Director of Public Prosecutions v Gelman
[2025] VCC 948
•4 July 2025
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA | Revised Not Restricted Suitable for Publication |
AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION
CR 24-00424
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| v |
| LEVENT GELMAN |
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JUDGE: | HER HONOUR JUDGE WILMOTH |
WHERE HELD: | Melbourne |
DATE OF HEARING: | 3 June 2025 and 3 July 2025 |
DATE OF SENTENCE: | 4 July 2025 |
CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | DPP v Gelman |
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2025] VCC 948 |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject: Criminal law - sentence
Catchwords: Pleas of guilty to one charge each of recklessly causing injury, make threat to inflict serious injury, aggravated burglary, make threat to kill & persistent contravention of family violence intervention order – victim was former partner – serious offending – similar prior offending – poor prospects for rehabilitation – chronic long-term ADHD – drug use – importance of general and specific deterrence - Verdins
Sentence: Total effective sentence 4 years 6 months non-parole period 3 years.
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APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the Director of Public Prosecutions | Mr A. Moschonas | Office of Public Prosecutions |
For the Accused | Ms G. Morgan | Dribbin & Brown Criminal Lawyers |
HER HONOUR:
1Levent Gelman, you have pleaded guilty to one charge of each of the following offences on an indictment:
·recklessly causing injury with a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment;
·making a threat to inflict serious injury, maximum penalty five years;
·aggravated burglary, maximum penalty 25 years;
·making a threat to kill, maximum penalty 10 years; and
·persistent contravention of a family violence intervention order, maximum penalty five years.
2You have also pleaded guilty to five related summary offences. They are
3two charges of unlawful assault with a maximum penalty of three months; failing to render assistance after a motor vehicle accident, maximum penalty a fine of five penalty units; failing to stop after a motor vehicle incident, maximum penalty also a fine of five penalty units; and trespass, a maximum penalty of six months' imprisonment or a fine of 25 penalty units.
The offending
4The first of these offences occurred in November 2022. You had had an intimate relationship with Ms Irene Bayliss[1] for about 18 months before that date. You lived together for about a year before Ms Bayliss moved out, following incidents of family violence by you.
[1] A pseudonym.
5Other instances of family violence occurred after late 2022, some of which were reported to police, others were not.
6On 12 November 2022 you went to Ms Bayliss’ home and an argument between you occurred. She said she no longer wished to see you and asked you to leave. You refused.
7As she attempted to guide you to the exit you said 'I should kick your head in' before headbutting her in the nose, causing a nasal laceration.
8She begged you to leave but you continued your threatening and aggressive behaviour stating 'I should poke your eyes out' and 'look at me, if you don't look at me I'll poke your eyes out'. You eventually left and Ms Bayliss called the police.
9The police attended and observed her injuries and that she was struggling to breath normally through her nose. She went to Monash Medical Centre and was diagnosed with a nasal fracture requiring a referral to a cosmetic specialist. Charge 1, recklessly causing injury.
10After this incident you and Ms Bayliss no longer lived together but continued to have a relationship. All the indications are that Ms Bayliss was trying to bring it to an end, and you were resisting this.
11Soon after the incident on 14 November 2022 you were arrested and interviewed, making admissions about the altercation. You said you moved your head causing a little scratch on Ms Bayliss’ nose.
12Ms Bayliss applied for an intervention order which was made as an interim order on 29 November 2022, containing the usual prohibitions including to not go within five metres of Ms Bayliss, nor within 200 metres of her apartment. A final order was not made until 13 July 2023.
13On three occasions, on 2, 3 and 4 November 2023, you acted in contravention of the family violence intervention order and these three contraventions give rise to Charge 5 on the indictment, the charge of persistent contravention of a family violence order.
14Sometime in October 2023, a few months after the intervention order was made final, Ms Bayliss came out of her shower at her home to find you standing on her first-floor balcony, which is accessible only by climbing from the garden and scaling a privacy wall.
15When you saw her you began banging on the sliding door asking to be let in, but she refused, telling you that you were not welcome and expressed her fear to you. When she threatened to call police, you jumped from the balcony. There is no charge arising from that conduct.
16On 27 October 2023 at about 3.30 pm you rang Ms Bayliss’ video doorbell at the front of her apartment. She answered via the intercom inside. You asked if you could walk her dog, but she declined and said you were not welcome.
