Director of Public Prosecutions v Hassan
[2022] VCC 1842
•21 October 2022
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA AT Melbourne CRIMINAL DIVISION | Revised Not Restricted Suitable for Publication |
CR 21-02273
CR-21-02274
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| v |
| MOHAMED HASSAN & ANOR |
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JUDGE: | HIS HONOUR JUDGE GUCCIARDO | |
WHERE HELD: | Melbourne | |
DATE OF HEARING: | 4 April 2022, 8 June 2022 | |
DATE OF SENTENCE: | 21 October 2022 | |
CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | DPP v Hassan & Anor | |
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2022] VCC 1842 | |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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SubjectCriminal Law. Sentence upon plea of Guilty.
Catchwords: Joint indictment - aggravated burglary - theft - cause injury recklessly -
possess two or more firearms - possession of a drug of dependence -
cultivation of a narcotic plant - commit an indictable offence whilst on bail -
possession of cartridge ammunition - possession of a prohibited weapon -
blind and vulnerable victim - prior criminal history - early plea of guilty -
Covid-19 delay – evidence of remorse
Legislation Cited:
Cases Cited:Djemal v The Queen 2020 VSCA 25.
Sentence: Hassan – Total effective sentence of 4 months imprisonment with Community
Corrections Order for 24 months. Tseros - Total effective sentence of 5
years imprisonment with a non-parole period of 3 years.
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APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the Director of Public Prosecutions | Mr P. Pathmaraj | Mr M. Thackaberry |
| For the Accused | Ms N. Giorgianni | |
| Ms S. Upperton |
HIS HONOUR:
1Mohamed Hassan and Alexandros Tseros, you pleaded guilty to charges in a joint indictment which related to the two of you and to one Farischa Bibi.
2Your plea proceeded before me sometime ago and I have had to adjourn the plea of Bibi. Thereafter her plea was not been able to proceed, I had intended that the three of you as co-accused would each make a plea before the court together with the other co-accused in order to clarify aspects of responsibility, culpability and accessorial liability, which may have arisen giving each of you an opportunity to make submissions as to your own position, having heard the other co-accused's make their submissions, with the primary aim to ensure that any disagreement or dispute was clarified and resolved as to the role and part played by each of you in your offending, which may have impacted on issues of parity and appropriate sentence.
3Having given Ms Bibi many opportunities to appear and make her plea, I decided to proceed to hear your plea, that is for each of the two of you separately and given the passage of time, I now proceed to sentence you even though Ms Bibi's matters are still to be finalised.
4She faced one charge of obtaining property by deception, aggravated burglary and theft. You Mr Hassan faced a charge of aggravated burglary and one of theft. You Mr Tseros faced the charge or aggravated burglary, theft causing injury recklessly, possessing two or more firearms, cultivation of a narcotic plant and possession of a drug of dependence.
5I note that each of you also faces related summary offences. Mr Hassan, that of committing an indictable offence whilst on bail and you Mr Tseros, three related summary offences of committing an indictable offence whilst on bail, possession of cartridge ammunition, possession of a prohibited weapon.
6The circumstances of your offending are set out in a detailed summary by the prosecution, dated 5 January 2022. I will refer to it briefly to describe your offending.
7
The offending took place in April 2021. And at that time you, Mr Hassan, were
31 years old, now 32. You Mr Tseros was 29 years old, now 30. Ms Bibi was
31 years old, now 32 and at the time she was married to you Mr Hassan.
8
The victim was 58 years old Mr Zammit. He was a blind man living alone in Albion. He was Bibi's stepfather having married her mother in 1999. He separated from her in 2004 and as a result of this brief relationship Mr Zammit came to know his wife's sister, Ms Barbara Falzon. After the separation however, he did not have any contact with any family members. His then wife and mother of your
co-offender Ms Bibi, has since died.
9Mr Hassan at the time of the offending you lived with Ms Bibi in Tarneit, and you Mr Tseros were known to Ms Bibi and Mr Hassan through your ex-partner who is Ms Bibi's cousin.
10
In early 2021, Ms Bibi rang Mr Zammit's brother. She introduced herself as Barbara. The younger sister of Mr Zammit's ex-wife. She asked him for
Mr Zammit's phone number and ultimately gave her phone number so that
Mr Zammit could call her. Some days later, the victim's brother spoke to
Mr Zammit about the call from Barbara. Mr Zammit indicated he was happy to receive a call from her because he was excited to catch up after so long. Ms Bibi was provided with his number.
