Director of Public Prosecutions v Crotty
[2025] VCC 536
•1 May 2025
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA AT MELBOURNE CRIMINAL JURISDICTION | Revised Not Restricted Suitable for Publication |
CR-24-00686
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| v |
| JOHN CROTTY |
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JUDGE: | HIS HONOUR JUDGE HOLDING |
WHERE HELD: | Melbourne |
DATE OF HEARING: | Sentence Indication 15 and 16 April 2025; Plea 1 May 2025 |
DATE OF SENTENCE: | 1 May 2025 |
CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | DPP v Crotty |
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2025] VCC 536 |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject:
Catchwords: Aggravated burglary – Common Assault –
In the context of family violence
Legislation Cited: Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic);
Cases Cited: DPP v Crotty [2021] VCC 1437; DPP v Meyers [2014] VSCA 314.
Sentence: Total effective sentence of 4 years and 10 months imprisonment with a non-parole period of 3 years and 10 months imprisonment.
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APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the Director of Public Prosecutions | Ms Baxter | Office of Public Prosecutions |
For the Accused | Ms K. Farrell | Giorganni & Liang Lawyers |
HIS HONOUR:
1John Crotty, during the evening of 21 December 2023 and morning of
22 December 2023, you committed a spate of offending that could be described as instances of family violence against the one victim. You had been in a
de-facto relationship with the victim for approximately a year but were not living with the victim, who at the time lived in Altona. Your offending was nothing short of disgraceful, and involved a number of assaults upon the victim, and also entering the residence of the victim as a trespasser by forcing her front door.2The circumstances of your offending are not disputed and are detailed in a prosecution opening. You have previously applied for a sentence indication that I granted on 15 April 2025 and revised the following day. You accepted that indication and have today pleaded guilty to offences committed in the following circumstances:
3At approximately 10.25 pm on 21 December 2023, you rode your bicycle to the victim's premises and remained there throughout the evening.
4At about 1 am you became verbally aggressive, initiating an argument regarding issues in your relationship with the victim; you struck a kitchen cupboard causing damage and you threw various items around the kitchen, and punched holes in doors and plaster walls. This conduct constitutes Charge 1, a rolled-up charge of criminal damage in conjunction with damage to a motor vehicle that I will describe later in these reasons.
5The victim fled the home for a short time before returning. At approximately 2.53 am CCTV footage captures the victim leaving her address and you running after her in the same direction.
6You returned to the address a short time later in a condition where you were stumbling. The victim also then returned to her residence. You then confront the victim in her kitchen. You grabbed the victim by the neck and constricted her airways. You lifted her off the ground for approximately 15 to 20 seconds before releasing her. The victim was losing consciousness due to your actions, as she could not breath and she was crying. This conduct constitutes Charge 2, common assault.
7The victim fled to the bedroom and you followed her. You pinned her on the bed, placing all your weight on her and bit her left ear breaking the skin, causing her to bleed. You then dragged her to the kitchen sink to clean the wound.
8A short time later the victim attempted to leave, and you stopped her by grabbing her and biting her right index and middle finger. These two instances of biting constitute Charge 3, a rolled-up charge of causing injury intentionally.
9The victim then managed to leave her premises in her vehicle and you sent her some text messages. The victim called the police. She did not detail the offending at that stage but requested the police to remove you from her residence.
10At approximately 5.36 am police spoke with you and directed you to leave the victim's residence. You left, and the victim returned to her address in the presence of the police.
11When she returned, the victim noticed you had left some of your personal items on her front porch. She placed these items inside on her coffee table. She began to get ready for work.
12A short time later you returned to collect your personal items. The victim observed you attempting to go through her garden gate. She told you to wait at the gate while she gathered your possessions. You ignored this request, went upstairs to the front door of the property. The victim saw you and again requested that you not enter here residence. You then pulled a sliding door back with force unlocking the latch and entered the property as a trespasser with intent to assault the victim. You pushed the victim against a wall. The victim's right elbow hit something hard which caused her pain.
13This entry through the front door constitutes Charge 4, a charge of aggravated burglary. The push to the victim that caused some pain is part of Charge 5, a rolled-up charge of common assault.
