Director of Public Prosecutions v Collins

[2025] VCC 158

IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA

AT MELBOURNE

CRIMINAL DIVISION

Revised
Not Restricted
Suitable for Publication

Case No. CR-24-01777

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

DYLAN COLLINS

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JUDGE:	HER HONOUR JUDGE DAVIS
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:	26 February 2025
DATE OF SENTENCE:	28 February 2025
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Collins
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2025] VCC 158

REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject:CRIMINAL LAW

Catchwords:              Plea of guilty – arson (1 charge)

Legislation Cited:      Crimes Act 1958, Sentencing Act 1991

Cases Cited:Boulton et al v The Queen [2014] VSCA 342; R v Verdins & Ors [2007] VSCA 102.

Sentence:                  Imprisonment for a period of 273 days together with a community correction order for a period of 18 months

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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the DPP	Mx C Rattray	Office of Public Prosecutions
For the Accused	Ms E Allan	Victorian Legal Aid

HER HONOUR:

1Dylan Collins, you have pleaded guilty to one charge of arson, which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years' imprisonment.

2In sentencing you, I have taken into account all of the material provided to me, as well as the oral submissions made by counsel.

Circumstances of Offending

3The details of your offending are set out in the Summary of Prosecution Opening for Plea dated 5 February 2025 which was accepted by your counsel and I sentence you on the basis of the facts set out in that document. I summarise that offending very briefly.

4The arson comprised your setting two fires (one in the lounge room and one in the master bedroom) of your rented residence on 20 March 2024, which caused considerable damage estimated but not confirmed to be around $150,000 worth. There were no other persons in the residence at the time. You were 32 years old at the time of offending. When police attended at the scene, you told them you had started the fire because your neighbours were antagonising you by turning your power off. Investigation revealed that the mechanism of the fire started was by direct ignition from a match or cigarette lighter.

Personal circumstances

5Your personal circumstances were set out in the forensic psychiatric report of Associate Professor (A/P) Darjee dated 16 February 2025.

6You are the eldest of four children born to parents who separated when you were young. You were mainly raised by your father. You were bullied at school and struggled academically and socially. You left school during Year 9. You had a number of short jobs doing plastering or spray painting.

7You were diagnosed with schizophrenia as a teenager and have had multiple admissions to hospital including periods of involuntary treatment as an inpatient and in the community. You also abused alcohol in the past. You have been on the Disability Support Pension since 2021 and have been receiving funding through the NDIS.

8You had ceased taking your depot or any other appropriate medication after your Community Treatment Order lapsed in March 2022. When arrested, you were acutely psychotic but refused antipsychotic medication in prison and so were admitted to Thomas Embling Hospital, where you remained for a month. You then returned to prison, presenting with a generally good mental state with some residual psychotic themes.[1] You spent 273 days in custody before being bailed by this court on 17 December 2024. You have a limited criminal history which does not involve similar offending.

[1] Report of Associate Professor Rajan Darjee dated 16 February 2025, 3 [4].

9As noted above, you have not worked in recent years, and receive the Disability Support Pension along with the NDIS support through Lavish Care (which provides you with two hours of home care per day), the Nexus program (which assists you with getting to appointments and to pro-social activities) and Monash Mental Health Services (which provide you with your monthly depot medication as well as three monthly psychiatric review).

10A letter dated 25 February 2025 from your Nexus worker records that you contacted your mental health team and the Nexus team earlier this month to notify them that your symptoms had worsened. Team workers attended at your home on 14 February and arranged for an ambulance to take you to Dandenong Hospital, where you were admitted for treatment. As at the time of the plea, you were still in hospital, and you attended the plea hearing by video-link and I assume that you are still in hospital attending by video-link today. I understand that your medication regime has changed and your delusional symptoms have subsided.

11Your counsel indicated that you are now receiving Centrelink rent support and that this will allow you to redirect some of your NDIS funds to enable you to access more hours of daily home support.

