Director of Public Prosecutions v Crittendon (a pseudonym)

[2024] VCC 396

IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA

AT SHEPPARTON

CRIMINAL DIVISION

 Revised
Not Restricted
 Suitable for Publication

THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

ADAM CRITTENDON (A PSEUDONYM)

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JUDGE:	HER HONOUR JUDGE WILMOTH
WHERE HELD:	Shepparton
DATE OF HEARING:	22 March 2024
DATE OF SENTENCE:	27 March 2024
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Crittendon (a pseudonym)
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2024] VCC 396

REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject: Criminal law - sentence   

Catchwords:              Pleas of guilty to one charge of aggravated burglary and one charge of recklessly causing injury – violent and aggressive forced entry to house – assault on intimate partner in presence of teenage daughter – voluntary surrender to police  - limited admissions – remorse – steps taken towards rehabilitation – relevant prior offending against same partner – drug and alcohol abuse – depression - limited mitigating circumstances.         

Sentence:                   3 years imprisonment with non-parole period of 18 months. 

Cases cited: Alexander (a pseudonym) v R [2012] VSCA  217

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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the Director of Public Prosecutions	Mr F. Cameron	OPP
For the Accused	Mr C. Terry	Theo Magazis & Associates

HER HONOUR:

1Adam Crittendon[1] you pleaded guilty to one charge of aggravated burglary and one charge of recklessly causing injury.

[1] A pseudonym

The offending

2This offending occurred on the 26 January 2021 following an argument between you and your partner.  You  had been in a relationship for some 20 years but you had separated a few months previously and were living in separate premises in Cobram.

3You had a daughter together, who was aged 16 at the time and was living with her mother.  You and the complainant had been in contact discussing your future.  You tried to contact her and were seen driving near her home on the day in question.  You called an associate at about 7.30 pm and said you were waiting for her to return home as you were going to stab her and kill her.

4

She returned home and you arrived there finding her seated in the car she was driving, speaking on her phone to your sister.  You then spoke to your sister using her, which she had handed to you.  You then drove away with her phone. The complainant locked the phone remotely and went inside her house, locking the front door.  You returned to the house and kicked in the front door, forcing your way into the house, causing extensive damage to the door and frightening

her and your daughter,  who was with her.  That is Charge 1, aggravated burglary.

5Your daughter’s boyfriend was also in the house and she told him to run.  He left and went to a neighbour who called the police.  You and the complainant then had a heated disagreement, which escalated into a physical altercation in the bedroom when you assaulted and injured her.  The scuffle between you continued during which you pushed her and hit her in the ribs.  She ended up on the floor.  That is Charge 2, recklessly causing injury.

6Your daughter tried to intervene by jumping on you to try to stop you.  You fell together onto a wall after which you got her off you and went to leave the house.  Instead you returned to the bedroom and the argument continued but your daughter jumped in between you and you then left the house.  Soon afterwards you told an acquaintance that you had kicked complainant’s door in and bashed her in her house, that you had grabbed her by the hair and smashed her.  The complainant and your daughter went to a friend's house where she was observed to be in pain, having difficulty walking and with redness, swelling and grazes on her limbs.  Police attended the house but she declined to say what happened. On 29 January she went to the emergency department at a hospital because of soreness to her ribs and tailbone, and over several subsequent days she attended a medical centre for follow up treatment by medication for the pain.

7At 9.15 pm, on 26 January, you went to the police station at Cobram saying you wanted to hand yourself in as what you had done was wrong.  You were arrested and interviewed.  You admitted kicking in the front door of her home and that earlier that evening you had broken the windscreen of the car in which she was seated, causing her to be afraid.  You were charged and remanded in custody.  Some months after the committal, which took place in July 2023, you offered to plead guilty to the matters on the plea indictment and the offer was accepted. 

The seriousness of the offending

8Aggravated burglary is a serious offence punishable by a maximum of 25 years' imprisonment.

9The complainant heard the loud bang when you broke down the door and your daughter was so afraid that she urged her boyfriend to run from the house.  It was more than a mere forced entry.  It was aggressive and frightening to the two women inside.  That aggressive forced entry was followed immediately by the heated argument leading to your assault upon complainant as I just described.  The ongoing pain She suffered for at least two weeks afterwards, necessitating four attendances at medical facilities speaks to the seriousness of the assault.  The maximum penalty for that offence assault is five years imprisonment.