11On 18 April Bibi rang Mr Zammit as Barbara, saying she wanted to visit him at his home. She was provided with his address. Later that evening she went to Zammit's house and identified herself as Barbara. Mr Zammit noted Barbara's voice was different from what he recalled but he accepted it was Barbara Falzon as he had not heard her voice for a long time and he could not see her because of his blindness.
12
What proceeded thereafter on that evening and on two other occasions in subsequent days, was that using this ruse as Bibi deceived Mr Zammit as he understood it, to lend her an amount of money a thousand dollars. He provided her with a card and a PIN number. On the first occasion Bibi withdrew a thousand, on the second occasion instead of purporting to deposit 1500 into his account, she withdrew another thousand and on a third occasion at a petrol station with
Mr Zammit's debit card and PIN number withdrew a thousand dollars in cash from his bank account having asked to borrow 500.
13On the first occasion, Ms Bibi had given Zammit a bracelet, purportedly a security for the loan, telling him that it was worth eight and a half thousand dollars. At the end of all the transaction withdrawing cash, she asked Mr Zammit if he still had the bracelet, he told her he'd given it to his sister. Ms Bibi was angry about this and during the first visit she had questioned about his rental circumstances. He told her his rent was 260 per week and that the unit was managed by Bells Real Estate. During these days, the two of you and Ms Bibi decided and devised a plan for you Tseros, to enter Mr Zammit's home by subterfuge and steal property from his home.
14
On 24 April 2021 Mr Tseros you called Mr Zammit and identified yourself as, 'From the Government'. You told him that you were from Bells Real Estate and had contacted the government to check the batteries on Mr Zammit's smoke alarm.
Mr Zammit believed you to be a genuine caller. At about quarter past four in the afternoon, the three of you drove to Mr Zammit's home. Ms Bibi waited in the car. You Mr Tseros and Mr Hassan approached the front door and knocked. When the victim enquired as to who you were by asking is that you Jason? You Mr Tseros replied, 'Yes, I'm Jason.'
15The victim let you in, Mr Tseros, while you Hassan remained at the front door. You Tseros once inside heard - Mr Zammit heard you place an object on the ground and believed you had brought in and set down a toolbox. He told you Mr Tseros that the smoke alarm was near the bathroom and he heard you make - move a chair in that direction. Mr Tseros, you then asked if you could use the victim's phone to call and he handed his phone to you. You then asked where his wallet was and if he had any credit cards there. The victim told you those items were with his sister.
16You, Tseros, then approached the victim and ripped a gold necklace from his neck. You then struck him to the left-side of the head causing him to fall and hit his head on a coffee table. He lost consciousness. He sustained injuries to his head and face including superficial abrasions and a 3 centimetre shallow laceration to the right temple aspect of his skull.
17The two of you then returned to the car where Bibi was. You had taken the gold chain, a Bluetooth speaker, two mobile phones and a cordless home phone. At the time of this offending, you were both on bail for unrelated matters.
18Around 5 pm, the victim's brother Mario assisted - arrived to find his brother injured. A pool of blood in the living room and he called Triple 0. Police attended. Your fingerprints Mr Tseros were later found on a box which had contained one of the mobile phones taken during the aggravated burglary.
19Early on 29 April 2021, search warrants were conducted on Bibi's home. She was arrested as she drove past her address. You, Tseros were arrested when you walked out of her home. You, Mr Hassan were also at those premises. Police arranged for Bibi's two children who were at her premises with her, at her arrest to go into your care. Later you were also arrested. Police found the mobile phones which had been stolen and seized Bibi's phone used to contact the victim.
20When they arrested you Mr Tseros you told police you'd known Bibi for a week and she'd asked you to do jobs for her. As to the victim, you said he owed money to Bibi but you didn't know the details and you said you felt sorry for the victim.
21Your treatment of him at the time of the offending belies this ingenuous answer. You also denied doing anything to the victim, or getting anything from him or the house. You said you only found out late that he was blind, this, I also doubt.
