Director of Public Prosecutions v Crow (a pseudonym)
[2024] VCC 748
•22 May 2024
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA AT BALLARAT CRIMINAL DIVISION | Revised Not Restricted Suitable for Publication |
CR-24-00037
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| v |
| ELIJAH THOMAS |
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JUDGE: | JUDGE DAWES | |
WHERE HELD: DATE OF TRIAL: | Ballarat 29 January – 6 February 2024 | |
DATE OF PLEA HEARING: | 8 February, 2 May 2024 | |
DATE OF SENTENCE: | 22 May 2024 | |
CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | DPP v Thomas | |
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2024] VCC 748 | |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject:CRIMINAL LAW
Catchwords: Rape – contravention of Family Violence Intervention Order – recklessly cause injury – common assault
Legislation Cited: Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic)
Cases Cited:Worboyes v The Queen [2021] VSCA 169; R v Verdins [2007] VSCA 62; Bugmy v The Queen [2013] HCA 37
Sentence: 9 years 2 months imprisonment
NPP 6 years
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APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the DPP | Mr D O’Doherty (trial & plea) Ms E Failla (sentence) | Office of Public Prosecutions |
| For the Accused | Mr A Hands (trial & plea) Mr A Paull (sentence) | Adrian Paull Criminal Lawyers |
1.Elijah Thomas, on 26 June 2023, you pleaded guilty in the County Court at Ballarat to 14 charges listed on Indictment No. C2013382.2. I will refer to those charges later in this sentence.
2.On 6 February 2024 in the County Court at Ballarat, you were found guilty by jury verdict. Indictment No. K12985682 relates to the offences that were dealt with in the trial.
Charges
Offence
Maximum Penalty
1
2
Rape
Rape
25 years’ imprisonment
3.Both offences formed part of the same incident that occurred between 7-31 March 2019.
4.You commenced a relationship with the victim in 2016. You have two young children together, both of whom reside with their mother. At the time of the offending, the victim was 20 and you were 21 years of age.
5.Early on in the relationship, you lived with the victim and her parents before you both moved to live with her grandparents in Queensland in 2017. Your relationship became dysfunctional as you were physically and emotionally controlling towards her. You would demand that she do things and threaten to leave her or find another partner if she did not comply. You began to manipulate her emotionally, which became a regular means by which you would seek to control her.
6.Your son was born in July 2017 and later that year you both moved back to Ballarat. Your relationship continued to deteriorate as your physical abuse of the victim became more prominent. In late 2017, an Interim Intervention Order was obtained by police, which prohibited you from contacting the victim or the children. On 22 January 2018, a two year final family violence intervention order was made. You were permitted to have contact between each other but prohibited from engaging in family violence and from going within 200 metres of her address. The conditions of the Order were altered at times, to allow you to attend at the home. In August 2018, your daughter was born. In November 2018, you resumed living together for a short time before you were told to leave, due to your continuous physical and mental abuse of the victim.
7.I will now summarise the facts of the current case in accordance with the evidence given in front of the jury.
8.On 21 March 2019 you sent the victim a message saying that you would come over to her house. She responded and said that was fine but she did not want to have sex with you. When you arrived, you came in and went into her bedroom which was next to the front door. You pushed her onto the bed. You did not say anything. You put your hand down her pyjama pants as she tried to push you away, repeating that she did not want to have sex with you.
9.You did not say anything and your face was blank. You put your hand inside her underwear as she continuously said 'No' and tried to push you away. At that time, she was crying. You inserted your fingers into her vagina, which hurt her as your nails were long and your hands were dry.
10.As the struggle continued, she was terrified. You pulled her pants off. She continued to cry and say 'No' and you forced yourself on top of her. You pulled your penis out of your pants and forced it inside her. The victim said that it was painful and felt like sandpaper. She said that there was nothing she could do to stop you and your penetration lasted between 10 to 15 minutes. After you ejaculated, you removed yourself and acted like everything was normal. You looked at your phone for a short time before you left the house.
11.The following day, text messages were exchanged between you. The victim sent you a message telling you that you raped her. She gave evidence that you responded with a tirade of messages including, 'I’m a rapist, yes, fuck yes' and then said that you were going to die.[1] She contacted both your foster mother and one of your friends, as she was concerned about your threat to commit suicide.
[1] Exhibit A.
12.In the trial, there was no dispute between the parties that your relationship was volatile and difficult. The prosecution case was that although there may have been turbulence in your relationship, there was no suggestion that the victim had invented the allegations.
