A young Hobart man who broke into a blind woman’s home, stole her jewellery and threatened to stab her is now off to jail after failing to make it through a strict deferred sentence.
Then 18-year-old Gregory Maxwell Picken broke into the woman’s home in January this year and was initially bailed – with the condition that he returns to court every month to monitor his progress.
“Mr Pickett, how you behave from this moment on will directly affect the sentence I decide to ultimately impose,” Justice Estcourt said in his passing comments on the case in June.
“All sentencing options remain open to me … including of course, a lengthy prison sentence if you do not take up this opportunity, or I might propose at the end of the day to impose a wholly suspended sentence if you have gone well.”
However, in the Supreme Court this week, Justice Estcourt said Picken’s “present circumstances” left him with ‘no other option’ but to sentence time in prison.
“I was hopeful that if you got through the deferred sentence, we would be able to have another look at home detention, or even a Drug Treatment Order might be possible if you had got back onto drugs, but now I do not see any eligibility for home detention and no eligibility for a Drug Treatment Order, so all I am left with is the ability to impose a prison sentence,” Justice Estcourt said.
Picken was sentenced to 2 years imprisonment, backdated to 8 August 2023, and will become eligible for parole after 12 months.
June: Hobart teenager breaks into blind woman’s home, threatens at knife-point
An 18-year-old teenager who broke into the home of a legally blind woman and stole her jewellery at knife-point could be sent to jail, depending on his behavior for the rest of the year.
Gregory Maxwell Picken pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated burglary and one count of armed robbery, both dating back to January 11 this year.
In comments on his passing sentence, Supreme Court judge Stephen Estcourt noted that Picken broke into the woman’s Sandy Bay home around 3.50am after gambling at Wrest Point Casino for hours.
He then stole her handbag, wallet and jewellery from her bedroom.
When the woman woke up, Picken threatened to stab her twice while holding a large knife and yelling ‘words to the effect’ of “where is your phone c***”.
She managed to get out of bed while Picken continued to threaten her as he left via the back door, taking her iPhone, cash, keys, glasses, AirPods, handbag and jewellery – including two sets of diamond earrings that belonged to her grandmother.
Justice Estcourt said the woman has not slept through the night since the incident, saying she wakes up ‘a couple of times in a state of panic’ and has repeated dreams about Picken standing at the end of her bed with a knife.
“The complainant has now started the process of moving house in the hope that this will solve the problem,” he said.
“These were horrible crimes and very serious ones at that.”
The judge noted that Picken had been brought up in a strong and close family before his parents’ deaths.
“Sadly in 2015, his father was the victim of a one punch attack on the street outside the family home which resulted in his death. The defendant witnessed the attack on his father. He was aged 11 at the time,” Justice Estcourt said.
“Following this, his mother began to struggle with an addiction to methamphetamines and was not capable of caring for the children.”
“His mother died in January 2021 of a drug overdose. He had not had contact with her for approximately 12 months before her death. He is still grieving and processing the loss of his mother and instructs this has been a primary factor in relapses into heavy drug use.”
He had spent several months at Risdon Prison and had been constantly scared for his safety.
Justice Estcourt deferred Picken’s sentence until December and granted bail, with Picken required to return to the court every month to check on his progress.
