Director Of Public Prosecutions ; v ; Glenn John Olsen

[2019] VCC 1180

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

AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

CR 18-02536

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

GLENN JOHN OLSEN

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JUDGE:	HIS HONOUR JUDGE DEAN
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:	16 May 2019 & 29 July 2019
DATE OF SENTENCE:	1 August 2019
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Olsen
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2019] VCC

REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject:

Catchwords:  Aggravated burglary; Intentionally causing injury; Deluded state whilst offending; Whether drug-induced psychosis or underlying mental illness; No mental illness identified; Moral culpability; General deterrence; Specific deterrence

Legislation Cited:
Cases Cited:  R v Verdins (2007) 16 VR 269
Sentence:

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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the Director of Public Prosecutions	Mr G. Hayward	Office of Public Prosecutions
For the Accused	Mr G. Casement	Warren Graham & Murphy

HIS HONOUR:

1Glenn John Olsen, you have pleaded guilty to one charge of aggravated burglary, contrary to s.77(1) of the Crimes Act 1958. The maximum penalty for that offence is 25 years imprisonment.

2You have also pleaded guilty to one charge of intentionally causing injury, contrary to s.18 of the Crimes Act 1958. The maximum penalty for that offence is 10 years imprisonment.

3You pleaded guilty at committal mention and I have taken your early plea into account in your favour in mitigation of sentence. 

4You have admitted an extensive criminal history for a range of offences, including offences of violence and possession of weapons.  At the time of the commission of the offences before the court, you were the subject of a Community Correction Order for offences of contravening a Family Violence Intervention Order.  Your criminal history and the fact that you were the subject of the CCO are relevant factors for sentencing purposes in this case. 

5A prosecution opening was read to the court and tendered in evidence and your offending may be summarised as follows –

6In September 2018, you were residing with your partner and on occasions in a room at the Kansas City Motel in Bairnsdale.  Whilst you were with your partner, a family violence incident took place between you and your partner.  Following this and for reasons that continue to remain unclear, in the early hours of the morning of 9 September 2018, you entered the adjoining motel room armed with a “nulla nulla”.  You struck the occupant, Stephen Connelly, with that weapon and also sprayed him with an unknown substance, possibly Dencorub.  After leaving the room, you also damaged Mr Connelly’s motor vehicle. 

7The victim of your offending suffered multiple cuts, abrasions and bruises as a result of your attack upon him.  A Victim Impact Statement was tendered in evidence and I accept that your offending has had a significantly traumatic effect upon Mr Connelly. 

8On 11 September 2018, you were arrested and interviewed by investigating police and denied your offending.  You stated that you were at home with your sister.  She, in turn, stated to police that you had told her that you had been raped by the occupants of the motel room and had returned to the premises and attacked them. 

9There is no evidentiary support for this assertion and, in my opinion, it is clear that you held delusional beliefs and thoughts at the relevant time. 

10In order to establish the cause of your delusional thinking, you were examined by Mr David Ball, a forensic psychologist, on 2 April 2019.  Mr Ball did not identify mental illnesses as the cause of your delusional thinking, but did conclude that you suffer from generalised anxiety disorder and severe polysubstance abuse disorder.  He also set out your disrupted developmental history and background in a report tendered in evidence.

11You were further examined by a Forensicare psychiatrist, Vidya Narayan, on 21 June 2019, following an order made by the court.  Dr Narayan also does not identify a mental illness as a cause of your delusions, however I do accept that she did not exclude an underlying psychiatric illness as a possible cause of your offending.  However, in my opinion, the preponderance of the evidence before me establishes that at the time of your offending, you were suffering from a drug-induced psychosis as a result of a heavy ingestion of cannabis and methylamphetamine by you. 

12It is accepted by the prosecution that in the circumstances of this case, your moral culpability for your offending is to be moderated.  Furthermore, by reason of your deluded state, it is clear that your offending cannot be described as planned or premeditated conduct.  However, I cannot accept that the principles enunciated by the Court of Appeal in R v Verdins (2007) 16 VR 269 are engaged in your case, as you were not suffering from a mental illness at the relevant time. But I do accept, as was submitted by the parties, that your moral culpability by reason of your deluded state is to be moderated in this case.

13I also accept you suffer from generalised anxiety disorder and polysubstance abuse disorder that will require ongoing treatment and support on your release from prison.

14The sentencing principles applicable in this case are well-established.  The sentence I impose must be calculated to deter others from offending in this way, and the community and persons such as your victim must be protected from like attacks on their security and privacy. 

15Specific deterrence is a significant factor in your case, having regard to your criminal history, and you also must be punished for your terrifying and chaotic attack on a sleeping man in the early hours of the morning. 

16I now turn to your personal circumstances.

17You were born on 25 January 1970 in Warragul and are now aged 49.  Your childhood and developmental years were characterised by abuse and disadvantage.  You were educated to Year 9 level and have worked on an intermittent basis since then.  You have four children from two relationships, but have little contact with the three eldest children. 

18I accept that you have few stable supports in the community and you will require assistance in that regard on your release from prison. You have been drug-free whilst in prison and engage in a range of occupations, including that of a billet.

19Nevertheless, your prospects of rehabilitation are to be approached with caution and as I have said, in my opinion, you require ongoing treatment and counselling on your release from prison. 

20Finally, I accept that you are now remorseful for your offending.

21In the result, the sentence of the court is as follows –

22On the charge of aggravated burglary, you are convicted and sentenced to be imprisoned for two years and six months.

23On the charge of intentionally causing injury, you are convicted and sentenced to be imprisoned for 18 months.

24I direct that six month of the sentence on Charge 2 be served cumulatively on the sentence on Charge 1. 

25This makes for a total effective sentence of three years imprisonment.

26I direct that you serve 16 months before becoming eligible for release on parole.

27I declare that you have served 292 days by way of pre-sentence detention, not including today.

28But for your plea of guilty, I would have imposed a total effective term of imprisonment of four years, with a non-parole period of two years.

29I will make the ancillary orders sought on behalf of the prosecution.

30MR CASEMENT:  As Your Honour pleases.

31MR HAYWARD:  May it please the court.

32HIS HONOUR:  Thank you.

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