Director of Public Prosecutions v Hakai

[2024] VCC 560

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

AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

CR-23-00910

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

ALEX HAKAI

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JUDGE:	HIS HONOUR JUDGE MURPHY
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:	19 April 2024
DATE OF SENTENCE:	26 April 2024
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Hakai
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2024] VCC 560

REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject: CRIMINAL LAW
Catchwords: Arson – Reckless conduct endangering life – prohibited person in possession of firearm – Young Offender – Youth Justice Centre Detention – Relevant criminal history – Pre-existing conflict between accused and complainant – Offending at complainant’s family home – Complainant’s family present at time of offending – High-risk behaviour while under Youth Justice Probation Order – Limited engagement with Youth Justice counselling and vocational programs – No particular vulnerability to adult incarceration.
Legislation Cited: Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic)
Cases Cited:
Sentence: 27 months Youth Justice Centre Detention and a fine of $400

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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the Director of Public Prosecutions	Mr S. Devlin	Office of Public Prosecutions
For the Offender	Ms K. Ljubicic	Slaveski & Associates

Introduction

1HIS HONOUR:  Mr Hakai has pleaded guilty to one charge of arson, one charge of reckless conduct endangering life and one charge of being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm. He has also pleaded guilty to summary uplifted charges of possessing cartridge ammunition, dealing with property proceeds of crime, possessing a prohibited weapon, committing an indictable offence whilst on bail and failing to comply with a direction without reasonable excuse.

2The offending is alleged to have occurred on 21 and 22 September 2022. At that point Mr Hakai was aged 18 years and four months. He was living at home with his family.

3The circumstances of the offending are set out in two long documents (Exhibits A and C) that have been tendered in the course of the sentence indication hearing and plea. I incorporate them by reference.

4In short, the offending arises out of an inter-family dispute. In particular, with a 16 year old boy named Mr Likisone who lived with his family in the nearby suburb of Lalor.  Mr Hakai was living with his parents and siblings in Thomastown.  There was an ongoing dispute with Mr Likisone that initiated on 22 August 2022 when damage was caused to the accused’s property on.  The matter was not reported to the police.

5Following that event, a physical fight was arranged between Mr Hakai and Mr Likisone, to occur at a particular location, a supermarket carpark. This did not occur. 

6The subject of the offended occurred on 21 September 2022, after this non-fight event. The offending involved four people travelling from the home of Mr Hakai to the property of the complainant. This occurred at approximately 1.00 am in the morning. The four could not be individually identified. Mr Hakai, by his plea, admitted that he was one of them. On arrival to the property the group were armed with two Molotov cocktails and a jerrycan housing petrol. The complainant and six members of the his family were home at the time.

7The vehicle used by the group to drive to the property was a grey Mazda BT50 dual cab utility vehicle, bearing the registration number BSG638.  This vehicle had been stolen from Mill Park Leisure Centre the day prior, 20 September 2022.

8After exiting the vehicle, one of the four threw petrol from the jerrycan onto a vehicle that was sitting outside the property. They attempted to light it but it did not take off. Two others then threw Molotov cocktails through the front window of the home into a bedroom, causing the curtains to catch on fire. This gives rise to charge 1, Arson.

9The three then retreated to the nature strip, where the fourth person was standing. He was wearing a dark coat jacket. The fourth person proceeded to fire a firearm into the window of the front bedroom of the property, shattering the window. This was followed by a further five shots towards the front bedroom. Ben Junior Likisone was in this bedroom at the time.

10The prosecution case is that the accused, you, Mr Hakai, are complicit in the acts of arson. The prosecution does not nominate your individual act/s. 

11Similarly, regarding the discharging of the firearm towards the address, the prosecution do not allege that you were the one firing the gun. It is alleged that you were complicit in this conduct. This forms the basis of charge 2, reckless conduct endangering life, to which you have pleaded guilty.

12All these matters were captured on CCTV footage. Further CCTV footage seized by the police at your home at Thomastown indicates that at about 1.33 am you and another unknown associate returned to the Lilydale Cresent property. You entered the house wearing a light-coloured hooded jumper. 

13Subsequently, the police located bullets at your property which had incomplete similarities to bullet fragments found at the scene of the crime. They were unable to link DNA.

