Director of Public Prosecutions v Dunne

[2021] VCC 143

IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA

Revised

Not Restricted

Suitable for Publication

AT MELBOURNE

CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

CR-20-01255

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

CHRISTIAN DUNNE

---

JUDGE:	HER HONOUR JUDGE HASSAN
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:	15 February 2021
DATE OF SENTENCE:	18 February 2021
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Dunne
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2021] VCC 143

REASONS FOR SENTENCE

---

Subject:CRIMINAL LAW

Catchwords:              Sentence — armed robbery — plea of guilty — early plea — remorse — delay — drug misuse — alcohol misuse — low risk of reoffending — rehabilitation — community correction order

Legislation Cited:      -

Cases Cited:-

Sentence:Community correction order of 18 months

---

APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the Director of Public Prosecutions	Mr S Davison (for plea) Ms D Dickson (for sentence)	Office of Public Prosecutions
For the Accused	Ms D Caruso	Sarah Tricarico Lawyers

HER HONOUR:

1Christian Dunne, you have pleaded guilty to one charge of armed robbery, for which the maximum penalty is a term of imprisonment of 25 years.

2Tendered on the plea as exhibit 1 was a ‘Summary of Prosecution Opening’, which sets out in detail the facts and circumstances of your offending.

3In brief terms, the circumstances of your offending were as follows. On Saturday 15 April 2017, you attended a house party in Footscray. You met a woman called Monique Stout at the party, and the two of you left the party together and went to a house at 30 Raleigh Street, Footscray, an address where Ms Stout had previously resided.

4Present at Raleigh Street was Robert Aron Gabor, who is the victim in this matter. He lived at the premises. Also in attendance were Louise Buck and Katrina Wright, who were friends of Mr Gabor, and Jeffrey Rudolf, who was a housemate of Mr Gabor.

5You spent some time at the house talking to various people and it appears, to put it colloquially, you wore out your welcome. Mr Rudolf and Ms Wright went into Mr Rudolf’s bedroom, which was in fact a stand-alone shed, and they shut themselves in, hoping you would take the hint and leave.

6However, you managed to get into the shed and attempted to keep talking to Mr Rudolf and Ms Wright. Mr Rudolf asked you to leave. You left the shed but moments later returned holding a large kitchen knife. Mr Gabor was also in the shed at this time and was seated in an armchair.

7You approached him, brandishing the knife, and demanded he empty his pockets. You moved closer to him, holding the knife approximately 4–6 inches from his stomach. Mr Gabor was fearful and reached for his wallet. He took out two $50 notes from inside and threw them at your feet. You took the money and left.

8Mr Gabor and Mr Rudolf attended the Footscray police station on 17 April 2017 and reported the matter.

9You left Victoria for Queensland on 22 April 2017. You are from Queensland and it is not suggested that you fled to avoid detection.

10You were charged with the offending on 16 March 2018, although you were not arrested and you were not aware of having been charged. I was told at the plea hearing that twice your extradition from Queensland to Victoria was authorised but on both occasions nothing happened.

11On 13 June 2020, you returned to Victoria to work on the Metro Tunnel project. On 26 June 2020, you were arrested and bailed. I am told by your counsel, Ms Caruso, that this came as a complete shock to you, occurring over three years since your offending.

12You entered a plea of guilty on 9 October 2020 at a committal mention. This is an early plea in all the circumstances and you will receive a significant mitigatory benefit because of your early plea, which has saved the victim, the witnesses and the community the cost of a trial, and this has occurred in the context of the current delays in running criminal trials in this State necessitated by the restrictions put in place to address the COVID-19 pandemic.

13I am also satisfied that your plea of guilty demonstrates remorse. In addition to your plea, you wrote a letter addressed to Mr Gabor, Mr Rudolf and Ms Wright in which you apologised for your conduct back in 2017 and assured them that you are now a different person. I accept that this is a sincere expression of remorse on your part.

14The delay in this matter, which is in no way attributable to you, is also an important consideration in sentencing you. Delay is relevant in sentencing in two ways. First, if an offender is aware that he is subject to criminal prosecution, delay in bringing it to a conclusion may be a source of considerable stress and anxiety. This is not so in your case, as you have been unaware that this matter has been hanging over you. However, what is highly relevant in your case is that the delay in advancing this prosecution in a timely manner has allowed you to demonstrate your rehabilitation.

15It was submitted that I could be satisfied that you are someone who has demonstrated complete rehabilitation. Tendered on your behalf were numerous references from family, friends, and work colleagues. Without exception, they speak of you as a caring and hardworking young man, and again, without exception, they describe your offending back in April 2017 as entirely out of character.

16It seems that back in April 2017, your use of alcohol and recreational drugs had become problematic. You met and spoke with Carla Lechner, clinical psychologist, on 21 October 2020. Ms Lechner’s report was tendered at your plea. You told Ms Lechner that you had been deeply affected by the death of a friend in April 2016. Your friend was a housemate who died in a tragic accident. Ms Lechner opines that your offending took place in the context of your drug and alcohol misuse and when you were experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder caused by your friend’s death, the symptoms of which were masked by your drug and alcohol use. I accept this explanation for your offending.

