Director of Public Prosecutions v Abdulrahman

[2025] VCC 353

IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA

AT MELBOURNE

CRIMINAL DIVISION

Revised
Not Restricted
Suitable for Publication

Case No. CR-23-01849; CR-23-01850; CR-23-01851

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

AYOUB ABDULRAHMAN;
MICHAEL NOUS;
MOHAMED BURAM

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JUDGE:	Kelly
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:	19 February 2025
DATE OF SENTENCE:	31 March 2025
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Abdulrahman & Ors
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2025] VCC 353

REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject:CRIMINAL LAW    

Catchwords:              Cause injury intentionally — affray — common assault — three co-accused — two victims — Youthful offenders — Pleas of guilty — High objective gravity — alcohol and drug use — Bugmy principles — Verdins not enlivened — Delay — Parity

Legislation Cited:      Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic)

Cases Cited:Boulton v The Queen (2015) 46 VR 308; Bugmy v The Queen (2013) 169 CLR 571; R v Mills [1998] 4 VR 235; Azzopardi v The Queen (2011) 35 VR 43;

Sentence:                  ABDULRAHMAN: Total effective sentence of 6 months’ imprisonment, followed by 18-month community correction order.

NOUS: Total effective sentence of 16 months’ imprisonment followed by an 18-month community correction order.

BURAM: Total effective sentence of 10 months’ imprisonment followed by an 18-month community correction order.

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APPEARANCES:		Counsel	Solicitors
For the DPP		Mr S. Tan	Office of Public Prosecutions
For Abdulrahman		Mr A. Pyne	Chester Metcalfe & Co
For Nous:		Ms F. Livingstone-Clark	James Dowsley & Associates
For Buram:	Mr J. Cleveland		Ajak & Associates

HIS HONOUR:

1Ayoub Abdulrahman, Michael Nous and Mohamed Buram, you have each pleaded guilty to one charge of causing injury intentionally, one charge of affray and one charge of common assault. The maximum penalties of these offences are as follows:

·        Causing injury intentionally — 10 years

·        Affray — 5 years

·        Common assault — 5 years

Circumstances of Offending

2On Saturday the 31^st of December, you all attended a Sounds of Africa event at Jacksons Hotel in Toorak. The victim, Mr Darrien Fisher had been employed as a DJ to perform at that event, and he attended with Ms Sharni Conroy-Green, the secondary victim.

3In the early hours of 1 January, Mr Fisher and Ms Conroy-Green left the hotel and walked to Mr Fisher’s white Jeep Patriot. Shortly after, the three of you left the club and went to Mr Fisher’s car, where you either sat on the bottom or stood next to it. Mr Fisher asked you to get off his car. An argument ensued. A fourth co-accused who is not the subject of this sentence threw the first punch to the right side of Mr Fisher’s head, after which a scuffle erupted. Mr Fisher tried to defend himself and fell back on the bonnet of his car before collapsing to the ground. The three of you kicked and punched him to the body, head and groin while he was on the ground. He attempted to protect himself by holding his hands over his head.

4A bystander intervened and tried to push you off Mr Fisher. Mr Fisher managed to stand up in a hunched over position. Mr Nous, you approached him and struck him. Mr Fisher fell to the ground and remained on the ground for the rest of the assault. Ms Conroy-Green tried to shield Mr Fisher by lying over him. You three continued to kick him and stomp on him. You periodically moved away from him and then returned sporadically to further kick him while he lay prone on the ground. Ms Conroy-Green was assaulted during this incident whilst attempting to protect Mr Fisher.

5Around eight minutes after the assault commenced, you all fled the scene, running through the nearby Woolworths carpark.

6After five more minutes, Ambulance Victoria members arrived at the scene and attended to Mr Fisher, who was unconscious and had blood around his nose and a haematoma to his forehead. Mr Fisher was intubated and transported to the Alfred Hospital. He suffered a fractured spine and underwent surgery to insert an intracranial pressure monitor. He was in a medically induced coma until 3 January 2023.  He also suffered bruising to his fingers and back, scarring to his face and emotional trauma from the incident.

