Director of Public Prosecutions v Bille

[2025] VCC 280

IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA

Revised

Not Restricted

Suitable for Publication

AT MELBOURNE

CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

CR 24-01990

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

NASTEH BILLE

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JUDGE:	HER HONOUR JUDGE QUIN
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:	13 March 2025
DATE OF SENTENCE:	17 March 2025
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Bille
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2025] VCC 280

REASONS FOR SENTENCE

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Subject:  CRIMINAL LAW

Catchwords:             Charges of burglary, theft and attempted aggravated cart theft – early pleas of guilty – mental health - Verdins

Legislation Cited:

Cases Cited:            R v Verdins (2007) 16 VR 269

Sentence:                Total effective sentence of 15 months imprisonment.  Non-parole period of 9 months.

APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the Director of Public Prosecutions	Mr P. D'Arcy	Office of Public Prosecutions
For the Accused	Ms S. Gillahan	Victoria Legal Aid

HER HONOUR: 

1Nasteh Bille you have pleaded guilty to the following offences – burglary, four charges of theft and one charge of attempted aggravated carjacking.  The maximum penalties for the first two offences is 10 years and attempted aggravated carjacking 20 years.

2The circumstances of your offending are set out in the Summary of Prosecution Opening dated 7 March 2025, and can be briefly summarised as follows:

3At approximately 12:09 am on Thursday 8 August 2024, at Reservoir Railway Station, you were taken into custody in relation to an unrelated matter, and were in possession of a handgun‑shaped cigarette lighter.   When taken to the police station you were deemed unfit for interview and were released about two hours later. 

4Between 2 am and 5:17 am, you attended a house in Heidelberg Heights.  You gained entry to the detached garage leaving its door and roller shutter open - you stole multi grips, a Swiss army knife, two sets of gardening gloves and a bicycle lock.  You then gained entry to a Kia station wagon parked under the car port at the front of the garage and stole various items from the car and glovebox.

5You then walked along Upper Heidelberg Road, Heidelberg, and stole mail from letterboxes at four separate addresses.   

6At approximately 5:25 am, Raghubir Singh, an Uber driver, was taking a break before his next ride.  He had parked his car in the vicinity of Heidelberg Heights.   At approximately 5:43 am, Mr Singh was seated in the driver's seat and checking his emails with the engine turned off. You approached the car, opened the driver door and pointed an offensive weapon, being the handgun‑shaped lighter, at his chest. 

7You demanded money and the keys from Mr Singh.  He left the car with his hands up, stating he did not have any money and for you to take the car.  He then ran from the car, fearful he would be shot, but he had the keys in his pocket. 

8After running about 20 metres, he looked back and saw the car still there.  He returned to reclaim it and to retain the valuables in the car.  He opened the passenger door and yelled at you to get out of the car.   Mr Singh then opened the driver's side front door and confronted you with a fruit cutting knife he had seized from the door pocket.

9You again pointed the handgun‑ shaped lighter at Mr Singh and said 'This is a smoking lighter, it's not going to harm you'.   You left the car though asked him for $20 to get back home before walking and then running off. Mr Singh pursued you with this chase being captured on CCTV.  He caught up with you and contacted police who arrived soon after.  You were arrested and in possession of a number of relevant items including the plastic lighter, being an offensive weapon.  Photographs of the lighter and depicting your appearance that night were tendered on the plea (Exhibit 2)

10You were again deemed unfit to be interviewed.

11A victim impact statement was provided by Mr Singh (Exhibit B) and was read by the prosecutor.  As a consequence of your offending he suffers from nightmares and reliving the incident.  He has become much more aware of those who he picks up driving his Uber.  For a few weeks after the incident he was feeling very scared and stressed about work. He concludes 'I was a very outgoing person and very friendly in nature but this whole incident has changed my perception of getting along with everyone'.

12In addition to filing written submissions your counsel relied on the Psychiatric Report of Associate Professor Rajan Darjee, dated 13 January 2025. (Exhibit 1)   

13You were born in the Hagadera Refugee Camp in Kenya and are of Somali descent.  Your father passed away before you were born and you have four siblings.  You spent the first six years of your life in the refugee camp then came to Australia.  By that time your mother had resided at the camp for about 18 years.   

14After arriving in Australia, you lived in Darwin before moving to Western Australia.  When you were aged around nine the family settled in Melbourne.  Your mother re-partnered and you considered your stepfather to be your father, though they are no longer together. 