22
In your home, Mr Tseros, when police searched it, they found two improvised handguns and other items the subject of a related summary offence Charge 12 of possession of cartridge ammunition. Four 22 short calibre cartridges, two
12-gauge shotgun cartridges, three 12-gauge shotgun cartridges and twenty-six 22 long rifle calibre rimfire cartridges and two 22 long rifle rimfire cartridges as well as a ninja throwing star the subject of another summary offence, possession of a prohibited weapon.
23A cannabis plant growing in a pot in a shed was the subject of a charge of cultivating a narcotic plant. It weighed 4 grams. A press-sealed bag of cannabis weighing 2 grams was found in your bedroom and is the subject of Charge 7, possession of a drug of dependence. A gold chain in a container was found on the top shelf of your bedroom and a Bluetooth speaker was on top of your bedhead. You were interviewed by police. You said Ms Bibi sought your assistance to collect money from people but you always refused. You denied ever attending the victim's house or assaulting him and stated that you were being set up.
24Later you said, you had, 'Nothing to show', for the incident at the victim's house. You then gave an account of going to those premises, and you again lied about entering the victim's home, or assaulting him. You denied knowledge of the cannabis plant, you said the firearms did not belong to you and as to the ammunition, they'd been there for a long time.
25
Mr Hassan, you were also interviewed by police. You said initially you knew nothing about the alleged incident. Later you said the victim was your
father-in-law and admitted being at his address with Tseros, but that you didn't know what had taken place inside. You admitted the aggravated burglary, but were not prepared to say why or how. You admitted it was your idea for a call to be made to the victim from the real estate agent about fixing the smoke alarm. You then said you were fully responsible for the events, but that you did not tell Tseros to assault the victim. You told police you said to Tseros, 'The guy's blind don't hurt him. You're faking an inspection, do your thing.' You admitted having taken his phone.
26Following the interview, you wrote a letter to the victim to say sorry and that you had done him wrong. You explained your connection by way of Ms Bibi, and indicated you had forced your wife to do stupid things like take money from him and that your intention was to make sure you repaid the money stolen when you could.
27The prosecution accepts this letter which was apparently written at the request of the police after your arrest, contained significant admissions as to the aggravated burglary and submitted that the court could be satisfied your pleas of guilty are accompanied by true and genuine remorse. I accept that your plea is so accompanied. I accept this remorse and regret, given the way your relationship with Farischa Bibi unravelled also, thereafter, and the way that you more likely manipulated to assist her in her scheme. However, your participation was procured, you were a willing participant in this hair brain scheme which ended up injuring an elderly blind man.
28
Mr Zammit, the victim prepared a victim impact statement. He described briefly the events of the day, the violence upon him. He lost consciousness and the wounds took awhile to heal. His physical recovery after hospitalisation at
Sunshine Hospital took two to three months. He had trouble sleeping thereafter and suffered with nightmares and recurring thoughts. He experienced ongoing fear and distrust of people, he is hypervigilant, fearful of noise and people at the door and of people's general intentions. A victim's assistance program helped him change a security door. He remains distrustful and anxious and I take this impact statement into account.
29In my view, the objective gravity of your offending is to be assessed by factors which are common to you both and some which distinguish your blame worthiness in this matter. Although the aggravated burglary and theft, are of themselves not confrontational in the sense of which that term may describe an entry designed to confront the person or person inside premises, arising out of a contention, a disagreement or a desire to punish and confront the intended victim.
30The aggravated burglary was nevertheless one which was designed to achieve the purpose of stealing from the victim, by entering into his residence on a false pretext. It was planned, premeditated and relatively sophisticated by reference to the pretext devised to facilitate entry. It was committed in company in effect. The fact that you Mr Hassan did not actually enter the premises, does not relieve you of your complicity in the aggravated burglary, lessens your culpability to some slight extent for that offence.
31You both knew that the victim was a frail, vulnerable old man, who was blind and this renders this offence more grave. It is accepted by the prosecution that the assault then perpetrated by you Mr Tseros upon the victim, did not form part of the initial plan but nevertheless you Mr Hassan, were part of the agreement to enter these premises within intent to steal and are similarly guilty of the theft that occurred. I have already mentioned the differences between you, which relates to your remorse, which in my mind differs one from the other.
32
In the sense that in your case Mr Hassan it was readily immediate. In your case
Mr Tseros it developed over a much longer time. Similarly, as between the two of you, you were both on bail at the time of the offending committed and you had been made the subject of a related summary charge in relation to that.