7I was provided a victim impact statement by Mr Fisher. He did not want it read aloud in court so I will not summarise it in detail. Suffice to say, he has suffered significantly since your offending and his physical, social and mental wellbeing have been thoroughly impacted.

Ayoub Abdulrahman – Personal Circumstances

8Mr Abdulrahman, your personal circumstances were summarised by your counsel.

9You are the second eldest of five siblings. You were born in Cairo in 2004 after your family had fled the Sudanese civil war in 2003.

10Your family emigrated to Australia when you were an infant and settled in Dandenong. You describe your upbringing as stable. You come from a religious family and you attended an Islamic school on weekends.

11You were educated at Dandenong South Primary School before graduating from Dandenong High School in 2021. You told Mr Pyne that you were an attentive student.

12In 2021 you had a serious car accident which resulted in your hospitalisation for two weeks and the use of a neck brace for six months. I am told that you were diagnosed with a depressive illness during this time, and you admitted drinking more and withdrawing from your family.

13During 2021 you also fathered a child, who currently lives with his mother. I am told you visit your son approximately three times a week.

14You apparently work for your parents, assisting with cleaning in return for payment. You have certificates in Building and Construction but have been unable to obtain work in those fields because your neck injury prevents heavy lifting.

Michael Nous – Personal Circumstances

15Mr Nous your personal circumstances were summarised in the report of Mr Jeffrey Cummins and in various youth justice supervised bail reports.

16You are the eldest of six children born to Ms Natasha Nous. You are the only child of Mr Joseph Nous. You witnessed considerable family violence and your parents separated when you were young. Your father struggled with a drug addiction and died when you were 13. I was informed that your father's death, which from your perspective came out of the blue, had a profound impact on you.

17Following their separation, your mother re-partnered twice, giving birth to your five half siblings. I am told her subsequent partners were also violent and interacted frequently with the criminal justice system whilst you were under their care.

18Your grandparents have been supportive, and you are close to one of your sisters who lives with an aunt. You have had one significant romantic relationship with a woman named Ayah, whom you have dated for about four years.

19Your education has been fragmented. You attended several different primary schools. You enrolled in Lyndale Secondary College in Dandenong until the age of 14, before you withdrew. At 17 you completed 12 months of a Carpentry apprenticeship with your stepfather. You have worked for approximately 7 to 8 months as a concreter for your uncle, apparently.

20Around the age of 13 you engaged in binge drinking. You report that alcohol has never been a problem for you. You began smoking cannabis at 13, and you currently have a prescription. You began dabbling in cocaine at 14. In the last two years your consumption has spiked. You have abused Valium, Xanax and Lyrica from the age of 18.

Mohamed Buram – Personal Circumstances

21Mr Buram, your personal circumstances were summarised by your counsel.

22You are the eldest of five children. You were born in Libya. Your early life was spent travelling between Libya, Sudan and Egypt, before your family arrived in Australia in June 2005, obtaining citizenship in 2007.

23You attended the Lyndale primary school and secondary college, where you completed VCAL. You currently work in a grocery wholesalers owned and operated by your family. You have worked there since finishing school. I have been told that whilst you have been on bail you have received a ‘white card’ enabling you to work on construction sites. You have completed a civil construction course through Foresite training.

24You are a regular user of cannabis, which you say calms your mind. You occasionally take cocaine on weekends.

25You have no formal mental health diagnoses, however your mother has concerns for your mental health as she has problems getting through to you.

Defence Submissions – Abdulrahman

26Mr Abdulrahman, your counsel submitted that the appropriate sentence for you is a Community Correction Order in light of your early pleas of guilty, your youth and lack of prior criminal convictions, the rehabilitation you have undergone, and the principles derived from Boulton endorsing the imposition of CCO’s in very serious cases including homicides.[1]

[1] Boulton v The Queen (2015) 46 VR 308 (‘Boulton’).

Defence Submissions – Nous

27Mr Nous, your counsel submitted that the appropriate sentence for you is a period of imprisonment not exceeding time served or in the alternative a combination sentence, having regard to your early pleas of guilty, your youth, the application of Bugmy, your psychological profile and proportionality, totality, parity and parsimony.[2]

[2] Bugmy v The Queen (2013) 169 CLR 571 (‘Bugmy’).

