Director of Public Prosecutions v Baudinette (No 2)

[2025] ACTSC 208

SUPREME COURT OF THE AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY

Case Title:

DPP v Baudinette (No 2)  

Citation: 

[2025] ACTSC 208

Hearing Date: 

20 May 2025

Decision Date: 

20 May 2025

Before:

Christensen AJ

Decision: 

(1) A review of the drug and alcohol treatment order made on 21 May 2024 is conducted pursuant to s 80ZH(1) of the Crimes (Sentencing) Act 2005 (ACT).

(2)     The orders made on 21 May 2024 are confirmed.   

Catchwords: 

CRIMINAL LAW – DRUG AND ALCOHOL SENTENCING LIST – Review – rehabilitation achieved – object of order achieved –grandson – horticulture – graduation from treatment and supervision part of treatment order – order confirmed

Legislation Cited: 

Crimes (Sentencing) Act 2005 (ACT) ss 80O, 80ZH

Cases Cited: 

DPP v Baudinette [2024] ACTSC 157

Parties: 

Director of Public Prosecutions ( Crown)

Alexander John Baudinette ( Participant)

Representation: 

Counsel

G Meikle ( Crown)

C Duffy ( Participant)

Solicitors

ACT Director of Public Prosecutions

Legal Aid ACT ( Participant)

File Numbers:

SCC 9, 10 of 2024

CHRISTENSEN AJ:

Introduction

1․Alexander Baudinette was sentenced in the Supreme Court Drug and Alcohol Sentencing List (DASL) on 21 May 2024: DPP v Baudinette [2024] ACTSC 157.

2․He was sentenced for offences of aggravated robbery and possession of a knife, offending that occurred in August 2023.  As the sentence remarks show, these offences occurred at the end of a long history of offending behaviour and periods of imprisonment, in a context of substance dependency.  The offending on this occasion occurred while Mr Baudinette was subject to an intensive correction order.    

3․The total sentence imposed was one of 1 year and 10 months imprisonment. A drug and alcohol treatment order (treatment order) was imposed in relation to the aggravated burglary offence, for which Mr Baudinette was sentenced to a total of 1 year and 9 months imprisonment. He had spent 222 days in presentence custody and was released on a treatment order.  Mr Baudinette has not returned to custody since that time. 

4․Mr Baudinette has achieved his rehabilitation goals, and those of the DASL treatment team in respect to his rehabilitation.  As of May 2025, the treatment team have recommended that the treatment and supervision conclusion date of the order be confirmed.   

5․Having regard to the position of the treatment team, I am satisfied, pursuant to s 80ZH of the Crimes (Sentencing) Act 2005 (ACT) (Sentencing Act) that it is in the interests of justice to review the treatment order.  On Mr Baudinette’s behalf, it is sought that the order made on 21 May 2024 be confirmed, such that Mr Baudinette progresses to the next stage of the sentence of imprisonment suspended under the custodial part of the order.  That is, to be subject to good behaviour obligations, with a probation condition, until the end of the total sentence on 13 August 2025.  The prosecution supports the application. 

6․The Court agrees that such a progression is appropriate. Mr Baudinette has achieved the objects of the treatment order provided by s 80O of the Sentencing Act:

80O Objects of drug and alcohol treatment orders

(1)The objects of making a treatment order in relation to an offender is to—

(a)facilitate the rehabilitation of the offender by providing a judicially supervised, therapeutically oriented and integrated treatment regime; and

(b)reduce the offender’s dependency on alcohol or a controlled drug; and

(c)reduce the health risks associated with the offender’s dependency on alcohol or controlled drugs; and

(d)assist the offender’s integration into the community; and

(e)promote community safety by reducing the level of criminal activity caused by alcohol or controlled drug dependence in offenders. 

Orders

7․For those reasons, the following orders are made:

(1)A review of the drug and alcohol treatment order made on 21 May 2024 is conducted pursuant to s 80ZH(1) of the Crimes (Sentencing) Act 2005 (ACT).

(2)The orders made on 21 May 2024 are confirmed.   

I certify that the preceding seven [7] numbered paragraphs are a true copy of the Reasons for Judgment of her Honour Acting Justice Christensen

Associate:

Date:          20 May 2025

Remarks to participant on graduation

Alex, we now move to celebrate your graduation from the treatment and supervision part of your drug and alcohol treatment order.

It is an opportunity to celebrate the hard work you have done since May 2024, when your treatment order commenced.  It is an opportunity to honour what you have achieved in meeting the expectations of the treatment team, of the Court, and of the community.  It is also an opportunity for reflection as to the journey of rehabilitation that you have undertaken.

Your journey of rehabilitation is one that has taken place on the lands, amongst the waterways, and under the sky of the Traditional Custodians of this Country. I acknowledge this, and I pay my respect to the Elders past and present. 

I also take this opportunity to acknowledge, and to thank, the members of the treatment team and all who have supported Alex in his rehabilitation. 

At the time of your sentencing, you expressed that you felt embarrassed and ashamed of your offending behaviour.  I hope that you now feel pride in what you have achieved since then, and that you are proud of the person that you are today.  That is a person who has shown accountability and commitment to changing the trajectory of your life.  You are now able to be a support to family members who have supported you.  During the period of your treatment order, your family has grown, with the addition of a grandson.  The pride that being a grandfather is for you, and the pride that you have for your daughter, has been evident in your discussions with the treatment team.  You are now someone that your family members can look up to and for whom you will be available for guidance and support.

At the time of sentencing you, I observed the hesitation that I, and the treatment team, had as to the prospects of you complying with a community based sentence order.  You were warned that a treatment order was the last opportunity for rehabilitation that the Court would provide.   And, to your credit, you embraced that opportunity.

To have done so reflects a remarkable achievement.  You commenced use of substances at an early age, and have struggled throughout your life with maintaining abstinence from substances, and engaging in rehabilitation.  Under the treatment order, you committed yourself to completing a residential rehabilitation program which you did successfully.  Once you returned to the community, you maintained your commitment to rehabilitation.  You re-engaged with your family unit, you joined a gym, you obtained your learner’s driving licence, took on the responsibility of a boisterous bull terrier puppy, and you enrolled in study.  You have shown your commitment to growth by working towards completion of a Certificate in Horticulture. 

It has been my privilege to witness a part of your rehabilitation, and to work with you to support you in your journey.  At your sentencing, you sought a treatment order to “break the cycle” of your past.  It gives me immense pleasure, and I am sure also the treatment team, to see that you have broken that cycle.  The person before the Court today is someone who embraced the privilege of a treatment order and who is now on a pathway that, rather than taking, gives back to our community. 

Alex, well done.  We wish you and your family well for the future.