DDP and Vacek (a pseudonym)
[2015] VCC 484
•24 April 2015
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA | Revised Not Restricted Suitable for Publication |
AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL DIVISION
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| v |
| FRANE VACEK (a pseudonym) |
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JUDGE: | HER HONOUR JUDGE CANNON | |
WHERE HELD: | Melbourne | |
DATE OF HEARING: | 16 February and 20 April 2015 | |
DATE OF SENTENCE: | 24 April 2015 | |
CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | DDP and Vacek (a pseudonym) | |
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2015] VCC 484 | |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject: CRIMINAL LAW
Catchwords: Sentence – Plea of guilty – Rape – Previous sexual relationship with victim – Offender intoxicated when offending occurred
Legal Cases:Boulton v R [2014] VSCA 342
Sentence:Community Corrections Order imposed of 5 years duration – Judicial Monitoring imposed – Ancillary Order Forensic Sample – S.6AAA Sentencing Act 1991 declared
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APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the Director | Ms N. Warda (Plea) Ms J. Verkake (Sentence) | Solicitor for Public Prosecutions |
| of Public Prosecutions | ||
| For the Accused | Ms Z. Broughton (Plea) Ms S. Seod (Sentence) | VLA |
Pseudonyms have replaced the names of the accused and the complainant in order to maintain the privacy of the complainant. Some other names have been initialised for the same reason.
HER HONOUR:
1 Frane Vacek, you have pleaded guilty to one charge of rape, which has a maximum penalty of 25 years' imprisonment. The maximum penalty reflects the seriousness with which Parliament regards this offence.
2 Your offending was opened as follows: I was told that you were 31 years old at the time of the offending, and you are now 34 years old. The complainant, Heng Langdon, was 26 years of age at the time of your offending, and she is presently 27. You and Ms Langdon were known to one another, having commenced a relationship in about August 2006. On 22 August 2007 Ms Langdon gave birth to your first child. She then gave birth to twins whom you fathered on 27 June 2011.
3 You had previously lived together and at times separated. Your relationship was of an “on again off again” nature, and during some periods of separation you remained in contact. Days before this incident you were in contact with one another and had engaged in consensual sexual activity. On a previous occasion the complainant had told you that she wanted rougher sex and for you to be more dominant in the bedroom.
4 At the time of the offending Ms Langdon was living at her father's premises with the children and you were residing elsewhere. On Saturday 15 December 2012 Ms Langdon went to your brother's birthday party. The party was at your brother's house. Ms Langdon arrived at the party with her brother at about 5 pm. Ms Langdon stayed at the party for a short time before leaving to return home as she received a phone call from her father to say that her friend had arrived at her home. Ms Langdon left the party at about 5.30 pm.
5 At home she socialised with her friend, Ms C, where they consumed some alcohol. Ms Langdon had commenced drinking alcohol that afternoon and had some drinks at the party that she had attended. At about 10pm Ms C left and Ms Langdon went to bed. Ms Langdon's father was also at home and he went to bed before Ms C left.
6 Ms Langdon woke up in the early hours of the morning, that is at about 3am. Soon after she received a message on her mobile phone from you. However, when she checked the message it did not contain any text. She replied to you "WTF?" and sent another message saying, "You sent me a blank message, what do you want?" You replied, "Wanna fuck, I will bang you to an ETCKR." Ms Langdon replied, "No fuck, you leave me alone." Shortly after you telephoned her and told her that you were coming over, to quote you, "Fuck her." Ms Langdon had noticed that you were slurring your words and told you not to come over because you were drunk and not tonight.
7 At about 4am Ms Langdon heard a car outside her house. She then heard someone come through the front door, which was always left unlocked at that time. She was in her bedroom lying on her bed. She observed you stagger into her bedroom. You then lay next to her on the bed and gave her cuddles, and kissed her face, neck and head. You spoke to each other, she says, in a normal talking voice. You told her that you missed her, you told her that you knew she had called for, to quote you, "booty call," and that she wanted you there. She kept telling you that she did not ring you and that you messaged her first. Ms Langdon could smell intoxicating liquor which was coming from you.