Defence Submissions – Buram

28Mr Buram, your counsel submitted that a short period of imprisonment combined with a Community Correction Order is within range having regard to your early plea of guilty, your youth and the principles derived from Boulton.

Prosecution Submissions

29Mr Tan on behalf of the Prosecution accepted that a combination sentence would be within range for Mr Abdulrahman and Mr Buram but submitted that the seriousness of the assault calls for a period of imprisonment with a non-parole period for Mr Nous. The Prosecution also opposed several submissions advanced on behalf of each offender, which will be addressed throughout the sentence.

Gravity of Offending & Moral Culpability

30The attack on Mr Fisher was ferocious and disturbing. He was knocked to the ground and kicked repeatedly when prone and incapable of defending himself. The presence of his friend shielding him from you, did not deter you from returning repeatedly to kick him again whilst he lay on the ground immobile. It was a grave example of its type, committed at night, in company, with savagery and a concentrated focus on your victim’s head. The presence of appalled bystanders did nothing to inhibit you. When you finished, he was motionless. You left him in that state and fled, leaving it to strangers to minister to him. Your moral culpability is high. This sort of pack-savagery is often deprecated as cowardly. You were each emboldened by the presence of your friends. You knew Mr Fisher could not defend himself against four of you. That is what is meant by cowardly.

Guilty Plea

31There is scant evidence of concern for your victim or regret or shame for your offending. You left while Mr Fisher was immobile and you returned to assault him again. When arrested, each of you lied about what you did and expressed no concern for Mr Fisher’s welfare. Not one of you reached out to him through your solicitors to apologise for what you did to him.

32I accept your pleas would have been entered at an earlier stage, but the prosecution pursued more serious charges against each of you. Once these were discontinued, you each pleaded guilty to the 3 charges before me. The delay in resolving your matters has meant that two of you are no longer young offenders as defined by the Sentencing Act. I am prepared to treat your pleas as having been entered early in the sense that once the roadblock of the more serious charge was cleared, you each indicated a willingness to plead to a lesser alternative. You each receive credit for that.

Youth

33It was submitted for each of you that your youth at the time of the offending attracts the principles in Mills[3] as restated in Azzopardi.[4] Mr Abdulrahman, you were 19; Mr Nous you were 19 and Mr Buram, you were 20 at the time of this offending. You are 20, 21 and 22 now. Although, neither you Mr Nous, nor you Mr Buram are ‘young offenders’ as defined by the Sentencing Act,[5] I accept that you are youthful offenders whose rehabilitation ought to feature prominently in the sentence I am to impose, unless the objective gravity of your crimes displaces that consideration.

[3] R v Mills [1998] 4 VR 235, 241 (‘Mills’).

[4] Azzopardi v The Queen (2011) 35 VR 43, 53-5 [34]-[36] (‘Azzopardi’).

[5] Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic) s 3(1) ‘Young offender’.

34Mr Pyne for you, Mr Abdulrahman, submitted that your offending lacked insight, judgement and self-control. He identified these features as typical of youthful offending- impetuous, rash, ill-conceived and oblivious of the consequences. He also relied on your lack of criminal convictions, your support network, stable accommodation and employment. He invoked Azzopardi to argue that your rehabilitation will ultimately benefit the community, operating as a bulwark against reoffending. He reminded the court of the deleterious impact of imprisonment on young offenders.

Prospects of Rehabilitation

35Mr Abdulrahman, regarding your prospects of rehabilitation, Mr Pyne submitted that you come from a supporting, nurturing home. Both your parents attended court on your behalf. He stressed that no-one else in your family has been in trouble with police. He reminded me of Redlich JA’s observation in Azzopardi that:

Young offenders are typically still in a stage of mental and emotional development and may be more open to influences designed to positively change their behaviour.[6]

[6] Azzopardi, [35].

36Your prospects of rehabilitation are reasonable.

