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COURTS AND THE LAW
up man jailed
By GAVEN MORRIS
A Tumut man who had pre
viously been involved in four
armed robberies was sentenced
yesterday to seven years in pris
on for holding up the ANZ Bank
in Dickson in June.
But in sentencing Michael Regin
ald Baker Justice Gallop said Baker's
story was a very sad one, and his
"really disgusting record as a crimi
nal," was partly the result of a de
prived childhood.
The court heard how his child
hood had involved alcoholic parents,
the murder of Baker's mother when
he was eight, the father's consequent
desertion of Baker and his siblings,
leaving them to fend for themselves,
and then the murder of Baker's
brother and his family.
Baker, now 25, was in and out of
institutions from a young age, lead
ing to him becoming "learned and
practised in street cunning" and ad
dicted to drugs and alcohol.
Baker was charged with one count
of armed robbery and one of car theft
after the bank robbery in June.
The court heard how he had en
tered the bank at about 3.10pm with
a 17-year-old accomplice. Baker had
walked to a teller, had handed her a
bag and said, "Fill the bag; he's got a
gun." The accomplice had been car
rying a sawn-off, 0.22 calibre rifle.
Baker had then said, "Hurry up,
bitch. Give me the money," and had
gone to the other side of the counter
and filled the bag himself. The two
had then fled in a stolen car.
During the robbery the rifle had
been pointed at bank staff. Although
it had not been loaded, it had a maga
zine attached to make it look loaded.
The prosecution said $11,575 had
been stolen by the two, of which
none had been recovered. Baker told
police $10,000 was stolen.
Detective Constable John Slattery
said Baker had been involved in pre
vious armed robberies, at least four,
in Queensland. He had been in pris
on for those offences.
Baker's sister, Christine Michelle
Baker, gave evidence regarding her
brother's past and upbringing.
She said that after her mother's
murder years ago, their father had
left the house, leaving the children to
fend for themselves. The eldest sis
ter, who was 16, had left soon after
and Michelle, at 12, had looked after
her siblings. The youngest sister had
been aged two, and Baker was eight.
She said there was no income for
the children to live on and there was
no food or clothes.
During this time, Baker had
"wagged" school a lot.
He had been placed in his first
correctional institution he was 13
and Michelle Baker said it was here
that he learnt how to steal cars and
break into things.
"The more he was locked up the
worse he got," she said.
She sobbed as she asked the court
to help him. "Is it ever going to come
to the stage where someone is going
to help him? He just gets locked up
and the key thrown away. When is
someone going to help him?"
A psychologist who examined
Baker said he had "displayed a will
for change... for rehabilitation" but
he needed "so much support".
He said there was also a possibili
ty that Baker had been born with
brain damage because of his
mother's alcoholism, and he might
have sustained more brain damage
in a motorcycle accident when he
was 12.
Counsel for Baker, Ray Living
ston, said Baker's upbringing had a
lot to do with his appalling record.
"No-one can be surprised that he
ran off the rails," he said.
Philippa DeVeau, for the prosecu
tion, said that despite the sad back
ground, Baker had displayed "a
continuous pattern of anti-social be
haviour for at least 10 years".
, In his sentencing, Justice Gallop
said the robbery was "a blatant and
disgusting criminal offence".
He said he would recommend to
the NSW Corrective Service authori
ties that Baker be sent to the Mannus
Correctional Facility in Tumbarum
ba so that his Tumut family could
visit him and give him the encour
agement he needed.
Seeing his three-month old daugh
ter might help him, he said.
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