17About an hour later she encountered you in the basement bin area of her secure apartment complex. She asked you to stop approaching her and coming to her home as the relationship was over. You approached her aggressively getting 'in her face', and as she raised her hand to create distance you stated 'don't push me away, I will stab whoever you are with and I will get you too'. Charge 2, trespass.
18She told you to leave her alone and she retreated to her apartment.
19On 2 November 2023 at about 10.50 pm, Mr Blake Fry,[2] a friend of Ms Bayliss and an acquaintance of yours, arrived at Ms Bayliss’ house to stay the night. Ms Bayliss awaiting at the front door saw you following Mr Fry towards the front door.
[2] A pseudonym.
20You became verbally aggressive and kicked Mr Fry’s back leg and punched him multiple times in the back, causing him to lose his balance. Mr Fry responded in self-defence by punching you in the face, causing you to fall to the ground.
21Mr Fry and Ms Bayliss went into her apartment and locked the front door. You attempted to open it while verbally provoking Mr Fry to come outside. You eventually left and Ms Bayliss called the police.
22They attended and these events gave rise to summary Charge 12, unlawful assault and ultimately to Charge 5, persistent contravention of a family violence intervention order.
23On 3 November 2023 at about 12.25 am, Ms Bayliss and Mr Fry were in the bedroom of her apartment with the bedroom door open, when they heard loud banging from the balcony sliding door, so Mr Fry got up and closed the bedroom door.
24Before the door was closed completely Ms Bayliss saw you walking through the living room towards the bedroom. Mr Fry braced himself against the door to prevent you entering. You shouted 'I'm going to kill you both' and attempted to force entry by kicking and banging on the bedroom door whilst Mr Fry kept it closed.
25Ms Bayliss rang Triple 0 and you left via the front door. Two police officers attended shortly afterwards.
26At 9.35 am two different police came to the apartment building for further details and spoke with a resident, who reported hearing loud banging, screaming and yelling at around midnight.
27At 12.40 pm two other police attended and observed damage to the sliding door from the forced entry. Ms Bayliss provided a statement and disclosed the previous incident where you headbutted her and broke her nose.
28At about 3.50 pm Ms Bayliss left her apartment going towards her car which was parked in the driveway. She saw you standing inside the secure parking garage of the apartment building. As the garage door opened you ran towards her wielding a metal pole.
29She got into her car and attempted to close the door, but you tried to open it and slammed it into her leg, causing pain. She locked the car doors. You then threatened to break the windows with the pole if she did not open the door and cease police contact.
30She contacted Triple 0. You punched the driver's window and kicked the driver's side door. When you saw her on the phone, you left.
31About 10 minutes later while waiting for the police she started her car in order to leave the apartment building, fearing you might return. She began driving east on High Street Road, Mount Waverley and saw you driving a white Volkswagen Golf, accelerating behind her.
32In these circumstances, Ms Bayliss’ car mounted the footpath and hit a brick wall at No.547 High Street Road. You fled the scene without stopping or rendering assistance.
33This gives rise to Charge 3, aggravated burglary from the previous incident; Charge 4 making a threat to kill; summary Charge 20, unlawful assault; summary Charge 21, failing to render assistance; and summary Charge 22, failing to stop.
34As for Charge 5, two incidents on that day, the first in the morning in the apartment and the second in the afternoon in the garage area, give rise to the second and third parts of Charge 5, persistent contravention of a family violence orders.
35On 4 November at 12.10 pm your parents went to the Glen Waverley police station and spoke to police about your ongoing behaviour. They said you had come home and taken your car, stating that you were on your way to the gym and then to find Ms Bayliss’ new partner.
36At about 4.21 pm that day, Ms Bayliss received a phone call from you. You stated 'I've got people coming for you' causing her to be fearful of you. This gives rise to the fourth and final part of Charge 5, persistent contravention of a family violence intervention order.
37On Sunday 5 November 2023 police located your car near an intersection in Chadstone and saw you near that location. When you noticed the police, you attempted to flee on foot, but police chased and apprehended you. You were arrested and taken to Box Hill police station for interview.
38You made admissions concerning the intervention order, your visits to Ms Bayliss’ apartment in contravention of the orders, and the assaults.
39During the investigation your father, Michael Gelman, told police that your behaviour had been escalating for several weeks, attributable to your use of steroids you bought from the gym you were attending.
40At the committal hearing in March 2024 the complainant and a police officer were cross‑examined and later a number of directions hearings were held, before the case was resolved on 6 March 2025. It is therefore not an early plea of guilty but nonetheless it has avoided a trial and any further cross‑examination of witnesses. That is also a saving for the court and for the criminal justice system more broadly and you are entitled to a discount on your sentence.