14The police attended at your property, your family home, at 8.00 am on 22 September 2022. Police entered the bungalow where you were living at the back of the property and found a loaded handgun containing six bullets on your bed.  This is the basis of gives rise to Charge 3 on the indictment, prohibited person in possession of a firearm. You had previously been dealt with for a firearm offence in the Children’s Court and thus you were a prohibited person.

15Police searched further on the property and found, along with the firearm, a number of other items that gave rise to the summary offences – possessing cartridge ammunition, dealing with property the proceeds of crime, that was a sum of money, possessing a prohibited weapon which was a machete and fail to comply with a reasonable excuse by failing to provide the PIN number of a mobile phone.  You were on bail at the time and as such were also charged with committing an indictable offence on bail.

16It is not clear whether any other people have been charged in relation to this offending. Your father has been charged with other offences and under the bail conditions you were on you were no longer able to live in the family home.

17When you were interviewed by the police you declined to provide a statement to them and gave a ‘no comment’ interview. 

18The police found a number of rounds of ammunition in your possession in that back bungalow that you were living in.  They also found items in your phone that linked you with the complainant’s address. This included a photo of the complainant, a photo of his licence and a photo of you wearing the jumper that you were wearing at the time of the offending.

19Subsequently, because you were over 18 at the time, you were remanded in custody. You later obtained Youth Justice bail and were on bail for some months. Before the Court were the progressive reports of the Youth Justice bail (Exhibits 5 and 6). You then breached bail by further offending and were returned to custody.  You have been in two or three different prisons, most recently being Port Phillip.  You have 369 days of pre-sentence detention.

20This proceeding was the subject of a sentence indication hearing. At that hearing your counsel sought a head sentence and a non-parole period and in the alternative she sought a Youth Justice Centre order.  I determined at that point to have you assessed for a Youth Justice Centre order, however this was unable to proceed until you had pleaded guilty. A few days later, you pleaded guilty to the offences on the indictment and then I had you assessed for a Youth Justice Centre order.

21Under the Sentencing Act the court must obtain a report to determine your suitability before you can be sentenced to a Youth Justice Centre order and the court did obtain such a report (Exhibit D). The court also had you assessed for a community corrections order (Exhibit E), for which you were found suitable.  The Youth Justice Centre report was dated 11 April 2024 and the author of the report, Ms Bowers, gave evidence on the resumed plea.

22The report notes the offending and also your explanation for the offending and further notes the chronology and that you were placed on supervised bail from May 2023 until it was revoked in December 2023. As I indicated, there are a number of progress reports.

23In the original Youth Justice service report (Exhibit 5) dated 30 May 2023, you were found not suitable for Youth Justice bail due to a range of factors including the high harm that was alleged against you in the offending and your history of alleged offending while on the probation order. The ability to mitigate the risk was seen to be a limiting factor.  Notwithstanding this you were granted bail and there are reports to the court indicating you were on bail and it was not revoked until 30 November 2023 when you committed further offending. 

24The Youth Justice Centre assessment report (Exhibit D) notes that it was compiled from all the records that the Youth Justice team had. Ms Bowers indicates that the engagement by you with Youth Justice was sporadic. However, I note that you did engage in four sessions with an AOD clinician. You did not participate in any other offence specific counselling. She notes also that you had re-offended and that that led to bail being revoked. The report notes that you received two warnings while on the bail program in relation to lack of compliance. It notes that you had been living with your uncle as you were unable to reside with your father in the family home. This was due to your father being either identified as a co-offender or having other matters before the courts.

25After you engaged in the four sessions with an AOD counsellor you indicated you no longer wanted to access the service and you refused to engage in any further drug and alcohol treatment despite reporting that you had been using cannabis and Xanax. You were offered a referral to the Orygen program but you failed to attend a scheduled appointment.

26You reported to Ms Bowers that you had had jobs in the past and that upon your release you would pursue employment.  Under the Youth Bail Program you had declined to be linked with any particular vocational support service.  There is a reference from a Muslim connect service (Exhibit 3). You had been engaging with them whilst in prison. It appears that once you were released from prison you did not continue this engagement.  The reference is positive as far as your engagement with that counsellor – or worker with that service.

27In her assessment of you Ms Bowers notes that you have been involved in a number of incidents in prison. She concludes that you have not presented as particularly impressionable or vulnerable and she concludes that your past involvement with Youth Justice:

“Demonstrates an overall inconsistent level of performance characterised by poor engagement and the initiation of warning process, as well as poor compliance to interventions put in place to address [your] offending-related criminogenic needs.”

