Director of Public Prosecutions v Ashmore

[2024] VCC 688

IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA

Revised

Not Restricted

 Suitable for Publication

AT WODONGA

CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

CR 23-02133

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

NATASHA ASHMORE

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JUDGE:	HIS HONOUR JUDGE MOGLIA
WHERE HELD:	Wodonga
DATE OF HEARING:	6 May 2024
DATE OF SENTENCE:	17 May 2024
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Ashmore
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2024] VCC 688

REASONS FOR SENTENCE

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Subject:               Criminal Law – Plea of Guilty – Sentence.

Catchwords:        Aggravated burglary - Assault in company - Unlawful assault – Aboriginal  

background – Drug, alcohol and mental health issues – Good prospects

of rehabilitation.

Legislation Cited:

Cases Cited:

Sentence:           Total effective sentence of 56 days imprisonment combined with a   

community correction order for 1 year.

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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the Director of Public Prosecutions	D. O'Doherty A. Cecil	Office of Public Prosecutions
For the Accused	T. Smurthwaite	Leanne Warren & Associates

HIS HONOUR: 

1Natasha Ashmore, you have pleaded guilty to one charge of aggravated burglary on 6 April 2023 at Wodonga, maximum penalty 25 years; summary charges of assault in company, maximum penalty 1 year; and unlawful assault, maximum penalty 3 months.

2Your father was a Barkindji man, from northwest of here, and your mum, her mob is Ngiyampaa, which is north of where we are sitting.  The offences that you committed occurred in Wodonga in Dhudhuroa country and the Koori Court sat here, where you came and sat around the table with respected persons Ruth Davies and Josie Edwards along with myself.

3The sentencing conversation that happened last week is an important thing. This court respects Aboriginal culture and sits on Aboriginal country. We acknowledge their elders, past and present.

4Your participation in the sentencing conversation means that you accepted and expressed your accountability for what happened. Around the table you were invited to speak and you were heard.  This is important because it means that you engaged with the justice system in a real way.  You did not just sit at the back of the court and get spoken to. 

5Your engagement has an effect and I find that your engagement around the table was genuine and honest, and you listened to the respected persons as they spoke with you about what happened and your life.

6You were supported of course by defence counsel, Mr Smurthwaite and the prosecutor, Mr O'Doherty was at the table too – he listened to you and ultimately agreed with the result that was proposed.

7You spoke about what happened on that day.  You spoke about coming to this part of the country to be with your mum.  You spoke about this place being a painful place for you – a risky place for you to come – and that you felt overwhelmed and with your brothers that day, you resorted to drink.

8You got into arguments including with the manager at the pub, who you pushed.  Then, when there was a crowd of people near your mum's home, you saw them and perceived them to be attacking your brother. You, being the elder sibling, felt responsible and you tried to intervene. 

9Unfortunately, you did that in the state you were in by grabbing some kitchen knives and you went to their front door and, whilst you did not use the knives on anyone and did not hurt anyone, which is a serious thing, that was an aggravated burglary.

10You spoke about that and how you could have been more careful.  You could have avoided coming here in the way that caused you to be overwhelmed. You could have avoided drinking. 

11You also spoke about it being a long time since you have been in trouble before, almost 20 years ago, in 2015.

12You spoke about your life being different in Wollongong, where you now live. You are not in trouble up there, you are with your partner Mr Dennis.  You are a mum of three growing kids aged 16, 14 and 9.  You care a lot for them.  You are working with the local palliative care team from the hospital. The work you have done in recent times, sadly for you, has been with members of your own family, including your dad. There is a hope that that work with the palliative care team will be ongoing.

13You also see a psychiatrist and a counsellor, and you are a member of a women's group.  This is the extent and the stability of your life up there in the northeast, near Wollongong.

14In response to what happened on this day down here, you were locked up and it was 56 days, almost two months, before you were released. That release is now about a year ago.  Everybody around the table agreed that the important thing is that you keep living and working where you are in Wollongong, that you keep seeing the support people that you have there, including your counsellor, and that you keep being a mum and a partner to Mr Dennis, and that the stability you have achieved up there is maintained.

15The way that it was suggested that that could and should be done is that you get some support to make sure that alcohol and drugs and your mental health do not become unstable and that you can talk to a community corrections officer down here over the phone. 

16You can request a transfer of such an order to New South Wales, although that might take a couple of months to get approved.  In the meantime, I can have the matter back before me, just like today, to monitor the progress of that order including the transfer.

17I sentence you as follows:

On Charge 1, 56 days imprisonment combined with a Community Correction Order for 12 months;

On Charge 2, assault in company, 7 days; and

On Charge 3, assault, 7 days.

18Those seven days are to be served concurrently and will be part of that total of 56 days. You are not going back to prison unless you breach the order.

19The total effective sentence is 56 days and a Community Correction Order.

20I declare that you have already been served 56 days.

21I indicate that if there was not a guilty plea, I would have imposed 15 months plus a non-parole period of six months.

22The conditions of your Community Correction Order are:

(i) as they talked to you on the phone, you have to live where you are staying at the moment, up in Wollongong;

(ii) you have to be supervised, which means phone supervision with a Corrections worker down here, and that might be weekly at first, but that might change over time, and you must have phone contact with them within the next two days, to make sure that they understand the order has started and that you can talk with them about what you have to do.

23Other conditions about alcohol and drug monitoring and mental health supports, they will not start until the question of whether the order is transferred to New South Wales has been decided.  This means that you do not have to come back to Wodonga for this order, to go to meetings or for treatment.  You can do that in Wollongong.

24I indicate this, if you make an application to transfer and if that application is not successful for any reason, then I will know about it and we will have another hearing to discuss what should happen then.

25Is that all clear to you, Ms Ashmore?

26OFFENDER:  Yes.

27HIS HONOUR:  Do you agree to that Community Correction Order, in the way that I have talked about?

28OFFENDER:  Yes.

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