Director of Public Prosecutions v Deeb, Paul Bradley
[2012] VCC 1896
•28 November 2012
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA | Revised Not Restricted Suitable for Publication |
AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL DIVISION
Case No. CR-11-01076
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| v |
| PAUL BRADLEY DEEB |
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JUDGE: | HIS HONOUR JUDGE O'NEILL | |
WHERE HELD: | Melbourne | |
DATE OF HEARING: | 22 November 2012 | |
DATE OF SENTENCE: | 28 November 2012 | |
CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | DPP v Deeb, Paul Bradley | |
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2012] VCC 1896 | |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject: CRIMINAL LAW
Catchwords: Sentence – traffic in MDMA in large commercial quantity – possession – dealing with proceeds of crime
Legislation Cited: Sentencing Act 1991; Crimes Act 1958
Sentence: Four (4) years and six (6) months with a non parole period of two (2) years and nine (9) months
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APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the DPP (Plea) (Sentence) | Mr P. Stefanovic Ms C. Taylor | Solicitor for the Office Public Prosecutions |
| For the Accused | Mr R W Backwell | Simon English |
HIS HONOUR:
1 Paul Bradley Deeb, you have pleaded guilty to:
(a)one charge of trafficking in MDMA in a large commercial quantity, the maximum penalty for which is life imprisonment;
(b)one charge of possession of MDMA, the maximum penalty for which is one years' imprisonment or 30 penalty units;
(c)one charge of possession of methylamphetamine, the maximum penalty for which is five years' imprisonment or 400 penalty units; and
(d)one summary charge of dealing in the proceeds of crime, the maximum penalty for which is two years' imprisonment.
Circumstances of Offending
2 The facts are not significantly in dispute and are described in Exhibit A, the Summary of Prosecution Opening. I adopt those facts.
3
You were one of a large number of persons investigated and charged as a result of a substantial police drug operation. You were not a direct target of the operation, but as a result of legal telephone interceptions between yourself, and another co-accused, Anthony Raj Gopal, you were found to be involved in the trafficking of a large commercial quantity of MDMA. In total, the number of pills involved in Charge 1 was 6,547, or 1,506 grams of MDMA. The trafficking referred to in Charge 1 concerned telephone recordings indicating six separate transactions, with Raj Gopal, over the period from
22 October 2009to 28 December 2009.
4 On 1 June 2010, a search warrant was executed at your premises at Port Melbourne, and as a result the police located:
(a)one MDMA pill (0.2 grams);
(b)237.1 grams of methylamphetamine comprising both powder and pills;
(c)various drug equipment;
(d)multiple mobile phones and SIM cards;
(e)$4,965 in cash.
5 You were arrested on that day, 1 June 2010, and in a record of interview you made admissions as to drug trafficking, but provided what was referred to as “vague accounts” as to the quantities involved and the persons with whom the transactions were undertaken. You have remained in custody at the Melbourne Remand Centre since that time. I accept your plea of guilty was made at an early time.
Factors Personal to You
6 Details of your personal history and the circumstances leading up to these offences were set forth in the report of Ms Pamela Matthews, psychologist. You were born in 1980 and are now 32 years of age. You were brought up in a dysfunctional and abusive environment. You witnessed violence by your father against your mother. You suffered severe asthma and were regularly hospitalised. By 14, you were drinking regularly at home and at school, and taking marijuana.
7 You had difficulty coming to terms with your homosexuality. At the end of Year 10, you left school to commence an apprenticeship as an auto electrician, but did not persist. You have been in and out of employment over the years, largely in the hospitality industry. You formed a relationship with a girlfriend, “Jess”, who provided some stability in your life.
8 Your drug use escalated and you used benzodiazepine, ketamine, Xanax, marijuana and ecstasy. Your living arrangements were unstable and you lived in a range of boarding houses and with friends. From time to time you had an interest in and worked at pizza shops. You sought rehabilitation through a drug and alcohol counsellor before your arrest in 2010.
9 Your drug taking led to drug trafficking and you sold drugs in order to feed your habit. You sourced drugs from Raj Gopal and then sold them on to your own customers.
10 Ms Matthews diagnosed you as having features of a Borderline Personality Disorder as a result of your childhood history of abuse and dysfunction. She further said that you met the criteria for Polysubstance Dependence. She concluded:
“In the writer’s view it has been Mr Deeb’s abusive and dysfunctional developmental history leading to the development of features of a borderline personality and polysubstance dependence that are intrinsic to the behaviour that brings him before the Court. … in regard to rehabilitation it is the writer’s recommendation that Mr Deeb be referred to the Linked Out program and that significant supports are organised prior to release from custody including: accommodation, day to day visiting support, an identified general practitioner and a referral to a psychiatrist under a Medicare mental health plan with appointment. In the writer’s view Mr Deeb requires longer term psychotherapy on a weekly basis and over at least a two year period. Such a level of mental health support is only available with a psychiatrist as opposed to other professions under Medicare mental health plan. Dialectical behavioural therapy, a therapy developed particularly for personality disorder is advised. A dialectical behavioural therapy program is offered at the Melbourne Clinic and through MediBrain in St Kilda.”