8 You continued to kiss the complainant and told her that she wanted you, but she said “No.” She told you that if you did not stop she would leave as she did not want to have sex that night. You were spooning Ms Langdon and touching her breasts, and you tried to put your hands down her pants. The complainant then tried to get up and leave the room when you grabbed her arms and pinned her down to the bed. You then got on top of her. You were lying on her, holding her hands down.
9 Despite the complainant having said on a previous occasion that she wanted you to be more dominant in the bedroom, and using the expression that I have previously referred to in relation to the type of sex that she wished to have on that previous occasion, on this occasion she told you to stop. You said that it is what she needed. You then forced open her legs and inserted your penis into her vagina. You were kissing her and told her not to cry. You then turned Ms Langdon onto her side and, from behind her, you inserted your penis into her vagina continuing to move it in and out. She was naked. She pretended to continue to enjoy this so that it would be over. This gives rise to the charge of rape.
10 The complainant then told you that she needed to go to the toilet. She put her singlet dress on and took her phone that she had hidden from you earlier on when you went to the toilet. She then exited the bedroom and went straight to the front door of the house. She got into her father's car and drove to a car park near her home. She then drove closer to her home to see if you had left. She received a call from you which she ignored and you left a voicemail message. There was then a series of text messages exchanged between you. In those messages the complainant told you that she was going to the police. She then drove to the Mooroolbark Police Station and reported the incident.
11 On 23 January 2013 you attended the police station and were arrested and interviewed in relation to the incident. During the interview you said that you were heavily intoxicated on the night in question. You said that you had been told that you had generally been acting aggressively that evening because of the alcohol. You could recall what you did prior to attending Ms Langdon’s address. You said that you could recall being in her bedroom but could not recall what had occurred. You could remember what you did once you left Ms Langdon's residence. You said that there had been many occasions when you had attended her house in a similar state and had sex with her, but that you would never use force on her. You said on those other occasions if she did not want to have sex with you she would tell you to piss off, and you would.
12 You said that sometimes you would black out from alcohol. You said you received a text message from her telling you that she was at the police station. You had no idea what was going on. You told police that even though you could not remember what had happened you did not think Ms Langdon would make up such an allegation. You told police that you, "honestly could not remember what happened," and that you had been drinking. You said you had been drinking too much. You said that since that day you had stopped drinking alcohol.
13 Mr Vacek, your offending is aggravated by the fact that you committed the offence in the sanctity of the victim's own home where she was entitled to feel safe. Your offending is serious and warrants a punishment which is just in all of the circumstances. Your conduct must also be denounced in all of the circumstances. Significant weight must attach to general deterrence in a bid to deter others who are tempted to behave as you have.
14 I have taken into account, as the prosecution opening indicates, that there was a good deal of history between you and the victim, and perhaps some mixed messages along the way, in terms of your sexual relationship. You had an “on again off again” relationship; had consensual sex in recent times leading to the offending, and the complainant had previously told you that she wanted rougher sex and for you to be more dominant in the bedroom. By your plea of guilty to rape however you admit that you had the necessary mental state for this offence.
15 These matters in respect of your relationship do not excuse your offending on the night in question but they are relevant when assessing your moral culpability. Unfortunately, you were intoxicated to the point of not recalling what you had done, which is most concerning. However, to your credit, in the record of interview you accepted the complainant's account and you did not seek to undermine her, as is all too often the case in matters such as this.
16 I take into account the impact on the victim which is set out in her victim impact statement. She candidly stated that she was not too sure as to how the offending had impacted upon her. She said that she has felt every emotion possible, that she has felt shocked, angry, sympathetic, and has also felt guilty for, "trying to ruin a man's life." I pause here to say that the victim has nothing to feel guilty about, that she has not tried to ruin anyone's life at all.
17 She goes on to say that until November 2014 she was a very heavy drinker and had to appear to be strong so the children would not notice anything. She has lived in fear of seeing you or your family members. She said that the abiding feeling was guilt, mainly because of your children. She said that your son is suffering through not being able to see you, and that this has been the main thing contributing to her depression. She had been tempted to call you so that you could see your children. However, she said that she was concerned that if she were to allow this, and you went to gaol, this might be more painful for the children. She said that the guilt of possibly sending you to gaol because of one mistake is hard to feel. Again, I pause here to say that it is not the victim who has put your freedom in jeopardy, but you.