14The other part of that rolled up charge occurred a short time later. The victim after being pushed attempted to leave the property; she went down the stairs. You followed her and confronted her at the bottom of the stairs. You struck her once to each breast and pushed her against a brick wall. The victim received bruising to her right breast. These punches and the push into the brick wall constitute part of the rolled-up Charge 5, common assault, referred to above.
15You continued to verbally abuse and physically threaten the victim. Some of this behaviour was witnessed or overhead by people in the vicinity. The victim who was in fear was allowed by you to eventually leave for work in her motor vehicle.
16The victim returned from work in her vehicle about 10 am. She saw you leaving the address and tried to reverse her car out of a laneway adjoining her residence. You approached the vehicle with a backpack raised in your hand and abused the victim, claiming she had been taking your property. You grabbed some black piping. You discharged three to four pieces of the piping towards the complainant narrowly missing her and striking her car. This caused damage to the vehicle. Again, people in the vicinity witnessed some of this commotion, and reports were made to the police. You threw another piece of piping cracking the windscreen of the victim's vehicle. The damage to the vehicle is part of the damage that constitutes the rolled up criminal damage charge, that is, Charge 1.
17You were subsequently arrested and interviewed regarding these allegations. You made some admissions as to your presence at the residence but generally denied the offending. You admitted that you had been at the victim's residence that night and you had been discussing with the victim her recent cancer diagnosis.
18A subsequent analysis of your mobile phone revealed that you sent multiple 'aggressive and abusive' text and voice messages to the victim on 22 December 2023.
Victim Impact
19The victim was observed by crime scene officers to have injuries. Photographs were taken of those injuries that I inspected during your application for a sentence indication. It was agreed the victim suffered discolouration to her neck as a result of you choking her and a bloodied ear and bruising to parts of her body were evident in the photographs. The photographs also depicted bandaging to her fingers, no doubt representing the medical treatment required as a result of you having bitten the victim.
20It is agreed you caused bruising to the breast region in circumstances where the victim at the time had been diagnosed with breast cancer and you were aware of this.
21Today a victim impact statement has been tendered and read to the court. It details how the victim had only recently been diagnosed with breast cancer and how this was understandably one of the biggest shocks she had experienced. She describes suffering PTSD and now receives treatment for anxiety and stress. Because of your offending she has become introverted and 'lost her lust for life'.
22She states 'this just sent me into self-protection mode and completely shut me down emotionally. I became completely numb, grief stricken with so much stress, vomiting from anxiety and fear, in total disbelief this was happening, that someone could inflict such cruel words and actions'.
23She describes not sleeping, trying to eat, having recurring flashbacks and nightmares, waking crying and frightened and says, 'my freedom and safety in my own home, it was no longer my sanctuary but trauma everywhere I looked'.
24She describes how it took months for her ear to heal and how her elbow still requires physio. She bravely acknowledges that these injuries will heal in time; however, it is clear ,from her statement, that the psychological impact is ongoing. She states how 'I just feel nervous now socially, especially around men and I was never like that'.
25There have been financial consequences as a result of your damage to her house and car. Today it has been clarified that the damage to her house cost approximately $7,200 and the damage to the windscreen to the car cost $750.
26While the physical injuries might be described as towards the lower end of the spectrum of seriousness, the context of your offending, in that occurred over some hours is of real concern; particularly given your prior criminal history that I will briefly refer to later in these reasons.
Objective Gravity of the offending.
27Mr Crotty, this offending is serious. The maximum penalty for aggravated burglary is 25 years' imprisonment. For intentionally cause injury and criminal damage, it is 10 years' imprisonment, and for common assault, five years' imprisonment. While the maximum penalty provides some guide to the seriousness with which Parliament regards these types of offences, one of the most troubling aspects of your case is that you have committed similar offending in the past. You are not to be punished again for that past behaviour, but it bears on your moral culpability for this offending.
28The sentencing remarks of Judge Allen were tendered during your hearing.[1] You were sentenced on 21 September 2021 regarding offending against a previous partner. You received a total effective sentence of three years gaol in combination with a community corrections order to run for three years after your release. One of the offences in respect of which Judge Allen sentenced you, was a charge of reckless conduct endangering persons. That charge was constituted by you choking your partner at the time and placing one hand over her mouth so that she could not breathe. The sentencing remarks of Judge Allen describe offending that involved choking the victim on three different occasions.[2] You were also charged on that occasion with offending involving biting the victim.
