Director of Public Prosecutions v Crozier
[2023] VCC 1990
•26 October 2023
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA AT BENDIGO CRIMINAL DIVISION | Revised Not Restricted Suitable for Publication |
CR 23-01257
CR 23-01258
CR 23-01259
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| v |
| CROZIER, PAUL |
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JUDGE: | HIS HONOUR JUDGE CHETTLE | |
WHERE HELD: | Bendigo | |
DATE OF HEARING: | 26 October 2023 | |
DATE OF SENTENCE: | 26 October 2023 | |
CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | DPP v Crozier | |
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2023] VCC 1990 | |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject:CRIMINAL LAW SENTENCE
Catchwords: Sentencing – recklessly cause injury, contravening a family violence intervention order intending fear or harm, aggravated burglary, persistent contravention of a family violence intervention order, committing an indictable offence whilst on bail, fail to answer bail, contravene conduct condition of bail, wilfully damage property - plea of guilty
Legislation Cited: Sentencing Act 1991
Cases Cited:Worboyes v The Queen [2021] VSCA 169
Sentence: Imprisonment, Total effective sentence 5 years and 9 months, non-parole period, 3 years and 9 months.
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APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the Director of Public Prosecutions | Ms S. Thomas | Ms K. Parnham, Ms I. Abdulnour, Office of Public Prosecutions |
| For the Accused | Mr N. Rolfe | Mr N. Rolfe, Nicholas Rolfe Criminal Law |
HIS HONOUR:
1Paul Anthony Crozier, you have pleaded guilty to three charges of recklessly causing injury. One charge of contravening a family violence intervention order, intending fear or harm. One charge of aggravated burglary. One charge of persistent contravention of a family violence order.
2
You have also pleaded guilty to seven related summary offences. Committing an indictable offence, which relates to Charge 5, whilst on bail. Breaching a condition of the bail by assaulting your victim on 8 October 2022. Failing to appear at court on 21 June 2022 in compliance with your bail. Wilfully damaging your victim's phone on 12 June of 2022. Breaching a family violence intervention order on
12 June by the conduct that constitutes Charge 3. Contravening a family violence intervention order on 12 June, by damaging your victim's phone screen. And committing an indictable offence, that is Charge 1, whilst being on bail.
3The facts of your offending, are contained in Exhibit A of the prosecution plea summary and in Exhibit C, the summary for the summary offences provided by the prosecution. I was informed by your counsel that I could treat Exhibit A as an agreed statement of fact, I incorporate it into these reasons for sentence and sentence you on the basis of the facts set out therein.
4Very briefly stated, between June 2021 and October 2022, you were in a relationship with Ms Davis, a 45-year-old woman with an acquired brain injury. In March 2022, you assaulted Davis in Bendigo causing bruising to her face and that is the subject of Charge 1 of recklessly causing injury. That offending breached a family violence intervention order issued by the Echuca Magistrates' Court on 19 October 2021 and so Charge 2, to which you pleaded guilty represents a contravention of that intervention order intending harm or fear.
5
On 12 June 2022, you were with Davis in the Pastoral Hotel, Echuca. You accused her of being unfaithful to you and punched her to the left eye. You caused her to suffer bruising and swelling. You were subject to a final family violence intervention order at the time. You were arrested, charged and bailed on
13 June 2022. Ms Davis was placed in emergency accommodation in
October 2022. On the 7th and 8th of October you left several abusive messages on her phone. One threatened physical violence. This conduct forms part of
Charge 6, persistent contravention of a family violence order.
6
At about 11.50 am, Ms Davis was at Big W in Echuca. You were seen to be arguing with her at the front of the store before following her into the shop yelling abuse at her and hitting her in the face with your fist, injuring her mouth. This conduct is also part of Charge 6 of persistent contravention of a family violence order. That evening at about 6.45 pm you went to Ms Davis's room at the
Georgian Motor Lodge in Echuca. You knocked on the door. You were in the company of at least two others. Davis opened the door and told you to, 'Fuck off'. You pushed Davis back into the room and into a chair. You came into the room. That constitutes Charge 4, aggravated burglary.
