Director of Public Prosecutions v Ibraham

[2023] VCC 1217

IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA

AT MELBOURNE

CRIMINAL DIVISION

Revised
Not Restricted
Suitable for Publication

Case No. CR-22-00648

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

AZZIDINE IBRAHAM

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JUDGE:	HIS HONOUR JUDGE WRAIGHT
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:	22 June 2023
DATE OF SENTENCE:	14 July 2023
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Ibraham
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2023] VCC 1217

REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject:CRIMINAL LAW - Sentence

Catchwords:              Plead of guilty – Damaging property – Causing injury intentionally – Threat to destroy property – Causing injury recklessly – Conduct endangering persons – Common law assault – Make threat to inflict serious injury – Serious offending – Conflicting accounts of personal history and circumstances – Illicit substance use – Extensive mental health history – No formal mental health diagnosis  made – Relevant criminal history – COVID-19 – Verdins – Prospects of rehabilitation guarded – General deterrence – Specific deterrence – Denunciation.

Legislation Cited:      Crimes Act 1958, Sentencing Act1991.

Cases Cited:Worboyes v The Queen [2021] VSCA 169.

Sentence:                  Imprisonment for a period of 3 years and 6 months with a non-parole period of 2 years and 3 months.

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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the DPP	Mr Z Petric	Office of Public Prosecutions
For the Accused	Ms J Clark	Greg Thomas

HIS HONOUR:

Introduction

1Azzidine Ibraham, you have pleaded guilty to:

(a) one charge of damaging property contrary to s 197(1) of the Crimes Act 1958 (‘Crimes Act’), which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment (Charge 1);

(b) three charges of causing injury intentionally contrary to s 18 of the Crimes Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment (Charges 2, 11 and 14);

(c) two charges of make threat to kill contrary to s 20 of the Crimes Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment (Charges 3 and 13);

(d) one charge of threat to destroy property contrary to s 198 of the Crimes Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 5 years imprisonment (Charge 4);

(e) four charges of causing injury recklessly contrary to s 18 of the Crimes Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 5 years imprisonment (Charges 5, 8, 9 and 10);

(f) one charge of conduct endangering persons contrary to s 23 of the Crimes Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 5 years imprisonment (Charge 6);

(g)   one charge of common law assault contrary to common law, which carries a maximum penalty of 5 years imprisonment (Charge 7); and

(h) one charge of make threat to inflict serious injury contrary to s 21 of the Crimes Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 5 years imprisonment (Charge 12).

2You have also admitted your Criminal Record.

Circumstances of the offending

3A prosecution opening was tendered on the plea and may be summarised as follows:

4You were aged between 47 and 48 years of age at the time of the offending.

5The victim in this matter was aged 72 years at the time of the offending.

6In 1996, the victim and her husband moved into a property in Wangaratta[1]. The property had a bungalow in the backyard which was used for guest accommodation. At the time, she and her husband had been together for 29 years. She is a retired registered nurse, having worked in the profession for some 50 years.

[1] Location de-identified.

7The victim’s husband passed away in 2019 and she subsequently lived alone. She took care of herself and had an active social life, maintained connections and undertook volunteer work within the community.

8In about March 2020, you contacted the victim about renting out her bungalow for an agreed sum of $200 per week. You did not want to return to Melbourne due to the COVID pandemic.

9The victim, who knew you as ‘Dean’, picked you up from the Wangaratta Railway station the same day and drove you to the property. You did not know each other prior to this date.

10Your initial months residing at the Wangaratta property were unremarkable. You both lived separate lives and you always paid your rent on time. The two of you would only chat occasionally in the backyard.

11At one point, the victim agreed to reduce your rent down to $150 per week, due to your financial situation.

12In about June 2020, you invited her into the bungalow, resulting in an episode of consensual sex. Later that same month, the victim renovated the kitchen located in the main house. She observed you watching over the workers. During the renovations, you began to spend more time in main house. You started attending dinner regularly and sleeping on the couch in the victims lounge room.

13You eventually asked the victim if you could keep her company in her bed. Missing the companionship of her deceased husband, she agreed. You shared the bed every night from this point and commenced a continuing sexual relationship. She also provided for you by paying for groceries.

14Once the kitchen renovations were completed, you demonstrated signs of jealousy and paranoia in relation to the victim’s interactions with other men. She noticed your behaviour beginning to change.