18 She says that she is pleased to say that lately the feelings she has described were fading. She has abstained from alcohol since early December 2014 and has quit smoking as well. She said that she is well on her way to, "feeling okay with this."
19 I take into account your background which is a very sad one. You grew up in an outer suburb of Melbourne, attending a local State primary school. Your mother was loving and devoted to you and your brothers and was heavily involved in the school community. In short, she appears to have been the lifeblood of your family. Tragically, she died suddenly when you were only 10 years old. The family had been struck down with a bout of gastroenteritis such that your mother assumed that her symptoms were attributable to this illness. However, she had an issue with gall stones which led to her sudden demise.
20 After she died your two younger brothers went to live with your maternal grandparents. However, for some reason, you stayed with your father who did not cope at all well with his wife's death. He buried himself in his work, leaving the house early and arriving home late. You were left to fend for yourself, getting yourself to school and making your own lunches at the age of 10 and without your brothers' solace. The only time you had with your father during the working week was at dinner time when you both ate in front of the TV. Unfortunately, neither you nor your father or brothers, received any counselling in respect of your mother's loss, and it appears that your father may have coped by insulating himself from you and your siblings.
21 Fortunately, you joined your brothers at your grandparents' place in the last term of Year 6, attending a different primary school at this late stage. You went on to secondary school in the local area but left when you were 14 years old, not completing Year 8. You were exhibiting some behavioural problems and for a time you attended an alternative school. However, this was not a productive experience and you again left school. You left your grandparents and became uncontrollable.
22 After being left to your own devices by your father at his home you soon became a ward of the State. You were placed in a strict religious foster home, which was not for you, and you then lived in a residential care facility interspersed with times when you were taken into secure welfare.
23 Between the ages of 14 and 16 you had real issues with heroin and became addicted to it. It was in this context that you commenced to commit offences. I was told by your counsel that you have a juvenile criminal history which, although not alleged against you, made sense of your first prior matters in May 1998, two charges of theft attracting a suspended sentence. However, this was successfully appealed and a community corrections order was imposed. When I talk about your first prior matters I mean those that were alleged against you.
24 You breached the community corrections order on two occasions, the last of these being in 2001. A three month gaol term was imposed but was wholly suspended for 12 months. On my calculation you were 18 years old when you were dealt with for these thefts, and 20 or 21 when you were last dealt with for breaching the community corrections order. I was told that you breached the community corrections order because you were working full-time; you were seeking to distance yourself from negative peers, and you were still immature. You did not offend further until June 2011 when you committed a theft in respect of a mobile phone. You received a suspended sentence for this in 2013.
25 I do not regard your prior matters as having a great deal of relevance to your present offending, and I take into account that most of them are rather dated, occurring in a particular phase of your life. Indeed, the most recent theft occurred in another phase of your life to which I will refer in a moment, which was again a troubled one.
26 Your brothers fared a good deal better than you. They have no prior convictions and neither does your father. I suspect that one way and another you were affected most by your mother's death, and the time that followed it when forced to live alone with your father without counselling or comfort, and this played a role in your behaviour at that time. I sought to be assisted further by means of a psychological report to explore your mental health and other matters relevant to sentencing which is now to hand, and I will refer to that in due course.
27 To your credit, you ceased heroin use at the age of 17. You moved back with your father and worked with him for a significant period. Unfortunately, your father has not been able to be an emotional support for you or your brothers over the years but he has been good enough to provide you with stable accommodation and employment. Your brothers and you have always been very close and they are most supportive of you in all respects, which was evident from their presence and the evidence they gave at the plea hearing. Unfortunately, it appears that your father felt unable to attend the plea hearing, but I understand he is supportive of you as best he can be. You have a fairly solid work history which was set out by your counsel at the plea hearing.
28 You met Ms Langdon in 2006 and commenced a relationship with her. About three months after this, Ms Langdon became pregnant and your son, Joel, was born in August 2007. Unfortunately, the relationship was not a stable one and ended in 2010 when Ms Langdon was pregnant with twins. The relationship then resumed at some point and stumbled along in an “on again off again” fashion. Sometimes you would be living with Ms Langdon and sometimes with one of your brothers. A year before the charged incident you began using ice, which was sourced from members of Ms Langdon's family, although it was not put that she supported this, and nor did she use it. In the four days leading to the offence you were taking ice, you had had little sleep and had consumed alcohol on the evening that the offending occurred.