10The complainant provided a victim impact statement in which she described how your offending, and the permanent ending of the relationship caused a continuing rift between her and your family, to whom she had been very attached.  She said she had been totally immersed in your extended family and losing them was one of the hardest things of all.  Indeed, the bond she had with you, based as it was in trauma, she said was also very hard to break.

11

The  complainant said she is very affected by Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and is having psychological therapy for this.  She said the words you spoke to her that day play on repeat in her brain and she is hypervigilant when in social situations.

She said she still suffers pain in her leg and lower back from the injuries you inflicted on her and she can no longer do Pilates because of this.  She said things have improved since you were incarcerated and being in a new relationship, she has experienced respect and a different way of dealing with conflict.

12Clearly this was serious offending of a type which is very prevalent, and which calls for firm  denunciation by the court.  Violence perpetrated on an intimate partner has no basis for justification as you yourself knew when you went to the police station voluntarily.  In this case, it has caused physical injury and pain, serious emotional suffering, and extensive and lasting family disruption.

Personal background and circumstances

13Turning now to your background, your family circumstances are unremarkable in that your parents were hard working people who have remained together.  But it appears you were unhappy, a rebellious and troubled child both at school and at home.  You left home at the age of 14 and left school soon afterwards where you had been bullied.  In the following years you came and went from home, living with friends and on the street and for a while with your older sister.  You associated with drug users and dealers and by the age of 18 you were described as a chaotic drug user.

14Despite this, you found work and were employed in abattoirs for many years.  You managed to shake off your drug use, and  from 2017 you worked at the local water board as a trainer and assessor having completed a certificate course. 

15You have described your use of drugs as having taken a serious turn when you were injured in a motorcycle accident at the age of 22.  You became addicted to prescribed painkilling medication, moving on to ice and other drugs and you became what you described as a high functioning addict using large quantities of drugs. 

16Over the years you established a close relationship with your parents and sister and her family, but it appears that your professional career began to slip more recently. 

17You had been diagnosed as suffering from depression and anxiety at the time of the offending and you were using drugs and alcohol combined with medication at the time.  You were remanded in custody for a few weeks after your arrest from the 24 February to 10 March 2021 and again since 17 November 2023 when you pleaded guilty and bail was revoked.

18After your release from prison in March 2021, you engaged in a Men's Behaviour Change Program and with CISP.  You had been assessed favourably for CISP and the report dated 17 June 2021 provides details of your successful completion of that programme.  This included attendance at sessions and engaging in appropriate supports including psychological counselling, which you had voluntarily commenced when your relationship with complainant began to break down.  There was a protracted procedural period in the progress of this case causing significant delay but during which you were able to complete CISP and engage in programs until your further remand in November last year.

19For about three years you have been in a new relationship and together you have a baby son.  You plan eventually to move away and  to make a fresh start.

Mitigating factors

20There are a number of mitigating factors in your favour.  You gave evidence at the plea hearing expressing your remorse, stating you were disgusted with yourself for your behaviour and you were instantly remorseful after the event.  You said you asked to do the Men's Behaviour Change Program under the auspices of CISP and you engaged in the drug and alcohol program as well.  You have written a letter to the court explaining these matters.

21You were cross-examined by Mr Cameron for the prosecution and agreed that the charge of breaching an intervention order in 2005, involved a friend of the complainant, and that complainant was the protected person in relation to the intervention order when she was aged 17 or 18.  Although that occurred many years ago, it remains relevant and is concerning.

22As to the present offending, you also agreed that your daughter aged 16 was present during the offending against complainant and said you had no recollection of her trying to prevent you from hurting her mother although you did not deny it.

23You are currently facing a charge of breaching an intervention order which was listed as a contest mention in the Magistrates' Court today.  I understand that the protected person is your fiancée.  Of course I place no weight on that matter, as it is not a previous conviction and may not lead to a conviction at all.  Notwithstanding the matters I have set out, your prospects for rehabilitation are probably reasonable given the insight you appear to have into the causes of your offending and the steps you have taken to address this.  You are now drug free and have good chances of obtaining employment when released. 

