Director of Public Prosecutions v Chandler

[2019] VCC 1971

IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA Revised
Not Restricted
Suitable for Publication

AT BENDIGO
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

CR 19-01562

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

CLINT CHANDLER

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JUDGE:	HIS HONOUR JUDGE LACAVA
WHERE HELD:	Bendigo
DATE OF HEARING:	26 November 2019
DATE OF SENTENCE:	26 November 2019
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Chandler
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2019] VCC 1971

REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject:  Burglary, theft.
Sentence:  2 years community corrections order.

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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the Director of Public Prosecutions	Mr D. Cordy
For the Accused	Mr R. Thyssen

HIS HONOUR: 

1Clint Chandler, you have pleaded guilty to two charges of burglary with intent to steal and two charges of theft consequent upon the burglaries.

2Each of those charges has a maximum penalty of 10 years' imprisonment. 
You have also pleaded guilty to one charge of theft of a firearm for which the maximum penalty is 15 years' imprisonment.

3When you pleaded guilty, you also admitted a prior conviction for driving offences in 2013.  That matter aside, you have no prior criminal history.

4The circumstances of your offending are contained in what is described as an agreed summary of prosecution opening, dated 26 September 2019. 
That summary was read to the court by the learned prosecutor, Mr Cordy, and your counsel, Mr Thyssen, agreed that the prosecution opening was accurate and forms a proper basis upon which I can proceed to sentence you.

5In those circumstances, it is not necessary that I here set out in detail of the facts but do so only in an abbreviated way.  These sentencing remarks must however be read with what is set out in more detail in the summary.

6Between 1 April 2019 and 30 April 2019, you committed repeated burglaries and thefts on remote properties located in Moonlight Flat, one property was at 45 Ramon Close and the other at 81 Mole Road, Alma.  At the time of the offending, you were 24 years of age.

7The complainants who own the properties only visited the properties not on a regular basis and the properties were to some extent considered abandoned.  Once in the properties, you stole a number of valuable items, including tools, machinery, household contents antiques and collectables.

8Inside one of the properties, you stole a quantity of ammunition and a Cooey model single barrel shotgun and that forms the basis of the charge of theft of the firearm.

9You then advertised the stolen goods on Facebook and it was through that means that your identity was made known to the police, the owners identifying some of the items stolen from them being made available for sale on Facebook.

10You were then approached by the police and your property searched. 
A number of the stolen items were recovered and you cooperated with the police.

11This was to some extent organised offending which focused on a soft target, namely farm properties known to be visited infrequently.  To that extent, it involves a deal of planning and was clearly driven by the desire to make money.  Some of the items stolen were valuable and the gun was sold by you for $150.

12Criminals possessing guns is a prevalent offence and any sentence must have full regard to general and specific deterrence as well as denunciation.  You have pleaded guilty to all of the charges and that is to your credit.  By your pleas of guilty, you have saved the time and cost of a trial on these charges.  By your pleas of guilty, you have accepted and admitted responsibility for your crimes and you facilitated the administration of justice.

13Here, the charges proceeded to this court by way of hand up brief.  You entered a plea of guilty at the earliest opportunity and you cooperated with the police.  Because you have pleaded guilty at an early time, the law provides that you are entitled to a reduction in sentence and this will be reflected in the sentences that I will shortly pass.  I regard your pleas of guilty as evidencing a genuine remorse.

14You were born and raised in the Maryborough area.  You have two older sisters and a younger sister.  Your parents separated when you were about 13 years of age and you were essentially raised by your mother.

15You attended both primary school and secondary school in the Maryborough area.  You left school halfway through Year 11.  You started an apprenticeship as a motor mechanic but that was cut short when the owner of that business died.  You then worked in hydroponics and at a tomato farm in Carisbrook for some time and you worked as a labourer in printing works at Maryborough and in the Carisbrook Chicken Farm.  More recently, you have been employed on a casual basis as a removalist. 

16You have had problems over a number of years with drug abuse, starting with cannabis and in more recent times, and around the time of this offending, you were using methamphetamine or ice.

17You are in a relationship with a woman and that relationship is longstanding and you have a child of that relationship, aged three, and I was told and accept that your partner is expecting your second child in about February of next year.