7You then choked her. She told you she could not breathe and you told her, 'I don't fuckin' care'. You then repeatedly kicked her to the head causing injuries. This is the basis of Charge 5, recklessly causing injury and is also part of Charge 6, persistent contravention of a family violence order.
8Police arrested and charged you on 9 October 2022 and you have been in custody since. Your victim filed a victim impact statement, Exhibit C. She suffers nightmares and has trouble sleeping, she is emotional, feels paranoid and her depression has been increased. She suffers panic attacks and fears anxiety. She is hurt and angry by what you have done to her, and she feels isolated. She suffers flashbacks and feels unsafe. I take the contents of that victim impact statement into account in sentencing you.
9
You have admitted an extensive criminal record, both for Victoria and interstate in Queensland and New South Wales. It is a lengthy and relevant criminal record. In the 1990s you were convicted of assaults and assault occasional actual body harm in Hay and Bathurst, in New South Wales. In 2021, you were in prison for
18 months on appeal to the Grafton District Court for recklessly causing grievous bodily harm. In Queensland, you have multiple convictions at Townsville courts for contravention of domestic violence orders, common assault, assault occasional bodily harm and you have received a number of short prison sentences in that state. In Victoria, you first appeared at Echuca and Shepparton courts on dishonest and drug offences and street offences in the 1990s.
10
On 15 August 2000, you received a conviction and fine for four breaches of an intervention order at Echuca Magistrates' Court. On 30 May of 2022, you were sentenced to four months' imprisonment wholly suspended for two years on Charges of assault, criminal damage and breach of an intervention order. On
26 November 2002, you were imprisoned for recklessly causing injury and you were fined for breaching an intervention order.
11In 2003, you were imprisoned at Wangaratta Magistrates' Court on 29 October for breach of an intervention order and recklessly causing injury. In 2005, you were sentenced to another suspended term of imprisonment of three charges of breaching an intervention order by the Echuca Magistrates' Court. Your record indicates that all the suspended sentences you were released on were breached by subsequent offending.
12On 21 November 2006, you were sentenced to four months' imprisonment to be served by an intensive Corrections Order on a charge of recklessly causing injury. In December of 2007, you were sentenced to a partially suspended term of imprisonment on four charges of assault, threatening serious injury and assault with a weapon. On 4 December 2009, you were again before the Echuca Magistrates' Court on charges of threat to inflict serious injury, recklessly causing injury, criminal damage, three charges of contravention of a family violence intervention order, and you were sentenced to an 18 months' term of imprisonment with a non-parole period of nine months.
13On 28 June 2011, you received a community-based order on two charges of contravention of a family violence intervention order. Significantly, on 1 August 2012, you were before the County Court at Melbourne on one charge of aggravated burglary, stalking and breach of a family violence intervention order. You were sentenced to a total effective sentence of two years and nine months with an 18-month non-parole period. His Honour Judge Punshon’s reasons for sentence are Exhibit B on your plea, and in that sentence His Honour said,
'The victim was your ex-partner. On 21 July 2011, the victim obtained an intervention order against you. The stalking charge involves a course of conduct consisting of you approaching and grabbing her in the street on 27 July 2011; following her to the police station soon after; and sending a text message to her two days later. The aggravated burglary occurred about 10.30 pm on the night of 27 July, after the incident in the street earlier in the day, the victim went to the property that she owned. You entered the house through an open window, intending to assault by putting the victim in fear. You confronted her in the hallway, you persuaded you only wanted to talk, and discussion did occur, and you were trying to persuade your victim to remove or alter the terms of the intervention order.'
14
The conduct is not dissimilar to the conduct for which I am to sentence you.
His Honour said at paragraph 17, 'You have a history of mental illness'. This fact was central to your plea. Notes from Dr Peter Tisdale and a report from
Mr David Ball, a Forensic Psychologist were tendered. I accept that you have a lengthy history of bipolar disorder and adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Generally, you have good judgement. However, I accept that your good judgement and consequential thinking rapidly evaporate when non-compliant with medication. Obviously, abusing drugs and alcohol interfere with the medication maintenance and exacerbate the consequence of medication non-compliance. You have a history of drug and alcohol abuse.