15You started to physically and emotionally isolate the victim and call her names such as ‘slut’ and ‘whore’, you would damage her property and assault both her and her cat.

16The victim’s relatives, friends and her local community network started to observe a change in her behaviour, demeanour and appearance. You were increasingly intervening in her lifestyle. Initially, by watering her garden, accompanying her down the street and to all her appointments. You also became increasingly paranoid about her having contact with other males.

17You progressively accused the victim of having affairs and wouldn’t let her have any further contact with males. This escalated to you preventing her from going out, seeing her friends and family and leaving the house. You would lock the doors and take away her car keys.

18By late November 2020, she had stopped all her normal activities and you had cancelled most of her medical appointments. During this time, you became more verbally aggressive and threatening, telling the victim that you had a firearm in the house, threatening to kill her and planting knives all over the house. The violence escalated after Christmas 2020.

19In November 2020, you stopped paying your rent.

20You took the victim’s mobile phone and only gave her access when under your supervision. If she wanted to text someone, you would dictate what she could write. You also unplugged the landline phone.

21In late 2020, the victim’s family became increasingly concerned about her and requested police to conduct a welfare check. Police visited the address on 2 November 2020. Physical injuries on the victim were sighted, however, no disclosures were made to police. The police visits triggered your paranoia and subsequent violence was perpetrated towards the victim.

22In January 2021, she started to withdraw significant amounts of cash from her bank accounts. Branch withdrawals of $15,000, $25,000, $5,000 and $4,000 occurred. She also started to withdraw significant amounts of cash from the ATM. The ATM transactions were primarily $2000, within her daily limit and occurred every few days towards the end of January 2021 until May 2021.

23Most of the money that was withdrawn was taken and controlled by you. You would spend the cash on clothes, alcohol, gambling and various gifts given to random members of the Wangaratta community.

24You started to hide knives and cleavers all around the house, bungalow and garden. At times, you made comments to the victim about ‘getting her’ while she was asleep. Your escalating violence and controlling behaviour scared her and she started sleeping with a knife under her pillow.

Charge 1 – Criminal Damage (rolled up charge)

25Between 15 June 2020 and 3 July 2020, the victim had her kitchen renovated, which included the installation of new kitchen cabinetry. She also purchased a new fridge and reinstalled a used cooktop.

26Sometime between 1 March 2020 and 3 May 2020, the victim entered her kitchen and saw you standing near the fridge door, with part of the fridge door on the floor. You had pulled the fridge door part off which snapped the solid anchors on the door itself.

27Sometime between 15 June 2020 and 1 August 2020, you were in the kitchen. The victim was in the house and heard a large bang. She entered the kitchen and saw the pantry door was off its hinges. She asked you what happened and you indicated that you had shut the door and it fell off.

28Around 1 July 2020 and 1 September 2020, a couple of weeks after the cooktop had been installed, the victim saw a tea towel covering it. She removed it and noticed two large cracks in the glass, damage which caused only two of the elements to function. You would not provide an explanation for the damage and refused to acknowledge your role in the damage.

29Additionally, between 1 March 2020 and 28 August 2020, you brought the victim’s HP laptop into the loungeroom where she was sitting. You questioned her about her use, to which she responded that she used it to check emails and Facebook, and to talk to friends and family. You said ‘you don’t go on Facebook to talk to your family, you go on Facebook to talk and meet men’. She replied with ‘bullshit’.

30In response, you threw the laptop to the ground and smashed it into a number of pieces. As a result, she wasn’t able to use her computer to check her Facebook account for her birthday.

31Police subsequently located the laptop in the loungeroom of the main house.

32Between 1 January 2021 and 3 May 2021, you threw a cup at the victim and then deliberately smashed a plate onto the table. This happened on more than one occasion, prompting the victim to use an old set of plates, expecting them to get broken.

33Between 1 March 2020 and 3 May 2021, you broke the victim’s small portable heater. You picked up the heater and threw it at her, causing it to fall to the floor and smash.

34During these dates you damaged a wooden side table. For an unknown reason you picked up the side table and threw it to the ground breaking the legs.

35Between 1 April 2021 and 3 May 2021, while the victim was in the recliner, you punched the wall in the loungeroom which put a hole in the plaster. You approached her as if you were going to hit her and at the last minute hit the wall three or four times with a closed fist.