13.You gave evidence that you did not rape her, and that the incident did not occur. Further, that you did not go to her home on 21 March nor engage in any sexual activity on this occasion. The author of the text message that I have just described was heavily disputed in this trial.
14.
The jury by their verdict rejected your defence and you were found guilty on
6 February 2024. The jury must have been satisfied of the victim’s evidence, beyond reasonable doubt.
15.I will now outline the circumstances of the other offending to which you have pleaded guilty:
CHARGES
OFFENCE
MAXIMUM PENALTY
1, 4, 10, 13, 16, 20 & 21
Contravention of a Family Violence Intervention Order
5 years’ imprisonment or 600 penalty units
3, 6, 12, 15, 18 & 24
Recklessly cause injury
5 years’ imprisonment or 600 penalty units
8
Common assault
5 years’ imprisonment or 600 penalty units
16.A prosecution summary was read to the court and agreed to be an accurate account of events. A general summary of the facts is as follows:
Charges 1 & 3
17.On 30 March 2018 you went to the victim’s home, despite being prohibited by the intervention order. An argument occurred and she threw your clothes out of the back door. You went out to collect your clothes. She tried to shut the sliding door as you held it open. You struck her wrist with significant force, using your mobile phone or your car keys, causing significant pain and swelling that lasted for a couple of weeks. The cut on her wrist has left a scar.
Charges 4 & 6
18.On 1 November 2018 you lived with the victim. You were in the bedroom and she was lying on the bed, crying. You became angry and told her to stop. You struck her back, near her left shoulder, approximately ten times with a clenched fist, causing soreness and bruising.
Charge 8
19.In the first week of December 2018, you arrived at the victim’s workplace in order to swap over the children’s car seats. You were angry about something, pulled the car seats and pram out of your car and threw them on the ground. She went to get something out of the boot. You pushed the hatchback boot lid onto her arm, causing her significant pain. Her mother was present when this incident occurred. On 6 December 2018, the victim kicked you out of the home for the last time.
Charges 10 &12
20.Between January and February 2019, you were at the victim’s house and an argument occurred. You grabbed her by the hair and pulled her to the ground. You kicked her at least six times, causing bruises to her arms and legs.
Charges 13 & 15
21.Between January and April 2019 your relationship with the victim continued to be volatile and you would often fight. On this occasion, she had hidden your car keys to stop you randomly leaving for hours at night. You became angry and struck her across the right side of her head, using significant force. As a result of this incident, she was unable to hear properly from her right ear, for about 3 weeks.
Charges 16 & 18
22.On or about 3 February 2019, you and the victim were arguing in the garage of her house. You were armed with a brick, chased her and then hit the brick onto the bonnet of her car, causing scratches. You then threw the brick at her but missed. You grabbed her by the hair and kneed her in the area of her vagina. She fell to the ground and you kicked her vaginal area approximately 4-5 times, which caused her such pain that she almost passed out. You then kicked and punched her all over her body and bruised her thigh.
Charge 20
23.On or about 4 March 2019, you posted two semi-naked photos of the victim to her Facebook page, without her permission. One was of her breastfeeding; the other was a photo you had previously taken of her.
Charges 21 & 24
24.On 5 or 6 March 2019 you attended her house and accused the victim of cheating on you. You went into the bedroom and while there, you shoved her onto the bed and strangled her throat, using both hands. She was unable to breathe and began to see stars. She believed that she briefly blacked out and that you would kill her. Once she came to, she began to cry and told you to leave. You were apologetic and said that you need help. You then 'snapped', and bit her on the thigh, causing her pain and leaving a bruise.
25.I confirm that Charges 1,4,10,13,16, 20 & 21 all occurred as a contravention of a family violence intervention order at the time of the associated offending that I have just read out.
26.The offences of rape were committed later in March 2019.
27.The victim eventually contacted police on 13 May 2019 and made a statement concerning the family violence and physical assaults. The delay in the victim’s complaint of this offending meant that you no longer had access to a sentence of detention in a youth justice facility, if appropriate for these matters, as you were already 21 years of age.
28.When you were spoken to by police a few years later, you admitted attending at her house between nine to ten times after you had broken up but denied your violent offending. You agreed that you posted the photos on Facebook and said that you were a 'fucking idiot and shouldn’t have'.
29.She then made a further statement in relation to the allegations of rape on 3 June 2019. You were subsequently spoken to again by police and made a 'no comment' record of interview. On 4 June 2019, the family violence intervention order was varied back to a full order.