33Certainly, the offending following upon Ms Bibi's deliberate and exploitative offending of deception upon the victim, was a brazen criminal enterprise taking place in the mid-afternoon. You Mr Tseros became a party to the plan as the person who was in effect going to carry out not only the deception on the victim but effect the physical entry to gain access to the victim's property.
34Your participation was purposeful conduct, which you then in effect transformed into further violent offending. Your moral culpability is enhanced by the unprovoked and cowardly assault of a vulnerable victim. This further offending which is separate from the aggravated burglary is connected to in the theft, but raises the objective gravity of the totality of your offending as to distinguish you significantly from Mr Hassan, in terms of the issue of parity and the ultimate appropriate disposition.
35You, Tseros are also charged with other offences and summary offences. Your situation before the court is further differentiated by perspective prior criminal history of each of you.
36Your history, Mr Hassan, is limited to obstruction and hinder police offences in 2014 from Adelaide and 2019 in Perth. Driving offences from South Australia from 2011 to 2014 including a bail offence. In Victoria you were fined for threatening words in a public place in 2012 and also in 2012, driving offences as well as assault with a weapon and driving in a manner dangerous for which you were fined $2,000 aggregate.
37
You were on bail originally for offending in September 2020 involving the payment of some fuel at a petrol station where you became aggressive. I note that after the offending I am dealing with an intervention order was put in place with Ms Bibi as the protected person and you as the respondent in June 2021. But in August 2021 you and her were escorted by South Australian Police at the
South Australian Victorian border where you were arrested for breach of the IVO on bail conditions. At the time of these offences I repeat, you and Ms Bibi were married and lived together.
38Mr Tseros your prior criminal history spans also from 2012 to the present but includes more serious offending. In 2012 you appeared charged with motor vehicle theft. In 2015 you were convicted and placed on a Community Corrections Order for possession of a controlled weapon, criminal damage, driving offences and drug possession, make threats to kill and contravention of safety intervention order.
39
In 2016, without conviction, you received a bond for affray and recklessly cause injury. In 2017 you were fined for assault with a weapon, assault, burglary, theft and escaped from police. In 2019, you were placed on another
Community Corrections Order for dangerous driving whilst being pursued by police. Supplying drug of dependence to a child, resist police, property damage, entering a private place without authorisation, possession of cannabis.
40In my view, the offence of recklessly causing injury, should be viewed and dealt with as a separate and discreet offence, for which you Mr Tseros will be dealt with.
41Aggravated burglary carries a maximum penalty of 25 years and by that maximum the legislators have indicated the offence gravity. The entry into the home of a vulnerable blind, elderly man to steal from him is conduct deserving of denunciation and deterrence. The priors which both of you have, indicated a disregard for the law and in slightly diverging weight, specific deterrence is relevant.
42General deterrence is also important so as to deter like-minded persons from similar serious misconduct. In your case Mr Tseros your conduct once inside the house calls for condign punishment for your gratuitous and unprovoked violence. Theft also which carries a maximum of 10 years was a discreet offence in which you both participated and although it is a discreet offence the amount of cumulation will be slight in view of the fact that the intention to steal was part and parcel of the aggravated burglary committed.
43In this sense, I am conscious of not imposing double punishment on either of you. You, Mr Tseros also face further offences on the indictment and summary of the later charges. You were not a prohibited person at the time of the offending, and the firearms seized from your room were in early stages of production or assembly requiring some modification, before being capable of this charging of projectile.
44However, some modifications would have allowed for such capability. Despite these inherent limitations, general deterrence and community protection are important considerations in sentencing firearms offences, see Djemal v The Queen 2020 VSCA 25.
45As to the charge of cultivation of a narcotic plant, I am satisfied on the balance of probabilities that the offence was not committed by you for purpose related to trafficking in that plant. This means the lower applicable sentence regime applies. Likewise in relation to possession of a drug of dependence, I am satisfied on the balance of probabilities that the offence was committed in relation to a quantity of cannabis that is not more than a small quantity, all for a purpose related to trafficking in cannabis to which the lower penalty applies.
46During the course of the plea the prosecution conceded that the possession of a drug of dependence and the cultivation of a narcotic plant, wherein all likelihood for personal use and I proceed given the relatively small amounts concerned and mis-concession to apply the lower sentencing regime applicable.