28The report also notes your involvement with Youth Justice is also characterised by ongoing involvement in high risk, high harm offending behaviours while subject to the community-based youth probation order.  This resulted in you spending significant periods of time in custody when it was revoked.

29I incorporate the final two paragraphs of the report by reference. The final paragraph of the report concludes:

“The writer, and taking into consideration information provided from Port Phillip assessors that Mr Hakai is not particularly impressionable, immature or likely to be subject to undesirable influences in adult prison.  Whilst it is acknowledged that he is still a relatively young person, his current and previous periods on adult remand suggests that he is not presenting as particularly vulnerable or impressionable.  There are no reports to indicate that he has been the victim of violence, bullying or intimidation, however, there are reports of his previous time spent on adult remand of his involvement in a number of incidents ranging from assaults, contraband and abusive towards staff.”

30It goes on: 

“Whilst Mr Hakai indicates his preference to be placed in a Youth Justice custodial facility, his history with Youth Justice indicates an unwillingness to abide by the expectations required and his engagement to date has been superficial and largely on his own terms.”

31And having taken into account the various material that both reporters had, it is felt that you do not meet the requirements of s32(1)(a) or (1)(b) of thew Sentencing Act and you are not a suitable candidate.  So that is a finding that you are not likely to have reasonable prospects of rehabilitation.

32Ms Bowers was cross-examined and defended her report and elaborated on the basis of the report.  She conceded that she did not have access to a report from Dr Stelios, a neuropsychologist, dated 19 April 2024 (Exhibit 7), that was relied on by the defence in its submission.  Under cross-examination she accepted the report of Dr Stelios provided more information as to why you might have been guarded in your responses to Youth Justice.  Her report was based on how you presented as a whole and the author accepted – this is Ms Bowers - that she had not had the psychological information that was provided in Dr Stelios’ report because you had not accessed psychological assistance.

33She had the opportunity to read his report and having considered it, noted that your prospects of rehabilitation were better than she had previously thought but they were still based on your willingness to engage. She conceded under cross-examination that the reference to Orygen, which is the youth psychological service, was not a condition of your bail as distinct from being an option offered, and she accepted that during the period of being on supervised bail you had not been exited from that program. She accepted that you had attended 21 of 27 appointments when in the community. She would not accept that you would be exposed to undesirable prisoners but accepted that you would be in an adult prison situation. She conceded that being in prison might extend your criminal networks.

34She accepted, reluctantly, the assessment of Dr Stelios that you might be impacted by being in prison but she would not concede – you may be, but she would not concede that you would. She noted that involvement in incidents in prison is of concern and you do not present as vulnerable and hold your own within prison. However, she noted that there are always undesirable influences in prison.

Submissions

35Your counsel submitted that notwithstanding the adverse recommendation in the Youth Justice Centre report and the cautious concessions under cross-examination, it would still be open to the Court to find under s32 that your prospects of rehabilitation were reasonable. This was put on the basis that the report from Dr Stelios indicates that you do have insight. Further, he indicates that you have remorse and thus on two of these points Dr Stelios disagrees with the report of Ms Bowers. Further, given your age and the interventions likely to be available and your limited prior criminal history and support in the community, including the presence of your mother in Court, and the availability of housing with your uncle and the offer of a job with OnCall Welding (Exhibit 2), your prospects of rehabilitation must be regarded as good.

36Turning to the second criteria, counsel submitted that on the basis of the report of Dr Stelios it would be open to the Court to find at least that you are likely to be subject to undesirable influences in an adult prison.

Assessment

37It is clear from the opinion of Dr Stelios that further periods in adult prison with being exposed to adults older than you will present you as “at risk of developing bonds with older maladaptive peers”, and further he says:

“To date Mr Hakai has not been allowed to engage in psychological intervention which in my opinion is essential to assist with moderating his level of risk moving forward.  I note he is presently in custody in Port Phillip Prison where he is at risk of developing bonds with older maladaptive peers.  Given his history of gravitating towards negative peer influences, I am concerned that serving an extended period in such a setting is likely to result in forging bonds with further negative peer influences and impacting his rehabilitation potential moving forward.”

38He earlier said in his report that he had identified some problems with your psycho-social history which was characterised by modelling maladaptive behaviours by one of your primary care givers, namely your father. 