41A plea of guilty may also be accepted as an indication of remorse and in your case there are other indications of remorse and the acceptance of responsibility as well. I shall return to that matter later in these remarks.
Gravity of the offending
42Family violence is serious offending. Your violence towards Ms Bayliss subjected her to physical injury and the fear of this being repeated or escalated. She was not safe from you in her own home or in her car, or even when driving away from her home.
43The offence of aggravated burglary by breaking into her home and attempting to enter the bedroom by kicking and banging on the door, while threatening to kill Ms Bayliss and Mr Fry, was a serious form of this offence.
44Even though you left of your own accord, you were not to be outdone and reappeared later that day to further confront, assault and terrorise Ms Bayliss in the garage. You did this even though you had had time to reflect on your earlier behaviour. The following day you had still not given up and told your parents you were going to find Mr Fry, whereupon you called Ms Bayliss and told her there were people coming for her.
45You told the police you were angry when you confronted Ms Bayliss in her car and it is clear that you exercised no personal constraint, appearing to lack any empathy for your victim, and acting out of a sense of entitlement and anger.
46It was submitted by Ms Morgan on your behalf that the gravity should be assessed against the background of the relationship between you and
Ms Bayliss, which did not end in November 2022 when the interim intervention order was made. That might explain why the final order was not made until
13 July 2023, which is an unusually long delay between interim and final order.47Ms Morgan explained that although you and Ms Bayliss ceased living together, you continued to meet, to socialise together, and went on a two-week holiday overseas. It appears that the romantic attachment continued, at least from your point of view, until October 2023. However, the making of the final intervention order in July 2023 would indicate that Ms Bayliss’ intention to regard the relationship as being over by then, consistent with her evidence at the committal.
48Ms Morgan submitted that the seriousness of the threats and the contexts of the trespass should be read down because of the lack of immediacy, but my view is that any such reduced weight must be slight. Ms Morgan also submitted that your knowledge that Mr Fry was also in the apartment at the time you threatened to kill them both, ameliorated somewhat the fear
Ms Bayliss, as the primary victim, might have felt, thus reducing the gravity of that offending. Again, the reduction, while recognised, is slight.49As to the two summary offences of failing to stop and failing to assist after the collision involving Ms Bayliss’ car, I agree with Ms Morgan's submission that they have an inherent ambiguity because if you had stopped, you would have been in further breach of the intervention order and would have continued to place Ms Bayliss in fear. In the circumstances I place little weight upon them.
50The objective seriousness of the overall offending is reinforced by the fact that you have previous convictions for similar offending including two sets of offences which led you to serve two prison sentences, one for six months in 2021 and one for four months in 2020. Other offending resulted in fines or community correction orders.
51Although I am sentencing you only for the offending in late 2022 and 2023 involving Ms Bayliss and Mr Fry, I take into account that this offending is in part a repetition of previous behaviour; indeed, an escalation of it, and indicates a poor prognosis for rehabilitation.
52You were assessed recently by a forensic and clinical psychologist,
Ms Andrea McNeill. The earlier plea hearing was adjourned part heard for this assessment to be done and when the report was provided both parties filed further plea submissions.53The prosecution response to further submissions by Ms Morgan and the report of Ms McNeill, are that the seriousness of the offending remains unchanged. It was not an isolated incident but there were multiple instances over a year. The persistent breach of the intervention order included serious breaches on three consecutive days, which was a blatant breach of the court orders.
54Ms Paganis, for the prosecution, submitted that this places the offending at the upper range of seriousness, and I agree with that assessment.
Personal background and circumstances
55You are now aged 43 and you are the eldest of your parents' children, with a younger brother and sister. Your parents are from Ukraine and left there when it was still under the soviet regime, to go to Israel in 1990. You were born in Israel the following year.
56Your siblings are both highly qualified and have good jobs. You were diagnosed with ADHD in Grade 3 at primary school in Israel and had medication prescribed. This was ceased when the side effects became difficult and since then you have not been medicated for that condition.
57In 2004 the family came to Australia. You were aged 12 and spoke limited English, although you did speak Russian, Hebrew and Arabic. You went straight into Year 7 at MacKinnon Secondary College and struggled there, experiencing bullying because of your different background and limited English, exacerbated by your ADHD causing interpersonal difficulties.