37For you, Mr Nous, Ms Livingston-Clark argued that you are still at a stage where you could benefit from programmes addressing your unresolved grief stemming from your father’s death. I note that you have spent, by your reckoning, 3.5 years in Youth Justice Centres (‘YJC’) and over a year in adult remand and you have not enrolled in a Men’s Behavioural Change programme. Mr Cummins, who assessed you for your lawyers, wrote that you presented with a mildly surly and entitled persona. I released you to bail and despite numerous chances, you responded poorly to the opportunity to work on yourself. Your prospects of rehabilitation are guarded.

38You, Mr Buram, were on bail at the time of this offending. You have a number of prior convictions and you have previously received a prison term for the offence of Reckless Conduct Endangering Life. It was submitted that returning you to prison will expose you to the negative influences of adult gaol and may ultimately harm your ability to re-integrate into society upon your release. I remind myself of Redlich JA’s observation in Azzopardi, that:

While in prison a youthful offender is likely to be exposed to corrupting influences which may entrench in that young person criminal behaviour, thereby defeating the very purpose for which punishment is imposed.[7]

[7] Azzopardi, [36].

39Your prospects of rehabilitation are fair.

40The younger an offender the more important their rehabilitation. Each of you is a youthful offender. Mr Buram, you have received a prison sentence previously. You, Mr Nous, have been sentenced to youth detention previously. Courts are slow to send youthful offenders to prison because if their experience scars them, their chance of reforming and living productive pro-social lives may be irreparably damaged. If they emerge from prison too disturbed or too angry to reintegrate, their problems upon release will be the community’s problems for a long time afterwards. It is in the community’s interests to facilitate the rehabilitation of youthful offenders. That said, there are cases of such objective gravity that an offender’s rehabilitation is displaced by the need to denounce their conduct, to deter them and to deter others.

41I had each of you assessed for a community correction order, though I made it clear to you that you were not to read into that decision as an indication of the sentence I was likely to impose.

42Mr Abdulrahman, you were assessed as suitable with a low risk of general re-offending.

43Mr Buram, you were assessed as suitable with a high risk of general re-offending. The author of the report noted that you provided minimal insight into your offending and ‘failed to demonstrate any remorse’. You disclosed that you are currently struggling with alcohol dependency.

44Mr Nous, you were assessed as suitable with a high risk of general re-offending. The author of the report observed you resorted to some victim blaming when asked about your offending. You demonstrated some insight, observing that you had ‘gone too far’ and the victims did not deserve what was done to them.

Verdins

45No submissions were made by any of you that the principles in Verdins are enlivened. One psychological report has been filed, for you Mr Nous, but it was not submitted that the Verdins threshold has been met. You have attracted a provisional diagnosis of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and you may have ADHD. Your IQ was tested in 2018, and you returned a full-scale score of 84. Mr Cummins thinks that your mental health may suffer if you spend more time in custody. Maybe it will, but I note that you told Mr Cummins that you wanted to be sentenced by video-link because, “it’s a real headache for me if I have to go to court because I’m comfortable at this prison..... You know, if I have to go to court I might not end up back here.” There appears little risk that your mental health will deteriorate in prison.

Bugmy

46Mr Nous, it was submitted that you have suffered deprivation and disadvantage. You have witnessed domestic violence and you told Mr Cummins that you have been subjected to it, but you refused to discuss it further. I was provided with a number of Youth Justice Bail Reports which are relied upon as providing a foundation for a finding that your moral culpability is reduced due to what Ms Livingstone-Clark described as your “trauma history.” She quoted statistics from the NSW Bugmy Bar Book which say that 67% of children exposed to domestic violence are at risk of developing adverse mental health and wellbeing outcomes.[8] The prosecution does not accept that your moral culpability is reduced due to the dysfunction you witnessed as a child. I, however, accept that the principles are engaged, but your moral culpability for this offending is reduced modestly.

[8] The Bugmy Bar Book, ‘Childhood, Infant and Perinatal Exposure to, and Experience of, Domestic and Family Violence’ May 2024, [26].