11 Your relationship with your family particularly your mother, has improved. During your time in prison, you have undertaken a range of courses.[1] In particular, your counsel pointed to your participation in a schools program where you have spoken to high school students about drug dependence, and a peer support program where you have become a peer educator of new and vulnerable prisoners. You have suffered a back injury while in custody. You have remained drug free.[2]
[1]See Exhibit 2, bundle of certificates
[2]See Exhibit 3, bundle of drug screen tests
Prior Offending
12 You have a significant prior criminal history. In 2000 you were found guilty of using cannabis and placed upon a good behaviour bond. You have various driving offences. In 2006 you were convicted of a range of trafficking and drug using offences and received a 12 month suspended term of imprisonment. All of these offences were committed when you were in the grip of your drug habit.
Principles of Parity
13 I have sentenced a range of offenders apprehended in the same police operation. Those of most relevance to your sentence include:
14 Con Balatli who was convicted for trafficking 4.7 kilograms of amphetamine, although was principally a driver of a vehicle in which that quantity was found. He received a term of four years' imprisonment with a non-parole period of two years.
15 Erkan Sakaci was convicted of trafficking 4.5 kilograms of ecstasy and sentenced to five years and six months' imprisonment with a non-parole period of three years. He had strong prospects of rehabilitation and had no prior convictions.
Sentencing Considerations
16 The purposes for which a court may impose are sentence are:
·punishment – to an extent and in a manner which is just in all the circumstances.
·deterrence, both specific and general.
·rehabilitation.
·denunciation and protection of the community.
17 In sentencing you, I must have regard to a range of matters such as the seriousness of the offences, your culpability for them, and your personal circumstances. I am required to balance the interests of the community in denouncing criminal conduct with the interests of the community in seeking to ensure that, as far as possible, offenders are rehabilitated and reintegrated into society.
18 You have pleaded guilty at a relatively early time and are entitled to have that fact taken into account in your favour. Your plea evidences remorse. You have avoided the costs of a trial and spared the witnesses the inconvenience and ordeal of giving evidence. You are still relatively young and rehabilitation is a factor to be taken into account. Your rehabilitation, as stated by Ms Matthews, will be determined whether you are able to maintain abstinence from drug and substance abuse, receive appropriate treatment, obtain secure accommodation, and continue with your education and obtain regular employment. The prospects of your rehabilitation remain uncertain. Rehabilitation is very much in your hands.
19 Your offending is particularly serious. Drug trafficking is a scourge upon our society and regularly leads to the disintegration and ruin of young lives. It is clear that you were not a principal or upper level distributor of the drugs. I assess your involvement at a middle or lower level. Your counsel submitted that your involvement in trafficking was simply to provide the funds to support your habit, although according to the record of interview,[3] you admitted making "several hundred bucks, maybe a couple of thousand” and spending money on a car and rent. In any event, I accept you have not made a substantial profit from your involvement in the trade. You have a history of prior offending, although your convictions in 2006 for drug trafficking brought about a suspended sentence.
[3]Questions and answers 394 to 398
20 I accept that over the past two and a half years, while you have remained in gaol, you have taken steps towards rehabilitation, including undertaking a number of courses and commencing a university degree. You have been in employment in the prison and assisted other prisoners. This provides some prospect for your rehabilitation and reflects remorse.
21 I bear in mind the sentences imposed in respect of other offenders involved in the same drug operation and accept that the principle of parity is a matter to be taken into account.
Sentence to be imposed
22 Taking into account all of the matters to which I have referred, I impose the following sentence.
(a)On Charge 1, trafficking in MDMA in a large commercial quantity, you are convicted and sentenced to a term of imprisonment of four years and six months.
(b)On Charge 2, possession of MDMA, you are convicted and discharged.
(c)On Charge 3, possession of methylamphetamine, you are convicted and sentenced to a term of imprisonment of twelve months.
(d)On the uplifted summary charge of dealing with money suspected to be the proceeds of crime, you are convicted and sentenced to a term of imprisonment of three months.
23 For the sake of clarity, I declare that all terms of imprisonment shall be served concurrently. This results in a total effective sentence of four years and six months imprisonment.
24 I am of the view that you will benefit from a longer period on parole, in particular to enable the treatment referred to by Ms Matthews to be undertaken. I direct that you serve a minimum period of two years and nine months' imprisonment before becoming eligible for parole.
Pre-sentence Declaration
25 Pursuant to s18(4) of the Sentencing Act 1991, I declare that the period of 911 days be reckoned as a period of imprisonment already served under this sentence and I direct that this declaration and its details be noted in the records of the court.
Section 6AAA Sentencing Act 1991
26 Under s6AAA of the Sentencing Act 1991, I state that but for your pleas of guilty, I would have imposed a total effective sentence of five years and nine months imprisonment, with a non-parole period of three years and six months.
Ancillary Orders
27 I shall make the forfeiture and disposal orders sought by the prosecution. The orders are not opposed.
28 I shall further make the order upon Charges 1 and 3, pursuant to s464ZF(2) of the Crimes Act 1958 that you undergo a forensic procedure for the taking of a scraping from the mouth and/or a blood sample. I am satisfied that such an order is justified given the seriousness of the offending, that the granting of the order is in the public interest and that the order is not opposed. I inform you that a member of the police force may use reasonable force to enable the procedure to be conducted.
29 Yes, thank you, you may have a seat.
30 MR BACKWELL: If Your Honour pleases.
31 HIS HONOUR: Anything further?
32 MR BACKWELL: No sir.
33 MS TAYLOR: Thank you Your Honour.
34 HIS HONOUR: Thank you. Yes, Mr Prison Officer please allow the prisoner a short time with his family and legal advisors.
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