Director of Public Prosecutions v East

[2022] VCC 723

IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA

AT MELBOURNE

CRIMINAL DIVISION

Revised
Not Restricted
Suitable for Publication

Case No. CR-21-00865

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

RORY EAST

---

JUDGE:	HER HONOUR JUDGE HOGAN
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:	16 November 2021 and 12 April 2022
DATE OF SENTENCE:	20 April 2022
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v East
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2022] VCC 723

REASONS FOR SENTENCE
---

Subject:CRIMINAL LAW

Catchwords:              One charge of aggravated burglary with intent to assault, three charges of common law assault, three charges of damaging property intentionally and one charge of theft – 23 year-old offender with history of antisocial behaviour  – offender was severely intoxicated during offending – course of offending over one night – long-standing substance abuse and a lack of engagement with support counselling –  –– offender subject to childhood neglect and abuse – principles of general and specific deterrence enlivened – guarded about prospects of rehabilitation – custody with low non-parole period.

Legislation Cited:      Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic).

Cases Cited:Bugmy v R (2013) 302 ALR 192; R v Verdins 16 VR 227.

Sentence: Total effective sentence 23 months imprisonment with a non-parole period of 10 months. 172 days pre-sentence detention reckoned as already served. s6AAA: 3 years imprisonment with a non-parole period of 24 months.

---

APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the DPP	Ms H Baxter	Solicitor for Public Prosecutions
For the Accused	Mr W Blake/Mr J Rattray	Victoria Legal Aid

HER HONOUR:

1Rory East, you have pleaded guilty to one charge of aggravated burglary with intent to assault, which carries a maximum penalty of 25 years’ imprisonment; three charges of common law assault, each of which carries a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment; three charges of intentionally damaging property each which carries a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment; and one charge of theft, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment. 

2Your offending conduct is detailed in the Summary of Prosecution Opening (Exhibit “A”).  It would seem that over a period of approximately two hours on the evening of 6 January 2021, you, in company with an unknown male, committed all the offences to which you have pleaded guilty in what only could be described as a rampage around the Golden Square area of Bendigo.  Your offending was unprovoked, disrespectful and cowardly, particularly given that two of your victims were 55 years old and confronted with two young men.

3Your crime spree began at approximately 8.50pm on Chum Street, where you and your companion were making a noise.  Mr Bertus went outside his property to see what was going on, and you brazenly asked him “Do you want to have a crack?”  He retreated back inside his property and locked the door, while you and your companion gratuitously damaged his letterbox. (Charge 3, intentionally damaging property)

4You and your companion then moved on to Maple Street, where you encountered Mr Wileman, who arrived at a house to visit a friend.  You approached him to have a conversation and asked him for a “high five”, which he declined to do as your hands were not clean.  You responded by gratuitously headbutting Mr Wileman, making contact with his front teeth. (Charge 4, common law assault)

5A resident at the house which Mr Wileman had come to visit, Mr McConville, came out to assist him.  Your companion grabbed you and told Mr Wileman and his friends to go inside.  However, as you and he left the address, you committed a further act of vandalism by damaging the rear taillight of a vehicle belonging to Mr McConville. (Charge 5, intentionally damage property)

6You and your companion then moved on to Curnow Street. You were making quite a lot of noise, and a resident, Mr McDonald, came outside his home with a torch to see what was happening.  Mr McDonald saw you fall over on the opposite side of the road and walked over to ask if you were okay.  You responded in a nasty fashion by stating something like “I will be after I bash you”.  Mr McDonald turned away to walk back inside his home but, as he got to his side of the road, he felt a blow to the back of his head and turned around to find that you had struck him. (Charge 7, common law assault)  As he was struck, Mr McDonald dropped his torch.  You picked it up and refused to return it to Mr McDonald and ran away with it. (Charge 6, theft)  Mr McDonald was aged 55 years.

