Director of Public Prosecutions v Grech

[2024] VCC 137

IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA

Revised

Not Restricted

Suitable for Publication

AT BENDIGO & MELBOURNE

CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

CR 23-00760

THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

GUY GRECH

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JUDGE:	HIS HONOUR JUDGE CHETTLE
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:	24 October 2023
DATE OF SENTENCE:	16 February 2024
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Grech
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2024] VCC 137

REASONS FOR SENTENCE

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Subject:CRIMINAL LAW SENTENCE

Catchwords:              Sentencing – unauthorised possession of traffickable quantity of firearms, handle/receive/retention of stolen goods, possession of drug of dependence, shorten barrel of a longarm, summary charge – possess cartridge ammunition without licence/permit - plea of guilty

Legislation Cited: s6AAA of the Sentencing Act 1991

Cases Cited:-

Sentence:                  Imprisonment, total effective sentence 3 years and 9 months, non-parole period 2 years and 6 months Forfeiture and disposal orders.

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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the Director of Public Prosecutions	Ms S. Thomas	Ms K. Parnham, Ms I. Abdulnour, Office of Public Prosecutions
For the Accused	Mr C. Nikakis	Mr C. Nikakis, Haines and Polites

HIS HONOUR:

1Guy Grech, you have pleaded guilty to one charge of possession of a traffickable quantity of firearms, three charges of handling stolen goods, one charge of possession of a drug of dependence and one charge of shorten the barrel of a longarm.  In addition, you have pleaded guilty to one related summary offence of possession of cartridge ammunition without a permit.

2The facts of your offending are set out in Exhibit A, the prosecution plea summary, and I was informed by Mr Nikakis that I could treat that document as an agreed statement of fact.  I incorporate it into these reasons for sentence and sentence you on the basis of the facts set out therein.

3Very briefly stated, on 3 October 2022, $6,000 worth of jewellery, $1,000 of vintage coins, some keys, a garage remote control were stolen in a burglary in Dunnock, near Ballarat.  Four shotguns and a rifle were also stolen.  Between 2 October and 5 October, two Commodore sedans were stolen from a rural property in Timor.  Between 3 and 4 October 2022, a silver Holden was stolen in Timor.  At about 6 pm on 5 October, police located you driving a Toyota ute, towing a Holden Commodore in Napier Street, Maryborough.  The Commodore was one of the two stolen from the rural property in Timor.  Your vehicle was searched, and a number of items stolen in the Dunnock burglary were located.  These included a loaded 12-gauge shotgun, a .22 rifle, two magazines of .22 ammunition and shotgun cartridges.  Jewellery, collectable coins, keys and a remote control were also located.  In a Calvin Klein bag, two bags of methylamphetamine were found.  A stolen registration plate was located in a tray of your Toyota vehicle.  You were arrested and interviewed at both the Maryborough and then Bendigo police stations.  The following day, your home in Melton West was searched.  Three shotguns stolen from Dunnock were located together with the butt of the firearm and a length of rifle barrel.  The Commodore stolen from Timor between 3 and 4 October was located on one of your neighbour's properties on 9 October.

4Charge 1, related to the possession of a traffickable quantity of firearms, which is defined as two or more weapons, relates to your possession of the firearms in your Toyota ute and in your shed at the premises at Melton West.

5Charge 2, handling stolen goods, relates to the Holden Commodore you were towing on 5 October and that had been stolen from the rural property in Timor.

6Charge 3, handling stolen goods, relates to your possession of the jewellery, collectable coins and two of the shotguns stolen from the Dunnock burglary.

7Charge 4 relates to two bags of amphetamine located at your vehicle on 5 October 2022.  I have not been informed of the weight of the methylamphetamine and treat your offence as possession of a small quantity for personal use and not for trafficable purposes.

8Charge 5, handling stolen goods, relates to the stolen registration plate located in your HiLux.

9Charge 6, shorten the barrel of a longarm, relates to you cutting the barrel of the Mackintosh double-barrel shotgun stolen in the Dunnock burglary.  The stock had also been cut.  This offence is a serious criminal offence:  you created a concealable and very dangerous weapon.

10You have admitted a 13-page criminal record.

11In November 2009, you were convicted and fined for offences which included fraudulent use of number plates.

12In June 2010, you were sentenced to a community-based order for offences of theft, burglary and going equipped to steal.  You breached that community-based order in November 2011.

13In September 2012, you were convicted of burglary and theft.  Three months later, you were in prison for driving whilst disqualified and using false number plates.  That sentence was totally suspended on appeal to this court.

14In September 2013, you were convicted of possession of a controlled weapon.

15In December 2013, you were again convicted for using false number plates on a motor vehicle.

16On 20 November 2015, you were before the Sunshine Magistrates' Court on numerous serious charges, including theft of a motor vehicle, possessing cartridge ammunition without a permit, being a prohibited person possessing a firearm and shortening the barrel of a longarm.  You were also convicted of fraudulently altering a registration number, burglary and multiple offences of handling stolen goods.  You received a total of 18 months' imprisonment followed by a 12-month community corrections order.