15At paragraph 20, His Honour said,
'A history of domestic violence and disregard for court orders is very troubling.' As discussed during plea submissions I think your insight into the cause of your violent and turbulent relationship with women is limited. You need to understand that women are not possessions.'
16Later, His Honour said it is essential that you comply with medication and avoid illicit drugs and alcohol. You will need anger management counselling; you will need ongoing psychiatric supervision and medication.
17Finally, His Honour said at paragraph 27,
'I still consider the aggravated burglary to be very serious. It was a home invasion designed to instil fear in the complainant in circumstances where you had previously physically assaulted her. It was a determined breach of the law in circumstances where you had previously demonstrated a contempt for the law and court orders.'
18It is clear that the offending before me is a more serious example of the offence of aggravated burglary, than the one that His Honour was dealing with in that case.
19Your most recent offence is the sentence of the Grafton District Court of 18 months with a 10-month non-parole period on 8 March 2021. Ms Cidoni, in the report tendered as Exhibit 2, reported that you told her in regard to your prior violent matters the victims have primarily been former partners. You said that within the local community you were known as a women basher. You struggled to articulate why you had offended against women. You said, 'I don't know why I punish women the way I do'. The assaults typically occur in times of distress, when he has felt he had lost control over himself.
20Your personal history is set out in the reasons for sentence of Judge Punshon, the psychological report of Gina Cidoni, Exhibit 2, to which I have just referred and summarised in your counsel's submissions, Exhibit 1.
21You are a 50-year-old man and you were 49 at the time of your offending. You are the eldest of four children. You have two younger sisters and a younger brother. You are from Kyabram in Northern Victoria and both your parents currently live there, retired. You completed Year 11 at Kyabram High School and you have been employed in various roles as a signwriter, exhaust fitter and welder. You commenced an apprenticeship as a boilermaker at Midland Rural Engineering in Stanhope but did not complete it.
22You played senior football for the Kyabram and District Football League. You do have a 21-year-old daughter, but you have no contact with her. After being released from custody in Victoria on 13 May 2014, you went to Queensland, to Townsville, on the promise of work. There you worked as a robotic welder and completed a certificate in machinery operation, obtaining your heavy rigid truck licence. After some time, the work ceased and you fell into drug addiction again.
23You moved to Grafton, New South Wales in 2019 or 20 and you were employed on a road construction crew driving a tip truck. That work collapsed when COVID intervened and you relapsed again into drug use. You moved to Albury where you hope to complete your parole, but you had difficulty finding accommodation. As a result, you moved back to Kyabram in approximately April 2021 and you lived with your parents. Shortly after that you met your victim, Ms Davis. Again, you were using drugs.
24At the time of the arrest, you were working for a local arborist and were residing at the Pastoral Hotel in Echuca. Your counsel with a great degree of understatement submitted that you have been in a number of relationships which have all ended badly.
25You have been diagnosed as suffering from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, borderline personality disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and substance use disorder. Ms Cidoni reports,
'In his case, the heavy drug use during the offending period, likely intensified his impulsivity, aggression and paranoia linked both with his ADHD and his BPD.'
26At paragraph 91, Ms Cidoni concluded,
'Underlying diagnosis include, ADHD, BPD and PTSD, also played a significant role in his behaviour. ADHD is associated with impulsive actions and difficulties in impulse control, which when combined with the effects of substance abuse, could have led to impulsive and aggressive behaviours. BPD likely intensified emotional volatility, fears of abandonment and challenges in managing inter-personal conflicts. These symptoms are characteristic of BPD and may have influenced his interactions with Ms Davis, potentially escalating conflicts. Additionally, PTSD, likely exacerbated the emotional reactivity and heightened anxiety during this time. Symptoms such as hypervigilance and intrusive thoughts, could have influenced his perception and reaction in distressing situations.'
27Judge Punshon properly indicated in his sentencing remarks the need for you to remain medicated and to avoid drugs. You were aware of the issues they caused you. Your counsel submission submitted that there is a link between your diagnosis and your behaviour, however your substance use was such that it is probable that the offending is a result of a combination of your mental health issues and your ongoing substance abuse.
