Director of Public Prosecutions v Amouche

[2015] VCC 417

IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA Revised
(Not) Restricted
Suitable for Publication

AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

CR-15-00086

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

ZACK AMOUCHE

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JUDGE:	HIS HONOUR JUDGE GRANT
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:
DATE OF SENTENCE:	1 April 2015
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Amouche
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2015] VCC 417

REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject:
Catchwords:
Legislation Cited:
Cases Cited:
Sentence:

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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the Director of Public Prosecutions	Mr J. Dickie (Plea) Mr M. Vella (Sentence)
For the Accused	Mr M. Amad

HIS HONOUR:

1Zack Amouche, you have pleaded guilty to one charge of handle stolen goods, five charges of burglary, and three charges of theft.  The maximum penalties for these offences are as follows:  Handle stolen goods, 15 years imprisonment.  Burglary, ten years imprisonment.  And theft, ten years imprisonment.

2

Your offending can be summarised in the following way:  Charge 1 relates to your handling of stolen goods in late January and early February 2014.  On

20 January 2014, a burglary occurred at the Optus store at the Brimbank Shopping Centre.  Seventy-one devices worth $60,870 were stolen.  On

23 January 2014, a further burglary took place at the Optus store at the Epping Shopping Centre.  On that occasion, 96 devices worth $84,005 were stolen.  Shortly after these burglaries, you came into possession of the devices, knowing them to be stolen.  You then sent text messages to various unknown persons, advising them that you had the phones and tablets for sale. 

3Charges 2 to 7 relate to burglaries and thefts committed between 1 February 2014 and 9 February 2014.  On four separate occasions you and a group of other men drove to different shopping centres in the early hours of the morning.  As a group you forced your way into the centres with the intention of stealing mobile phones from stores therein.  On each occasion a large rock was used to break the glass at the front of the centre, and then the emergency button near the entrance was pushed to allow entry.  On each occasion you wore disguises, and on at least two occasions, carried implements to assist in the burglary. 

4The first burglary occurred on 1 February 2014 at the Plenty Valley Shopping Plaza.  On that occasion you were disturbed by a cleaner and fled the centre empty handed.  Your offending was captured on CCTV footage.  This conduct relates to Charge 2 on the indictment.

5The second burglary occurred on 4 February 2014 at the Barkly Square Shopping Plaza in Brunswick.  On that occasion you forced entry into the Telstra shop and stole 16 mobile telephones and three tablet devices valued at $13,632 in total.  This conduct relates to Charges 3 and 4.

6The third burglary occurred on 6 February 2014 at the Plenty Valley Shopping Plaza.  You forced entry into the Optus shop and stole 16 mobile phones valued at $11,640.  This conduct relates to Charges 5 and 6. 

7The final burglary occurred on 9 February 2014, when you forced entry into the Southland Shopping Centre, intending to steal mobile phones from the JB Hi-Fi store.  You were unable to locate the mobile phones and you fled empty handed. 

8Lastly, on 12 February 2014, you contacted the victim, Lee, who bought and sold mobile telephones on the internet marketplace sites, eBay and Gumtree.  Lee had been purchasing Apple and Samsung mobile phones from you and a friend.  He knew you as "Andrew" and your friend as "Carlos".  You offered to sell him 72 new iPhones for $49,000.  Lee agreed and you arranged to meet on 15 February to complete the transaction.  On that day you met him at his flat and you took him to a restaurant to wait for Carlos.  You told Lee that Carlos was coming to meet you with the phones.  While having lunch you made contact with Carlos and told him Lee was with you and that he had left the money for the phones at his flat.  Once you receive notification from your co-offender that he had stolen the money from the flat, you left the restaurant quickly, leaving Lee and you drove back to the flat to collect our co-offender.  This conduct relates to Charges 8 and 9 on the indictment. 

9You were initially arrested on 13 March 2014.  You were interviewed and made denials or "no comment".  You spent nine days in custody before being released on bail.  You were interviewed again on 6 May 2014 and generally made admissions to the offending.

10Mr Amouche, this is serious offending.  The handling charge relates to goods valued at over $144,000.  Of the devices stolen, only four mobile phones were recovered. 

11The burglaries and thefts from the shopping centres were brazen and planned.  You and your co-offenders wore disguises and at times, armed yourselves with instruments to effect the burglaries.  Items were stolen that you knew could be quickly onsold. 

12The final offence was planned, devious and involved the theft of a large amount of money.  With offending of this magnitude, general deterrence, punishment and denunciation are all highly relevant sentencing considerations. 