17You had prior to April 2017 been dealt with by the courts in Queensland for some minor matters, for none of which you were convicted. You were therefore up until April 2017 a person of good character, and I do regard your offending as bizarre and out of character.

18However, you should be under no illusions, while your psychological distress at the time and your substance abuse explains your behaviour, it in no way excuses it. No victim impact statements have been received by the Court in this matter. I imagine this is because of the considerable delay, but this must have been a frightening experience for Mr Gabor and his friends. Armed robbery is a serious offence; even low-level examples can attract sentences of imprisonment.

19Ms Lechner assessed you as a low risk of reoffending, given that you have engaged in psychological services both in Queensland and in Melbourne.

20Daniel Bredhauer, psychologist, wrote to the Court and stated that he has treated you for social anxiety disorder and substance abuse disorder. He says that you have shown a steadfast resolve to improving yourself over the 15 months he has treated you. Drug and alcohol screening results covering the period October 2020 to January 2021 were also tendered on your behalf, and these tests disclose that you are free from illicit substances.

21You have the ongoing support of your family and friends, and you have a solid work history. You are still employed working on the Metro Tunnel, and I am told that this work pays well and that you are working long hours. You hope to return as soon as you can to Queensland.

22I accept the opinion of Ms Lechner that your risk of reoffending is low, and I regard your prospects of rehabilitation as excellent.

23Ms Caruso, who appeared on your behalf, submitted that a community correction order would satisfy all the various sentencing objectives, and the prosecution agreed with that submission. I had you assessed by Corrections and you were assessed as suitable. I therefore propose to sentence you as follows.

24On the charge of armed robbery, you are convicted and sentenced to a community correction order of 18 months. The conditions are as follows. The community correction order begins today, 18 February 2021, and it ends on 17 August 2022.

25You will need to attend the Melbourne Correctional Services at 50 Franklin Street within two clear working days. I believe that can be done by phone call in the present circumstances. I am not sure about that, you better check, but I think it can be done by phone call in the present circumstances.

26Mr Dunne, the mandatory terms of the correction order are as follows. You must not commit any offences for which you could be imprisoned during the time of the order. Most criminal offences, not necessarily serious offences like armed robbery, potentially carry a term of imprisonment. You are not to offend in any way, shape, or form. That is the first mandatory condition.

27You must comply with all your reporting obligations. You must report to and receive all visits from Community Services. You must report to Community Corrections within two working days. I spoke to you about that. That may be able to be done by telephone at the moment, but I am not sure, you will need to check that.

28You must let a community corrections officer know within two working days of any change of address or employment. You must not leave Victoria without getting permission to do so, and you must obey all lawful directions and instructions when you are on the order for the full 18 months of the order.

29In addition to those mandatory terms, I am going to impose the following conditions. You are to perform 200 hours of unpaid community work. I am going to order that you undergo treatment and rehabilitation. You must undergo assessment and treatment including testing for drug abuse or dependency as directed.

30You must undergo assessment and treatment including testing for alcohol abuse or dependency as directed, and you must undergo any mental health assessment and treatment, and that may include psychological, neuropsychological, psychiatric or hospital treatment or residential facility treatment as directed.

31Fifty hours of your treatment and rehabilitation satisfactorily undertaken may be counted as work hours. There is a work component, 200 hours, and there are treatment and rehabilitation conditions. Fifty hours of your treatment and rehabilitation completed successfully can be credited to your work hours, so it can reduce them effectively to 150 hours.

32You are going to be under the supervision of Corrections for the 18 months of the order, and I am going to order judicial monitoring. I have got confidence in you, Mr Dunne. I have accepted the submission that you have completely rehabilitated in effect. So, I am going to order that you come for judicial monitoring in front of me on 14 May at 9:15am in this Court. It may be that you can appear via video link or you may have to come into Court, I do not know. That is a condition that I will look at again in the future because I have got every confidence that you will comply with this order.

33Mr Dunne, you must comply with this order, not merely by not reoffending, but comply with all the conditions that I have set out for you, really to obey all instructions from community corrections, to attend all the assessment and treatment programs that they put in place with you, to perform the community work, and to be under supervision.

34You must perform all of those conditions. If you breach your community correction order in any way, not simply by reoffending, but not complying in any way, you can be resentenced. That means you can come before me, I can cancel the order, I can extend the order, you may even be sentenced to a term of imprisonment if you are unable to comply with this order.

35I am going to ask you now to confirm that you agree to be placed on the order or you consent to be placed on the order. Do you want a moment to speak to Ms Caruso or have you understood what I have said and are you prepared to give that consent now?

36OFFENDER: I am prepared to give it now.

37HER HONOUR: Having explained the order to you, and you having given your consent, I make the order.

‑ ‑ ‑