[1] DPP v Crotty [2021] VCC 1437
[2] Ibid [6]
29Judge Allen was persuaded that after the sobering effect of spending three years in custody, and your efforts at battling a long‑standing drug and alcohol problem, it was appropriate that you have an extended period of support and monitoring under a community corrections order. You were still subject to this order when you committed the offending that is now before me.
30In your counsel's written submissions it is stated 'a few weeks prior to the alleged offending, the complainant was diagnosed with cancer. Mr Crotty did not cope well and relapsed. He began using methylamphetamine and drinking alcohol.'
31It hardly needs to be stated how poorly it reflects upon you that instead of being supportive of a person with whom you were in a relationship, your failure to cope with such a circumstance is suggested to ultimately lead to you intimidating, abusing, and assaulting that partner.
32During your application for a sentence indication hearing there was some discussion of circumstances that are often considered in relation to charges of aggravated burglary as set out by the Court of Appeal in the case of Myers.[3]
[3] DPP v Meyers [2014] VSCA 314 [48]
33Your counsel pointed out that a number of aggravating circumstances were not present in your case; namely, you did not enter in the company of another offender, or with a weapon, and you entered at a time of day when the victim was preparing to leave for work.
34However, other aggravating circumstances were present. You entered by forcing the front door in circumstances where you had a short time before assaulted the victim; at the time you entered as a trespasser you were someone of whom the victim was particularly frightened. You must have been aware this was the case, given your conduct earlier in the evening, and the fact that the police had to intervene to ask you to leave the premises.
35The Court of Appeal in the case of Meyers commented upon the seriousness of offending against domestic partners. It stated:
Violence of this kind is alarmingly widespread, and extremely harmful. The statistics about the incidence of women being killed or seriously injured by vengeful former partners are truly shocking. [4]
[4] Ibid [45]
36There can, in my view, be no question that your moral culpability for this offending is high and public denunciation of your conduct, as well as general and specific deterrence, are weighty considerations. There is no dispute the only penalty must be a period of imprisonment involving a head sentence and non-parole period. Your counsel realistically conceded this.
Personal Circumstances and factors in mitigation.
37You are now in your mid-40s. You spent your early years in Werribee. Your father was a clerk with the RAAF and your mother worked as a cook. Your parents separated when you were about four years old and you have a younger sister. You have three younger halfsiblings as a consequence of your father's second marriage.
38Your counsel's written submissions state that your family moved around a lot, and you attended a number of different primary schools. This resulted in you struggling to make friends and interact socially. You began drinking alcohol and using cannabis at a young age and injecting heroin when you were only 14. Understandably, in this context, you were not successful academically and commenced an apprenticeship as a boilermaker. You did not complete the apprenticeship and your work history is described as ‘inconsistent unskilled work and manual labour'.
39You had a 10-year relationship from the age of 21 and have two sons with whom you were having regular contact up to the time of being remanded for this offending. They are now in their early 20s, and I was told by your counsel today, that one of the sons keeps in telephone contact with you whilst you are in custody.
40You stopped using heroin in your mid-20s but began using amphetamine and methamphetamine until you were remanded in custody in 2019.
41Your criminal history is consistent with longstanding alcohol and drug problems. You have a history of Magistrate's Court proceedings for street offences, assaults, dishonesty matters, driving offences and breaching intervention orders. In 2014 you received a short gaol sentence for, amongst other charges, threat to kill and unlawful assault. In 2015 you were again gaoled for a longer period for recklessly causing injury and making a threat to kill. You have contravened past community corrections orders.
42The main point your counsel made on your behalf was that despite the seriousness of your history and offending you continue in making attempts to overcome your addiction and anger management problems. Ms Farrell, who appeared on your behalf, tendered a number of certificates confirming the courses you have undertaken. Those certificates, and the results of a urine screen, indicate that while in custody you continue to undertake efforts to combat your addiction problems.[5] I note also that you are also receptive to the assistance of Mr Andrew Croft who has appeared by video link today and who is a person from ACSO[6] and is helping you to develop strategies to battle your addiction problems.
[5] Ex 4, 5, 6, and 7.
[6] Australian Community Support Organisation.