47I take into account the pleas of guilty for each of you. In each case they were made at the earliest possible opportunity which means they carry a significant utilitarian value of having avoided a trial and further ordeal for the victim and the costs of such a trial. This utilitarian value is significantly heightened by virtue of the pleas having been entered during the pandemic, which has placed great burdens upon the criminal and justice system. It will attract in each case a more pronounced amelioration of sentence.
48I accept in your case Mr Hassan, as I have said, the pleas are accompanied by remorse. That view in relation to you Mr Tseros is more guarded. You denied your involvement and then minimised your role. It may be that your period of reclusion on remand, has given you some greater appreciation of the wrongfulness of your behaviour. Some seven months later you express sentiments of remorse to family and to Ms Cidoni, your psychologist.
49In January of this year, you penned a letter to Mr Zammit in which you write of your remorse. Although this sentiment was clearly near the immediate nor reasonably proximate to the offending, I accept there maybe a growing sense of it as to your culpability is clearer to you and time passes.
50I am prepared to accept that this level of remorse is genuine, even if it has come as a result of your imprisonment. In my view given all the aspects I've outlined there will be disparity between the two of you by necessity for your offending.
51I take into account your personal circumstances.
52
You, Mr Hassan were remanded on 29 April 2021, but bailed the next day. Your bail was revoked on 11 August. You have a hundred and 28 days by way of
pre-sentence detention referrable to offending. An application for summary jurisdiction was refused in October 2021 and you were bailed in December 2021.
53You are now 32 years of age. Your parents both live in Perth. Your father is in ill health. You were born in Mogadishu in Somalia. You fled and over the next four years through other African nations, you reunited with your parents when aged 12 and you were granted refugee status in Australia. Six of your 10 siblings live in Australia.
54You attended until halfway through Year 11 at school and at the time your parents sent you to Perth to support an older sister. You then returned to Melbourne, but as you were unwilling to repeat Year 11, you then went to Adelaide to work, found work in landscaping. In Adelaide you met Ms Bibi and eventually returned to Melbourne with her. You both then moved to Perth and you there married and worked. Ms Bibi had two children from a previous partner, and had two children with you. When you returned again to Melbourne, DHHS as it then was, became involved with the family for reasons which were not made clear to me. And in August 2021, your children were taken from your care.
55As of 17 October 2021, the date of the report of Ian MacKinnon, the consultant psychologist who assessed you. You told him you had not seen your children since April 2021. Prior to your August remand you had been living with Bibi on and off. At the time of the first listing of the plea, Bibi was pregnant with what you believed was your child, but which you subsequently learned may have been someone else's child. You were unsure of a reconciliation at that time.
56Early in 2021 after a series of jobs in labouring at the Adelaide Holden plant in a plastics factory and as a truck driver you had casual employment as a warehouse man. You intended to return to truck driving eventually as well as obtaining a pilot's licence or an automotive apprenticeship.
57In summary, Mr MacKinnon found that you suffered from mixed anxiety and depression disorder and a polysubstance abuse disorder given your long history of smoking cannabis and drinking alcohol to excess. You also used ice with alcohol and cannabis in 2021.
58During your remand you worked as a unit billet but were not able to commence any rehabilitative programs as a consequence of COVID-19. Based on your account as to a head injury in 2012 and damage to your jaw broken in two separate incidents. Mr MacKinnon opines you are likely to have suffered an acquired brain injury, but it is a provisional diagnosis in his report. At the time of assessment, you were suffering from anxiety and depression disorder, due to your antecedent history of childhood trauma related to your early life in Somalia, a refugee transient state.
59According to Mr MacKinnon you do not have an inherently anti-social or criminal character and appeared genuinely distressed and remorseful over your offending. The polysubstance abuse was in remission, but you may continue to be at risk of relapse after your release. In his opinion your disorders contributed to your offending, eroding your sense of morality and responsibility and degrading your ability to reason and make sound judgment, fuelling irresponsible and criminal impulses.
60
On your behalf the court also received a number of reports from the
Court Integrated Services Program by way of suitability report and updates from December 2001 to February 2022 and progress notes. As of February 2022, you struggled to abide by requirements of case management, did not stay in contact and failed to attend a neuropsychological assessment. As of that later date the writer of the progress report could not confidently comment on your prospects.
