Director of Public Prosecutions v Baskerville
[2022] VCC 776
•1 June 2022
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA | Revised Not Restricted Suitable for Publication |
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION
CR-21-02178
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| v |
| SARAH BASKERVILLE |
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| JUDGE: | HIS HONOUR JUDGE CAHILL |
| WHERE HELD: | Melbourne |
| DATE OF HEARING: | 24 May 2022 |
| DATE OF SENTENCE: | 1 June 2022 |
| CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | DPP v Baskerville |
| MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2022] VCC 776 |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject: Dangerous driving causing death
Catchwords: Reversed into pedestrian – higher low end offending – history of mental health problems – consequent PTSD would substantially and materially increase the burden and risks of imprisonment (S 5(2H)(c)(ii) – family hardship – excellent rehabilitation prospects.
Legislation Cited: Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic); Road Safety Act 1986 (Vic).
Cases Cited:DPP v Neethling [2009] 22 VR 266; DPP v Oates (2007) 47 MVR 483; Arron Bell v The Queen [2018] VSCA 281; Andrew Farmer v The Queen [2020] VSCA 14; R v Teh [2003] VSCA 169; Farnan Fariah v The Queen [2021] VSCA 213; Amber Peers v The Queen [2021] VSCA 264; Daniel Hackett [2021] VSC 773; Zhouhui Lu [2022] VSC 258; Worboyes v the Queen (2021) 96 MVR 344.
Sentence:Community corrections order of 2 years and 6 months with 150 hours of unpaid community work and mental health treatment
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APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the Director of Public Prosecutions | Ms E Ramsay | Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions |
| For the Accused | Ms B Franjic | Tony Hargreaves & Partners Lawyers |
HIS HONOUR:
1Sarah Baskerville, you have pleaded guilty to one charge of dangerous driving causing death.
2On 24 May 2022, when you applied for a sentence indication, I indicated, in the event you pleaded guilty, I would not impose a sentence of imprisonment upon you.
Circumstances of offending
3The circumstances of your offending are set out in the Summary of Prosecution Opening dated 22 December 2021.[1]
[1] Exhibit A: Summary of Prosecution Opening dated 22 December 2021.
4On 12 June 2020, at 9:30 am your car struck and killed a pedestrian, Marcus De Rijk, as he was crossing Bridge Road, near Griffiths Street, Richmond.
5Your driving was captured on CCTV footage.[2]
[2] Exhibit D: CCTV Footage.
6You had turned left from Griffiths Street onto Bridge Road heading east. You stopped on Bridge Road, put your car in reverse and accelerated at a fast speed backwards. I have watched the film a number of times. The collision happened within seconds. Between three and five seconds elapsed between the time you started to reverse and when your car struck Mr De Rijk. While it is difficult to estimate, you appear to have travelled a distance somewhere between 15 and 25 metres in that time.
7Police were driving in the vicinity and were at the accident scene quickly. Paramedics assisted Mr De Rijk and an ambulance took him to The Alfred Hospital where, tragically, he died as a result of his injuries.
8You told police you had reversed your car toward a vacant car park on Bridge Road. You were given a preliminary breath test and a preliminary oral fluid test. They were negative for alcohol and drugs.
Victim impact statement
9Mr De Rijk was a 51-year-old man who worked as a technology advisor at RMIT university. He was married and expecting his first child. He was talking to his wife, Claire on the phone, when your car knocked him down.
10His father-in-law, Antonio Patti, provided the court with a victim impact statement.
11After the loss of her husband, Mrs De Rijk moved in with her parents. Her daughter was born in July 2020. As Mr Patti wrote, '[w]ords cannot reflect the grief of a young mother losing her husband one month before their first child was due to be born. The fact that Marcus never saw his only child, combined with the overall grief and shock of his passing, has had a huge impact on our daughter which consequently had a huge impact on me and my wife.'[3]
[3] Exhibit B: Victim Impact Statement of Antonio Patti dated 23 May 2022.
12Mr Patti and his wife have their daughter and granddaughter living with them. It has been challenging and stressful, particularly during the pandemic-related restrictions. As Mr Patti concluded, '[o]ur lives have been totally disrupted by Marcus’s death, and totally life-changing for Claire and her daughter.'
Criminal record
13You have no relevant criminal record.
Personal circumstances
14You were born in February 1986. You were 34 years old when you offended. You are now 36.
15Your personal circumstances are set out in the psychological report of Patrick Newton[4].
[4] Exhibit 3: Psychological Report of Patrick Newton dated 14 March 2022.
16You were born at Mudgee, New South Wales. Your father was a heroin addict and your mother was mentally unwell. Neither of them were able to look after you and you lived with your grandparents from infancy until your teens when you went to live with your mother. She had a series of violent and abusive relationships. You told Mr Newton you were physically and sexually abused by her partners. You said your mother chose her partners rather than her children and, when you were 13 or 14 years old, when you told her, her-then partner had raped you, she refused to believe you and asked you to leave home.