7You and your companion then went to Ruth Street where, for no apparent reason, you smashed the windscreen of a motor vehicle belonging to Mr Knight.  (Charge 9, recklessly destroying property) Shortly afterwards, at 9.40pm, you were captured on CCTV footage walking along Booth Street towards Pallet Street.  Mr Dunlop was inside his home in Booth Street when he heard a smashing sound. When he went outside to investigate he found that his letterbox had been ripped out of the ground and was damaged. You and your companion were walking away from his address and he shouted towards you “What about my mailbox?”  Your companion then ran towards him, picked up the damaged letterbox and threw it towards Mr Dunlop, missing him and striking his house instead. (Charge 8, intentionally damage property)

8You and your companion then proceeded to Pallet Street. Mr Shaw was inside his address when he heard someone yell “Fuck”.  He turned on his front door light and opened the door to look outside where he saw you and your companion, and one of you said something like “What are you looking at fuckhead?”.  You then walked towards Mr Shaw and he tried to turn to get back inside his home by shutting both the security and main doors.  You forcefully kicked in Mr Shaw’s front door, smashing the security mesh inwards, and entered the address. (Charge 1, aggravated burglary with intent to assault)

9Mr Shaw, age 55 years, who was just behind his front door as you kicked it. He was thrown backwards approximately 3 metres and fell, striking his head on the back of a birdcage.  You brazenly and disrespectfully then began to go through Mr Shaw’s belongings on his coffee table.  Mr Shaw stood up from where he had fallen and began to retreat towards his kitchen, but you rushed at him forcing him to the ground, where he then struck his head again and it began to bleed.  The two incidents whereby Mr Shaw’s head was struck comprise Charge 2, common law assault.

10Having, without any provocation, seriously violated Mr Shaw’s right to feel safe in his own home, you began yelling at him while he was on the ground and then left him in his home whilst he was bleeding from the head.  A neighbour of Mr Shaw called 000, and he was transported to hospital where he was treated for a graze to the back of his head as a result of your assault. 

11Police arrested you at your home the following day.  In answer to the allegations, you told them a lot of nonsense to the effect that Mr Shaw had been “mouthing off at you”, and claimed that he had approached you and assaulted you first.  You denied that you had gone inside his house or that you had kicked in his front door.  You disrespectfully referred to Mr Shaw stating “I just remember scrapping with this cunt last night and going home and going to bed”.  You denied causing damage to the property of others, and, when asked whether you had headbutted Mr Wileman, you bragged “I headbutt everything all the time but I didn’t headbutt no one last night”.  You claimed that you had had a lot to drink the previous day, namely half a slab of Jack Daniels and a bottle of Bacardi, as well as some sleeping tablets.

12You were charged and remanded in custody but granted bail on 12 February 2021.

13You are presently aged 23 years, having been born in July 1998.  You had numerous appearances before the Bendigo Children’s Court for dishonesty offences, damaging property and controlled weapons, intentionally causing injury  possessing drugs and driving offences between 16 July 2012 (at which stage you were aged 14 years) and 28 April 2017.  Over that time you were twice, without conviction, release upon a Youth Supervision Order, which you breached, and in 2014, 2016 and 2017 were brought before the Children’s Court for more offending of the same nature, which resulted initially in a conviction and release on a Youth Attendance Order. You breached that order and, subsequently, you were again released on a Youth Attendance Order with a condition that you participate in a project conducted by Loddon Youth Justice Unit.

14Once you turned 18 you graduated to appearances in the Magistrates’ Court. This occurred regularly from 2017 to 2020 for offences of dishonesty, damaging property, possessing drugs and driving offences.  You received a six-month sentence in a Youth Training Centre on 11 May 2017, and a further 14-day sentence in a Youth Training Centre on 8 June 2017.  On 13 April 2018, you were convicted and ordered to undertake a Community Correction Order for a period of 18 months, with conditions of unpaid community work, supervision, assessment and treatment for drug abuse and mental health issues, and ordered to undergo offending behaviour programs.  You contravened that Community Correction Order as well as an earlier order where you had been released on an adjourned undertaking.

15The crimes for which  most sentence you, particularly the aggravated burglary, represent an escalation in your offending. It demonstrates an ongoing attitude of lawlessness of an antisocial nature and behaviour which can only be described as thuggish, arrogant, disrespectful, and gratuitous in its nature.

16The plea in mitigation on your behalf took place over two separate hearing dates with two separate counsel.  On the first occasion, namely 16 November 2021, Mr Blake told the court that you were born and raised in Bendigo and have one older sibling and four younger siblings.  He described your father as being violent towards your mother and having substance abuse issues.  When you were 11 years old, Mr Blake stated that your mother left the family home and your father’s aggression then turned to you and your older brother.  He stated that you began to spend prolonged periods away from the family home and, at age 12, Youth Justice became involved and attempted to place you into care with foster families, but you would run away shortly after placement.  You then underwent a period of homelessness for approximately two years, where you stayed with friends and others involved in a drug sub-culture and began to offend.

