Director of Public Prosecutions v Chila

[2014] VCC 750

IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA
AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION Revised
Not Restricted
Suitable for Publication

CR 14-00136

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

MATTHEW CHILA

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JUDGE:	HIS HONOUR JUDGE MAIDMENT
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:	22 May 2014
DATE OF SENTENCE:	22 May 2014
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Chila
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2014] VCC 750

REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject:
Catchwords:
Legislation Cited:
Cases Cited:
Sentence:

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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the Director of Public Prosecutions	Mr S. Ballek
For the Offender	Mr K. Oldis

HIS HONOUR: 

1Matthew Chila, I am not going to send you to prison immediately, so you can relax and you can stay seated for the time being.  You pleaded guilty to an indictment charging you with three offences of obtaining financial advantage by deception.  You have no prior convictions.  The prosecution has relied upon a summary of facts, which is Exhibit A.  It has been read a short time ago and I am not going to repeat it. 

2I agree entirely with what Mr Ballek for the prosecution has just said about the fact that the offences involve an extended period of dishonesty, many acts of dishonesty on your part over an extended period of time involving substantial sums of money.

3You were in a managerial role and a position of trust and you abused that trust in a very significant way.  The explanations are rather speculative; probably only you know in your heart of hearts what motivated you to engage in this conduct.   But engage in it you did and you had ample opportunity to consider what you were doing over that period, consider each time you chose to act dishonestly, yet you continued to do so.  There was no doubt in my mind that ordinarily conduct of that kind requires an immediate custodial sentence. 

4But turning to matters personal to you, Mr Oldis has presented the case exactly as it should be presented.  You committed these offences up to beyond the middle of 2012 and they came to light at about that time, you got wind of it, resigned and were interviewed by police in October 2012.  A good deal of time has passed since then. 

5During that time, you have not only had the matter hanging over your head and have had that sinking feeling that you undoubtedly would have felt whenever you thought about it, which would have been pretty much all the time I would think, that you were likely to end up in prison.  You have also during that period made the best use of your time because this has, no doubt, brought you to your senses and made you realise where your passion really lay.   You have been prepared to give up the “suit job” for the career path, which is clearly I think, representative of your real passion in life.

6You have been extraordinarily fortunate to have had the friendship of Ms Loft.  You have been extraordinarily fortunate to have landed on your feet and been accepted as an employee of the Liedlers and Suzanne Liedler has done you a considerable service also because she has put a good deal of trust in you.  I think it is disappointing that you did not tell them at least when you received the charge sheets and that you continued to work knowing that, this day would eventually arrive.

7On the other hand, I can only imagine that it would have been extremely difficult for you to have come clean at that stage and that it was an easier option to bury your head in the sand at least so far as your employer was concerned. Perhaps, you spent the time working particularly hard to impress them with your abilities and that of course has resulted in your promotion to sous chef.

8So you have I think, also saved yourself by all of that conduct since you resigned from Transfield, from the immediate term of imprisonment.  This court - when I say this court, I mean this judge - is inclined to give people a chance when they show willingness to help themselves and I think you have shown, not only a willingness, but an ability to help yourself.  It would have been very difficult for you to have told your parents about this, but tell them, you had to of course. 

9It would have been shameful.  You would have been not just embarrassed by mortally ashamed of what you had done to have had to explain your conduct to your parents.  They of course, have risen to the occasion by paying the money back initially and I am very pleased to hear that this is not a gift and that you are going to have to face up the responsibility of paying them back; not just for their sake, but for the sake of the whole family and also because I think morally deep down you think it is the right thing to do. 

10So I have little doubt that this will have been a very stern lesson to you and that it is unlikely in those circumstances that you will re‑offend and that your prospects of rehabilitation are therefore good.  I have no doubt that you are genuinely remorseful for your conduct.  Mr Newton I think, has difficulty in articulating any rational basis for your offending or pointing to any defect of character which would adequately explain it.  But there clearly was a defect of character and that is something you are going to have to work on and overcome and demonstrate for the rest of your life that this was an aberration and that it is not a reflection of your true self.  That is something that you are going to have to wrestle with.

11What I have to do is all the circumstances is to look at the facts and the facts point strongly to a term of imprisonment.  The facts point strongly to an immediate term of imprisonment and that is where you would have gone had it not been for the events that I have just outlined since this offending came to light.  You have pleaded guilty at the first reasonable opportunity, which is of course consistent with the remorse which, no doubt, that you have, and have I think, impressed your employers sufficiently that they may have a forgiving attitude to your inability to tell them at an earlier stage.   Not only are you going to have work on your relationships with your parents and your family, but you are going to have to work on your relationships with them too and with your friends.

12Ms Loft seems to have been willing to stand by you and forgive your conduct. I think if you continue in the way you have demonstrated over the last 18 months or so then others will too. 

13In those circumstances therefore, it seems to me this can be forgiven as an aberration of youth, albeit a very serious aberration.  You are still a young man.  You were 23 - 25 when you committed the offences, ordinarily rehabilitation is a very powerful consideration for young people, particularly where they have no prior convictions.   I think in all of the circumstances it would be unjust to send you to prison for the very first time for this offending conduct, serious though it is.

14It is necessary though, for me to express the denunciation of this court of conduct of this kind and to punish you for the offences.  The Court of Appeal has said on more than one occasion that a term of imprisonment, whether it be wholly suspended or not, is to be regarded as a punishment and to be seen as such. 

15The mere fact of conviction will of course be a source of impediment potentially to you in life and the fact that you have been sentenced to a term of imprisonment will be something of an impediment to you in life.  Hopefully it will not overshadow your prospects in the future.  All in all, I think having regard to what I have just described, I am ready to pass sentence upon you, so would you please stand?

16On Charge 1 of obtaining financial advantage by deception I convict you and sentence you to imprisonment for one month; on Charge 2 of the same offence, I convict you and sentence you to imprisonment for a period of 18 months; and on Charge 3 I convict you and sentence you to imprisonment for a period of four months.  I order that two months of the sentence on Charge 3 be served cumulatively upon the sentence that I have imposed in relation to Charge 2, which makes a total effective sentence of 20 months and I order that that sentence be suspended for a period of 20 months. 

17That of course means that you will not have to serve that term of 20 months' imprisonment immediately and you may never have to serve it provided you stay out of trouble for the next 20 months.  If, however, you are convicted of an offence punishable by imprisonment, which occurs during that period then you will be in breach of the suspended sentence and will be required, almost certainly, to serve the whole of that term as well as any sentence that may be imposed for the offending conduct that puts you in breach.  Do you understand that?

18So it is hanging over your head for 20 months and it is essential, therefore, that there is no repetition of this conduct.  Also of course, even after the 20 months, if you were to offend again that would be on your record and would almost certainly prompt a judge in the future to impose a term of immediate imprisonment. 

19But for your plea of guilty, I would have sentenced you to 27 months' imprisonment with a non‑parole period of 15 months so you would have gone to gaol had it not been for the pleas of guilty to these offences.  Are there any other orders, Mr Ballek?

20MR BALLEK:  No, Your Honour. 

21HIS HONOUR:  No.  Mr Oldis?

22MR OLDIS:  As Your Honour pleases.

23HIS HONOUR:  No.  All right, well you may leave the dock and I hope things go well for you in the future. Mr Oldis, I will hand back the letter, which I have read of course, and that can be dispatched.  I will also hand back the certificate and the document from Uniting Care as well. 

24MR OLDIS:  Thank you, Your Honour.

25HIS HONOUR:  Two o'clock. 

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