17When you were in your mid-teens, your father tried to reconnect with you. He was still struggling with heroin addiction and you could not engage with him. His suicide, within a matter of weeks, left you with, 'a crushing sense of responsibility for his death.'[5]
[5] Exhibit 3: Psychological Report of Patrick Newton dated 14 March 2022, [17].
18You attended local schools and, although you completed only Year 11, through hard work, you have been successful in business. Currently, you have a senior executive role with a major media organisation.[6]
[6] An impressive body of references demonstrates you are highly regarded by your family, friends and colleagues who provide you a strong network of support (Exhibit 6: Bundle of a Substantial Number of References).
19Your first relationship, when you were 19, was abusive. After four years, it ended and you moved to Melbourne.
20You met your husband, Rob, in 2013 and married him in 2018. He has supported you in Court.
21You have a son, aged five, and a daughter, aged one. You are now five months pregnant with your third child.
22You have a lengthy history of mental health problems which Mr Newton traced 'to the upheaval and abuse of your early years.'[7]
[7] Exhibit 3: Psychological Report of Patrick Newton dated 14 March 2022, [24].
23You have been seeing Monique Rodger for therapy since 2015.[8]
[8] Exhibit 2: Psychological Report of Monique Roger dated 5 November 2021.
24Initially, you presented to her with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, generalised anxiety disorder and major depressive disorder, due to your childhood trauma. You responded well to ongoing counselling.
25She saw you four days after the fatal accident. You were then four months pregnant with your second child. You were highly distressed. Over the following months and your mental health deteriorated significantly and she treated you for severe symptoms of post-accident traumatisation, with subsequent post-traumatic stress disorder.
26Because of your deteriorating mental health, your GP referred you to a psychiatrist, Dr Esnault,[9] who saw you on 20 June, 20 August and 22 September 2020.
[9] Exhibit 4: Psychiatric Report of Dr Chantal Esnault dated 1 February 2022.
27In her opinion, as a result of the accident, you were likely suffering from an acute stress disorder, which exacerbated your pre-existing anxiety disorder. She prescribed you medication which was moderated for your pregnancy.
28Would you like to take a break Ms Baskerville?
29OFFENDER: Yes.
30HIS HONOUR: I will stand down temporarily.
31##A:S# (Short adjournment.)
32HIS HONOUR: A case where a life has been lost is always very sad, and these proceedings have been very stressful for those closest to that accident and you, Ms Baskerville, have been distressed whilst I have been reading my sentencing remarks. I will not continue to read them.
33I will publish them and make them available to the prosecution and your counsel for your consideration in due course if need be.
34What I have done is provided to Ms Ramsay and Ms Franjic, the orders that I propose to make which include the community correction order that I will impose and the sentence that I do impose is that you are convicted of the offence of dangerous driving causing death and sentenced to a community correction order for a period of two years and six months, in addition to the core conditions principally, that you not re-offend and in my view, you certainly never will.
35I impose two special conditions; that you complete 150 hours community work and I have tempered the number of hours to take into account that you have the care of two small children and you are expecting your third, within the next few months.
36I have referred to your mental health history and I have also imposed a condition that you undergo mental health treatment and it is envisaged that you will continue under the care of your counsellor, Ms Rogers.
37The two conditions are that you perform 150 hours, or two special conditions are that you perform 150 hours community work and that you undergo mental health treatment and I direct that 75 of the hours which are part of your mental health treatment can be credited towards your unpaid community work.
38The law requires me to cancel your driver's licence and any other licences or permits you hold under the Road Safety Act. The minimum statutory period of disqualification is 18 months and that is the period that I impose.
39The law requires me to state the sentence that I would have imposed, had you decided not to plead guilty to the charge and while there is some artificiality in that process, doing the best I can, I declare but for your plea of guilty, I would have sentenced you to two years and six months' imprisonment and imposed a minimum non-parole period of one year and three months.
40Ms Franjic, thank you for your assistance in explaining the conditions and the effect of the proposed community correction order to Ms Baskerville, and I note that you, Ms Baskerville, have signed an acknowledgement that you understand the effect and conditions of the order I propose and you consent to it being made, so I will make that order which will commence today. Ms Franjic will explain to you that you will be required to report to Community Corrections within two working days.
41Again the court acknowledges the support that your husband has given to you during the proceedings, and acknowledges the attendance of Mr Patti on behalf of his family and in my sentencing remarks I refer to the victim impact statement which I have read.
42I have certainly taken into account the effect that this has had on Mr Patti's family and I acknowledge the considered, and indeed compassionate, approach that they have taken in the course of these difficult proceedings.
43All right. Are there any matters that otherwise I need to attend to?
44MS RAMSAY: No.
45HIS HONOUR: No ancillary orders sought Ms Ramsay?
46MS RAMSAY: No, there is not, Your Honour, no and Mr Patti has indicated he would like the reasons and we will provide those to him in any event. He will be able to read what Your Honour has said.
47HIS HONOUR: Yes, yes, certainly. I hope they will be made available this afternoon. Ms Franjic, anything for your part?
48MS FRANJIC: No, Your Honour.
49HIS HONOUR: All right, thank you. Adjourn the court please.
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