17He stated that you were in a relationship with Cody Turner for approximately four years, and she gave birth to your daughter, Dakota, in February 2019.  Mr Blake maintained that, since the birth of your daughter you had ceased using illicit drugs, namely Ice and heroin, but did continue to smoke marijuana.  He stated that in mid-2021 you and your partner separated and you then turned to heavy alcohol abuse.  He stated that, in the context of your former partner continuing to use Ice, child protection became involved and your daughter’s maternal grandparents were given primary care of your daughter, albeit that you were continuing to see her approximately two days a week when you were not in custody.

18Mr Blake told the Court of a less than clear sequence of events whereby you moved back into the house where you, your former partner and daughter had been living in order to take care of her but your daughter due to your former partners drug use allegedly in early November 2021, the child’s maternal grandparents took over her care under the supervision of child protection authorities, albeit that you would see her a couple of times per week. The situation was complicated by Ms Turner having alleged family violence against you and some form of either Family Violence Intervention Order or safety notice had prevented you having contact with the child at an earlier time.

19Mr Blake submitted that you had come from a very disadvantaged background and the principles in Bugmy’s case should operate to mitigate your moral culpability.  He told the court that you had commenced using cannabis when you were 13 years old, and methylamphetamine when you were 14 years old, and that by aged 16 had begun using heroin.  Between the ages of 13 and 16, you experienced large periods of homelessness.  He urged the court to note that since being released on bail you had engaged with Primary Care Connect, a drug and alcohol program, and, according to a report dated 21 April 2021, reported “abstinence from all substances from approximately 4/01/2021 although reports two lapses”.

20Mr Blake said you should be given credit for engaging with the CISP program after being granted bail and relied upon a report from Dimitra Skoullis, CISP Case Manager, dated 20 October 2021 (Exhibit “3”), and an earlier report assessing you as suitable for the CISP program dated 26 April 2021 (Exhibit “2”).

21I must say that the material put before me was less than a model of crystal clarity and, indeed, there is a conflict between the report from Sharna Calder, Drug and Alcohol Clinician, co-authored by Debbie McDonald, Manager, Alcohol and Other Drug Services, Primary Care Connect (Exhibit “1”), which states that you abstained from all substances from approximately 4 January 2021, and the CISP report dated 20 October 2021, which noted that you acknowledged usage of cannabis during case management on 27 April and 12 May 2021, which you attributed to stress, not only relating to trying to be a father to your child but also losing the relationship with your partner, and despairing about a number of your friends who were in prison or dead.

22The long and short of your engagement with CISP was that you made yourself available for 10 out of 13 telephone appointments. You became unavailable for case management from 4 May 2021  and your case was closed on 4 June 2021 after the 16-week period of support lapsed.

23If one analyses the material put before the court, after being referred by CISP, you in fact attended two alcohol and drug counselling appointments with Primary Care Connect after having been assessed on 25 February 2021. You were encouraged by CISP to obtain an appointment with a general practitioner to arrange a Mental Health appointment with a General Practitioner to arrange a Mental Health Case Plan, but this did not occur until 12 November 2021, only 4 days Plea hearing was listed (Exhibit “5”). CISP also encouraged you to undertake a program relating to your violent behaviour. You undertook the course with the Centre for Non-Violence in Bendigo in May 2021 but disengaged on 18 June 2021. You then made an appointment for an assessment to determine eligibility for the Men’s Behaviour Change Program in August 2021 but did not attend and further attempts you contact you were unsuccessful. At some stage you were proscribed antidepressant medication, Effexor, but generally disengaged and have not attended Tristar Medical Centre in Eaglehawk, since September 2021. You made contact on one occasion only with counsellor, Regan Perrin of Bendigo Community Health. That was on 5 July 2021 and you declined to have any service from her.

24Mr Blake indicated that he wished to adjourn the further hearing of your plea so that a psychological report could be obtained.  This was on 16 November 2021, at which date I remanded you in custody and the matter was adjourned for further plea hearing.