61As of March 2022, you had re-engaged and your motivations seemed to have dramatically improved. You had obtained a mental health care plan from a GP, had scheduled appointments with a psychologist. A neuropsychologist report confirmed the traumatic brain injury with ongoing cognitive impairments further impacted upon your substance use.
62In June 2022, a CISP report consisted of a letter from the case manager in which he noted, you had yet to follow up on the mental health referral, but had maintained abstinence from alcohol and drugs. I note a neurological assessment report was tendered to the court dated 7 March 2022, by Alison Schokman, a Senior Clinical Neuropsychologist for CISP.
63The 2012 incident is noted as an admission to The Royal Melbourne Hospital for neurosurgical intervention, after consuming alcohol at a party which hospitalisation resulted in you being in a coma for two months. You went to the Royal Talbot for brain injury related rehab and extensive physical rehab to return to walking subsequent to a craniotomy.
64
The writer noted your shame and remorse during your assessment. She noted the acquired brain injury is a permanent and lifelong disability. She opined that occupational therapy NDIS support and co-ordination and psychological therapy would all be beneficial. I had you assessed for a Community Corrections Order which found you suitable. An additional Mental Health Advice and
Response Service report was obtained. You were then on anti-depressants, had a mental health condition, it was recommended for any Community Correction Order.
65The Community Correction Order report assessed you as a moderate risk of reoffending. And you again asserted an ongoing abstinence from substances. The prosecution submitted that I should impose a combined sentence, that is a term of imprisonment with a Community Corrections Order. Having regard to objective gravity of the offending by you, Mr Hassan general deterrence, just punishment and denunciation.
66The defence called your older brother Ahmed Ali Hassan and he was an impressive witness. He gave evidence about your head injury which he said changed your personality. Thereafter he said you were subject to mood swings, more reckless, gullible behaviour and associated with the wrong people. He said you had always been a family-oriented man but Ms Bibi was very manipulative and you needed to ask permission of her for everything. You became subservient to her. In this context during the plea the prosecution agreed that the part of your letter to the victim, in which you assert that you had forced Bibi was an attempt to shift the blame away from her.
67Your brother also gave evidence about your early years as a refugee. He said you agreed to plead guilty because you had to take responsibility. He asserted you had gone along with the plan, because you thought it was to retrieve the bracelet which Ms Bibi wanted returned. He said your children were now in his care and that Ms Bibi was not in touch with them. He gave evidence about your guilt and shame over these events, but the prosecution agreed your offending was in the lower spectrum of aggravated burglary. You knew the bracelet would be taken back and that you foresaw other items being taken as well.
68The defence argued that the legal process had had a salutary and shocking effect on you and that you missed one court date because you had made a suicide attempt after which you were found unconscious in a park.
69In my view you are the least culpable of the three participants. Your pre-sentence detention has been onerous as your first experience of incarceration with COVID conditions having deprived you of the possibility of visits and counselling. In my view the court asks whether all the sentencing principles applicable could be met by a Community Corrections Order with time served used as a combination sentence. In my view, the answer to that question is yes and I intend to make sure an order in your case.
70Mr Tseros, you enthusiastically took part firstly in the ruse to enter the victim's home misleading him into thinking you were a smoke alarm technician, arranged to attend by rental agents, but having gained access you then assaulted him viciously without any provocation except to ensure that you carried out the theft of objects unimpeded.
71This was a cowardly and callous assault on a blind, vulnerable victim in his own home. You have called the victim earlier in order to set up the means by which you would gain entry. And when you did you gratuitously hurt him. This disgraceful conduct deserves punishment and calls for denunciation, deterrence, both specific and general. I take your plea into account. It was as I have said, indicated and given at the earliest available opportunity.
72I take your personal circumstances into account.
73You are 31 years old, born in Melbourne. Your mother is a mail clerk and your father is a security guard. They remain supportive and you have regular contact with them. You have an older brother. You went to secondary school to Year 9. You then worked for an uncle and then commenced an automotive apprenticeship, which meant an equivalent to a pass in Year 10. You completed two and a half years at Melbourne City Toyota, but you left before you completed. You then did a panel beating and spray-painting apprenticeship over three years and you have worked in that field since.
74You are confident of work upon your release.
75Around the age of 27 you had a relationship with Natasha. She had a child in her care which you helped to look after when living together. After some nine months the relationship became abusive and she drank heavily. When she intentionally ran you over with her car the relationship ended. You were hospitalised for a week, you had fractures, scars and you sustained a head injury. Police were involved.