15You attended various primary schools in the areas where you grew up.  You completed high school up to Year 11, though your attendance waned due to peers and illicit substance use. 

16After leaving school you worked various jobs at McDonald's, in recycling and in a warehouse.  You ceased working around 2020, which coincided with a deterioration in your mental health. 

17You retain the support of your mother who attended court with you. She was assisted in court by an interpreter and also a social worker whose services she has recently engaged.

18You have a number of prior court appearances commencing in the Children's Court in May 2019   You first appeared in the adult court in February 2021, and at that time you were placed on a community correction order.  You then appeared at court in July 2023 and were sentenced to six months' imprisonment and an 18 month CCO.  You were released in October 2023.

19You first had contact with the mental health system in 2020 when you were 17. This was also around the time that you first had contact with the criminal justice system

20Associate Professor Darjee notes your engagement with the mental health system over the years (see [11]-[25]). It is clear the system has failed to adequately meet your needs, and that this is so despite repeated and concerted efforts by your mother and her reporting of your worsening mental health presentation. Immediately preceding both occasions of you being incarcerated, Associate Professor Darjee notes 'there were significant concerns about your mental health… and services trying in vain to see you and arrange potential admission to hospital' see [44].

21At the time of your release from custody in October 2023, it was thought your mental health had stabilised and that you would be able to access relevant supports and treatment in the community, through both the health system and Corrections. It is unfortunate that that was not the case.  Attempts to engage with you via phone or home visits were unsuccessful and not adequately pursued by relevant professionals. This was so, despite your mother's persistence and concerns expressed by her as to your deteriorating mental health.  The full details of your contact, or lack of contact, leading up to this offending is contained in Associate Professor Darjee's report and Plea Submissions.  

22Associate Professor Darjee opined the most appropriate diagnosis for you was a schizoaffective disorder. That you experienced both symptoms of schizophrenia (i.e., delusions, hallucinations, disorganised thinking, deterioration in social functioning) in addition to symptoms of bipolar affective disorder (i.e., episodes of mania and depression) at [45]. Further, that notwithstanding considerable treatment in custody, you continue to experience some symptoms of psychosis and mania. See [44].

Illicit substance use

23I accept Associate Professor Darjee’s opinion that your drug use complicated your schizoaffective disorder, however, it was not the cause of the disorder nor the cause of your episodes of psychosis. See [45].

24In the days preceding this offending you were admitted to hospital.  On 4 August 2024 your mother again reported a deterioration in your mental health and that you had been the victim of an assault.   On 7 August 2024 it was noted no home visit could be facilitated due to waiting for police assistance. Notwithstanding that you still had not been properly assessed, a decision was made to discharge you.   A senior clinician raised concerns with the psychiatrist about the decision to discharge you. 

25At some stage, mental health services contacted Broadmeadows police station about facilitating a mental health assessment. This was apparently not communicated to Heidelberg police when you were first arrested at about 12 am on 8 August 2024.   As noted above you were assessed as unfit for interview, charged and bailed.

26A crucial opportunity to have you assessed by mental health professionals was missed both in the weeks and hours preceding these events.  Your offending must be viewed in that context.

Matters in Mitigation

27You pleaded guilty to these matters at the earliest opportunity.  There is a utilitarian value to the plea and you have saved the community the cost of a trial.  No witnesses, particularly Mr Singh, were required to give evidence.  Your plea is indicative of remorse and acceptance by you of your responsibility for this offending.

28It was submitted and accepted by the Prosecution on the basis of Associate Professor Darjee's report that limbs 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of Verdins were enlivened.

29There is a clear connection between your mental health and the circumstances of your offending. At your arrest (immediately after the offending) you were schizo-manic. See [44].

30Associate Professor Darjee noted the role your mental health played in the offending:

The offending was not directly caused by delusions or hallucinations. However, [you were] elated, disinhibited, grandiose, disorganised and suspicious due to [your] mental illness, with little ability to think clearly and rationally. …  in [his] view[your] schizoaffective disorder played a significant indirect role in leading to [your] offending. Substance abuse would also have had a disinhibiting effect, but in [his] view [your] mental illness was a more important contributor to [your] behaviour than being substance affected at the time.