25On the adjourned date, 12 April 2021, Mr Rattray appeared on your behalf.  He relied heavily upon a psychological assessment authored by Ms Alison Mynard,[1] who appears to have assessed you on 10 March 2022 and provided a report dated 25 March 2022 (although those two dates are reversed in her report)(Exhibit “10”).  It is noteworthy that the history from you recorded by Ms Mynard differs quite significantly from what was put before the court by your former counsel.  Whilst she certainly recorded that you grew up in a chaotic household where your father was using cannabis and other drugs, and was “a grumpy man” who often assaulted you and your brother, you apparently told Ms Mynard that your sisters were removed by child protection and placed in their paternal grandmother’s care, and that part of the reason they were removed was because you were quite erratic and risk-taking whilst you were living there, with police coming over to the house. 

[1]Exhibit “10”.

26She also recorded that you told her that your parents separated when you were 11 years old because your father had been unfaithful to your mother at a time when your mother was unwell with cancer, so you and your mother left and you remained living elsewhere together from age 12 to age 18.  You told her that you looked after your mother whilst she was having chemotherapy, and she is now in remission living with a new partner in Bendigo. 

27Ms Mynard went on to state that you have become closer with your father a few months ago, but discovered that he was an abusive alcoholic and that you yourself were struggling with alcohol and were kicked out of your father’s house.  There was then a somewhat confusing history about your former partner having been using drugs and being with a new partner, and the involvement of the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department ordering you to do drug screens and a men’s behaviour change program.

28Ms Mynard noted that you had left school in Year 10 and had a limited work history, which involved part-time catching of chickens over the past few years.  You told her that you considered that your father’s drug use and anger made him a bad role model, and you would see him getting into a police chase or going to jail regularly.  She noted heroin use from age 13 to 18 and experimentation with many other different drugs, but that alcohol had been the biggest hurdle of your life and that you had commenced drinking at age 12.

29Ms Mynard stated that you reported that you had been diagnosed with anxiety and depression in the past and had also had grief issues and possibly Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.  She noted that in 2015 you best friend had been murdered and, on Christmas Day 2020, your maternal grandfather had died from cancer.  When you were released from custody in 2021, your maternal uncle suicided.  She considered that you were suffering from Complex Bereavement Disorder, which results from grief and loss issues that remain unresolved for many years.

30Ms Mynard noted that you spoke of having panic attacks and also had had physical seizures over the last few years and were waiting for a neurologist appointment.  She noted that you reported severe symptoms of anxiety such that she considered that you qualified for a Generalised Anxiety Disorder with panic.  In addition, she considered that by reason of your physical and emotional abuse as a child, with your father being violent towards you and witnessing violence towards other members of the family, you suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder she noted that that you had intrusive thoughts about these traumatic experiences, nightmares, and when emotionally reliving these experiences, at times, had physical reactions such as feeling hot, agitated and sweaty.  You told her that in your mid-adolescence you had smoked cannabis and regularly used heroin to help you numb these emotions.  She considered that you met the diagnostic criteria for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

31Ms Mynard noted that, according to you, this offending occurred in the context of you having had an argument with your partner who criticised you for being “a bad dad”.  As a result, you then drank over a slab of beer and half a bottle of spirits, some 30 alcoholic drinks.  You stated that you were angry.  You claimed that your partner questioning your ability as a father had retriggered the traumatic experiences of childhood and you were using alcohol to numb your emotions, primarily anger.

32Ms Mynard considered that you had struggled to manage your angry feelings and feelings of loss or rejection.  She concluded:

“At the time of his offending his mental health issues and his alcohol intoxicated state resulted in severely impaired judgment, lack of reasoning skills, erratic, aggressive and impulsive behaviour.  His ‘thinking brain’ was highly impaired and his ‘emotional brain’ overtaken by anger and stress dominating his offending behaviour.”

She considered that your mental health issues had been lifelong and were chronic and that your traumatic grief had exacerbated your Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and that you require psychological treatment to reduce your risk of relapsing into substance abuse and further criminal offending.  She noted that you feel strongly the separation from your daughter and that generally your depression and mental health issues would lead to you experiencing a more difficult time in custody than a prisoner who does not have those issues.

