Director of Public Prosecutions v Deal

[2017] VCC 754

IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA Revised
Not Restricted
Suitable for Publication

AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

CR 16-00925

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

CAMERON DEAL

---

JUDGE:	HIS HONOUR JUDGE LACAVA
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:	7 June 2017
DATE OF SENTENCE:	7 June 2017
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Deal
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2017] VCC 754

REASONS FOR SENTENCE
---

Subject:         Theft x 1, Make False Document x 1
Sentence:      Community Correction Order 3 years

---

APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the Director of Public Prosecutions	Mr J. Livitsanos
For the Accused	Mr J. Lavery

HIS HONOUR:

1Cameron Deal, you have pleaded guilty to one count of theft and one count of making a false document.  The maximum penalty for each of these offences is ten years' imprisonment.

2The circumstances of your offending are set out in a prosecution summary dated 30 May 2017.  Your counsel, Mr Lavery, accepted that the prosecution summary was accurate.  The prosecutor, Mr Livitsanos, read the summary in open court and is not necessary that I here repeat that which is set out in full in the summary, except to refer to it in an abbreviated fashion.

3You and your former partner operated an estate agency type business which acted for purchases.  The company had a general trading account with the bank and a trust account.  In July of 2010, a client paid to the company $250,000 which ought to have been banked in my view into the trust account, but it was banked into the general trading account of which you were a signatory, although you were not a director of the company.  The money was paid as a deposit for the purchase of a unit yet to be constructed.

4About seven months later in February of 2011, you withdrew $230,008 from the general account by bank cheque and deposited it into your own personal account.  You used the proceeds on personal living of a high standard, buying valuable objects it seems, including jewellery.  You covered up your offending for the best part of four years before your offending was revealed when you committed the second offence of making a false document, which came to light in January of 2015.

5The client who had paid the $250,000 into the account was forced to retain solicitors and enter litigation with the company controlled by your wife or former wife and it was only after she did not accept your explanation for what had happened to the money and made further investigations in January of 2015, which revealed that you had been lying to her as to what had happened to the money for some years.  Unsurprisingly, that led to the separation of you from your wife and you are now divorced.

6The second charge is falsifying a back document, which you created to try to cover up your tracks.  The offending apparently occurred in circumstances where you were addicted to the drug, cocaine and you were drinking alcohol to excess.  That explains your offending, but as I said to your counsel in argument, and I understood him to agree, it does not excuse it.

7This is serious offending.  Theft and falsifying documents are serious offences which are unfortunately all too prevalent.  There are offences which can occur in circumstances of breach of trust and that is what has occurred here.  First, you breach the trust of your client, Jiro Base, and then you breach the trust of your wife.

8The money stolen from Jiro Base has apparently been refunded by your wife or former wife I should say through the company and adjusted between yourselves as part of the matrimonial settlement of property between the two of you.

9Your moral culpability for this offending is very high and it was born it seems, out of your focus self-indulgence towards drugs and alcohol and other expensive objects.  To your credit, you finally pleaded guilty to the charges.  There was a contested committal.  It is hard to see why there would have been any dispute about this matter and you ought to have pleaded guilty a long time ago.  However, it is your right to contest the charges.  But in my view, any contest was baseless.

10Nevertheless, you have pleaded guilty albeit on the eve of the trial and for that, you are entitled to a reduction in sentence because you have saved the time and cost of a trial and I accept that by pleading guilty, you display your remorse for this offending.

11You were assessed by Mr Jeffrey Cummins, a well-known psychologist who regularly supplies opinion to this court.  He has opined that you were suffering alcohol use disorder and stimulant use disorder from cocaine of the latter in moderate severity.  He opined,

"In my opinion, his dependency on cocaine and alcohol impaired his perception, judgment and reasoning ability.  In my opinion, at that time however, he was not suffering from many separate mental health disorder and therefore, his perception, judgment and reasoning ability were not impaired by this means."

12You were a businessman of some years standing when these offences occurred.  I do not accept that your thinking was in any way impaired at the time that you committed this offence.  You may not have thought it through, but you endeavoured to cover it up for some years.  These are bad examples as I say of what are serious offences.

13Mr Cummins set out much of your background in his report.  Your counsel did not draw my attention to any specific aspects of it and in passing sentence, I have read the report and noted all of the content.  You have had a good background in family, a good upbringing, good education and you were apparently successful in business until your imbibing drugs and drinking too much alcohol took over.

14As I say, you and your wife are now divorced.  You have three children with whom you relate well.  Your former wife does not want you to go to gaol apparently and she wants you to play a part in your children's lives.