30.On 19 June and 10 October 2019, you were charged with a number of offences, including alternative charges of family violence and assault related offending. On 1 November 2019 you were charged with the offences of rape. On 9 July 2020, a related Summary Jurisdiction Application for the earlier charges was refused. The Magistrates’ Court determined that all the charges should be heard together in the indictable stream. A contested committal proceeded, where a number of witnesses, including the victim, were cross examined. You were committed to stand trial on 16 November 2020 where you entered your pleas of not guilty. Over the next two and a half years, your case was before the County Court. COVID-19 restrictions did preclude the running of committals and trials for some time. Your case was listed for several directions’ hearings and pretrial argument as well as not being reached on circuit in Ballarat in June 2022.
31.
On 19 June 2023, your trial eventually commenced in the County Court at Ballarat before Judge Smallwood, where you pleaded 'not guilty' to all 26 charges. The victim gave pre-recorded evidence and was cross examined by defence, disputing the allegations. As the prosecution case was coming to a close on day 6 of the trial, the parties engaged in discussion and most of the charges resolved. On
26 June 2023, you were rearraigned in front of the jury and entered pleas of guilty to the 14 charges that form part of your current guilty plea.
32.The jury was discharged. Ten charges on the indictment were discontinued. You maintained your pleas of not guilty in relation to the offences of rape that were the content of the current trial. These charges were adjourned to the circuit commencing on 11 September 2023 but were not reached and so they were further adjourned and have now been heard.
33.A victim impact statement dated 8 February 2024 has been prepared by the victim. She read it out in the Court. In that statement, she describes the terror that your ongoing and escalating offending, being verbal, physical and sexual, has caused. 'Walking on eggshells' was her way of life for around three years while she was in a relationship with you. She was consistently in 'damage control' but was prepared to tolerate and manage your abuse, as you had children together and she once cared about you.
34.Your offending has had a long lasting and substantial effect on the victim. She describes lifelong anger and insecurity that has developed from the damage and guilt that she has carried from your relationship, as she initially felt somewhat accountable for your misconduct. She has developed mental health issues and requires ongoing psychological therapy and treatment. She writes that she has been unable to overcome the scars of this relationship as they are etched into her soul.
35.She describes that by making her relive the trauma through running a contested legal process over a lengthy period, where she was cross examined on four occasions, the burden of the past continues as you have been 'devoid of responsibility for your actions, until now'.
36.Fortunately, she writes that she is determined to overcome the effect of being a victim of domestic violence and rape. I hope that the path towards healing herself and the children will continue, that she is able to put your conduct behind her and achieve a positive future for them all. I take the relevant parts of the victim impact statement into account.
37.You pleaded not guilty to the charges of rape and continue to deny that you committed these offences. While you are not to be penalised for running a trial, there is no acceptance of responsibility for your sexual misconduct, and I am unable to conclude that you have shown any remorse for these offences.
38.In relation to the other offences that you have committed, your guilty plea was entered at a very late stage. The evidence against you had been clear for a long time. However, the utilitarian benefit of your guilty plea remains, as you saved the court and the community the time and expense of finalising your trial, which eventually did facilitate the efficient administration of justice. You are entitled to a modest benefit for that. I also take into account that some of the more serious offences were withdrawn when your guilty plea was negotiated. Your counsel submitted that the utilitarian benefit of your plea is enhanced by the fact that the Worboyes’[2] considerations were engaged at the time. I am not satisfied that any engagement of the Worboyes principals is appropriate. The Worboyes discount was underpinned by a desire to reduce the COVID related trial backlog. Your belated plea did not achieve that.
[2] Worboyes v The Queen [2021] VSCA 169.
39.Your pleas of guilty demonstrate that while it has not always been so, you have finally taken responsibility for some of your offending conduct and have belatedly shown some remorse. I have taken that into account in your favour.
40.I accept that the delay has been a source of anxiety for you, notwithstanding that it was caused by your pleas of not guilty. You have used the intervening period to undertake mental health treatment with a psychologist at the St John of God Wellbeing Services in 2023. You have commenced a new relationship, made progress in your rehabilitation and developed insight into your problematic behaviour. I take the delay into account and accept that it must have a mitigating impact on your sentence. I am also aware that the delay has been a source of anxiety for the victim. I also take that into account.
41.You have one prior appearance in court. On 22 January 2018, you pleaded guilty to one charge of persistent contravention of a family violence order, three charges of unlawful assault and one charge of committing an indictable offence on bail and received a fine without conviction. These offences related to the victim of the current charges. On the same date, you were referred to a men’s behavioural change program as a result of the intervention order. You completed the program on 28 November 2018. Regrettably, this did not deter you from committing further offences that are now before the court.
