Director of Public Prosecutions v Colman & Vozlic
[2012] VCC 1304
•7 September 2012
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA | Revised Not Restricted Suitable for Publication |
AT MILDURA
CRIMINAL DIVISION
CR-12-00295
CR-12-00660
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| v |
| DYLAN COLMAN DAVID VOZLIC |
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JUDGE: | HIS HONOUR JUDGE DEAN | |
WHERE HELD: | Mildura | |
DATE OF HEARING: | 3 September 2012 | |
DATE OF SENTENCE: | 7 September 2012 | |
CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | DPP v Colman & Vozlic | |
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2019] VCC 1304 | |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Catchwords:
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APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the Crown | Mr D. O'Doherty | Office of Public Prosecutions |
| For Accused Colman For Accused Vozlic | Mr D. Sexton Ms R. Harper | Maloney Anderson Legal Lewenberg & Lewenberg |
HIS HONOUR:
1 David Vozlic and Dylan Colman, you have each pleaded guilty to trafficking in a drug of dependence, namely amphetamine, contrary to Section 71A(C) of the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Act 1981. The maximum penalty for that offence in this instance is 15 years' imprisonment.
2 David Vozlic, you have also pleaded guilty to one charge of making a threat to kill contrary to Section 20 of the Crimes Act 1958. The maximum penalty for that offence is 10 years' imprisonment.
3 Dylan Colman, you have pleaded guilty to one charge of possession of a drug of dependence, namely amphetamine, contrary to Section 73 of the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Act 1981. The maximum penalty in this instance is five years' imprisonment, a fine of 400 penalty units or both.
4 You have each pleaded guilty to the charges before the court and I have taken your early pleas of guilty into account in mitigation of penalty in each of your cases. Dylan Colman, you have also admitted a number of prior court appearances which I will refer to in due course. David Vozlic, you have no prior convictions.
5 A prosecution opening was read to the court and tendered in evidence and your respective offending may be summarised as follows –
6 Between 15 September 2010 and 20 April 2011 you were both engaged in organised and commercial trafficking of amphetamine in Mildura. This operation was managed by you, Vozlic, and you recruited Colman, then a young drug addict, and others to distribute amphetamine at what may be described a wholesale level.
7 You, Vozlic, supplied the substance in quantities of one ounce to Colman who then on-sold it in that quantity and in other quantities after diluting its purity to other persons. It is the prosecution case that during the charge period identified in Count 1 approximately 31 ounces of amphetamine valued at approximately $173,600 was trafficked by both of you in this manner. It is estimated that the profit from this activity was in the order of $31,000 to $49,600.
8 During the charge period you, Colman, also sold one ounce of amphetamine to an undercover police officer for the sum of $5800. Further, in Christmas 2010 you took delivery of an unknown quantity of amphetamine on behalf of Vozlic from premises in Adelaide and delivered that substance to Mildura.
9 During the course of your trafficking you, Colman, sold amphetamine on credit to other persons. By 29 April 2011 you were owed a substantial sum of money by those persons and you in turn owed $18,000 to Vozlic. On 29 April 2011 you, Vozlic, made a series of threatening phone calls to Colman demanding payment of the money said to be owed to him. In an aggressive, abusive tirade, you threatened to kill Colman and it is this conduct relied upon by the prosecution in support of Count 2 on the Indictment.
10 Following the completion of the police investigation a search warrant was executed at your premises, Colman, and police located there 3 grams of amphetamine in two separate bags. The possession by you of these drugs is relied upon by the prosecution in support of Count 3 on the Indictment.
11 The Court Of Appeal in this State has made it clear that trafficking in drugs of dependence for profit is an offence of the utmost seriousness and persons convicted of it must expect the imposition of a substantial term of imprisonment. Plainly, general deterrence and specific deterrence are significant sentencing considerations in cases of this type and you both must also be punished for your offending.
12 I now turn to your personal circumstances. David Vozlic you were born on 12 August 1969 and you are now aged 43 years. At the time of your offending you were a mature man with no prior convictions. Your family migrated to Australia from Yugoslavia and you were born here in Australia. Following your father working in a variety of seasonal occupations the family settled in Mildura, where they continue to reside. Your parents are elderly and not in good health. You have a number of siblings who reside in Mildura, including your sister, Sonia, who gave evidence on your behalf during the plea hearing.