Charge 2 – Causing Injury Intentionally

36Between 26 October 2020 and 2 November 2020, you and the victim were at the property. Without warning, you hit her face with your open hand while she was wearing her reading glasses. This caused bruising down both sides of her nose and under her eyes, and subsequent breathing difficulties. She sustained a fracture to the base of the nasal bone with minor depression at the site of the fracture.

37On 2 November 2020, a welfare check of the victim was conducted by Wangaratta Police, in response to concerns held by her family. On attendance, police observed substantial bruising to her face. When questioned about the cause of the bruising, she said she tripped on the back landing of her property. You were standing next to her during her exchange with police.

38Police returned to the Police Station and their body-worn camera footage was shown to Acting Sergeant Mark Kennedy. A plan was made to attend with Ambulance Victoria, due to concerns of her visible injuries. The police and ambulance attended her property but she insisted that she had fallen over.

39She said this because she thought you were listening to her conversation with police and was worried about the repercussions from you. She also felt she was protecting the Police members, due to the stories you had told her about your previous police interactions.

40On 4 November 2020, the victim had a scheduled appointment with her GP, Dr David Rodgers. This appointment was cancelled after you told her she didn’t need to go.

Charge 3 – Make Threat to Kill (rolled up charge)

41After the initial police welfare check on 2 November 2020, you told the victim that you had a .29 firearm without a safety, and that you would put her through the wall.

42You began telling her that you would ‘kill’ the police by shooting them, ‘take out’ any officers if they attended the property and ‘get them and [her]’. You also said that if you were cornered by police you would shoot them, indicating ‘they won’t take [you] alive’, while making a gesture which replicated letting off bullets with your fingers. You also said you would shoot yourself and the victim if things didn’t go right. Your statements scared the victim and despite never seeing the firearm, she believed it existed. You indicated that the firearm was kept in the main house and she believed it was in the main bedroom.

Charge 4 – Threat to destroy property (rolled up charge)

43Between 2 November 2020 and 3 May 2021, you threatened that you or one of your friends would ‘blow up’ the victim’s house or bungalow, or the house of anyone who was a threat to you.

44You told her that ‘[you] know people who will do it’ and indicated it would occur when she was in the house. You said that if she ‘lagged’ on you to the ‘jacks’, you would blow up her house and bungalow. On one occasion, you mentioned that her car would be ‘bombed’.

45You also threatened to blow up the houses of the victim’s friends and neighbours. You would say ‘I’ll blow up the house’ of ‘big-bird’, the ‘lady next door’ and ‘popcorn’, all being nicknames you gave to the victim’s friends.

46You would repeat these threats at times, out of the blue, and the victim believed you might do it.

Charge 5 – Causing Injury Recklessly

47Between 25 December 2020 and 3 May 2021, you bit the victim on the cheek. She cannot remember where or why you did this, only that you bit her on the left cheek. The bite was hard enough to break the skin and leave teeth marks, that took about three to four weeks to heal.

Charge 6 – Conduct Endangering Persons (rolled up charge)

48Between 14 October 2020 and 3 May 2021, you both attended the pub in Wangaratta. Upon leaving, the victim got into the driver’s seat of the car and you got in the passenger seat. Before she started driving, you began hitting her face which knocked her glasses off.

49She put her glasses back on and started to drive home. During the drive you continued to hit her to the face, causing her glasses to fall off on two occasions. After the second occasion, the victim had to pull over because she couldn’t see. You gave her the glasses but one of the lenses had fallen out. You had to push the lens back in so she could continue driving.

50On a further occasion, you had kidney issues and were admitted to the Wangaratta Hospital Emergency Department. The victim was present at the time and one of the male doctors asked if she was okay. On the way back to the car you accused her of chatting up the doctor.

51On the return trip, you would suddenly grab and turn the steering wheel without warning while on the Hume Hwy, causing her to nearly drive into an embankment on the left side of the road. You would not let go of the wheel and the victim had to struggle to correct the direction of the car, to avoid an accident. There were no cars on the road, but the victim was scared nevertheless.

52The victim’s license is conditional on her wearing glasses whilst driving.

Charge 7 – Common Law Assault (rolled up charge)

53Between 1 January 2021 and 3 May 2021, The victim was wearing her orange coloured shirt. You were both in the bedroom and had an exchange about her touching your clothes. You grabbed her top while she was wearing it and ripped the front downwards, causing the shirt to rip open.

