. He had also purchased a washing machine which had been recovered by the police. A proportion of Tito’s offending seemed quite pointless and was not carried, out for personal gain. Ironically two of the burglaries were committed at -the Campbell Park School at Duntroon where Tit'o admitted that he had spent some of his happiest school days.

It was clear that Tito was a person of very limited social skills. He was almost illiterate, his communication skills were minimal and his formative years had been described as dismal in the extremeand a blueprint for

future failure as a member of society.

Tito had never known his father and had no contact with his mother until he was 16 and that was only transitory. He had been subjected to physical abuse and at the age of 11 was made a State ward. Since then he had been in some form of institution or custody, Mrs Gibson said. Mr Justice Hardie Boys said that although he was only 20 Tito had been before the Court on eight occasions on charges of burglarly, other crimes of dishonesty and for some offences of violence of a minor kind.

He accepted that Tito had a pathetic history and that he had not had much of a chance. One of the sad things about Tito was that he was incapable of making anything of any chance which was offered to him.