13 I have received in evidence a psychological report of Ms Elizabeth Warren, a consulting and forensic psychologist, in relation to your background and psychological profile. It is clear from the contents of the report that you are an intelligent person with a hitherto stable work history. Ms Warren states that at the time of your offending you were addicted to amphetamine, after beginning to use that substance following the end of a stable five year relationship. Whilst I accept that you may have been a user of amphetamine at the relevant time, I do not accept that your use of the substance was the reason for your offending or that such use impaired your judgement to the extent that you did not fully understand the seriousness of what you were doing.
14 You were engaged in the business of drug trafficking for profit and you enlisted a young drug addicted person and others to carry on that business. In my opinion, your moral culpability for your offending may properly be described as high. Nevertheless, you are a mature person with no prior convictions and I accept that your prospects for rehabilitation may properly be described as good.
15 Dylan Colman, you were born on 21 July 1987 and you are now aged 25. You were 23 when you commenced your offending in this instance. Whilst you are not a young offender for the purposes of the Sentencing Act 1991, you are nevertheless youthful and that is a matter I am obliged to consider in formulating the appropriate sentence in your case.
16 You have admitted two prior court appearances in the Children's Court and two prior court appearances in the Magistrates Court for offences of dishonesty but those appearances did not result in convictions and your criminal history is of limited relevance for sentencing purposes in this case. You reside in Mildura and have been employed by GTS Freight Management since 2004. I heard evidence from Mr Peter Goldsmith, the manager of that company, who spoke very highly of you. You are in a stable domestic relationship and your partner recently gave birth to a child.
17 Your parents separated when you were 14 years old and this led to you developing behavioural problems, including drug and alcohol use. Your drug use continued until you sought treatment for it before you were arrested for your offending in this case. I have received in evidence a medical report of Dr Lester Walton, a consulting and forensic psychiatrist, and psychological reports of Mr Kieran Deverauex and Ms Lisa Carter of Sunraysia Community Health. You are now drug free and you have been receiving ongoing therapy and support for your drug and alcohol addiction. On the basis of the body of the evidence before me I accept that your prospects for rehabilitation may properly be described as very good.
18 In arriving at an appropriate proportionate sentence in your case I have attached considerable significance to your cooperation with investigating police. Following your interview with the police on 22 July 2011, you advised them that you wished to be re-interviewed. You then made a full statement detailing your involvement in drug trafficking with your co-offender, Vozlic. You detailed to police Vozlic's activities and also agreed to give evidence against him in court if necessary. Because of your cooperation with investigating police, if you were sentenced to a term of imprisonment that involved your actual confinement, that sentence would necessitate you being held in protection for your own safety.
19 I have also taken this matter into account in your favour in mitigation of sentence. As I have already observed, trafficking in illegal drugs of dependence for profit is an extremely serious offence and persons such as you who are prepared to give evidence against persons like your co-offender, Vozlic, who are superior to you in the drug trade must, where possible, be encouraged to do so by the courts and also protected by the courts. I have taken this fact into account in arriving at the appropriate proportionate sentence in your case.
20 In the result the sentence of the court is as follows –
21 In relation to Charge 1, the charge of trafficking in a drug of dependence, David Vozlic, you are convicted and sentenced to be imprisoned for three years and nine months.
22 In relation to Charge 2, the charge of making a threat to kill you are convicted and sentenced to be imprisoned for six months. I order that three months of the sentence on Charge 2 be served cumulatively on the sentence on Charge 1, thereby resulting in a total effective sentence of four years' imprisonment. I order that you serve two years and six months' imprisonment before becoming eligible for release on parole.
23 I declare that you have served 207 days by way of pre-sentence detention not including today. But for your plea of guilty I would have sentenced you to a term of imprisonment of six years and I would have fixed a non-parole period of four years.
24 Dylan Colman, in relation to Charge 1 on the indictment you are convicted and sentenced to be imprisoned for two years and six months.
25 In relation to Charge 3 on the indictment you are convicted and sentenced to be imprisoned for three months.
26 I order that the sentence on Charge 3 be served cumulatively on the sentence I have imposed on Charge 1. This makes for a total effective term of imprisonment of two years and nine months. I order that the entirety of that sentence be suspended for a period of three years. But for your plea of guilty I would have sentenced you to a term of imprisonment of two years and six months and I would have ordered that you serve a non-parole period of 15 months.
27 I have made all of the ancillary orders required in the case. Anything further?
28 MR O'DOHERTY: Nothing, Your Honour.
29 HIS HONOUR: I will leave the Bench. Do you have that order, Ms Haper?
30 MS HARPER: Can I seek just a few minutes with my friend, Your Honour, and I'll hand it to your associate.
31 HIS HONOUR: Very well, I will come back at 11 o'clock. The orders are there.
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