17In 2016, you were fined $2,500 for possession of methylamphetamine, cannabis and weapons offences.

18On 30 June 2017, you were before the Bacchus Marsh Magistrates' Court on charges including possession and trafficking cannabis, possession of methylamphetamine and retention of stolen goods and were sentenced to a total period of 12 months with a non-parole period of six months.

19On 12 July 2019, you were before Judge Parrish in this court on charges of robbery and theft.  You were sentenced to a total of three years and six months with a non-parole period of two years.  His Honour's reasons for sentence in that case are Exhibit B on your plea.  I will return to those sentencing remarks subsequently.

20It is clear from your criminal history that you have extremely relevant prior offences and that specific deterrence has a significant role to play in sentencing you.

21Victim impact statements were filed on behalf of Robin McGuinness (Exhibit C), Rodney McGuinness (Exhibit D), Lin Hull (Exhibit E), Christopher Hull (Exhibit F) and Benjamin Fran (Exhibit G).  They were the victim of the various burglaries and thefts in this case.  I acknowledge that you are not charged with those burglaries and thefts.  However, your handling of the proceeds of those offences represents more serious offending than the original burglary and thefts themselves.  You promote offending by dishonesty dealing with the items stolen.  All of the victims were understandably distressed by the offences committed upon them.  They are angry, frightened and distressed by what occurred.  They feel invaded and very concerned that the stolen guns were found loaded, a concern that this court shares.  All victims sustained financial loss.  I take the victim impact statements into account in sentencing you.  They are right when they say that you do not understand or do not care the effect that these crimes have upon normal, decent people.

22Turning to your personal circumstances, you are now 34 years of age, being born in June 1989.  You were raised by your mother and stepfather in the Bacchus March area.  You have two younger stepsisters.  Your father died in a motorcycle accident when you were young.  At primary school, you were referred to a psychologist for cognitive assessment.  Exhibit 2, your school records, demonstrate that you suffered short-term auditory memory less that led to your anger, frustration and poor self-esteem.  You were suspended from school for inappropriate behaviour on a number of occasions, and you finally left at Year 9 level.  After school, you completed a four-year apprenticeship as a roof tiler, and you obtained an automotive certificate as a motor mechanic.  You developed what your counsel described as a substantial drug abuse issues and regularly abused methamphetamine.  Since your release from custody on Judge Parrish's sentence, you started your own business as a handyman, and I was told that you have a 12-month-old daughter but was not provided with any further information about her or her mother.  Judge Parrish in Exhibit B sets out the testing and issues you confronted at school at pp10 to 12.  Your counsel's submissions refer to your 12-year-old daughter.  Judge Parrish was informed that you have two other children from relationships that are well and truly over.  No material was provided to me about those children.

23Following your plea hearing, the court obtained a pre-sentence report from Forensicare, which I will now mark as Exhibit H on your plea.  Dr Glowinski, the consulting forensic psychologist who wrote that report, outlined your background history and in particular your reported difficulties with short-term memory and learning issues whilst you were young.  He outlined your drug use history and your report of increased methamphetamine use leading up to your remand in custody.

24You told him an implausible account as to how you came to offend for these offences.  At paragraph 44, he reports:

25'With specific relation to the index offence, Mr Grech said that he is in gaol for helping people.  Mr Grech said that he drove to Maryborough with a friend to see his cousin.  His friend is a 21-year-old who he has known his whole life.  They pulled over on the side of the road on their return to Maryborough, and his friend got out and broke into a house and stole some guns.  Mr Grech said that he was left with a choice of either taking the guns from his friend and hiding them on his property or else he could leave the firearms in their possession and risk them using the firearms impulsively.  He thought he was doing the right thing by taking the firearms from his friend.  Mr Grech said he was soon pulled over by police.  Unbeknownst to him, one of his passengers had taken one of the stolen guns from his shed.  He told the police about the other guns.  Mr Grech reiterated that he is in this position because he was helping people.  He said he greatly regrets helping the kid who has the guns.  He said he should have left him on the side of the road with guns, he does not know what else he could have done.  Mr Grech said every time he tries to change something like this happens'.

26At paragraph 54, he commented:

27'Mr Grech, while minimising his involvement in the index offence, expresses a degree of regret about his involvement.  His description of his involvement with the index offence seems to follow a broad pattern of Mr Grech blaming circumstances and other people for his own damaging choices and behaviours'.

28Dr Glowinski concluded at paragraph 60:

29'Mr Grech is a 34-year-old father of three who has been on remand for over a year.  There is an established pattern of similar offending dating back many years.  Mr Grech described behavioural disturbance as a child.  He was often involved in fights with peers.  He spoke about not being understood and that he was often told to be more patient.  Mr Grech's sense of aggrievement appears to be an ongoing theme in his life narrative.  This propensity to view himself as a victim of circumstances and a pattern of difficulties with intimate relationships and the nature of his previous offending points to the likelihood of maladaptive personality traits, although I do not think there is sufficient evidence to diagnose a personality disorder after a cross-sectional assessment.  Mr Grech described low self-esteem relating to his learning difficulties.  I do not believe there were any treatments for depression or anxiety until just before he was taken into remand.  While there may be persistent depressive disorder, I do not think this is a prominent psychiatric concern'.