42.On the 31 October 2019, you were dealt with in the Magistrates’ Court for two unrelated charges and received penalties without conviction. You have not reoffended since the rape incident occurred five years ago and have no other charges outstanding. I take that into account in your favour when considering your prospects of rehabilitation.
43.I turn now to your personal circumstances. You are the older in a sibship of two and were born in March 1998, in the Healesville area. You are now 26 years of age. You mother already had 2 daughters from a previous relationship. Your parents engaged in drug abuse and were assessed as being unfit to care for you, when you were around 12 months old. Between the age of one to six years, you did not reside with any family members and were moved between 64 foster homes. You only recall two access visits with your mother when you were a child.
44.The Department of Fairness, Families and Housing had a lengthy involvement in your care, which started in November 1999. Their reports were subpoenaed and given to your counsel to provide relevant information about your personal circumstances as a child. I note that when you were young, you were diagnosed with an adjustment disorder of chronic duration.[3]
[3] Paragraph 33 Defence Submissions.
45.You experienced physical and emotional abuse between the ages of four and eight years from other foster children and foster parents. You were also sexually abused by an older foster child, over a 12 to18 month period.
46.At the age of six, you moved into permanent foster care on a remote farm, where you resided for eight years. As a child, you experienced a lot of conflict with your carer, a much older woman. You often absconded from the home and feel that your foster mother was a strict disciplinarian. You then moved to live with a friend from school and his family, when you were 14. You played football at the Ballan Blues as a teenager and won a number of awards.
47.You attended a number of different schools, due to the changes in your foster care arrangements. You were bullied and describe yourself as self-destructive and disruptive while at school, leaving part way through Year 12. You commenced a teaching degree at university, before leaving to undertake a number of jobs, including labouring and catering as well as working for a local newspaper. Since 2021, you have been employed as a car salesman.
48.While you commenced consuming alcohol and cannabis as a teenager, you have not used illicit substances for many years, nor do you have issues with the consumption of alcohol.
49.You have been involved in three long term relationships, the first during adolescence and the second with the victim of this offending. You have not seen your two children from this relationship since 2019.
50.You commenced your current relationship with your current partner in August 2019. You have two children together, one of whom was born after you were recently remanded. Your partner and her sister were present at your plea hearing. Your partner has provided a character reference and describes you as a wonderful father who is adored by the family. You have undergone counselling to manage your previous behavioural misconduct which has been of assistance, as she writes that you have not shown any anger, abuse or made your family feel unsafe in any way. In her opinion, you have been stable and supportive throughout the relationship. You remained employed, in order to financially provide for your family.
51.You are most fortunate to maintain the love and support of your partner. I accept that your family will suffer hardship as an inevitable consequence of your imprisonment. Further, that you will suffer significant anguish as a result of your inability to provide support or help to them, which will result in your time in custody being more onerous. The burden of imprisonment will be more significant for you in those circumstances.
52.
The parents of your school friend who you lived with as a teenager have provided character references and were also present in court for your plea. The father writes that he had weekly contact with you since you were approximately 12 years of age. He confirms that you have tried to overcome the struggles that you dealt with throughout your childhood, and he is extremely proud of the father and partner that you have become. He describes you as a much loved and supported person, who has become genuinely committed to making amends in your life.
The mother writes that she considers that she has become your mother. She is excited and feels honoured that you have asked them to take on the role of grandparents for your children. Regardless of your current circumstances, she confirms that you will always remain a member of their family.
53.Your sister has also provided a character reference and given evidence in court. She is six years older than you. She had little contact with you after your time in foster care commenced, although you reconnected when you were 15 years old and she has tried to provide you with support. She describes your childhood trauma as substantial, due to the multiple short-term placements and persistent disrupted attachment to care givers, as well as your exposure to emotional, physical and sexual abuse while in care.
54.In discussion with your sister, you acknowledged that your immaturity in the relationship with the victim, as well as your physical and emotional unavailability as a partner, would have caused her emotional and psychological distress. You are aware of the strain you caused the victim by failing to assist her financially and in caring for your young children. In those discussions, you have admitted inappropriate family violence towards her, although you did not admit that you committed all of the offences where you have pleaded guilty. You deny committing the offences of rape.