Submissions

12Your counsel conceded the seriousness of your offending, but emphasised that it was unsophisticated, unplanned, occurred in premises which were unoccupied at the time, triggered by a mental health episode, and did not cause inordinate damage. Your counsel emphasised that you returned to the scene while the fire was being extinguished and made frank admissions to police about having started it.

13In mitigation, your counsel relied on the fact that you were suffering from acute psychosis at the time of offending, and submitted that all six limbs of Verdins[2] are enlivened. In addition, your counsel relied on your early admissions to police, your early plea of guilty, the absence of similar offending in the past, and the fact that you have never been sentenced to a term of imprisonment. In all the circumstances, it was submitted that all of the relevant sentencing purposes could be achieved by a combination sentence not involving returning you to custody.

[2]R v Verdins & Ors [2007] VSCA 102.

14The prosecution conceded most of the matters raised in mitigation on your behalf but submitted that limb 6 of Verdins is not enlivened because A/P Darjee noted that your mental state was stable in prison in July 2024.

15The prosecution conceded that a combination sentence is open in the circumstances of this case but submitted that any term of imprisonment imposed should exceed time already served by you.

Sentencing Considerations

16On the authorities, and in the light of the maximum penalty for this offence, arson is to be treated as an inherently serious offence, warranting the imposition of a term of imprisonment. The relevant sentencing considerations include just punishment, denunciation, general and specific deterrence, community protection and rehabilitation. On the authorities,[3] a combination sentence may satisfy all of the relevant sentencing principles even when sentencing in relation to serious offences, such as arson. Counsel provided me with a number of comparable cases from this Court to this effect. However, as required by the authorities, I approach the sentencing process in this case having regard to the particular facts of this case.

[3]Boulton et al v The Queen [2014] VSCA 342.

17In assessing the objective seriousness of the offending, the court is required to take into account a number of factors, including that the fire: involved a residential home close to other homes and therefore presented a real risk of spreading to surrounding homes as well as the risk of harm to first responders; was caused by direct ignition of available materials; that it caused a substantial amount of damage; and that it warranted the attendance of police and the CFA.

18I consider that your offending in this case is a low level example of offending of this type because your conduct was: unsophisticated and not pre-meditated and  triggered by your psychotic state at the time; because no-one was inside the home at the time and the damage done, while substantial, was limited; and that, while still in a psychotic state, you returned to the scene of the fire while it was being put out and told police you had started it.

19Your immediate admission is significant. It is also significant that notwithstanding your acutely psychotic state at the time of the offending, and the psychiatric evidence to the effect that you could avail yourself of the defence of mental impairment, that you chose, once you had received treatment, to take responsibility for the offending by pleading guilty, which you did at an early stage. You are entitled to the full utilitarian value of your plea, and I consider that you have demonstrated remorse for your offending.

20In relation to your mental state at the time of offending, I accept A/P Darjee's opinion that your offending took place while you were suffering from acute psychosis, and were therefore unable to exercise normal judgment. The offending occurred when your mental health deteriorated markedly; you were being annoyed by suspicious people who told you that you were psychotic, and by strangers who came and allegedly moved things and allegedly interfered with the meter.

21I consider that all limbs of Verdins are enlivened by your mental health impairment.  I consider that your mental state at the time of offending moderates your moral culpability; that your psychiatric condition should have a bearing on the sentence that is imposed; that general deterrence may be eliminated as a consideration because you were flagrantly psychotic when you offended; that specific deterrence may be moderated or eliminated because you understand the importance of taking your medication while in the community and have in the last few weeks demonstrated your capacity and willingness to reach out for help when your symptoms become worrying; that because of your ongoing mental health condition, any term of imprisonment will weigh more heavily upon you than upon a prisoner in normal health; and there is a serious risk that imprisonment will have a significantly adverse impact upon you, having regard that you have spent some time in the community receiving supports and demonstrating your ability to do so without offending.

22I accept A/P Darjee's opinion at paragraph 71 of his report to the effect that prison is a stressful environment which could lead to deterioration of your condition, and that the best environment for you to receive appropriate mental health care is in the community with appropriate supports.