76After this you were in a relationship with Jasmine and you were together some 17 months. She had a daughter from a previous relationship who was in protective care. That relationship was also tumultuous and she was violent towards you. She assaulted you in company of friends and your father rescued you but not before your hand was fractured. This injury caused you problem and you underwent surgery two months before being remanded.
77Your mother described you to Psychologist, Gina Cidoni, as naïve, immature, poorly equipped to handle yourself in these relationships.
78At the time of the offending, you were also abusing methamphetamines and GHB. You had begun using methamphetamine during the panel beating apprenticeship, so your use was longstanding. You had known your co-accused only briefly about a week and had met them through your ex-partner. You followed Ms Bibi's instructions in terms of being asked to retrieve a bracelet, but your actions in the home were outside the scope of that agreement.
79
The court received a psychological report from Gina Cidoni, dated
November 2021. Ms Cidoni noted, that as part of a previous
Community Corrections Order you had attended five sessions of counselling, but no diagnosis was proffered or medication prescribed.
80
You had obtained a medical mental health care plan but had not begun counselling. In custody you had been on an Avanza an anti-depressant as well as another anti-depressant escitalopram. Ms Cidoni summarised your drug-taking history from aged 17 onward involving alcohol, cannabis and methamphetamines and GHB. She noted no though disorder or delusional beliefs. Intellectual testing indicated borderline to low average capacity. You present as anxious, lonely and socially apprehensive. Your illicit substances opine Ms Cidoni, reduce your tension. Still fantasies of enhanced esteem and bolster your diminished
self-confidence.
81
You experience flashbacks and nightmares and intense anxiety and
hypo-vigilance, anger and panic attacks with a chronically depressed mood. You lack insight and consequential thinking skills and you present as highly impressionable, preferring to follow rather than lead. Your thought processes are immature and insecure. You presented with a borderline cognitive function on verbal and memory tests, these cognitive deficits indicate poor impulse control and acting without thinking.
82Clinical diagnosis is post-traumatic stress disorder, generalised anxiety, persistent depressive and substance use disorder. Drug use would have caused your thinking and judgment to be disturbed. Ms Cidoni wrote that you present as lacking basic tools to handle life, self understanding and resolving issues which cause you stress. You have used drugs to self medicate against depressive and anxiety symptoms. Your low cognitive functions she writes as well as your mental state, would render prison more onerous and may adversely be affected by reclusion.
83Lacking the maturity to adopt and cope with change, your immaturity and confusion may be misinterpreted and you are easily led. Your post traumatic stress disorder would result in hypervigilance in a tense environment-like prison, where your maladjustment would worsen. I take this into account in setting your term.
84You would require drug treatment and psychological therapy. I take the contents of this report into account.
85A number of certificates were tendered relating to courses which you have undertaken, particularly as to relationships, secure accommodation in an aid modular remand program and drug related course. It is to your credit that you have undertaken them. I also take into account references received from the case manager, Mr Ree from the YMCA Bridge project which operates Ravenhall Correctional Centre. They provide an employment-based support to you and she outlines a number of other relevant courses completed by you. The Bridge project assists in providing recruitment support, post release and employment opportunities and this is an important positive factor in your future.
86Letters were also received from your parents. They attest to your low self esteem, drug use and immaturity, to your remorse and growing awareness of your future. A note was also received from Necta Kogioumtzis, your aunt, who speaks highly of you. I take all these letters into account.
87Three drug screens were tendered from June, July and September, all showing negative results in relation to you Mr Tseros. A note from the facilitators of the Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous program that attests to your attendance from June 2021 to September 2021.
88I also read the letter you wrote to the victim on 31 January 2022, in which you express remorse and I have mentioned that before in my reasons.
89You, Mr Tseros have prior convictions which start from 2012 when you were aged 20. Many of these priors are relevant to an assessment of your prospects of rehabilitation, which in my view are guarded. You committed these current offences whilst on bail and therefore this relevant history indicates that specific deterrence is relevant and significant in your case as well as community protection.
90At the time of the plea you had seven other matters which were dealt with in a consolidated plea in March of this year, six of which involved driving offences, one being a breach of a Community Corrections Order and you were fined.