55.You sought support and guidance from your sister while you were still in a relationship with the victim. You are highly distressed that you no longer have contact with your two older children. Your sister believes that in your current relationship, you now understand your responsibility as a parent and partner. Your personal growth and maturity have flourished over the past few years. She hopes to continue to provide you with 'parental' support in the future.
56.At the request of your solicitor, you participated in an assessment undertaken by Mr Simon Candlish, consultant psychologist. In a most helpful report prepared for court dated 12 March 2024, Mr Candlish provided a detailed account of your character study, including your personal and mental health history. In relation to your personal history, he made the following observations:
·You were physically and sexually abused as a child. You experienced protracted instability and a lack of connection with any of your caregivers, creating significant attachment issues.
·You likely internalised a sense of yourself as defective, triggering feelings of shame at times and you might have sought to overcompensate for this over the years. You experienced a lack of role-modelling of appropriate conflict resolution and emotional intimacy.
·You struggled in your relationship with the victim due to your own attachment issues and interpersonal sensitivity, as well as your difficulties nurturing healthy and emotionally intimate relationships.
·The victim’s own psychological issues in combination with yours appeared to contribute to a tumultuous relationship.
·
You have since displayed a capacity for pro-social behaviour and
self-direction and have engaged in treatment.
57.Mr Candlish conducted a psychological evaluation and risk assessment for the court. He provided his opinion, namely:
·You tend to portray yourself as being relatively free of shortcomings to which most individuals will admit and appear reluctant to recognise faults or problems in yourself.
·There are no elevations in your clinical profile that indicate the presence of clinical psychopathology. You have a history of seeking to present as similar to others that you perceive as psychologically healthy, due to your acute awareness of your adverse childhood and how this created a sense of separateness and defectiveness.
·You did not identify as having any significant mental health issues that you were trying to mask or deny.
·You do not meet the criteria for a mental health disorder including personality impairment, despite the signs of a history of insecurity and issues related to your sense of self.
·
Your quickness to anger, issues related to conflict and problems with coping and self-control, such as excessive use of pornography and problems with gambling, reflect avoidance-based coping and
self-stimulation. This is due to the emotional detachment that is related to your childhood abuse and adversity. These issues are likely to continue in the future, though you have developed much more insight and are willing to receive appropriate treatment.
·You would benefit from treatment for your characterological issues, to manage your coping and vulnerability. There is some potential for deterioration in a lengthy term of imprisonment. You are likely to struggle with prolonged separation from your partner and family and have difficulties adapting to the prison environment.
·Your sexual offending appears to be contextual, as it occurred after you continued to have contact with the victim when the intervention order was in place. The sexual incident reflected an act of disregard and hostility for the victim as well as sexual entitlement.[4]
[4] Psychological Report of Simon Candlish, paragraph 92.
·You require low case prioritisation to effectively address the area related to your risk of sexual offending.
·
Should you re-offend in a sexual manner, you might engage in
non-consensual sexual acts towards an intimate partner. This would most likely occur in the context of sustained conflict and chronic instability. There are no signs of imminence of sexual offending.
·
Should you maintain a healthy intimate relationship and develop your skills in conflict resolution and emotional regulation, you are likely to further improve your ability to manage risk. Your ability to manage your risk of
re-offending will also increase if you improve your coping skills and capacity for self-control.
·You fall into the low-risk category for sexual offending and into the moderate-low risk category for violent offending.
58.Proposed treatment that would assist you has been outlined at the end of the report.
59.Your counsel has submitted that your deprived and impoverished background is a significant factor to be taken into account. The confluence of your exposure to trauma and neglect had a considerable impact on you and has been ongoing. I accept that your traumatic and disadvantaged childhood had a significant impact on your personal development and that it reduces your moral culpability which is a mitigating factor. These circumstances appear to have played a part in your lifestyle choices during your offending period. The relevance of the trauma does not diminish over time notwithstanding your criminal history.
60.I accept that the principles of Bugmy v The Queen[5] are enlivened in your case. The prosecution does not dispute this submission. It has a direct relationship to your offending and a significant role as a mitigating factor in your sentencing considerations. Your moral culpability should be reduced accordingly. The principles of deterrence, denunciation and just punishment should also be moderated, although they are still relevant and should not be eliminated entirely. This is counterbalanced, however, by the need for community protection, which remains a relevant sentencing consideration.
[5] [2013] HCA 37.
61.At the time of your offending, you were aged between 20 and 21 years. You were a youthful offender and although you are now 26 years of age, rehabilitation remains a relevant sentencing factor that is not extinguished.