24You have a plan for your accommodation, initially with your parents and then in your own home.  Your criminal history is fairly limited with no offending between 2010 and 2021.  Your successful career development in your 30s demonstrates the capacity to live a crime free life and to put aside what may have been antisocial tendencies before then.  Mr Mackinnon, the Consultant Psychologist who assessed you recently described you as a competent man capable of preparing for post-release life and well motivated to make progress with your rehabilitation.

25A reference has been provided by your parents who attest to your strong family loyalty, your devotion to your daughter and now your son, and your motivation to move on.  Two other references were provided by people who worked with you previously, one of whom knew you in a supervisory capacity it would seem, and the other was a colleague.  Both have a high regard for you as a worker and as a person, and one in particular acknowledges your regret over your actions.

26You pleaded guilty to these charges although not at an early stage, but you are entitled to a discount on your sentence, as the plea has avoided the inconvenience and expense of a trial and importantly spared the witnesses from having to give further evidence.  It also occurred at a time when the courts were still dealing with a backlog of cases caused by the pandemic and so your plea has assisted in that regard.

27There has been a considerable delay since the offending until now.  You have had the matter hanging over your head for that time, but you have been able to use it effectively to explore the causes of your offending and undertake treatment.  I take into account that delay.

28The sentence I impose must reflect the need for general deterrence because of the nature and prevalence of this type of offending as I have already noted.  Those who disregard the rights of their partners and who perpetrate violence of any sort upon them should understand that it will not be tolerated and will result in severe punishment.  In your case, specific deterrence also has a role to play for the reasons I have set out.  At the same time I take into account the mitigating factors I have identified.

29Mr Terry, on your behalf, has submitted that a term of imprisonment in combination with a Community Correction Order would be an appropriate sentence relying on the matters in mitigation and current sentencing practice.  I was referred to a number of cases that are arguably comparable, mostly decisions of this court, where sentences included combination prison and CCO orders, or variations reflecting some leniency.  The only Court of Appeal sentence that was provided, the case of Alexander v R[2] has some similarity with this case as far as the offending is concerned.  But that offender was able to call upon extensive mitigating circumstances, including what would probably be described as Bugmy principles.  Verdins principles were also clearly applicable and none of those factors apply in this case. 

[2] Alexander (a pseudonym) v R [2012] VSCA 217

30

For a combination of these and other reasons, I have decided that a CCO is not appropriate, and accordingly I did not have you assessed as to your suitability.  By contrast with the matter in Alexander, you have been a functioning and contributing member of the community for many years, and yet can call upon no explanation for your violent behaviour other than substance abuse.  I can infer that you are well aware of the possible consequences of that indulgence.  The prosecution submission on sentence was that only a head sentence with a

non-parole period is appropriate.  I agree.

Sentence

31Mr Crittendon for the charge of aggravated burglary, I sentence you to a term of imprisonment of two years and six months.  That will be the base sentence for purposes of cumulation. 

For causing injury recklessly I sentence you to prison for one year.

I order that six months of that sentence be served in cumulation upon the base sentence.  This results in a total effective sentence of three years.

I order that you serve a minimum period of 18 months before being eligible for parole.  You have been in custody for a total period of 145 days so that is pre-sentence detention.  I declare that time to be reckoned as already served and I shall cause that to be noted on the court record.

32If you had pleaded not guilty, I would have sentenced you to four years' imprisonment with a non-parole period of two years and six months.  And I just want to ask both counsel if you agree with my calculation of 145 days.  First of all, Mr. Terry.

33MR TERRY:  Yes, Your Honour.  I think that's right.  It was 141 by my count on Friday, so - yes.

34HER HONOUR:  That's right.  Yes, all right. 

35OFFENDER:  Agreed.

36HER HONOUR:  You too?  Thank you.  Are there any other matters?  First of all, Mr Cameron.

37MR CAMERON:  No, Your Honour.

38HER HONOUR:  No, Mr Terry, anything else?

39MR TERRY:  Not from me, Your Honour, thank you.  Just to advise my client that myself and my instructor will be in touch with him.  It won't be today it will be when we can get a link later this week.

40HER HONOUR:  Yes, all right, thank you Mr Terry, I think he heard that.  I'll close that link now.

41MR TERRY:  Thank you, Your Honour.

42OFFENDER:  Thank you, Your Honour, I appreciate that.

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