Director of Public Prosecutions v Brooksby

[2025] VCC 263

IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA

AT MELBOURNE

CRIMINAL DIVISION

Revised
Not Restricted
Suitable for Publication

Case No. CR-24-00174

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

JESSICA BROOKSBY

---

JUDGE:	HER HONOUR JUDGE DAVIS
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:	6 March 2025
DATE OF SENTENCE:	17 March 2025
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Brooksby
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2025] VCC 263

REASONS FOR SENTENCE
---

Subject:CRIMINAL LAW

Catchwords:   Two co-accused – plea of guilty – recklessly causing injury (1 charge)– burglary (1 charge) – theft (1 charge) – summary charge of trespass (1 charge)

Legislation Cited:               Sentencing Act 1991

Cases Cited:DPP v Salmon [2024] VCC 1904

Sentence:  Community Correction Order for a period of 15 months

---

APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the DPP	Mr T Warke	Office of Public Prosecutions
For the Accused	Mr J Hofman	Hofman Carroll Criminal Law

HER HONOUR:

1Jessica Brooksby, you have pleaded guilty to one charge of causing injury recklessly (which carries a maximum penalty of 5 years imprisonment); one charge of burglary (which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment) and one charge of theft (which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment). You have also pleaded guilty to summary charge 15, a charge of trespass, which carries a maximum penalty of 6 months imprisonment.

2Your co-accused on this indictment, Shannon Hogan, pleaded guilty to one charge of causing injury recklessly, two charges of burglary, two charges of theft and one charge of common assault (which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment).

The offending

3The circumstances of the offending were set out in the Summary of Prosecution Opening for Plea[1] which was accepted by your counsel, and I sentence you on the basis of the facts set out in that document. In sentencing you, I have taken into account all the material filed on your behalf as well as the oral submissions made by your counsel at the plea hearing.

[1] Exhibit 1, dated 4 November 2024.

4At the time of offending, you were in a relationship with Mr Hogan. Mr Hogan knew the victim, James Williamson, then aged 70, because he was in a relationship with Mr Hogan’s mother until 2022. You had been to his home before and used drugs there. You first met the victim in late May 2023 when you and Mr Hogan stayed at the victim’s house for three days between 27 and 30 May 2023. You then both left his home in a taxi. You left a backpack at the house. Mr Hogan considered that Mr Williamson owed him money for drugs.

5The first incident of offending, which involved you and Mr Hogan and an unidentified male, occurred in the evening on 31 May 2023. You knocked on Mr Williamson’s front door, pretending to be distressed. When he came outside to talk to you, Mr Hogan and your accomplice rushed past him into the house, pushing Mr Williamson to the ground, causing his head to bleed. This conduct is the subject of charge 1 against you and Mr Hogan, recklessly cause injury. The three of you were in his house intending to steal, which is the subject of charge 3 against you and Mr Hogan, burglary. Mr Hogan took Mr Williamson’s iPhone when it fell out of his pocket as he came back inside his house. This is the subject of charge 2 against you and Mr Hogan, theft. Mr Hogan, punched Mr Williamson in the face, causing him to fall to the ground. The three of you fled over his back fence.

6The second incident of offending occurred on the evening of 3 June 2023. Mr Williamson was in his backyard. Mr Hogan, and an unidentified male entered his home through his unlocked back door. This is the subject of charge 4, burglary, against Mr Hogan. Mr Hogan, hit Mr Williamson to the side of his head. This is the subject of charge 5, common assault, against Mr Hogan. Mr Hogan remained in the house for about 30 minutes, demanding that Mr Williamson find a jewellery box and the key to his vehicle. You then entered the house and demanded that Mr Williamson give you your backpack. This is the subject of summary charge 15 against you, trespass. The three of you left the house after stealing $70 in cash, a Ford car key and a stereo system. This is the subject of charge 6, theft, against Mr Hogan. You drove away in a car rented in Mr Hogan’s name.

7The two of you were arrested at a motel on 7 June 2023. Police located Mr Williamson’s iPhone in your motel room. You were bailed on that day. Mr Hogan, were granted bail on 25 October 2023.

Resolution

8Resolution discussions occurred well before the committal, but the committal was needed to enable the matters to finally resolve. The parties agree that you are to be taken to have made your pleas of guilty at an early opportunity.

Victim Impact Statement

9Mr Williamson’s daughter, Michelle Williamson, made a Victim Impact Statement on 14 August 2024 which was read out in court by the prosecutor at her request. She states that Mr Williamson had to be moved to her place until alternative accommodation could be found and that he and his dog were hypervigilant at night when they heard any noises outside. She remained fearful of intruders waiting for her in her house or harming her father. She and her sister have spent a lot of time away from their business assisting Mr Williamson.