43Your counsel stressed that although you have re-offended, you made genuine efforts to become law abiding when you were released from gaol in 2022. In support of that account, she submitted that you obtained some qualifications that led you to being employed by Mr Tim Cockerell of Hulk Labour and Hire Services. Mr Cockerell described you in a letter as having a 'wonderful reputation … regarding punctuality, reliability and work ethic'. He indicates he would have no hesitation in re‑employing you upon your release from custody. A site manager from the same firm has also described your reputation, through work with this company over a two-year period, in very positive terms. [7]
[7] Exhibits 2 and 3.
44Ms Farrell stressed that since your incarceration you have been abstinent from drugs and you are currently working towards obtaining further qualifications in engineering. When you have served your current period of custody you intend to live with an aunt and uncle in Werribee.
45It was submitted that despite your application for a sentence indication hearing you intended to plead guilty to the offending other than the aggravated burglary, as there was a contentious issue relating to whether you had the relevant intent upon entry to the victim's household.
46I accept that as a result of pleading guilty you have demonstrated some limited remorse for your offending, and that your plea of guilty has saved the victim from having to give evidence. There is a utilitarian benefit of the plea that must be recognised in a discount in your sentence.
Sentence
47Mr Crotty, I have already remarked as to how disgraceful this offending is. You simply have to come to grips with the fact that you are a person with a history of uncontrolled, violent, dangerous behaviour. The sentence I impose must take account of the need for community protection, denunciation, and specific and general deterrence. I accept your counsel's submission that your prospects of rehabilitation are not extinguished, but upon your release you must recommit to a life abstaining from both illicit drug use and excessive alcohol consumption. Your prospects of successful rehabilitation are obviously guarded and will depend upon your ability to deal with life without relapsing into previous patterns of behaviour.
48I accept that the sentence should take account of your efforts to rehabilitate yourself, and if possible, facilitate those efforts. There is a risk of you becoming institutionalised should you not continue to make those efforts. I am also mindful of the principle of totality. Although the offending occurred over some hours and might be viewed as occurring in three distinct episodes, it is in my view appropriate that there be a degree of currency between the separate sentences in order that the total effective sentence not be crushing upon you and not unduly inhibit your efforts to rehabilitate.
49In relation to the charges before me you are sentenced as follows:
50On Charge 1, the rolled-up charge of criminal damage, you are convicted and sentenced to eight months' imprisonment.
51On Charge 2, common assault, constituted by you choking the victim, you are convicted and sentenced to two years' imprisonment.
52On Charge 3, the rolled-up charge of intentionally causing injury (constituted by two acts of biting) you are convicted and sentenced to 14 months' imprisonment.
53On Charge 4, aggravated burglary, you are convicted and sentenced to two years and four months' imprisonment. This is the base sentence.
54On Charge 5, the rolled-up charge of common assault, constituted by pushing the complainant and punching her in the breast region, you are convicted and sentenced to 10 months' imprisonment.
55In relation to cumulation I make the following declaration. I declare that two months of the sentence upon charge 1, 16 months of the sentence imposed on Charge 2, eight months of the sentence imposed on Charge 3, and four months of the sentence imposed on Charge 5 be served cumulatively upon the base sentence and all other sentences imposed this day. That makes a total effective sentence of four years and 10 months' imprisonment. I order that you serve a period before being eligible for parole of three years and 10 months.
56Pursuant to s18(4) of the Sentencing Act1991 I declare that the period of 496 days that you have been in custody be reckoned as time already served under the sentence passed today and I direct that this be entered into the records of the court.
57Pursuant to s6AAA of the Sentencing Act, I declare that had you not pleaded guilty to these charges I would have sentenced you to a total effective sentence of six years and eight months' imprisonment.
58COUNSEL: As the court pleases.
59HIS HONOUR: Are there any other orders that I need to make?
60MS BAXTER: No there's not, Your Honour.
61HIS HONOUR: Were counsel able to understand the sentence in terms of the cumulation?
62COUNSEL: Yes, Your Honour.
63HIS HONOUR: Thank you, Ms Farrell. I will leave you on the link if you need to have a discussion with your client for a short time.
64MS FARRELL: Thank you, Your Honour.
65HIS HONOUR: Can I thank you both for your assistance and can I thank the victim for attending court today and providing me with that helpful victim impact statement. Adjourn the court.
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