39He further goes on to report you continue to display significant difficulty in instances where you face emotionally challenging events, leading you to suppress your emotions and ultimately react inappropriately in cases where attempting to label and deal with emotions more broadly.

40He says it would appear that you have not been provided with a safe environment during early developmental periods concerning your emotional development.  And your father expected you to adopt a tough exterior to protect your immediate family members. 

41So he says:

“Further exploration of his father’s motivations for adopting a maladaptive approach is warranted and may assist with contextualising his actions, whether they be related to cultural expectations or previous experiences of potential racism. A combination of fear of his primary caregiver, maladjustment, and poor emotion regulation ultimately resulted in him gravitating towards negative peer influences as a means of practical and emotional support."

42And then he says you:

“…eventually commenced displaying symptoms of conduct disorder, including engaging in acts of theft, vandalism, and substance use; a combination of which has yet to be appropriately targeted and treated. Mr Hakai reported an over-reliance on negative peer influences over the last five years of his life, individuals who have shaped his thinking and perpetuated a range of negative behaviours.

43So I am of the view the report of Dr Stelios provides significant insights as to interventions that would assist in dealing with you.

44The central issue is whether you will respond to matters that are provided to assist your rehabilitation. The bail progress reports at this stage show that you have not responded to them providing you with offers of referrals to various support services including Orygen, mental health and vocational.

45It is clear from the report of Dr Stelios that you require appropriate psychological intervention to address psychological impairments arising from your relations with your father during your earlier upbringing.

46You indicated in the report of Dr Stelios that you would prefer to be among people of your own peer age and given that you have not been with prisoners of predominantly your own age in an adult setting, your explanation as to why you would prefer that rings true.  The risk of negative peer influences will be higher in the event that you are sentenced to a further prison term.

47Further, it is probable that any gang influence in prison would likely to be more pervasive in the prison system than otherwise.

48A Youth Justice Centre order has the advantage that it will be indeterminate in that within its term the authorities will determine whether to allow any supervised release. This will incentivise you to participate in any programs that are offered.

49As I have indicated, in order to sentence you to a Youth Justice Centre order, I am required to find that you meet the requirements under s32 of the Sentencing Act, and notwithstanding you have not been found suitable under the report I am satisfied that you have reasonable prospects of rehabilitation.

50Further, s32(2) provides:

“In determining whether or not to make a Youth Justice Centre order the court must have regard to (a) the nature of the offence and (b) the age, character and past history of the young offender.”

51Having considered the evidence of Ms Bowers and the report of Dr Stelios, and the submissions of your counsel, including the references tendered and in particular the one from On Call Welders Pty Ltd, I am satisfied that there are reasonable prospects for your rehabilitation.

52This conclusion is on the basis that you will be able to be provided with appropriate psychological assistance as recommended by Dr Stelios and other referrals as deemed appropriate by the Youth Justice authorities.

53In reaching the conclusion that a Youth Justice Centre order is appropriate, I have also had regard to the nature of the offences. They are serious offences. They were, however, committed in the context of what appears to be family group offending in that you had a dispute with a young person who was living in a family home just as you were living in a family home, but you were with three other unknown offenders.  It is not clear whether your father was involved but clearly if you were living in a family home or with an uncle he must have been aware of what you were up to, including the possession of a firearm and all this ammunition.

54Further, attending with three other offenders in the middle of the night has all the hallmarks of, not quite gang-related, but small gang-related offending.  It has all the hallmarks of group offending. Your participation is charged on the basis of being complicit in this offending with the prosecution unable to identify which of the four offenders engaged in the individual acts, and it is clear that you were not the one using the firearm, but a firearm was found in your possession the next day.  This gives rise to Charge 3.

55I am also required to have regard to your character and your past history. The reference from Mr Theo Koumis (Exhibit 8) is supportive of you as having good character, as is a support from a former teacher, Ms Atanasov, (Exhibit 8) who indicates that you were a good student at the Thomastown Secondary College and also that you participated in a number of local soccer clubs, and that again was a matter put on the plea by your counsel as a positive factor going to your history and your prospects.  Also the reference from the Muslim Connect organisation (Exhibit 3) provides some support and is positive in relation to your character and past history.

