Youth called ‘almost an habitual criminal’

Press, 17 December 1988, Page 14

Youth called ‘almost an habitual criminal’

A youth, aged 20, could almost be classed as an habitual criminal, Mr Justice Holland said in the High Court yesterday. Phillip John Mullally was jailed for three months on a charge of wilfully attempting to defeat the course of justice. Mr Philip Hall appeared for Mullally, who had pleaded guilty. Mr Justice Holland said that Mullally had absconded after pleading guilty and there had been a warrant out for his arrest since July. He was now before the Court because he was sentenced to four months imprisonment on seven charges after he had absconded, all relating to

driving vehicles. Mr Hall had submitted that the period Mullally had already spent in custody had taught him a lesson and had changed his attitude towards society. Mullally had written a letter to the Court in which he stated that he wished to marry, that he already had two sons, and that the girl whom he proposed to marry was pregnant to him. “You say that you are not an habitual criminal. Your record really indicates that that is almost what you are,” his Honour said. He was conscious of Mullally’s youth, although the way he had behaved and that he was about to

become a father for the third time, made it rather incongruous to treat him as a youth. “You have shown a complete contempt for the law, and that has been repeated by your giving a false name in relation to driving charges,” his Honour said. The result was that an innocent person had a conviction entered against him because of Mullally’s deception. It had to be made clear to Mullally that his conduct could not be tolerated, Mr Justice Holland said. The three-month term is to be served after Mullally’s sentence of four months expires.