Director of Public Prosecutions v Harrington

[2025] VCC 543

IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA

Revised

Not Restricted

Suitable for Publication

AT GEELONG

CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

CR 24-01721

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

CAROL HARRINGTON

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JUDGE:	HIS HONOUR JUDGE CHETTLE
WHERE HELD:	Geelong
DATE OF HEARING:	25 March 2025
DATE OF SENTENCE:	26 March 2025
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Harrington
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2025] VCC 543

REASONS FOR SENTENCE

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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the Director of Public Prosecutions	Mr R. De Vietri	Office of Public Prosecutions
For the Accused	Mr A. Hands	Sarah Pratt & Associates

HIS HONOUR: 

1Carol Marsden, although you are indicted under the name of Carol Leanne Harrington I shall call you Carole Marsden throughout this procceding as that is your preferred name.

2Carol Marsden, you have pleaded guilty to one charge of recklessly causing serious injury.  The facts of your offending are set out in Exhibit A, the prosecution opening for plea.  I am informed by your counsel that that document represents effectively an agreed statement of fact and I incorporate it into these reasons for sentence and sentence you on the basis of the facts set out therein.

3Very briefly stated, on 10 March 2024 you were residing in a group of units at Thomson. Your victim, Cheryl Challis, lived in another unit in the same complex.  On that day for some reason that is unknown, you went to her unit somewhere around about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, knocked on the door, and when Ms Challis opened the door, you struck her with an object, probably a cricket bat or baseball bat.

4You went into the house.  A melee occurred and effectively you assaulted her in her own home with a weapon, causing her serious injuries as set out in the prosecution opening.

5You were affected by drugs at the time and observed to be giving explanations and saying things that really did not make sense, and there is no evidence of exactly why you did what you did.

6Ms Challis tragically died yesterday, not from anything you did but from a pre-existing health condition, and you were aware of her death when you maintained your plea of guilty this morning.

7There is therefore no victim impact statement in this case, however, it is clear that she has been significantly impacted by what you did to her.  She was aged 68 at the time of the incident, and because of the injuries she sustained, she had anxiety, fear, was not happy, and felt she was not safe in her own safe.  She suffered memory loss, had sleeping issues, and had trouble doing the things she used to do.  All of those, I take into account in sentencing you.

8Your attack on Ms Challis is a serious criminal offence and sentences of lengthy terms of imprisonment are often imposed for offending such as yours. 

Personal circumstances

9Your personal circumstances are set out in the submissions filed by your counsel, but in a more lengthy fashion in the report of Aaron Cunningham (Exhibit 2).  You are now a 58-year-old female.  You were born in New South Wales and you were raised in Victoria by your mother.  Your parents were alcoholics, and your life was marked by violence and trauma in your family home.  You claim to have been the victim of sexual assault when you were young. You left home when you were 14.

10You have had two marriages and five children.  Tragically, one of your children died at the age of 16 in 2018. 

11You have little education.  You left school at Year 8 but you did complete your Year 12 by correspondence as an adult.  You have had a bit of work in various retail and cleaning facilities up until you were about 27 and you have since been in receipt of the Disability Support Pension.

12Your life has been marked by drug abuse; over the years you have used methylamphetamine and GHB.  You have a prior criminal record which is extensive.  You have prior convictions in the main for drug offences, trafficking offences, possession of drugs, you have breached community corrections orders over the years, and a connection between your use of drugs and this offending is evident from your prior criminal record.

13Your counsel relied upon a number of factors in mitigation.  Your plea of guilty came as soon as the offence of recklessly causing serious injury became available.  Prior to that there was an issue about intentional and perhaps aggravated burglary charges. Your plea of guilty has significant utilitarian value and you are entitled to a reduction in sentence to reflect that plea of guilty.  I take into account your deprived background in a general way as set out in the case of Bugmy in the High Court.

14Up until the concessions made by the prosecutor this morning on the sentence, I was of the view that a term of imprisonment longer than the one you have served was required in this case.  You were given a sentence indication by Judge Mullaly that has no real relevance to my sentencing task.  That was for a different offence and I am not bound by it. 

15However, one factor seems to me to weigh heavily in the sentencing exercise here.  You have got public housing at the unit that you were living in at the time of your offending, and that is still available to you to live.  If you were to stay in custody for a longer period of time, in all probability you will lose that housing. In your life of homelessness and disruption, that stable housing has been a stable factor that has seen you, apart from this spectacular offending, not offending and in a period of stability in your life.  And it is in the interests of the community that you keep that housing and keep that stability.

16The prosecutor pointed to the value to the community of your rehabilitation, which is entirely dependent upon you being drug free, and that in itself is dependent upon you living a stable existence and getting some assistance with your maintaining a drug-free status.  You have been in custody now for over a year and I have ultimately concluded that it is appropriate to accede to the request of your counsel, and indeed in accordance with the concession of the prosecution, sentence you to a combination sentence that involves the time you have served in custody together with a community corrections order.  This in my view is an extremely generous disposition.

17A community corrections order is not a soft option.  You will be required for two years to carry out community work, take treatment and assessment for drug abuse, treatment and rehabilitation for mental health, treatment and rehabilitation programs to reduce any risk of reoffending, and you would be under supervision during the course of the order.

18Ms Marsden, if you commit any offence in the next two years or you breach the order by non-compliance, you will be re-sentenced for this offending and you could confidently expect to spend at least as much time in prison as you have already, if you breach the order.  It is because of the factors conceded by the prosecution in the submissions of the prosecutor yesterday and today, that I have determined to in fact extend some mercy to what would otherwise be a significant gaol term.

19Are you prepared to undergo a community corrections order?

20OFFENDER:  Yes, I am.

21HIS HONOUR:  Well, stay off the juice.

22OFFENDER:  Will do.

23HIS HONOUR:  And stay off the methamphetamine.  The sentence of the court is, on the one charge of recklessly causing serious injury, you are sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 381 days, not including today, and declare a two year community corrections order with the conditions that I spelt out.

a)You are to perform 100 hours of unpaid community work.

b)You are to undergo treatment and rehabilitation for drugs, mental health and programs to reduce offending.

c)You are to be under supervision. 

d)I will allow 50 hours of the programs you carry out, to be counted against your community work.

e)You are to report to Level 5, 30 Little Malop Street, Geelong within 48 hours of today.

Section 6AAA declaration

24I indicate that but for your plea of guilty, I would have imposed a term of imprisonment of three and a half years with a non-parole period of two.

25I seriously hope that you do not have to come back before me again.

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