Prosecution submissions

10The prosecution conceded that a disposition involving the imposition of Community Correction Order (CCO) is within range.

Defence Submissions

11In relation to the gravity of your offending, it was submitted that although you were complicit by your presence, you had a lesser role than Mr Hogan in that you did not physically assault Mr Williamson or take his phone, and that you attended his home on the second occasion to retrieve your personal items. In addition, the value of the items not recovered is low. For these reasons, your offending is to be regarded as low-level offending.

12Your personal circumstances can be summarised briefly. You are now 33 years old and were 31 years old at the time of offending. You are one of 4 children to three different fathers. You were exposed to family violence, neglect and to sexual abuse from your biological father at a young age, and to further family violence from your mother’s second partner. Your mother worked three jobs to support you and your siblings but was largely absent. Money was scarce. You completed VCE but have no further qualifications. Between the ages of 18 and 24 you worked as a sales assistant, event manager and restaurant manager. At age 24 you commenced a relationship with Bradley Garner, who is the father of your three children. He introduced you to methamphetamines and your relationship with him involved family violence and mutual drug use. The relationship ended in 2020 when he was sentenced to jail for drug trafficking. Child protection became involved, and your children were cared for by your mother. They are currently living with their father, but child protection is no longer involved and you hope to regain access and some custody. At the time of offending, you were homeless and abusing drugs and alcohol daily. After the offending, you were assisted to find accommodation in Wodonga, where you remain. You are on the New-Start allowance, and hope to find employment. You report a history of depression, anxiety and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as well as self-harming, but have not received any mental health treatment.

13In mitigation, your counsel relied on: your disadvantaged background; the relatively low level of offending; the fact that you were homeless and abusing drugs at the time of offending; the fact that you have not had the benefit of any therapeutic corrections order; your early plea of guilty; your very limited criminal history relating to drug possession in 2016 and 2021; your age; and your positive prospects of rehabilitation given that you now have stable accommodation, solid prospects of having access to your children, and some periods of abstinence from drug taking.

14It was submitted that all of the relevant sentencing considerations, including parity, parsimony and proportionality, could be accommodated by the imposition of a CCO with appropriate conditions including supervision, offending related programs and treatment and rehabilitation for mental health and drug abuse.

15You were assessed on 7 March 2025 by Corrections Victoria and 12 March 2025 by Forensicare for your suitability to undergo a CCO. It was noted that you are not currently working and are in receipt of Job Seeker payments. Whilst you do not drink alcohol anymore except for special occasions, you most recently consumed drugs the week prior to the assessment. You informed Corrections that you have been diagnosed with depression, anxiety, PTSD and previously saw a psychologist. Although you were assessed as being at a high risk of reoffending, Corrections Victoria found you suitable to undergo a CCO with the following conditions: community work, drug and alcohol assessment and treatment, mental health assessment and treatment and supervision. 

16I accept the matters put on your behalf by your counsel. I consider that in all of the circumstances of this case, all of the relevant sentencing considerations can be met by the imposition of a CCO. I consider it appropriate to impose an aggregate sentence upon you.

Sentence

17On charges 1, 2 and 3, and summary charge 15, you are sentenced to an aggregate 15-month CCO with conditions of supervision, 100 hours of community work, mental health assessment and treatment, and assessment and treatment for drug and alcohol abuse. I direct that all of the hours of community work may be fulfilled by attendance at mental health or drug and alcohol treatment or programs.

18In addition to the conditions that I have specifically imposed, you must also abide by the terms that apply to all CCO’s. These are: that you must not commit any other offences during the 15 month period of the order being enforced – that is, from today – for which you could be imprisoned, even if a court would not choose to impose imprisonment. You must report to and receive visits from a Corrections officer. You must report to the Community Correctional Services at Wodonga within two clear working days, which will be by 19 March 2025. You must not leave Victoria without first getting permission from a Community Corrections officer, and you must inform the Community Corrections Office of any change of address, where you live or work within 48 hours of that occurring. Finally, you must obey all lawful instructions from and directions of Corrections officers.  Do you understand all the conditions I have imposed and the general terms that apply?

19Before you consent to the making of such an order, you must understand that contravening any condition attached to the CCO, except for a contravention of a direction of the Secretary, is itself an offence punishable by three months’ imprisonment. Contravention of a CCO also carries with it the prospect that you will be brought back before me and resentenced for the original offending. Do you consent in these circumstances to the imposition of the CCO?