56All these references, including the offer of employment and housing with an uncle, indicate that there is some basis to find, and I do, that as you mature you will mature into a person able to engage in a law-abiding life. Your past history is a matter to take into consideration, however, and particularly given that you were four months into the youth probation order at the time, however, that was your first appearance in the Children’s Court and it was a non-conviction disposition.  The order itself was for serious offending including theft of motor vehicles, possession of a firearm and violent disorder, but your overall criminal history with only one appearance in the Children’s Court before appearing for the first time in this court, indicates that considerations of rehabilitation given your prior record are immediately to the fore.

57Further, I note you were granted bail in May 2023 notwithstanding that you were found not suitable for Youth Justice bail and you stayed on that for six months and were not exited, but you did re-offend. That is when you were placed in an adult prison.

58I have considered your age.  At the time of the offending you were aged 18 years and four months, you turn 20 next month. So on any view you are still a young offender.  You have spent a total of 369 days in adult custody and no doubt that has been a very salutary experience for you. 

Risk of contamination

59A significant matter, and one matter upon which a Youth Justice Centre order can be made, is an offender may be particularly impressionable, immature or likely to be the subject of undesirable influences in an adult prison.

60Clearly, the longer a person of your age remains in an adult prison the more likely it is that antisocial attitudes will become entrenched due to mixing with older maladapted adults, as noted by Dr Stelios.

61Ms Bowers was of the view that you are not particularly impressionable and you are able to hold your own in prison.

62Notwithstanding this, it is obviously in the longer-term community interest that any period in custody for a person of your age and exposure to persons of a criminogenic background is likely to impair your progress to becoming a successful law-abiding adult.

63The principles that the courts are to apply in dealing with young offenders are set out in the cases referred to by your counsel in her sentencing submission, and not disputed by Mr Devlin in his helpful sentencing submissions, and I incorporate by reference paragraphs 12 to 14 of your counsel’s sentencing submission (Exhibit 1).

64The offending here is serious and thus considerations of general deterrence and denunciation in the usual course will be given prominence.

65In the light of the material from Dr Stelios and the further material on your plea, and having regard to your age, it is clearly in the community interest that the focus be on your rehabilitation, particularly given this is the first time you have appeared before a higher court.

66Ultimately it is in society’s interest that you be reclaimed from the criminality that you have become involved in. Further, it is only the maturity that comes with the passage of years that leads to young offenders throwing off their antisocial past.

67In your case you have a relatively limited criminal history and it appears that the index offending here involved at least family group behaviour when you sought to engage in retribution against this young man in his family home.

68The presence of a firearm is very troubling and your failure to comply with the probation order is also of concern.

69Notwithstanding this, it is the experience of the courts that often youthful offenders do make mistakes and then finally move to a law-abiding maturity. In this case the facts going to my conclusion that you have good prospects of rehabilitation with appropriate support are such that I see this matter as very much where you could be regarded as a fork in the road in your relatively young life.

70As submitted by the learned prosecutor, ultimately you must participate in appropriate programs before it is likely that you will be granted any form of supervised release under a Youth Justice Centre order. Further, in the event that you do not co-operate with the Youth Justice authorities then it is highly likely that you will be returned to an adult prison.  As the learned prosecutor indicated, it is ultimately a matter for you.

71In sentencing you, I have determined to impose an aggregate sentence. The offending arises out of what is in effect a single transaction and thus considerations of an aggregate sentence are engaged.

72In assessing the seriousness of the offending, the fact that the offending is alleged as on a complicity basis, calls for some greater leniency on the basis of lower moral culpability.

73A further circumstance in considering your complicit role in the offending is that which is identified in the report of Dr Stelios that you have in the past looked to older peers as a result of malfunctioning, in a sense, within your own family unit and the role of your father and this is relevant to your overall culpability.

74In sentencing you I have noted also, according to the report of Dr Stelios, that there is evidence of remorse.

75Further, you are entitled to the benefit of your plea. You have facilitated the course of justice and you are entitled to the benefit of that and it is evidence of your remorse.

76I note there is no victim impact statement filed.

77Overall, as discussed with counsel in the course of the plea, rehabilitation must take a prominent part in sentencing you. It is on that basis that I have determined to impose a rehabilitative disposition by having found that you have reasonable prospects of rehabilitation then I am satisfied that a Youth Justice Centre order can meet all sentencing requirements in this case.

78So could you please stand.

79On all the charges, the indictable charges and all the summary charges, save the charge of possession of cartridge ammunition, you are sentenced to an aggregate sentence of two years and three months Youth Justice Centre Detention.