33I must say that the material with which this Court has been presented does not inspire confidence that you are a good historian.  Ms Mynard stated “Mr East reported that he had been diagnosed with anxiety and depression in the past, and he also has grief issues and possibly Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder”,[2] you had engaged in grief counselling for a few months in 2016 and “reported that he had often reached out to get help from counsellors, psychologists or AOD counselling”.[3]  However, neither you, nor either of your counsel were able to provide me with the name of one counsellor or psychologist whom you had seen nor the timeframe over which that had occurred.  Notwithstanding that the material disclosed that you had been prescribed an anti-depressant, there was a total lack of clarity about when that had been first prescribed, and as previously mentioned, during the period of case management by CISP, you disclosed that you had not been taking your anti-depressant medication, Effexor.  Notwithstanding that a Community Correction Order made on 13 April 2018 had as a condition that you undergo a mental health assessment and treatment as directed, the Court remained totally unenlightened as to what mental status of yours had prompted such a condition or the nature and extent of any treatment engaged in by you.  The only documentation provided to the Court of an historical nature concerning your mental health history the assessment made at Bendigo Community Health Services four days prior to the initial plea hearing, which was listed on 16 November 2021 for the purpose of a mental health case plan.  This is Exhibit “5” which notes that you presented for the first time struggling with anxiety/depression with panic attacks and that you had had a history of this for a long time and had last seen a psychologist some four years previously.  It was noted that your medication was Effexor XR 37.5 milligram capsule modified release, one capsule daily.  It was also noted that you currently had an ongoing court hearing and family issues. It would seem that it was the involvement of Child Protection Services which ultimately motivated you to complete the Men’s Behaviour Program in relatively recent times.

[2]Exhibit “10”, paragraph 32, page 5

[3]Exhibit “10”, paragraph 50, page 7

34The written submissions filed on your behalf when the matter first came before me for plea referred to your prospects of rehabilitation being enhanced by “support in the community”.  When I inquired as to the nature of this support, it seems that there is precious little other than the fact that some friend is prepared to offer you a room in a house that he is renting and to try to help you to get some work.  I found the character references filed on your behalf to be somewhat incredible.  Your friend, Jayde Norton, provided a reference dated 9 November 2021 in which she described you as coming from “a healthy supportive family”.[4]  This was clearly not borne out by either the submissions of counsel or the history that you gave to Ms Mynard.  Another reference from your sister, Tiarn East, dated 9 November 2021 stated that she was “both troubled and surprised to hear about this recent case as (you have) always been a rather solid person”.  She described you as having been an upright character within the community and never having witnessed you to be other than a loving and nurturing man who had overcome a lot of mental health illnesses whilst watching your daughter grow and teaching her good morals and sheltering her from harm.  She completed the reference by saying “Our entire family is dedicated to support Rory and the means necessary for his complete rehabilitation.”  In the light of your persistent criminal history from the age of 14, I am not sure why your sister would be surprised about your current offending and if your “entire family” is there for you, there is an absence of material from them before the Court.

[4]Part of Exhibit “4” dated 9 November 2021

35As I stated to your counsel at the second plea hearing, while you appear to have some mental health issues as referred to in Ms Mynard’s report I do not accept that they were the cause of your impaired mental functioning that led to this offending.  The fact of the matter is you were highly intoxicated and there is no material before the Court that establishes that, in the absence of that intoxication, you would have committed these offences because of all or any of the conditions referred to by Ms Mynard.  She states that it was, in effect, your underlying mental health conditions and your intoxication that contributed to this offending.  I am not satisfied on the balance of probabilities that your psychological condition was directly responsible for your offending, as distinct from you having imbibed alcohol to a grossly excessive degree.  Indeed you told police that you ultimately “blacked out” and seemed to have any significant recollection of the circumstances of the offending. I do not accept that the principles in Verdins case apply to lessen your moral culpability.  Nor can I be satisfied that your background of deprivation was such as to attract the principles in Bugmy’s case.  Although I understand that your father was violent and abused drugs, according to what you told Ms Mynard, you had stable accommodation with your mother from age 12 to 18 years.  It seems to me that for many years you have simply adopted a lifestyle of using drugs and alcohol and, notwithstanding that you have been given multiple opportunities by both the Children’s Court and the Magistrates’ Court to engage in rehabilitative treatment, you have thumbed your nose at those opportunities.