91In my view, the combined force of the gravity of the aggravated burglary and the recklessly cause injury, even apart from all the other offending while its punishment which satisfies all the relevant sentences and principles by term of an imprisonment.
92This is your first time in custody and you have done your best to use the time beneficially, despite restrictions and limitations pertaining to the pandemic. However, your conduct was reprehensible. In my view, you acted as a thug at the service of others. You were sentenced after the matter first listed in this court and ever since the plea in June has been delayed by the pandemic and also by the situation pertaining to Ms Bibi and her inability to have her matter heard together with the two of you. It has meant that it has been hanging over your heads for a longer than expected period without fault of your own. I take that delay into consideration. Both as regard to the fairness limb and the rehabilitation limb, each of you in my view should receive an amelioration because of it.
93Mr Hassan on aggravated burglary you are sentenced to four months imprisonment and then to a Community Corrections Order for 24 months with conditions of supervision. Two hundred hours of community work. Assessment and treatment for drugs. Assessment and treatment for mental health. Program participation to reduce re-offending. You will report to the Sunshine Community Corrections Centre within two days from this order being made.
94On the theft charge, Charge 4, you are convicted and sentenced to four months' imprisonment concurrent with Charge 2.
95On a summary offence, Charge 8 of committing an indictable offence whilst on bail you are convicted and sentenced to one month imprisonment concurrent. I declare that you have served 128 days by way of pre-sentence detention and will note that from the court's records.
96That means Mr Hassan that you have already served the four months of the sentence and you are to be released on a Community Corrections Order, to report to the Sunshine Community Corrections Centre. During that period of time, you must not commit any criminal offences, or contravene the conditions of the order. You must attend as directed to supervision. If you are in breach of that order a penalty can be applied for the breach and I will sentence you again, re-sentence you on these offences in which case it is probably that you will go to prison. Do you understand?
97
That period of this Community Corrections Order is for 24 months. Take a seat.
I will order that 40 hours of treatment will be credited to your work hours, if and when you undertake such treatment and assessment.
98
Mr Tseros, on aggravated burglary you are convicted and sentenced to four years' imprisonment. On causing injury recklessly you are convicted and sentenced to
18 months' imprisonment. On theft, you are convicted and sentenced to six months imprisonment. On possession of two or more firearms, you are convicted and sentenced to six months imprisonment. On cultivation of a narcotic plant, you are convicted and sentenced to three months concurrent. On possession of a drug of dependence, you are convicted and sentenced to three months concurrent.
99COUNSEL: If Your Honour pleases.
100HIS HONOUR: Mr Thackaberry are there any other ancillary orders?
101On summary offence 8, commit an indictable on bail, you are convicted and sentenced to one month concurrent. On Summary Charge 12, possession of cartridge ammunition, you are convicted and fined a hundred dollars.
102On Charge 15, possession of a prohibited weapon you are convicted and sentenced to one month concurrent.
103I order those two months on Charge 4 of theft, nine months on Charge 3 of causing injury recklessly and one month on Charge 5, possession of two or more firearms be served cumulatively on Charge 2. That makes a total effective sentence of five years. I order a non-parole period of three years, or 36 months. You have served about 18 months of that sentence Mr Tseros. I note that you served 540 days by way of pre-sentence detention and I will note that number for the records of the court.
104Ms Hassan but for your plea I would have sentenced you to 12 months imprisonment.
105Mr Tseros, but for your plea I would have sentenced you to a sentence of six months with a non-parole period of four - sorry six years to a non-parole period of four years.
106I note that there is a forfeiture order and a disposal order, we'll sign those orders in relation to their respective schedules.
107COUNSEL: As Your Honour pleases.
108HIS HONOUR: Mr Thackaberry are there any other ancillary orders or other orders that I need to make?
109MR THACKABERRY: I believe there were a total of three orders Your Honour. Two forfeiture orders and one disposal order.
110HIS HONOUR: Yes, I will sign those and will return them to you.
111MR THACKABERRY: Thank you, Your Honour.
112HIS HONOUR: Yes. Mr Hassan you'll have to sign some documentation, perhaps Ms Flocke if you can go through that documentation with your client?
113MS FLOCKE: Certainly, Your Honour.
114HIS HONOUR: And just stress to him what I've said to him about compliance.
115MS FLOCKE: Yes, Your Honour.
116HIS HONOUR: Yes, thank you. Sine die.
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