58You left school at the end of Year 10 and persevered at TAFE in the VCAL program. After 18 months you joined the workforce, starting in warehouse work.
59At this time you began using drugs with friends, primarily methylamphetamine which helped your ADHD symptoms, but it also led to an increase in behaviour problems and contact with the police, resulting in criminal charges.
60It also caused significant conflict with your family and resulted in police applying for intervention orders on behalf of your parents and siblings. You breached those orders resulting in being charged and appearing in court.
61In 2019 you began a plumbing apprenticeship, but the company shut down during COVID. Recently you recommenced that apprenticeship with another company and your employer had been supporting you during your early court hearings. However, in order to continue with that apprenticeship, you would be required to recommence by September this year.
62This background demonstrates that your employment history is very good. Indeed, at the time of your arrest you were working at two jobs, the apprenticeship and in a warehouse, as the apprenticeship did not pay well.
63You have remained abstinent of methylamphetamine since late 2022, having ceased when the intervention order was made. But in late 2023 you were taking steroids which may have influenced your offending behaviour. However, you have remained drug free in custody.
64You are willing to undertake, once you are sentenced, courses or programs in prison to meet parole requirements such as a violent offender's course. Ms McNeill, the psychologist who assessed you recently, suggested you take part in a program available in custody called Building Better Relationships.
65You have already completed several programs in prison but only very recently, since the previous plea hearing.
66You hope when you are released to live with your family, to obtain work, and ultimately to travel.
Sentencing issues
67You have been in custody since your arrest on 5 November 2023. Bail was refused after the committal on 18 April 2024. Therefore, you have been in pre-sentence detention for 608 days, not including today. I declare that time to be reckoned as already served and I shall note it on the court record.
68There has been some delay caused by the need for discussions about the facts and appropriate charges. It was never your intention for the case to go to trial, as indicated by your admissions. Although some credit is due for them, they were at the time accompanied by efforts at minimising the seriousness and of reducing your own responsibility.
69Ms Morgan conceded that a head sentence and non‑parole period is appropriate on the basis of the aggravated burglary. She submitted that totality is of significant importance and that your overall criminality should determine the appropriate sentence, rather than placing chief importance on the charge of aggravated burglary.
70A further significant matter is the role of specific deterrence. Ms Morgan submitted that your previous time in custody did not have a full deterrent effect on you, but this time, the almost two years you have spent in custody has done so. In particular, you know that you will lose your chance to complete your apprenticeship.
71General deterrence is also of significant importance in a case involving family violence, which is serious offending perpetrated against a victim, usually in their own home, as in this case, who lacks power and opportunity to resist.
72As to specific deterrence, it was submitted that you have difficulty regulating your emotions when distressed and you had very little perspective as to your conduct, such as not being able to understand Ms Bayliss’ point of view. Those issues were explored in some detail in the report provided by
Ms McNeill.73Your criminal history is also significant in terms of your escalating violence and the likelihood that your prospects for rehabilitation are guarded at best. You have served several short prison sentences in the past and have had Community Correction Orders imposed, sometimes in combination with prison. I have been provided with summaries of the offending which includes accounts of extreme violence against former partners, such as attempted strangulation on two occasions.
74Of course you are not being punished again for those matters but they are taken into account as relevant to your future risk and possible rehabilitation.
75Following your assessment by Ms McNeill on 19 June 2025 and the provision of her report, Ms Morgan has submitted that limbs 1 and 3 in the case of Verdins apply in this case, to reduce your moral culpability to some degree.
76Limb 1 refers to punishment being affected by the conditions suffered by the offender where moral culpability is considered to be reduced. Limb 3 permits the moderation or elimination of general deterrence as a sentencing consideration where the offender's mental capacity is affected by the condition suffered at the time of the offending, or at the date of sentence, or both.
77There is agreement by both parties as to the application of limb 3, that there should be some modest reduction in the sentence on that basis. Ms McNeill's report addressed this matter, and I turn to it now in that regard.
78Ms McNeill stated in her report that you did not minimise your criminal conduct or try to blame anyone else, and you did accept full responsibility for your conduct. That is an improvement since your initial response. Ms McNeill noted that you have some developing insight into and awareness of what she described as 'severe emotional dysregulation' when you were facing interpersonal rejection.
79She said that you also accept that you need to engage in psychological therapy.