23As noted above, you have recently demonstrated whilst on bail in the community your ability to notice and act upon a deterioration in your symptoms by calling on your support team and mental health team. This has enabled you to be hospitalised while your medication regime is reassessed and to ensure resolution or minimisation of any ongoing intrusive symptoms. I consider that this is a very encouraging sign which suggests that your prospects of rehabilitation are positive. I note that A/P Darjee considered that you are unlikely to offend if you continue to take your medication. Other encouraging matters include that you have stable housing, the benefit of Centrelink rent assistance which will mean that more of your NDIS funding can be used for pro-social activities, and that you are stable on medication, which all indicates that your prospects of rehabilitation are positive.

24In all the circumstances, I considered that all of the relevant sentencing principles can be met by a disposition involving a term of imprisonment and a community corrections order (CCO).

25An assessment of your suitability to undertake a community corrections order was conducted on 26 February 2025 by Corrections Victoria. You acknowledged your offending and expressed remorse to the house owners. It was noted that you have a diagnosis of schizophrenia, receive the Disability Support Pension as well as NDIS support. You were assessed as suitable to undertake a CCO for the recommended length of 18 months. The conditions recommended included supervision, mental health treatment, programs designed to reduce reoffending, and judicial monitoring. You also participated in a Mental Health Assessment which reported that you have a moderate mental health problem or difficulty.

26In the light of the above, I consider that it is in the interests of your ongoing rehabilitation and the protection of the community that any term of imprisonment imposed as part of the combination sentence does not require you to return to custody. For this reason, I propose to sentence you as follows.

27On Charge 1, arson, you are sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 273 days as well as an 18-month CCO with conditions of supervision, mental health treatment and judicial monitoring.

28I declare that your pre-sentence detention of 273 days is to be deducted administratively from the sentence of imprisonment I have imposed.

29In relation to the community corrections order, this means that you will be subject for 18 months to supervision and also be required to complete mental health assessment and treatment, which may simply amount to continuing to receive the medication that you currently receive as well as any other mental health treatment and support that you are currently receiving. I also propose to invite you to judicial monitoring, which will require you to come back before me every three months or so, just to allow me to assess your report and ensure that things are progressing satisfactorily from your point of view, as well as from the point of view of providers of the services to you.

30In addition to the conditions that I have specifically imposed, you have to also abide by the terms that apply to all CCOs. That means that you must not commit any other offences during the period of this next 18 months - that is, any offences for which you could be imprisoned, even if a court would not choose to impose imprisonment.

31You must report to and receive visits from a Corrections officer.

32Now ordinarily you would be required to report to the Community Correctional Services at Dandenong GSO within two clear working days, which will be by 4 March 2025, but if you continue to remain in hospital, no doubt arrangements could be made for that attendance to take place by telephone and I will ensure that a note is put on the file to that effect, and invite both the prosecution and defence to, if necessary, emphasise that.  Obviously your mental health treatment comes first and your attendance can wait until you are discharged according to the advice of your treating team.  So if necessary, although the Act requires that the report occur, it does not really say how it has to occur, so I might put in the order 'you must report (by telephone if necessary, if you remain in hospital) to the relevant services' and we will provide you with the phone number of that service.

33The other conditions is that you must not leave Victoria without first getting permission from a Community Corrections officer, and you need to tell the Community Corrections Office of any change of address, where you live or work within 48 hours of any change.

34You also need to obey all lawful instructions from and directions of Corrections officers. 

35Do you understand all the conditions that I have imposed and the general terms that apply?

36OFFENDER:  Yes I do, yes.

37HER HONOUR:  Thank you.

38Before you consent to the making of the order, you must understand that if you breach any condition attached to the CCO, except a contravention of a direction of the Secretary, that breach would itself constitute an offence punishable by three months' imprisonment.  Breaching 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?

39I indicate, under s 6AAA of the Sentencing Act1991 that, but for your plea of guilty, I would have imposed a sentence of imprisonment of 15 months with a non-parole period of 10 months.