It is difficult to form a definitive view about whether the offending would have occurred if ]you were] not acutely unwell, but in [his] view, it would have been significantly less likely to have occurred if he was not acutely unwell. The specific contribution of being substance affected is impossible to disentangle and quantify, but in [his] view substance intoxication played less of a role than being acutely psychotic and manic. So, in [his] view, at the time of the offending, [your] mental illness significantly impaired [your] judgement, substantially impaired ]your] ability to make calm rational decisions, caused [you] to be very disinhibited, and impaired [your] ability to appreciate the wrongfulness of [your] conduct. But [you] clearly had some, although diminished, ability to know what [you were] doing and to know it was wrong, and [you] would not have had a special defence of mental impairment. See [47] - [48].

31As a consequence, your moral culpability for this offending is reduced.

32Given your mental state at the time of offending both general deterrence and specific deterrence should be moderated. You clearly are not an appropriate vehicle for general deterrence.

33Even noting your prior matters, specific deterrence has limited application.  In Associate Professor Darjee's opinion 

Punishment and deterrence will likely make very little, if any, difference given [your] serious mental health problems and [your] pattern of offending. A purely criminal justice approach or a standard inadequate mental health response will not work. See [54].

34Associate Professor Darjee considered prison would be significantly more burdensome for you than someone without your mental health condition. See [56].

35Further, that you were at serious risk of imprisonment having a significantly adverse effect on you.

36I also take into account your youth. Although you are not a young offender as defined under the Sentencing Act 1991, you are relatively young at 22 years.

37Your offending constituted by Charges 1- 6 was at the lower end:

38The building entered was a garage detached from the house;

39The items stolen were not of high value and the mail was not taken for any nefarious purpose.

40The approach to the offending was disorganised and bizarre. You did not stand to gain any financial or other benefit from the items taken.

41Attempted Aggravated Carjacking is an inherently serious offence as reflected by the maximum penalty. Mr Singh was scared and it has impacted his lifestyle and work since;

42The weapon used has some, but not a high level, of similarity to a handgun. I note that the police returned it to you earlier on the night of this incident;

43The offending was brief, unsophisticated and entirely unplanned. Your statement to Mr Singh that you would not harm him and your actions this night are consistent with your disorganised mind.

44As to your rehabilitation prospects they are clearly tied to the appropriate management of your mental health.   

45Associate Professor Darjee notes:

For things to work there must be collaborative and integrated planning and management between mental health, correctional and NDIS support services in the community. Not just referrals to each other and occasional emails and phone calls but actual joint planning and joint case reviews. Mental health treatment will have to be assertive in reality, by seeking him out and forcing him to attend if he defaults, with a low threshold for compulsory treatment and readmission to hospital, and proper stabilisation in hospital before being discharged back to the community. See [54]

46Your counsel conceded that a term of imprisonment was warranted, but highlighted coordinated multidisciplinary effort was required for you to be safely in the community.

47Given the nature and number of offences I take into account totality.  I accept that given your mental health, that general deterrence and specific deterrence should be moderated and your moral culpability reduced.  Given your mental health issues, the sentence I impose does not reflect a sentence that is usually imposed for in particular, the offence of attempted carjacking.  Community protection requires comprehensive, integrated and assertive community management and supervision.   

48Mr Bille, would you stand up please.

49In respect of Charge 1, burglary, you are convicted and sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 14 days.

50In respect of Charge 2, theft, you are convicted and sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 14 days.

51In respect of Charge 3, theft, you are convicted and sentenced to a term of imprisonment of seven days.

52Charge 4, theft, convicted and sentenced to a term of imprisonment of seven days.

53Charge 5, theft, convicted and sentenced to a term of imprisonment of seven days.

54Charge 5, theft, a term of imprisonment of seven days.

55In respect of Charge 7, attempted aggravated carjacking, you are convicted and sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 15 months.  I impose a non-parole period of eight months.

56PSD, is that 221 days?

57MR D'ARCY:  Correct, Your Honour.

58HER HONOUR:  I declare PSD of 221 days.

59I made the disposal orders by consent.

60MR D'ARCY:  Thank you, Your Honour.

61HER HONOUR:  Pursuant to s6AAA, if you had not pleaded guilty to this matter, I would have imposed a sentence of two and a half years with a non-parole period of 18 months.

62Thank you, is there anything else?

63MR D'ARCY:  No, Your Honour.

64HER HONOUR:  Thank you.  I will stand down.

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