80Her opinion was a diagnosis of anti-social personality disorder displaying a pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others. She also diagnosed borderline personality disorder following severe familial and interpersonal conflict, resulting in you becoming emotionally dysregulated during conflict, due to fear of rejection, abandonment and being devalued and misunderstood. She put this in blunt clinical terms that '…without adoration you have a minimal sense of yourself'.[3]
[3] Report of Andrea McNeill darted 27 June 2025 at [159] – [161]
81While noting your use of anabolic steroids at the time of the offending, which could have contributed to your aggression, Ms McNeill referred to your criminal record as indicating that the current offending is not new behaviour, but there is a strong pattern of inability to concede the cessation of relationships with intimate partners and family members. This observation indicates the high degree of your culpability, which is only slightly reduced by your mental health conditions.
82To be more specific about that, I note that Ms McNeill went on to say that your diagnosed conditions are plausible causal factors contributing to your failure to accept the relationship breakdowns. She referred again to the emotional dysregulation you experience at such times, resulting in you not thinking clearly.[4]
[4] Ibid at [165]
83You told Ms McNeill that you had become fixated on Ms Bayliss and were unable to let go or walk away. This seems consistent with your behaviour towards former partners in the past.
84The prosecution response to the further submissions by Ms Morgan and the report of Ms McNeill, are that the seriousness of the offending remains unchanged. It was not an isolated incident, as there were multiple instances over a year. The persistent breach of the intervention order included serious breaches on three consecutive days, which was a blatant breach of the court orders.
85I consider that your condition and state of mind at the time does allow for a modest reduction in your criminal culpability and a corresponding minor reduction in the appropriate sentence.
86Your family remains supportive of you, and the plan is that you will live with them when you are released and they will help you move back into the community. I understand that you wish to show your family that you can make progress and live a properly functioning life. Your hope is that in the future you will be able to manage your emotions and disappointments and one day have an enduring relationship.
87One part of realising that hope will be abstaining from drug use, in particular the steroids that have become important to you. You have already commenced that progress. A further essential part of your rehabilitation will be to understand that a person, with or without any relationship with you, has a right to dignity and independence in their life, free of any coercion or physical pressure. While you will continue to remain in custody for some time yet, that time can be put to good use by engaging in suitable programs to enhance your understanding of these important life issues.
Sentence
88Mr Gelman, I sentence you to the following terms of imprisonment.
89For recklessly cause injury, 12 months.
90For making a threat to inflict serious injury, nine months.
91For aggravated burglary, three years.
92For making a threat to kill, 12 months.
93For persistent contravention of a family violence intervention order, 12 months.
94Turning now to the summary offences.
95For each of the two charges of unlawful assault, one month.
96For failing to render assistance after a motor vehicle accident and for failing to stop, each charge is found proved and dismissed.
97For trespass, four months' imprisonment.
98The sentence for aggravated burglary is the base sentence for purposes of cumulation. I order that six months of each of the sentences for Charge 1 and Charge 5 be served in cumulation on the base sentence.
99Two months of the sentence for Charge 2, three months of the sentence for Charge 4, and one month of the sentence for summary Charge 24 are also to be served in cumulation. This results in a total effective sentence of four years and six months.
100I order that you serve three years before being eligible for parole.
101If you had pleaded not guilty to these charges, I would have sentenced you to five years' imprisonment with a non-parole period of four years.
102Just to clarify, I have already declared 608 days of pre-sentence detention to be reckoned as already served.
103Mr Moschonas, are there any other matters that I have neglected or omitted?
104MR MOSCHONAS: No, Your Honour, there isn't, no.
105HER HONOUR: Thank you. Ms Morgan, anything further?
106MS MORGAN: Your Honour, could I just check those figures?
107HER HONOUR: Certainly.
108MS MORGAN: So in relation to recklessly cause injury, 12 months, six months' cumulated. Threat to inflict serious injury, nine months with two months' cumulated. Aggravated burglary, three years as the base.
109HER HONOUR: Yes.
110MS MORGAN: Threat to kill, 12 months with three months' cumulation.
111HER HONOUR: Perhaps I'll read them out slowly again.
112MS MORGAN: If you would, I'm so sorry, Your Honour.
113HER HONOUR: I will, yes, all right. My associate has just told me that she has emailed those sections to you.
114MS MORGAN: Thank you.
115HER HONOUR: So you will have those there.
116MS MORGAN: No need to read them out again then, Your Honour, so I appreciate it.
117HER HONOUR: No, no need to read them out. All right, thank you,
Ms Morgan.118MS MORGAN: As the court pleases.
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