Director of Public Prosecutions v Hillyer

[2014] VCC 1522

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

AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

CR-14-01322

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

MICHAL LOUISE HILLYER

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JUDGE:	HIS HONOUR JUDGE SMALLWOOD
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:
DATE OF SENTENCE:	10 September 2014
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Hillyer
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2014] VCC 1522

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	Ms G Coglan
For the Offender	Mr L Gwynn

HIS HONOUR: 

1Michal Louise Hillyer, you have pleaded guilty to two counts of trafficking in a drug of dependence, one a one month Giretti of methylamphetamine and the other an isolated incident of cannabis.

2You are now 30 years of age.  You pleaded guilty at the earliest reasonable opportunity and I am satisfied that that plea of guilty, despite originally denying the matters, is accompanied by appropriate remorse.  You must also get the utilitarian benefit of that plea of guilty. 

3I take very much into account that you have no prior convictions and have no matters pending. 

4The charge of trafficking in a drug of dependence simpliciter carries a maximum penalty of 15 years. 

5Firstly, pursuant to s.464ZF of the Crimes Act I make an order that you provide a saliva sample for DNA purposes.  That order having been made, I must advise you that should you refuse to supply such a sample, police may use reasonable force to take it from you, and that order is made and handed down. 

6

The circumstances here are that you were, and remain, the partner of a

Mr McKinnell who I sentenced in May 2013 to trafficking not less than a large commercial quantity of methylamphetamine.  He was sentenced to nine years and nine months' imprisonment. 

7You were interviewed back in June 2012 but were not charged for a period of 12 months.  That is a long time to have this hanging over your head in a state of uncertainty and I take that very much into account.  The reason for that is neither here nor there.  After you had been charged, there has been another significant delay before you have fallen to be sentenced, and whilst in particularly surveillance type situations, those delays are not uncommon.  It must be taken into account. 

8I annex the Crown opening to these my sentencing remarks and simply indicate that Mr McKinnell was a relatively frenetic trafficker of methylamphetamine over a year, and you, on the material before me, certainly in the month for which you were charged, actively aided and abetted.  The cannabis transaction is one which would have been done in conjunction with him and involved a sum of around about $3,000.

9Trafficking in drugs of dependence is a serious offence, and in the normal course of events, calls for the application of general and specific deterrence as well as denunciation and appropriate punishment.  The drug ice is a drug which is causing - and I have no doubt will cause - a great deal of hardship in the community.  I am well aware of the consequences of the rampant ice use that is taking place in the Latrobe Valley. 

10In the normal course of events, offending of this nature calls for a custodial sentence.  In your particular situation I have sentenced a number of co-accused and I don't think parity is an issue. 

11You are 30 years of age.  You have extremely good family support, those people having travelled from New South Wales last week to be in court for you.  You have a relatively good record of working up until this occurred and you are clearly not unintelligent.  You have a certificate in business studies and you have been, since being charged, able to obtain employment.  You yourself do not use drugs and have no addictions, therefore the prospects of your rehabilitation should be excellent. 

12On the material before me, the offending would appear to have all been brought about by your partner's drug use over an extended period of time.  It is obviously of concern that, upon his ultimate release, the relationship will continue.  I would be worried that if he were to commence using again that you, in a situation of a relationship which you have been in since you were 16, with two small children, may be tempted to either assist or, as sometimes happens, protect him.  I cannot do much about that and I am certainly not going to punish you in advance for something that is still, on any basis, four years away. 

13You clearly have, on the material before me, an anxiety disorder.  You have two small children to look after and indeed you have the support of your partner's parents. 

14The prospects of your reoffending I think are dependent upon the circumstances which result after the release of your partner.  As I have said, on a simply personal level, in your given situation where you have taken assistance since all this occurred and have had counselling, that your personal prospects should be excellent.  It is the surrounding circumstances that concern me.  But be that as it may, it was put that a community corrections order was a sufficient punishment, and in these circumstances, a community corrections order with conviction and with a significant number of work hours is, in my view, ample punishment and ample deterrent to you, and also to any other person, as long as they were aware of the particular circumstances surrounding you. 

15You continue you visit Mr McKinnell in gaol, taking the children down, and it can only be hoped that all this has a happy ending. 

16For the purposes of these sentencing remarks, I will say this.  You are presently employed by a medical group in Traralgon.  I have been shown a letter dated July 2014 which indicates that your employment has been suspended until your final court hearing.  There is a real risk that your employment will be terminated.  I make it clear that, on the material before me, there is no suggestion that you, yourself have abused prescription drugs or are in any way, shape or form likely to.  There is no suggestion of dishonesty in the way that is commonly understood and no suggestion that you yourself use illicit substances.  Clearly it remains the prerogative of the people who currently employ you to terminate your employment because of the prescriptions and the drugs and other matters that are involved.  All I can simply say is, having heard the material and read the material, that it would be very disappointing if that were to take place.  But I make it very clear that I understand that that is your employer's prerogative. 

17I do not think there is anything much else I need to say, so in these circumstances, a community corrections order.  Two years, 200 hours, with conviction. 

18MS COGLAN:  Your Honour, just to clarify, that's an order that's made in an aggregate sentence, so pursuant to s.40 covers ‑ ‑ ‑

19HIS HONOUR:  Sorry, yes, relate ‑ ‑ ‑

20MS COGLAN:  ‑ ‑ ‑ the two offences because they really form part of a series of ‑ ‑ ‑

21HIS HONOUR:  But you can do a CCO for the lot anyway, you do not need that aggregate provision. 

22MS COGLAN:  The s.40 deals with the community corrections order covering multiple offences.

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HIS HONOUR:  You learn something every day.  Thank you for that,

Ms Coglan.  It is an aggregate sentence, pursuant to whatever that section was you just referred me to.

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