62.Your counsel has also submitted that limbs 5 & 6 of Verdins’[6] are also applicable. The prosecution submits to the contrary. Given the opinion of Mr Candlish that you do not have impaired mental functioning, I do not accept that it is a relevant sentencing consideration.
[6] [2007] VSCA 62.
63.The charge of rape attracts the standard sentencing provisions outlined in the Sentencing Act.[7] The standard sentence is one where the Act specifies the appropriate sentence for an offence in the middle of the range of seriousness, taking into account only the objective factors affecting the relative seriousness of that offence. The relative standard sentence is 10 years’ imprisonment.
[7] Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic) s 5A(1B).
64.The objective factors are to be determined without reference to matters that are personal to a particular offender. There are several factors that are relevant when assessing the objective gravity of the offending. These include:
·You and the victim had been in a relationship for some time and had two children together. You were separated at the time.
·You took advantage of the opportunity to commit the offences when you attended the victim’s home, even though she had sent you a message that she did not want to have sex with you and maintained her position.
·You had committed offences of domestic violence against the victim for more than 12 months prior to the current incident. This is a concerning context although you will not be doubly punished for this.
·You did not wear a condom, exposing the victim to sexually transmitted disease and further pregnancy.
·Both offences of rape occurred as part of the one incident.
65.Both parties have submitted that the offences are at a mid-range of seriousness.
66.I take the standard sentence into account as one of the factors that is relevant to the instinctive synthesis of imposing sentence. I accept that it is a guidepost, to be considered when determining the appropriate sentence in this case. I have also considered current sentencing practices and take into account the maximum penalties for each offence.
67.It cannot be said that the offence of rape is anything but a serious offence. All sexual offences are crimes of violence that cause harm to the victims. You chose to run a trial as was your right, but as a result are unable to assert any remorse for your sexual offending.
68.It is clear that your conduct has had a significant impact on the ongoing emotional state of the victim. Any sexual activity that takes place without consent is wrong and must be denounced. However, I do accept that your process of rehabilitation has been ongoing for some time and that your prospects are not unreasonable.
69.I take into account the principle of totality which is relevant, and I have taken care not to doubly punish you for the offences. While I am required to take your persuasive mitigating factors into account, I am still required to impose a sentence that is proportionate to the gravity of your offending overall.
70.I have decided that there must be some but not total cumulation in the sentences that I impose. I endeavour to tailor your sentence to ensure that it is proportionate to your criminal conduct overall. I have imposed a slightly longer period on parole, given that you have not been charged with any offending for a lengthy period. I will now outline the sentences for each charge.
Indictment no. K12985682
Charge no.
Charge
Sentence
Cumulation
1
Rape
6 years
Plus 6 months
2
Rape
7 years and 9 months
BASE
Indictment no. C2013382.2
Charge no.
Charge
Sentence
Cumulation
1
Contravention of a Family Violence Intervention Order
1&3 – Aggregate 6 months
Plus 1 month
3
Recklessly cause injury
4
Contravention of a Family Violence Intervention Order
4&6- Aggregate 6 months
concurrent
6
Recklessly cause injury
8
Common assault
6 months
concurrent
10
Contravention of a Family Violence Intervention Order
10&12- Aggregate 9 months
concurrent
12
Recklessly cause injury
13
Contravention of a Family Violence Intervention Order
13&15- Aggregate 12 months
Plus 2 months
15
Recklessly cause injury
16
Contravention of a Family Violence Intervention Order
16&18 Aggregate 15 months
Plus 4 months
18
Recklessly cause injury
20
Contravention of a Family Violence Intervention Order
9 months
concurrent
21
Contravention of a Family Violence Intervention Order
21 &24 Aggregate 15 months
Plus 4 months
24
Recklessly cause injury
Total Effective Sentence
9 years 2 months’ imprisonment
Non-parole period
6 years
Pre-sentence detention
106 days
S6AAA for pleas of guilty
2 years’ imprisonment with a non-parole period.
I cannot fix a non-parole period, as the sentence has been imposed taking into account the principle of totality with the offences or rape.
71.Could I just check would either member of counsel like me to go through those sentences again?
72.PROSECUTION: No, Your Honour.
73.DEFENCE: No, Your Honour.
74.HER HONOUR: Thank you. Are there any further orders sought? Ms Failla?
75.PROSECUTION: No, Your Honour.
76.HER HONOUR: All right, thank you. I will give you an opportunity, Mr Paull to have a word with your client on the link once we cut the link. Thank you, I will leave the Bench.
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