30At paragraph 66:

31'Mr Grech describes substantial ice use, and I think he qualifies for the diagnosis of an ice abuse and dependence disorder.  Substance use appears to be a major factor behind his offending.  Whilst discussing the index offence, Mr Grech presented himself as a victim of circumstances who was an unwitting partner in the offending by the other people around him.  While I am unable to make a definitive comment on the exact nature of his involvement in the offending, his offending was to my mind frankly implausible.  Either way, acute mental illness does not appear to have played a role in the offending.  Any connection with potential trauma conditions seems extremely remote given that one would expect a truly traumatised individual to avoid situations like the index offending'.

32He then goes on in paragraph 68 to refer to your need for therapy, to which your counsel referred before I passed this sentence, and then he concludes:

33'The most relevant modifiable risk factors in relation to recidivism appear to be Mr Grech's choice about substance use and the company he surrounds himself with.  Ideally Mr Grech will engage with treatment services for substance use.  Ultimately Mr Grech's approach and attitude to this issue will be the major determinant in whether he remains abstinent'.

34He concludes finally by saying:

35'I do not otherwise think there is much to indicate that Mr Grech will suffer more in prison than the average person of normal health'.

36Dr Glowinski's report does not assist you in my sentencing you for these offences, and I share his rejection of your explanation for your offending.  The weapons must have cut themselves down on your version.

37I take into account in sentencing you your pleas of guilty.  Those pleas were entered at committal and have significant utilitarian value.  You have spared the community the time and expense of a criminal trial and the witnesses the stress and trauma of giving evidence at that trial.  The value of those pleas is greater because of the effect that COVID-19 had upon our justice system up until the conclusion of last year, and you are entitled to a greater reduction in sentence as a result.  I will return to the effect of that reduction subsequently.

38With the exception of your drug possession offence, all of your offences represent serious criminal activity.  The maximum penalties, as set out in Exhibit A, demonstrate how seriously Parliament regards your offending.  You possessed stolen firearms.  You possessed stolen property, including cars, jewellery and coins.  You shortened the firearm and in a very concerning way.  Your counsel's submissions, Exhibit 1, provide no explanation as to why you possessed the stolen weapon, cars and jewellery nor why you possessed loaded weapons.  Given your relevant criminal history, your offending in that view represents serious examples of the particular offences.

39The principles of general deterrence, just punishment, specific deterrence and denunciation of your conduct require this court to impose custodial sentences for each of your offences.  Your counsel properly conceded as much.

40Although I accepted you have found gainful employment at various times in your life, I assess your prospects of rehabilitation as poor despite what I am told is the ongoing support of your mother.

41Judge Parrish assessed your prospects of rehabilitation as guarded.  Events have demonstrated his assessment to have been correct.

42I have been careful to have regard to the principles of parsimony, totality and cumulation in arriving at an appropriate sentence, or appropriate sentences, for you.

43I was told that shortly before this offending you connected to your Indigenous heritage.  This is through your grandmother.  The court can only hope that you will connect with people who will promote your rehabilitation by helping you involve yourself with your background.

44On all charges, you are convicted.

45On Charge 1, possession of a trafficable of firearms, you are sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment.

46On Charge 2, handling stolen goods, you are sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment.

47On Charge 3, handle stolen goods, you are sentenced to two years' imprisonment.

48On Charge 4, possession of a drug of dependence, you are sentenced to one month imprisonment.

49On Charge 5, handling stolen goods - that is the number plate - you are sentenced to two months' imprisonment.

50On Charge 6, shorten the barrel of a longarm, you are sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment.

51On the related summary offence of possessing cartridge ammunition without a permit, you are fined $500.

52I order that nine months of the sentence imposed on Charge 1, three months of the sentence imposed on Charge 2 and nine months of the sentenced imposed on Charge 6 be served cumulatively upon the sentence imposed on Charge 3, which I declare to be the base sentence.  That is an effective term of imprisonment of three years and nine months, and I order that you serve two years and six months before being eligible for parole.

53Can someone tell me what the PSD is, not including today.

54MR NIKAKIS:  499.

55HIS HONOUR:  499.

56MR NIKAKIS:  Yes.

57HIS HONOUR:  Do you agree with that, Ms Thomas?

58MS THOMAS:  Yes, Your Honour.

59HIS HONOUR: I declare that 499 days of the sentence I have just imposed has already been served by way of pre-sentence detention. I make the compensation orders sought by the Crown that you pay Christopher Hull the sum of $1,385.80. Pursuant to s6AAA of the Sentencing Act, I indicate that but for your pleas of guilty I would have imposed a total effective sentence of five years with a non-parole period of three years and four months.  Any other orders required?

60MR NIKAKIS:  No, Your Honour.

61HIS HONOUR:  All right.

62MS THOMAS:  Forfeiture and disposal orders.

63HIS HONOUR:  Yes, I will make the forfeiture and disposal orders sought by the prosecution in relation to the various items.

64MS THOMAS:  Yes, Your Honour.

65HIS HONOUR:  All right, I will terminate this link. 

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