28I accept your underlying mental health issues will make your time in custody more onerous than it would for someone without your issues. Custody may exacerbate or increase your issues, but you need to remain drug-free and medication compliant if you are to avoid repeat offending.
29
I take into account in sentencing you, your pleas of guilty. By pleading guilty you have spared your victim the need to give evidence and the community, cost of a criminal trial. You are entitled to a reduction in sentence to reflect those pleas of guilty. Those pleas have greater utilitarian benefit because of the effect
COVID-19 has had upon our legal system. Although the court is now back on track, the principles in Worboyes[1] still have application to you, because your pleas were indicated during the time that the court was still struggling with getting cases on.
[1]Worboyes v The Queen [2021] VSCA 169
30So, the discount in sentence you will receive for your pleas of guilty is increased and I will return to the effect of that discount subsequently. I also take into the fact that your time in custody now well over a year, has been made more onerous by the COVID-19 pandemic. Lockdowns, quarantine periods, loss of visits and difficulties with courses have all been problematic. You have also had to be placed in Hopkins Prison for your own safety. Your counsel properly acknowledged the seriousness of your offending and the need for the court to give effective principles of general deterrence, specific deterrence, denunciation and just punishment.
31You violently assaulted Ms Davis repeatedly. Such conduct is cowardly and totally unacceptable. You have ignored previous judicial comments and sentences and appear to be an established violent man who regularly grossly mistreats women. If you keep behaving like this your terms of imprisonment will keep increasing. Your aggravated burglary offence is in my view, represents a mid-level example of that offence, but is still obviously very serious offending.
32You attended in company apparently at the refuge of your victim intending to hurt or frighten her. You had assaulted her earlier that day and previously. She was clearly terrified of you and justifiably so. You knew you were in breach of court orders and bail conditions; you simply had no regard to them. Not only did you intend violence, you actually inflicted it. Your violence demonstrated in Charge 5, was particularly vicious, dangerous and totally unacceptable.
33I have been careful to avoid issues of double punishment, where your conduct amounts to both and recklessly cause injury and breach of a family violence intervention order. I do not take into account that the fact that your assaults and aggravated burglary offending would otherwise be aggravated by the existence of the family violence orders. Those breaches of family violence orders are separate and distinct offences. Similarly, the related summary offences would otherwise be aggravating features in your offending that are being dealt with separately, so I do not treat them as aggravating features of your offending.
34Would you stand up please.
35On all charges, you are convicted.
36On Charge 1, of recklessly causing injury, you are sentenced to nine months' imprisonment.
37On Charge 2, contravening a family violence intervention order, you are sentenced to six months' imprisonment.
38On Charge 3, of recklessly causing injury, you are sentenced to nine months' imprisonment.
39And on Charge 4, aggravated burglary, you are sentenced to four years' imprisonment.
40On Charge 5, recklessly causing injury, you are sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment.
41And on Charge 6, persistent breach of a family violence intervention order you are sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment.
42On the seven related summary offences each of which carry a gaol term, I sentence you to an aggregate term of imprisonment on all seven charges of six months' imprisonment.
43
Having regard to principles of cumulation and totality I order that three months of the sentence imposed on Charge 1, six months of the sentences imposed on Charges 3, 5 and 6, be served cumulatively on the sentence imposed on
Charge 4, which I declare to be the base sentence. That is an effective term of imprisonment of five years and nine months. And I order that you serve three years and nine months of that sentence before being eligible for parole.
44I declare that 381 days of the sentence I have just imposed and not including today, has already been served by way of pre-sentence detention. Pursuant to s6AAA of the Sentencing Act[2], I indicate that but for your pleas of guilty, I would have imposed an effective term of imprisonment of eight years with a non-parole period of five years and nine months.
[2]Sentencing Act 1991
45Are there any other orders required Ms Thomas.
46MS THOMAS: Not in this case, Your Honour.
47
HIS HONOUR: All right. I terminate the links. Do you want to talk to him before
I ? - - -
48MR ROLFE: No, I'll speak to him later Your Honour.
49HIS HONOUR: Your counsel will give you a ring. All right, I'll terminate the link please.
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