36You have now written two letters to the Court (Exhibit “7” and Exhibit “9”) stating that you are sorry for what you have done. I note that in your  record of interview, you did express some remorse and embarrassment particularly when told by police that Mr Shaw whom you injured was 55 years old and suffered previous neck injuries and cancer . Since being in custody, you have reflected on your life and have tried to take positive steps by working in a billet’s job and doing as many courses as you can, even though you have found it hard because you miss your daughter. I accept that not being able to see your daughter has weighed heavily on you. The restrictions necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic have made contact visits impossible and generally made terms of imprisonment more onerous and I take that into account in sentencing you. Tendered as Exhibit “8” were a number of certificates relating to short drug and alcohol programs and a number of Positive Parenting programs and a Building Better Relationships program.  This seems to demonstrate that, whilst in a situation of enforced abstinence, you are capable of trying to do something to better yourself.  However, I do not accept that a combination sentence which involves a further Community Correction Order is an appropriate disposition for this spate of offending.  You have a very longstanding substance abuse problem and have a demonstrated an inability to manage your life to engage with appropriate support counselling even when strongly encouraged by 16 weeks of supervision under the CISP program. I acknowledge that you had health issues as well. It is possible that if you can engage in treatment for substance abuse and psychological issues, those better qualities mentioned in the references from Jayde Norton and your sister, Tiarn, may become more evident and be put to good use. At this stage you have a long way to go and I am guarded about your prospects of rehabilitation, even though your relative youth means that they must be recognised.

37In arriving at the sentence which I intend to impose, it is important that the Court denounce this serious anti-social conduct which causes citizens to be afraid in their own neighbourhood and homes.  The Court must emphasise general deterrence, so that others who might be minded to so disrespectfully rampage through a neighbourhood in an arrogant, loutish fashion will know that they will be appropriately punished for it.  In the light of your criminal history for some anti-social offending, there is also some need for emphasis upon specific deterrence, as well as protection of the community.  Having said that, I am conscious that you are only 23 years old and, although I have not found that the principles in Bugmy and Verdins apply, I nevertheless take into account in a general way that you have had a disadvantaged upbringing and the lack of a father who was an appropriate moral mentor for you.  I also take into account that you do seem to suffer from a number of mental health issues, which may make serving a custodial sentence more burdensome. It is desirable that you have counselling for them, however, this will be useless unless you refrain from abusing drugs and alcohol. In the light of your young age, you should be given an opportunity to rehabilitate yourself, but think it unlikely that left to your own devices you will successfully engage with a CCO. Having considered all relevant matters, I have determined that the only appropriate sentence is a term of imprisonment involving a head sentence and a non-parole period. I intend to set a relatively low non-parole period in the hope you may benefit from close supervision on parole. Obviously, whether you are granted parole will be a matter for the Parole Board, not for this Court. In arriving at the overall sentence I have taken into account the principal of totality and particularly that all offences occurred over a relatively short period of time when you were in an appallingly intoxicated state.

38On Charge 1, aggravated burglary, you are convicted and sentenced to be imprisoned for a period of 15 months.

39On Charge 2, assault of Mr Shaw, you are convicted and sentenced to be imprisoned for a period of 6 months.

40On Charges 3 and 8, intentionally damaging a letter box, you are convicted and sentenced to an aggregate term of imprisonment of 1 month.

41On Charge 4, assaulting Mr Whileman, you are convicted and sentenced to be imprisoned for a period of 2 months.

42On Charge 5, intentionally damaging a tail light, and Charge 9, intentionally damaging a windscreen, you are convicted and sentenced to an aggregate term of imprisonment of 2 months.

43On Charge 6, theft of a torch, you are convicted and sentenced to be imprisoned for a period of 1 month.

44On Charge 7, assault of Mr McDonald, you are convicted and sentenced to be imprisoned for a period of 3 months.

45The base sentence is that of 15 months’ imprisonment on Charge 1.  I direct that 2 months of the sentence on Charge 2, 1 month of the aggregate sentence on Charges 3 and 8, 1 month of the sentence on Charge 4, 2 months of the aggregate sentence on Charges 5 and 9 and 1 month of the sentence on Charge 7 be served cumulatively on the base sentence and upon each other.  Save for such cumulation,  I order that the sentences are to be served concurrently.

46Thus, the total effective sentence is 23 months’ imprisonment.  I order that you serve a period of 10 months before becoming eligible for parole.  I declare a period of 172 days’ pre-sentence detention to be time reckoned as already served.

47Pursuant to s.6AAA of the Sentencing Act, I state that, but for your pleas of guilty, the total effective sentence would have been 3 years’ imprisonment with a non-parole period of 24 months.