13

There are important matters in mitigation.  First, you have entered an early plea of guilty.  There was a contested committal with your alleged

co-offenders, however you only required the informant to give evidence and that was to clarify issues that were relevant to the handling charge.  At the end of the committal, you pleaded guilty to the charges that are now on the indictment.  I am satisfied that your plea indicates that you are remorseful for your offending.  You will also be given credit for saving the community the costs and expenses associated with conducting a criminal trial.

14Secondly, you are a young man without any prior criminal convictions.  These are powerful factors in your favour.  The law recognises the importance of rehabilitation for the young offender.  You were only 19 years old when you committed these offences.  The offending occurred within a limited time period.  You have no prior convictions and you have not been in trouble since your release on bail in March 2014.  You were remanded in custody for nine days and this had a chastening effect upon you.

15The offending occurred in circumstances where you had been abusing cannabis and amphetamines.  You had apparently commenced using drugs in mid to late-2012.  You became involved in a sordid world of drug use and gambling, and eventually criminal offending.  Your drug abuse does not excuse your behaviour, but it does offer an explanation as to why a young man who had not been in trouble before, should become involved in this serious offending. 

16I heard evidence from your uncle, that after being released on bail, you commenced working full-time for him.  You were working six days a week.  Your uncle has had the opportunity to observe you at work and he is very confident that you have ceased your involvement with drugs. 

17I note that you have stable accommodation with your father. 

18Given these circumstances, I am satisfied that you are a good prospect for rehabilitation.  Mr Amouche, this is very serious offending, however I have been persuaded that the matters in mitigation are so significant, they justify my decision not to imprison you.  It is most unlikely that you will ever be given an opportunity like this again.  If you breach the order I am about to announce, by non-compliance with conditions, or by the commission of further offences, you will be brought back before me and I will deal with you appropriately. 

19Will you please stand.

20On all of the charges you are convicted and released on a Community Corrections Order for a period of two years.  The order will have the following conditions attached: 

You are to be under supervision for the period of the order. 

You are to perform 300 hours of community work.

You are to undergo treatment and rehabilitation for drug abuse. 

21This order will require you to attend at the Broadmeadows Community Corrections Centre before 4 pm tomorrow. 

22Had you pleaded not guilty and been found guilty after trial, I would have sentenced you to a period of imprisonment that would have been followed at its end by a Community Corrections Order. 

23I make the Disposal Order sought by the prosecution. 

24You are to pay compensation of $15,732 to Telstra Corporation Limited, and $14,981.25 to Singtel-Optus. 

25

The application for compensation on behalf of Mr Lee, and the prosecution application for forfeiture, are adjourned for further hearing before me at

10.30 am on 3 July 2015.

26You can be seated there for the moment, Mr Amouche.  We will print up the papers and get you to sign them.  Then you will be free to leave.  Do you understand what has happened?

27OFFENDER:  Yes.

28HIS HONOUR:  Do you have any questions?

29OFFENDER:  No.

30HIS HONOUR:  No, all right.  Yes, thank you.  Is there anything else, Gentlemen?

31MR VELLA:  Your Honour, just in relation to the outstanding Compensation Order.

32HIS HONOUR:  Yes.

33MR VELLA:  The Director's policy is that when a matter is opposed, the OPP is unable to represent the complainant, so that will be communicated to him.

34HIS HONOUR:  Yes.

35MR VELLA:  And he may or may not be personally represented on that day.

36

HIS HONOUR:  All right, well look, thank you very much for that advice,

Mr Vella, thank you. 

37

MR AMAD:  Your Honour, I just wonder how flexible that date of 3 July is? 

I am actually on leave on that date, and I'm happy to have someone else involved in the matter, but I have been involved from the outset.

38HIS HONOUR:  The difficulty I have is that it is a brief window I have between two different circuits.

39MR AMAD:  Yes.

40

HIS HONOUR:  I am in the Latrobe Valley until the end of June, effectively, and then I go to Bendigo shortly after this date, so the - I could offer you

10 July as an alternative.

41MR AMAD:  No, I think I - I think I get back the next day, Your Honour, the 11th.

42HER HONOUR:  The 11th?  Just give me a moment.  I could do - the only other day I could do it, and it is best to do it on a Friday, just in case we are involved in trials and things.

43MR AMAD:  Yes.

44HIS HONOUR:  Would be 17 July.

45MR AMAD:  Thank you, Your Honour.

46HIS HONOUR:  17 July?

47MR AMAD:  Thank you, Your Honour.

48HIS HONOUR:  All right, well look, I will -  I will just have to amend - - -

49MR AMAD:  There is no issue with that, Your Honour.

50HIS HONOUR:  Yes, I will just have to amend the orders, unfortunately, and make it 17 July, but I am happy to do that.  You have been involved in this from the outset, Mr Amad.

51MR AMAD:  Yes.

52HIS HONOUR:  So it is sensible for you to continue it.  Yes, thanks Gentlemen.  

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