29 Obviously this makes for a dangerous combination. It is little wonder that you did not recall a good deal of your conduct on the occasion in question. Ms Broughton, who gave an excellent plea on your behalf, did not put this aspect forward as anything other than an explanation as to why you behaved as you did. Your abuse of substances is neither mitigatory nor aggravating, but I put you on notice, Mr Vacek, there appears to be a link between your alcohol and substance abuse and your offending, if you did not know that before now.
30 If you choose to abuse alcohol and/or substances in the future and then you commit criminal offences then your decision to indulge in alcohol and/or substances may well be regarded as an aggravating feature which would expose you to a higher penalty than might otherwise be the case.
31 Understandably, your relationship with the victim ended with the commission of the offence for which I now sentence you. An intervention order was put in place for 12 months. That has now expired and has not been renewed by her. You have not seen your children since the offending but the victim has sent some photographs of them after one of your brothers sought to arrange a contact visit with them. Ms Langdon explained her attitude towards you seeing the children in a very open and fair victim impact statement.
32 In your favour, you pleaded guilty at a stage when you were facing trial for this matter, and a number of other charges which you no longer face. In pleading guilty at this stage you have saved the witnesses, especially the victim, the time and trauma of giving evidence at trial, and you have saved the community the time and expense of contested proceedings. Your record of interview was remarkably candid and ran counter to your own self-interest. In all the circumstances I allow for a discount in your sentence that is not insignificant and I factor in your early willingness to take responsibility, as well as your genuine remorse, when assessing your prospects of rehabilitation. As I observed, your preparedness to plead guilty occurred in the context of you facing more charges at the committal stage.
33 You are now engaged to a young woman, Ms DC, who was in court at the plea hearing, and who also gave evidence in support of you. You have tentatively planned to marry this July, subject to what happens here. Your relationship remains a strong one, which will stand you in good stead in the future. At the plea hearing she confirmed the evidence that your brothers gave that you were no longer taking drugs and that your alcohol intake has drastically reduced, compared to the binge drinking you had been engaging in when you committed the offence. A number of urine screens have been tendered on your behalf which also attest to you being drug free. I understand that you ceased drug taking and reduced your alcohol intake as soon as the offending had occurred.
34 At the further plea I was told that you have been attending Alcoholics Anonymous and that you had ceased drinking altogether. In support of your endeavours in this regard your fiancé has stopped drinking herself, and has removed all of the alcohol from the house. Your fiancé became pregnant in early 2014 but, sadly, she miscarried last August, which was, understandably, devastating for both of you. You were strongly supportive of her throughout this ordeal. Ms DC will not tolerate drug use and has helped to keep you on the straight and narrow so far as that is concerned, as have your brothers who mix in the same social circle as you nowadays. They are fine young men who spoke very highly of you, and you have them to look to in the future to assist you in your rehabilitation. You should take advantage of that.
35 Both you and your fiancé are working full-time and have recently moved into your own home. You have continued on as a cabinetmaker and have been recently offered a role as a manager. Your fiancé is a most impressive individual who, like your brothers, will be there for you no matter what. However, you are now old enough and, hopefully, wise enough to know that any further offending of any kind will place you at serious risk of going to gaol. Hopefully, you also appreciate that you have a good deal going for you as a person, with the capacity to make positive contributions to your family and to the broader community. However, you must take full advantage of the counselling services which will be provided through the proposed community corrections order in order to confront and deal with any demons which may be bubbling beneath the surface.
36 I factor in that there has been some delay in this matter which you have used to your advantage as you have turned your life around, showing that you have promising prospects of rehabilitation. You have also had the anxiety of these matters hanging over your head, albeit that you have contributed to the delay by the course you have taken. It seems to me that since the offending you have changed your life around in a most positive way and that you are now going from strength to strength. I am satisfied that you are of otherwise good character and that you have very good prospects of rehabilitation, providing you continue on the path that you are on and obtain some professional help with your mental and emotional state, as well as in respect of drug and alcohol use. You need to work through some issues, Mr Vacek, which, I believe, you may have been sublimating and abusing substances as a form of self-medication.