47Although you have appeared in court several times, you have no history of violence save for a Reckless Conduct Endangering Serious Injury charge involving the use of a car and two previous counts of Affray. Whatever imprint your childhood exposure to violence has left on you, it has not manifested in gratuitous violence to others on this scale. The extremity of this violence has much to do with finding yourself alongside three others who were equally prepared to attack Mr Fisher, render him unconscious and continue attacking him when he was thus disabled. Your co-offenders' conduct is not explained by childhood exposure to dysfunction, and you are each complicit in the acts of the others. That said, I am prepared to find that your moral culpability is slightly reduced.

Delay

48Delay has been relied on by each of you. As I have already noted, I am prepared to accept that each of you was willing to plead to the charges now before the court. You, Mr Abdulrahman have remained out of trouble for almost two years, save from some low-end offending, and your rehabilitation is well advanced. You are a first offender. You, Mr Buram, have a relevant criminal history, but you have been on bail since 6 February 2023 and you have not reoffended. You, Mr Nous, have had a chequered history on bail. Each of you is entitled to a reduction in sentence to reflect that these charges have been hanging over your heads for two years and in that time you have had the threat of gaol looming. Both you, Mr Abdulrahman and you, Mr Buram are also entitled to some credit for advancing your rehabilitation in this period.

Parity

49Although each of you is responsible for your own actions and those of your co-offenders, there are reasons for fixing different sentences. There is little to distinguish your roles. You, Mr Nous delivered the blow which brought Mr Fisher to the ground, but the attack on Mr Fisher was a group effort. However, I have assessed your prospects, Mr Abdulrahman, as more positive than your co-offenders and I have assessed yours, Mr Buram, as better than Mr Nous’.

Sentencing Principles

50Pursuant to s 5 of the Sentencing Act 1991, the purposes for which you are to be sentenced are:

(a)   To punish you in a manner and to an extent which is just in all of the circumstances;   

(b)   To deter you or others from committing similar offences in future;   

(c)   To facilitate rehabilitation;   

(d)   To manifest the denunciation of your conduct;   

(e)   To protect the community; or   

(f)    A combination of two or more of these purposes.  

51Pack violence needs to be denounced. Kicking a defenceless man in the head while he is motionless should not need to be denounced. It is despicable and it is hard to conceive how anyone in the community could think of it as anything less. Each of you needs to be deterred from behaving like this ever again. That said, you are all youthful offenders and I intend to hold the door open to your rehabilitation. I was initially unattracted to placing you, Mr Nous, on a CCO, but I will order judicial monitoring in your case and I will keep a close eye on your progress. If you fail on your Order, you will come back before me and I can resentence you for this offending. I am well aware of your poor performance on bail and your history of poor compliance on Children’s Court Orders. You have not been trialled on a CCO before. I will know soon enough if you are serious about changing.

52What I am proposing to do at this stage, on Charge 1 is record a conviction and place each of you on a Community Corrections Order for a period of 18 months from the date of your release from prison.

53Before I ask if you if you consent to such an order being made, I have to tell you a little bit about the order, so you know what it means.

54The following Core conditions apply to all Community Correction Orders:

·        Each of you must not commit, whether in or outside Victoria, during the period of the order, an offence punishable by imprisonment.

·        You must report to and receive visits from the Secretary to the Department of Justice, or his or her nominee, during the period of the Order.

·        You must report to the Community Correction Centre at Dandenong within 2 clear days following your release from custody.

·        You must notify the Secretary, or his or her nominee, of any change of address or employment within 2 clear working days after that change.

·        You must not leave Victoria except with the permission of the Secretary to the Department of Justice, or his or her nominee.

·        You must comply with any directions given by the Secretary that are necessary for the Secretary to give to ensure you comply with the Order.

55Now, there are a number of other conditions attached to this Order, and they apply to each of you:

·        You each have to perform 300 hours of unpaid community work over a period of 18 months as directed by the Regional Manager (s48C).  150 hours of treatment and rehabilitation satisfactorily undertaken are to be counted as hours of unpaid community work for the purposes of the unpaid community work condition (s48CA).

·        You must be under the supervision of a Community Correction Officer for a period of 18 months.

·        You are required to be supervised, monitored and managed as directed by the Secretary, or his or her nominee (s.48E).

·        You must undergo assessment and treatment (including testing) for drug abuse or dependency as directed by the Regional Manager (s48D(3)(a)).