18Regrettably, you have been using drugs and using drugs with other offenders and this led you into offending at an age where you ought to have known better.  I was told and accept that you are present before the court drug free.  Whether or not that remains the case remains to be seen.  Effectively, it is up to you to put an end to your drug use.

19Mr Thyssen, who appeared on your behalf, submitted that I should consider making a community corrections order in relation to this matter.  He relied upon your relatively youth, the fact that you have pleaded guilty at an early stage, that you are remorseful as evidenced by your full cooperation with the police, and your lack of relevant criminal history and your family background and your responsibilities that you bear as a father of young children.

20I have given this matter anxious thought as to whether I should send you to gaol and make a community corrections order.  The prosecution submitted that the theft of the firearm warranted such a disposition.  I acknowledge the seriousness of this offending, noting the firearm has not been recovered and was sold for $150 and remains at large presumably. 

21Having said that, I have decided that because of your pleas of guilty at the earliest time, your cooperation with the police, your remorse, the fact that you are a relatively youthful offender with no relevant prior convictions and your general background, all of these factors have convinced me that the general purposes of sentencing, namely deterrence, both general and specific, and denunciation and just punishment, but importantly your rehabilitation can be achieved by the making of a community corrections order with appropriate conditions.

22On each of the charges, I have decided that the appropriate disposition is that I will make a community corrections order with conviction for a period of two years commencing this day.  There will be conditions that you undertake 150 hours of unpaid community work and that you undertake programs and treatment to rehabilitate yourself from drugs, alcohol, that you undergo programs and treatment for mental health and programs to reduce reoffending and supervision.

23Now, for the purposes of s.6AAA of the Act, I say that had it not been for the fact that you pleaded guilty to these charges, I would have imposed a total effective sentence of two years' imprisonment and I would have fixed a non-parole period of 15 months.

24Now, Mr Chandler, I have been told that you have agreed to enter into such an order, is that right?

25OFFENDER:  Yes, Your Honour.

26HIS HONOUR:  Do you understand that you must comply with the conditions of the order in every way?

27OFFENDER:  Yes, Your Honour.

28HIS HONOUR:  That means that you have to turn up every time you are required to turn up for unpaid community work.

29OFFENDER:  Yes.

30HIS HONOUR:  No ifs, no buts, do you understand?

31OFFENDER:  Yes, Your Honour.

32HIS HONOUR:  If you do not turn up or you do not comply with any of these conditions, I will be told and you will be brought back before the court and resentenced, do you understand that?

33OFFENDER:  Yes, Your Honour.

34HIS HONOUR:  And absent a miracle, you will go to gaol, do you understand that?

35OFFENDER:  Yes, Your Honour.

36HIS HONOUR:  So you will have to comply with these orders in every way.  Most importantly, you must not reoffend during the period of the community corrections order.  That is you must not commit any offence punishable by a term of imprisonment for the period of the next two years, do you understand that?

37OFFENDER:  Yes, Your Honour.

38HIS HONOUR:  Now, the first thing that you will have to do is to attend at Community Corrections in Maryborough by 3 pm on Wednesday.  Do you understand that?

39OFFENDER:  Yes, Your Honour.

40HIS HONOUR:  Do you know where it is?

41OFFENDER:  Yep.

42HIS HONOUR:  Very well.  Come out of the dock, if you would, and take a seat behind Mr Thyssen.

43Were there any ancillary orders here, Mr Cordy?

44MR CORDY:  No, Your Honour.

45HIS HONOUR:  Now, Mr Chandler, just in case you are wondering, there is a transcript prepared of what I have said this morning, do you understand?

46OFFENDER:  Yes, Your Honour.

47HIS HONOUR:  So if you come back, do not expect me to have forgotten it because I will have the transcript, do you understand?

48OFFENDER:  Yes, Your Honour.

49HIS HONOUR:  And that will reflect your agreement to comply with the conditions.  All right, so if you come back, if you are brought back for breaching this order, you can expect to go to gaol.

50OFFENDER:  Yep.

51HIS HONOUR:  All right.

52OFFENDER:  Yes, Your Honour, thank you.

53HIS HONOUR:  So it is up to you.

54OFFENDER:  Yep.

55HIS HONOUR:  All right, you are free to go.  Thank you, Mr Thyssen.

56MR THYSSEN:  Thank you, Your Honour.

57HIS HONOUR:  My associate will give you a copy of the order.

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