37 I need place only minimal weight on specific deterrence and protection of the community in view of my findings as to your prospects of rehabilitation. I adjourned this matter to explore whether your case was a suitable one for the imposition of a community corrections order, rather than sending you to gaol, which is a sentence of last resort. I have now received a psychological report and considered that and, having considered that and the submissions of each of the parties, I arranged for an assessment of you for a community corrections order.
38 The psychological report, which is dated 8 April 2015, is a most detailed one and was prepared Dr Dion Gee. Dr Gee found that you did not demonstrate psychopathology suggestive of a major mental illness, although he found that you did present with a degree of depressive pathology and anxiety which he believed predated the offending. He conducted a number of tests and found you to be at low risk of sexual reoffending. He is of the view that you would benefit from one on one counselling. In view of your difficult childhood and personal circumstances, this is certainly something that is very important in my view.
39 At the original plea hearing the Crown submitted that an immediate term of imprisonment was required in your case, despite Boulton v R [2014] VSCA 342, and that all relevant sentencing factors could not be adequately addressed without such a disposition being imposed. However, having considered the psychological report now provided, and the strong plea material presented at the plea hearing, as well as having considered the unusual circumstances of the offending itself, Ms Warder, the learned prosecutor, fairly conceded, on instruction from a Crown prosecutor, that in the particular circumstances of your case a community corrections order was within the range of sentences available to me.
40 Your counsel relied on the decision of Boulton v R, and submitted that your case was unique and, in all of the circumstances, a community corrections order was appropriate. Boulton v R is a guideline judgment which was handed down by five justices of our Court of Appeal in respect of the imposition of community corrections orders. The court said that the introduction of community corrections order by the legislature had dramatically changed the sentencing landscape.
41 The court concluded that a community corrections order could serve all of the purposes of punishment, even in quite serious cases. The court said, "The challenge for sentencing courts in the early years of the community corrections order regime will be to re-examine the conventional wisdom about the types of offending which ordinarily attracted a term of imprisonment," and went on to say that it was essential to conduct such a re-examination, "If the community corrections order was to fulfil its potential as a sentencing option, in accordance with the legislature's clearly expressed intention." [103]
42 The court expressly referred to the offence of rape as being part of this dramatically changed sentencing landscape. The court said that in certain cases all relevant sentencing considerations could be achieved by an appropriately crafted community corrections order. In a comparison between gaol and community corrections order the court observed that, "Imprisonment is often seriously detrimental for the prisoner and, hence, the community." [108] The court observed that programs such as the sex offender treatment program were rationed and often unavailable to those serving short sentences.
43 The court also observed that the various aspects of prison life could well increase the chances of a prisoner reoffending upon being released. The court said that it was now open to a sentencing court to choose a disposition enabling, "All of the purposes of punishment to be served simultaneously in a coherent and balanced way in preference to imprisonment" which was said to be, "skewed towards retribution and deterrence". [113]
44 Mr Vacek, before Boulton sentencing practice would almost certainly have meant that you were going to gaol for committing such a serious offence. However, in view of this guideline judgment of our Court of Appeal, and the circumstances which are peculiar to your case, I am of the view that an appropriately crafted community corrections order would be the most fitting disposition. In the particular circumstances of your case, and in view of the mitigating factors, I see no utility in sending you to gaol but you will be required to comply with a fairly onerous community corrections order instead. Be rest assured, Mr Vacek, if you commit any further offences which are punishable by gaol in the future then you face a very likely consequence of an immediate gaol term.
45 As things are, in my view, the community will benefit from you remaining on the path you are now on, and the conditions of the proposed community corrections order, which will also address the need to punish you, to denounce your conduct and to address matters such as deterrence in the context of the particular and somewhat unusual circumstances of your case.
46 Would you please stand up? In respect of the charge of rape, you are convicted. You are to undergo a forensic procedure by way of providing a buccal swab of saliva to an authorised officer. I have made the order because of the seriousness of your offending, because the order is not opposed, and because it is in the public interest to make such an order. If you do not cooperate with the authorised officer in providing the sample then I warn you that the officer may use reasonable force to take the sample.