·        You must undergo assessment and treatment (including testing) for alcohol abuse or dependency as directed by the Regional Manager.

56Additionally, Mr Buram and Mr Nous, both of you must undergo programs or courses aimed at addressing factors relating to the offending as directed by the Regional Manager, and I specifically refer to the Forensic intervention Services Branch Program for you, Mr Buram (s48D(3)(f)).

57Mr Nous, you also 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 (s48D(3)(e)).

58Mr Nous, you must also attend for review of your progress and compliance or otherwise with conditions of the Order and you have got to come back before me on 5 August at 9.30am (s48K). 

·        I direct that I be advised by your Corrections Officer of any non-compliance of these conditions (s48(1)) and I will then determine if the matter should be brought back before me. 

59Now, I can only impose a Community Correction order if each of you agree to such an Order being imposed.  So, I need to tell you just a little bit more about that. 

60If you contravene or breach that order by committing further offences you can be charged and a sentence of imprisonment is one of the options that can be imposed for that breach (s83A(d)). 

61You can also be re-sentenced for the offences that are before me.  One of the options available includes a term of imprisonment (s83A(s)).

62You need to be extra careful while you are on a CCO. You cannot commit any further offences that might incur a term of imprisonment, otherwise you are back before the Court and you will be re-sentenced.  You therefore need to be extra careful.

63I also advise you that if you fail to comply with any direction of the Secretary to the Department of Justice, that is a Community Corrections officer, worker if you like, as part of this order, a substantial fine can be imposed (s83A(e) and A(f)). 

64Now you are aware of all of that? 

65Mr Abdulrahman, do you consent to being put on a community correction order?

66AYOUB ABDULRAHMAN: Yes.

67Mr Nous, do you consent to being put on a community correction order?

68MICHAEL NOUS: Yes your Honour.

69Mr Buram, do you consent to being put on a community correction order?

70MOHAMED BURAM: Yes I do.

Sentence – Abdulrahman

71Ayoub Abdulrahman please stand.

72On Charge 1, Intentionally Cause Injury, you are convicted and sentenced to 6 months prison to be followed by an 18 month community correction order

73On Charge 2, Affray, you are convicted and sentenced to 2 months imprisonment to be served concurrently with the sentence in charge 1.

74On Charge 3, Common Assault, you are convicted and sentenced to 3 months imprisonment, to be served concurrently.

75You have spent 61 days in presentence detention, and I declare these days as time served against the sentence I have imposed.

76Pursuant to s 6AAA, but for your pleas of guilty I would have imposed a total effective sentence of 12 months' imprisonment with an 18 month community correction order.

Sentence – Nous

77Michael Nous please stand.

78On Charge 1, Intentionally Cause Injury, you are convicted and sentenced to 16 months gaol with an 18 month community correction order.

79On Charge 2, Affray, you are convicted and sentenced to 2 months imprisonment to be served concurrently with the sentence in charge 1.

80On Charge 3, Common Assault, you are convicted and sentenced to 3 months imprisonment to be served wholly concurrently.

81You have spent 458 days in presentence detention, and I declare these days as time served against the sentence I have imposed.

82Pursuant to s 6AAA of the Sentencing Act, but for your pleas of guilty I would have imposed a total effective sentence of 2 years’ imprisonment with an 18-month community correction order.

Sentence – Buram

83Mohamed Buram please stand.

84On Charge 1, Intentionally Cause Injury, you are convicted and sentenced to 10 months imprisonment with an 18 month community correction order.

85On Charge 2, Affray, you are convicted and sentenced to 2 months imprisonment to be served concurrently with the sentence in charge 1.

86On Charge 3, Common Assault, you are convicted and sentenced to 3 months imprisonment to be served wholly concurrently.

87You have spent 37 days in presentence detention, and I declare these days as time served against the sentence I have imposed.

88Pursuant to s 6AAA of the Sentencing Act, but for your pleas of guilty I would have imposed a total effective sentence of 18 months' imprisonment with an 18 month community correction order.

89Mr Tan, any ancillaries?

90No your Honour.

91Alright.