Director of Public Prosecutions v Harding

[2017] VCC 934

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

AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

CR 16-01729

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

RONALD THOMAS HARDING

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JUDGE:	HIS HONOUR JUDGE MONTGOMERY
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:
DATE OF SENTENCE:	10 July 2017
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Harding
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2017] VCC 934

REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject:
Catchwords:
Legislation Cited:
Cases Cited:
Sentence:

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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the Director of Public Prosecutions	Mr A. Moore	Ms J. Dunham
For the Accused	Mr D. McKenna

HIS HONOUR:

1Ronald Thomas Harding, you have pleaded guilty to one charge of possessing a substance, material documents or equipment for trafficking in a drug of dependence; one charge possessing a trafficable quantity of unregistered firearms, a trafficable quantity is three or more; one charge of possessing a drug of dependence; one charge of cultivating a narcotic plant, and; eight charges of handling stolen goods.

2You have also pleaded guilty to a number of summary charges;  namely unlawfully and insecurely possess cartridge ammunition; unlawfully possess an explosive, namely fireworks; possession of a prohibited weapon, namely three canisters of pepper spray; possession of a prohibited weapon, namely a laser pointer; possess a controlled weapon, namely a cattle prod; possess a controlled weapon, namely a blackjack baton, and; storing an unauthorised explosive, namely 15 Powerfrag explosive tubes.

3For the purposes of my sentencing, you have no other criminal history, although during the course of the plea I have been told of subsequent offending, and I received a community corrections report dated 16/06/2017.  Your counsel submitted that I could impose a combined sentence of custody and a community corrections.  According to that report and what your counsel told me, you have completed 98 hours of a 100-hour work order.

4The facts of the matter are set out in Exhibit 1, the prosecution opening, I will not recount the facts in any detail.  Any reader of these reasons can refer to that exhibit to place the sentence in its factual context.  Your counsel did not disagree with the summary.

5Simply put, pursuant to a Drugs Act search warrant, police raided your premises at Wangaratta South on 6 January 2016.  The charges arise out of the goods they found at those premises.  The premises were the clubhouse of the Tramps Motorcycle Club, which had a very small membership.  This was not a major outlaw bike club.  There is no suggestion that you were intending to traffic in the firearms, and I accept that.

6Your counsel filed written submissions and supplemented them orally.  Your counsel tendered a psychological report of Ian Mackinnon, and also some medical reports from the Ovens Medical Group.  In mitigation, he relied on:

your age;

(1)       your strong work history and family situation;

(2)       your daughters, who are both nurses, who are in court to support you;

(3)       your plea of guilty.  I accept it was an early plea;

(4)       you have no other criminal history;

(5)       the medical problems outlined in the psychological report;

(6)he asked me to look at the principal of totality, and submitted, as I said, I should look at a custody order and a community corrections order.  On the recent changes to the legislation, that means a sentence of 12 months or less.

7In the report of Mr Mackinnon, apart from setting out your family background and your work history, which is a good one, at the time of your arrest you were working in a firewood business.  You have some medical history, you had had a heart attack in 2015.  You began regularly consuming alcohol and smoking cannabis in your early 20s, and then started using other illicit substances, including amphetamine and cocaine.  You started smoking methylamphetamine in 2013.  You had a daily use of between 0.5-1 grams of ice. 

8Whilst in gaol, you have had visits from your daughters.  You intend to resume your work in the firewood supply industry. 

9He said you have no major diagnosable psychological disorder.  Your intelligence fell within the normal adult range.  He said he did not believe that you had an entrenched antisocial or criminal character.  He diagnosed you had polysubstance abuse disorder and adjustment disorder.

10In sentencing you, I am required to balance the interests of the community in denunciating criminal conduct with the interests of the community to seek to ensure as far as possible offenders are rehabilitated into society.  I express my denunciation of the behaviour. 

11The basic purposes for which a court may impose a sentence are general deterrence and specific deterrence, general rehabilitation, denunciation and protection of the community.  In sentencing you, I must have regard to a range of matters, such as the seriousness of the offending, your culpability for it, and your personal circumstances.  I have taken into account all of the submissions made by your counsel and the reports that he tendered.

12In particular, I take into account your plea of guilty.  It is an early plea, it is an indication of acceptance of responsibility by you for your offending, and have saved the court the time and expense of a jury trial.  I take into account your age.  You are now aged around 53, you have no other criminal history.  Your personal circumstances, and I have considered the issue of totality, and I am left with this conundrum.

13Why at your age, and with your excellent work history, and what would appear to be an excellent upbringing of your two daughters, who are nurses, you would get involved in this type of criminal activity is a total mystery to me.  No reason has been advanced why you had all these items at your property, and why you had the drug paraphernalia.

14When I say no reason was advanced, one was floated, if that is the way to describe it, in that it was put that you are a magpie, a hoarder.  I totally reject that as some explanation as to why you would have had all those stolen goods on your property.

15If I was to speculate, it would seem to me that there are one or two options.  One, you are involved, or you are taking responsibility for others in some criminal activity, or two, you have had some sort of midlife crisis with fantasies of becoming wannabe outlaw bikie. 

16As I indicated during the plea, this is serious offending, and in particular because of the number of charges, and it is for those reasons that I reject your counsel's submission that a sentence of 12 months or less would be an appropriate one.

17On Charge 1, I sentence you to a term of imprisonment of 12 months;

18On Charge 2, six months;

19Charge 3, one month;

20Charge 4, one month.  I accept that Charge 4, the substance was for your personal use;

21On Charges 5-12, I impose an aggregate sentence of 18 months.  I direct that four months of the sentence on Charge 1, and two months of the sentence on Charge 2, be served cumulatively with each other and with the base sentence, which is the aggregate sentence.  So that makes a total effective sentence of 24 months.  I direct that you serve a non-parole period of 12 months.

22In relation to the summary matters, on each of the Summary Matters 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 34, it is a $100 fine on each.  On 21, you are convicted and discharged.  That is a total of $600, and I grant you a stay of three months.

23Pursuant to s.6AAA of the Sentencing Act, I declare that if you had proceeded to a trial and you were convicted by a jury, you would have received a sentence in the order of four years with a non-parole period of two years.

24I declare that the 36 days that you have served already in relation to these matters be reckoned to be part of the term of imprisonment I have just imposed.

25Are there any other matters that I need to attend to, or other orders sought?

26MS DUNHAM:  I understand the forfeiture and disposal orders were signed last week?

27HIS HONOUR:  Yes, I have already signed all that material.

28MS DUNHAM:  Thank you Your Honour. 

29HIS HONOUR:  Anything else?

30MR McKENNA:  No Your Honour. 

31HIS HONOUR:  No?  All right, thanks.  So that means two years with 12 months, Mr Harding.  I certainly hope that when you get out you give this sort of association and behaviour a big miss and get on with the rest of your life.  Thank you, you may take Mr Harding out.  Adjourn the court until 10.30, thank you.

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