47 As I have said, I propose to place you on a community corrections order. It will be for a period of five years, but I can only do so with your consent. So please listen carefully to the conditions and terms of the proposed order. As I have said, the order would run for five years from today. The mandatory terms that apply to all community corrections order are: you must not commit another offence for which you could be imprisoned during the time that the order is in force; you must comply with any obligation or requirement prescribed by Regulation 17 of the Sentencing Regulations (2011); you must report to, and receive, visits from the secretary to the Department of Justice or his or her delegate; you must report to the Ringwood Community Correctional Services before 4 pm on 28 April 2015; you must let a community corrections officer know within two clear working days if you are changing your address or job; you must not leave Victoria without first obtaining permission to do so from the secretary or his or her delegate; you must obey all lawful instructions from, and directions of, the secretary to the Department of Justice or his or her delegate.
48 The conditions that will apply in addition to these mandatory terms are as follows: you must be under the supervision of a community corrections officer for a period of five years from today; you are to perform 300 hours unpaid community work within the next four years; you must undergo assessment and treatment, including testing for drug and/or alcohol abuse or dependency as directed by the regional manager; you must undergo mental health assessment and treatment, including but not limited to mental health, psychological, neuropsychological, and psychiatric treatment in a hospital or residential facility as directed by the regional manager. In this regard I strongly recommend to the regional manager, and in accordance with the materials in your case, one on one counselling be provided rather than group counselling. You must undergo programs or courses including, if assessed suitable, the sex offender's program, that is a sex offender advice and treatment program, and all programs which are aimed at addressing factors relating to your offending as directed by the regional manager.
49 I have also decided that it is desirable to monitor your progress, and so you are to return to see me on Thursday 23 July 2015 for your first judicial monitoring, and I will then decide at that time as to when I will see you next, but there will be judicial monitoring imposed on you, at least for the next little while, to ensure that you are complying with all the terms and conditions of the order.
50 In relation to the unpaid community work that I have ordered, I have taken into account the commitments that you have as a cabinetmaker, and that you have recently been promoted in that regard, and you have heavy work commitments already. But, I have imposed 300 hours in light of the offending in the case and the need to address all relevant sentencing matters.
51 Mr Vacek, do you consent to the terms and conditions of the order?
52 OFFENDER: Yes, I do.
53 HER HONOUR: I should tell you that if you do not comply with all of the requirements of this community corrections order then you will face breach proceedings before me. You will be sentenced in relation to the breach and you will re-sentenced in relation to the charge, in which case you may well be sentenced to a period of imprisonment. Do you understand that?
54 OFFENDER: Yes, Your Honour.
55 HER HONOUR: I would regard a breach of the community corrections order as a most serious matter, whether it be because of further offending or because of non-compliance with any of the other conditions of the order. Do you understand that?
56 OFFENDER: Yes, Your Honour.
57 HER HONOUR: Do you maintain your consent to the order?
58 OFFENDER: Yes, Your Honour.
59 HER HONOUR: Therefore, in relation to Charge 1 you are convicted and sentenced to a community corrections order in the terms and conditions that I have just set out. If not for you plea of guilty I would have sentenced you to a total effective sentence of four years' imprisonment with a non-parole period of 32 months. In preparation for the judicial monitoring in July, I ask that Community Corrections prepare a report advising me of your progress. At this stage I will ask you to leave the dock and approach your counsel who will help you sign the community corrections order document.
60 MS BROUGHTON: As Your Honour pleases.
61 (Community Corrections Order signed and acknowledged.)
62 MS BROUGHTON: Your Honour, there is only one matter. Your Honour indicated that Mr Vacek is 33, he is 34.
63 HER HONOUR: Yes, I realised that I had mis-stated that when I said it. So I amend my sentence in that regard. I may have underestimated the complainant's at this stage as well, so I will check that in my revised sentencing remarks to ensure that that is accurate.
64 MS BROUGHTON: As Your Honour pleases.
65 HER HONOUR: I just wish to emphasise too, Mr Vacek, this is an exceptional case and ordinarily, even after Boulton, for offence as serious as rape, I would not be imposing a community corrections order. So please don't muck up on it because gaol will inevitably be the answer.
66 OFFENDER: Thank you, Your Honour.
67 HER HONOUR: The judicial monitoring appointment will be at 9.30 am and no doubt my associate will provide those details to you.
68 MS BROUGHTON: As Your Honour pleases.
69 HER HONOUR: Thank you.
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