15Since this offending and since being apprehended, you have taken some, what I regard, as late steps in order to address your problems with drugs and drinking.  I received into evidence a certificate from Windana dated 19 April 2017 indicating that you attended there on 10 April 2017.  After this matter finally turned into a plea, and only a little over or about two months ago.  Nevertheless, you have taken the steps and you appear to be remorseful, which I accept, and you appear to be intent on doing something about your problems.

16Mr Lavery on your behalf submitted that I should impose a non-custodial sentence.  There was a great deal of discussion on the plea as to whether that should be a combination of a suspended sentence or a suspended sentence and a community corrections order.  I have had you assessed for the making of a community corrections order and in the circumstances here, I have decided to go down the path urged upon me by counsel.  I will not be imposing a custodial sentence, but I will be imposing a community corrections order on both charges.

17The factors that have persuaded me are the fact that you have no prior convictions and at the age of 46, you are entitled to the benefit of having led an unblemished life, apart from these offences.

18I am not confident at all that you will fully rehabilitate yourself.  Time will tell, but experience shows me that trying to predict the future conduct of people influenced by drugs or alcohol is very problematic indeed.  It all depends upon the intent of the person.

19However, I intend to impose a community corrections order with conditions which will include bringing you back before me from time to time for supervision and judicial monitoring, and I will remember this case, and if you do not comply with the conditions that I will shortly outline, then I will deal with you.

20As I say, you have taken some tentative steps towards trying to rehabilitate yourself.  You are very fortunate indeed to still have the support of your parents and your mother's in court to support you, and it would seem that, notwithstanding everything that has happened, and I infer because of your children, you enjoy the somewhat qualified support of your former wife.

21In all of those circumstances, I propose to make a community corrections order on both charges, with a conviction on each charge.  The term of the order will be for a period of three years.  There will be a condition that you undergo unpaid community work for 250 hours, you undergo treatment and rehabilitation for drugs and alcohol and programs to prevent reoffending, supervision and judicial monitoring each six months.

22The order will provide that any time that you spend undergoing programs and treatment for drugs and alcohol and to prevent reoffending will be credited against the hours of unpaid community work.  Are you prepared to enter into a community corrections order with those conditions, Mr Deal?

23OFFENDER:  Yes, Your Honour.

24HIS HONOUR:  Yes, very well.  Could you just come out of the dock please?  Yes, just remain there, Mr Deal, if you would.  Just take a seat behind Mr Lavery.

25Now, the prosecution seeks the making of a forensic sample order.

26MR LAVERY:  That is consented to, Your Honour.

27HIS HONOUR:  Very well.  Having regards to the fact that it is consented to and for the other reasons stated in the order, I will make that order.  The effect of which is, Mr Deal, that I think it is within 14 days or it might be a bit longer.

28MR LIVITSANOS:  Twenty eight.

29HIS HONOUR:  Within 28 days, you will have to attend at which?

30MR LIVISTANOS:  Frankston.  I have completed the paperwork.  Here it said 15 Fletcher Road, Your Honour.

31HIS HONOUR:  Yes.  You will have to attend at the Frankston Police Station within the next 28 days and an officer is authorised to take a forensic sample from you which is just simply a swab from your mouth, and that will be retained on the data base.

32Now, Mr Deal, having entered into the community corrections order which I have now signed, you must not commit another offence which is punishable by a term of imprisonment in the period of the next three years.  That is, within the period of the community corrections order.  If you do so, you will be brought back before me and charged with a separate offence of breaching the community corrections order.  Do you understand that?

33OFFENDER:  Yes, Your Honour.

34HIS HONOUR:  You also must comply with all of the conditions.  If you do not, you will be brought back before me and charged with breach of the community corrections order for not complying with the conditions.  Do you understand that?

35OFFENDER:  Yes, Your Honour.

36HIS HONOUR:  And when we have judicial monitoring, when will the first one be, Linda?

37ASSOCIATE:  November 21.

38HIS HONOUR:  You will have to come back on 21 November this year at 9.30.  At that time, I will have a report from Community Corrections telling me how you are progressing.  If you have not complied with the conditions, they will tell me.  You understand?

39OFFENDER:  Yes, Your Honour.

40HIS HONOUR:  So, I am just going to keep an eye on it and make sure that you stay on track.  I do not want to have to do anything, but if you go offline, well then I will have to deal with you.  It is as simple as that.

41OFFENDER:  I understand, Your Honour.

42HIS HONOUR:  Very well.  I wish you luck.  On the rising of the court, you are free to leave.

‑ ‑ ‑