80On the charge of possessing cartridge ammunition, you are convicted and fined $400.

81I declare that you have served 369 days of pre-sentence detention.

82The prosecution have sought a forfeiture order and a disposal order, which I will make.

83Are there any other ancillary orders, Mr Devlin?

84MR DEVLIN:  Just those two, Your Honour.

85HIS HONOUR:  Thank you.  Mr Hakai, as I have indicated to you, you are at a fork in the road in your life and are turning 20 next month.  I am placing you on a Youth Justice order for two years and three months and I have declared you have already served over a year.  So it is a matter for you as to whether you are able to get supervised release from the Youth Justice authorities, and if you do not cooperate you will be back in Port Phillip. 

86Whether you like that prison or not, or whatever adult prison you go to, you will be under the control of the Youth Justice authorities as to your future for the next effectively one year and three months.  Before then, if you are released into the community and you commit further offending, you have got a criminal record now that will indicate that you will go straight back into adult prison for significant periods of incarceration.  Do you understand that?

87MR HAKAI:  I understand, Your Honour.

88HIS HONOUR:  What did I just say to you.

89MR HAKAI:  You gave me a chance and if I fuck up I go back to adult prison.

90HIS HONOUR:  Right, for longer and longer periods.  The other point is you’ve now got a not-insignificant record in relation to firearms and property offences. So as I have indicated to you, any judge dealing with you in the future will see your record, see that you have been given a rehabilitative disposition and then see that you have blown it and will then take the view that the only way that the community can be protected from you is by incapacitation – ‘incapacitation’ means being locked up where you can’t get out in the community to offend.  Do you understand what I am saying.

91MR HAKAI:  I understand what you’re saying, Your Honour.

92HIS HONOUR:  Right.  Now for the next period you will be offered, after the Youth Justice people speak to you and discuss with you what your hopes are under the Youth Justice Centre order, they have offered you these programs in the past but you’ve got to do your bit, as Mr Devlin indicated, to show that you’re going to respond.  And if they send you to Orygen or they send you to a mental health plan, a doctor or a counsellor, to sort out matters in your head, why you get angry quickly, do it – it’s your big chance.

93And so when you’ve completed those programs and if they do give you some supervised release, some form of parole or youth parole, you’ve got that gentleman up where he operates, being a welder, On Call Welding, you can do some trades work with him.  You’ve done a couple of courses to understand challenges in the prison, I have noted those they’re on the file. 

94So you’ve got your life ahead of you in the greatest country in the world and they’re screaming out for able-bodied males who can work, can turn up for work, do a job, whether it be holding the tools for a welder or learning how to be a welder or driving a forklift, you name it, they want them, but they want people who will turn up at 8 o’clock in the morning and work until five, five or seven days a week.  If you can do that, the world is your oyster. 

95But getting around with other males of your age who are involved in fighting and firearms and gang warfare, or gang behaviour, it’s a dead end.  And you’ve seen for the last 12 months that you’ve been in Port Phillip and other prisons what dead-end lives, a lot of the people you’ve been dealing with are there.  So hopefully you’ve had a taste of it and you’ll put it all behind you with the assistance of the Youth Justice people.

96So I have made those orders and the rest of your life is in your hands. 

97I want to thank Mr Devlin for his assistance in this matter, comprehensive assistance in terms of the sentence indication and plea and the crown opening, and also defence counsel, Ms Ljubicic, for her assistance putting together the plea and making the submissions.  Also I want to thank Ms Bowers and her co-author for their report and her for giving her evidence and hope that she can lead, if she is involved with Mr Hakai, lead him out of the valleys, into the heights of a productive citizen.

98MR DEVLIN:  Your Honour, could I just raise two very quick matters.

99HIS HONOUR:  Yes.

100MR DEVLIN:  Your Honour is right in referring to – there was a sentence indication opening and then there was an opening for the plea, I just wanted to make sure what was said at the plea was that - there was some slight difference in those documents ‑ ‑ ‑ 

101HIS HONOUR:  Yes.

102MR DEVLIN:  And it’s effectively the prosecution opening is that Your Honour’s sentenced upon…

103HIS HONOUR:  Yes, the highlighted – it outlines the basis upon which the complicity is put.

104MR DEVLIN:  Thanks, Your Honour.

105HIS HONOUR:  Thank you, Mr Devlin.  Adjourn the court sine die.

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