54On another occasion, you were both in the main bedroom. The victim was wearing a multi coloured shirt. You were holding a knife. She recalls you slashing at her with the knife and then later realising that there were holes in the shirt, from where the knife had slashed through the material.

Charge 8 – Causing Injury Recklessly

55Between 1 February 2021 and 3 May 2021, you pushed The victim to the ground in the hallway, as she had not done what you wanted during an earlier outing. While she was on the ground, you grabbed her with both hands by her shoulders and violently shook her. At some point during the shaking, she hit her head on the ground. You then kicked her above her left knee and told her to ‘get up’.

56She said she would get up in a minute, but you told her, in a menacing tone, to ‘get up now’. She struggled to get up and was worried if she did, you would knock her down again.

57She received bruising to her left knee and a sore back. The kick near her left knee caused the varicose veins in her leg to burst and developed into cellulitis.

Charge 9 – Causing Injury Recklessly

58Between 1 February 2021 and 3 May 2021, while the victim was sitting on her recliner and you were at the fireplace, you picked up the can of Glen 20 from the coffee table and threw it directly at her, with force. It hit her on the forehead causing an egg like bruise.

Charge 10 - Causing Injury Recklessly

59Between 1 January 2021 and 3 May 2021, you threw a hand weight at the victim. You were both in the lounge room, arguing, when you started picking up and throwing items at her. You grabbed a tissue box and threw it at her, followed by a small hand weight which you threw directly at the victim with force. The weight hit her lower abdomen, just above her navel, causing bruising that was visible when she attended the hospital.

Charge 11 – Causing Injury Intentionally

60Between 1 February 2021 and 3 May 2021, you put a garden pitch fork in the victim’s hallway, near the front door, in case somebody entered the home.

61On one occasion, the victim picked up the pitchfork before taking it into the loungeroom. She pointed it at you to scare you and said ‘behave yourself’, in an attempt to control the situation.

62You then grabbed the pitchfork and yanked it out of her hands. You started poking her in the abdomen, left forearm and right palm and fingers with the forked end. On one occasion, she put her hands up to protect herself. You hit her in the arm and fingers which caused bleeding when the skin broke down to the tendon. While she tried to attend to the bleeding you continued to hit the side of her torso with the flat side of the fork. She told you she had to tend to her wounds to which you responded ‘it’s your fault’. She was of the view that she should go to the doctor for her injuries.

63She developed bruising and grazing to her arm, and an open wound on her hand. The wound near her left elbow bled over two days and she ended up putting a haemostat dressing on it to stop the bleeding.

64Later that day, while the victim was undressing in the bathroom, you walked in on her. You gasped and pointed to her back before saying ‘I’m sorry’. She looked and realized the extent of the bruising on her side and back where you hit her with the pitchfork.

65At this stage, the victim started noticing that her leg was becoming red and inflamed, with fluid seeping from the pores of her skin. She had also developed two open wounds that were oozing white fluid. Due to her background in nursing she suspected she had developed cellulitis. She hoped it would resolve and told you that if it didn’t clear up she would need a doctor. You told her that she should wait a couple of days for it to improve.

66A couple of days later, you told her to keep waiting for it to improve. At one stage, you said that she should tell the doctor she fell over and knocked it. The victim eventually realised that it was the kick by you that had caused the injury.

67At this time, she began feeling unwell and hoped she wouldn’t wake up in the morning. She was feeling exhausted from your aggressive behaviour and draining conversations. She didn’t know how to ask you to leave as she was still afraid you would blow up her house.

Charge 12 – Threat to commit serious injury

68Between 1 April 2021 and 3 May 2021, you threatened to shove a knife up the complainant’s vagina. You had made this threat on numerous occasions, demonstrating this act with an empty hand or with a real knife.

69On a few occasions, after these threats were made, the victim was apprehensive about going to bed. The last time you made this threat you said that if you caught her with another man, you’d  ‘… put a knife up [her] vagina, and [she wouldn’t] have sex with anyone again.’

Charge 13 – Make threat to Kill

70Between 1 April 2021 and 3 May 2021, you said to the victim ‘[i]f I have my back against the wall, I’ll take you out and kill myself too’. You often told her that if she ever spoke to another man, you would need to know about it. Further, if she continued contact with another male, you would kill her and the man. She believed that you were capable of killing her and often went to bed after these comments wondering if she would wake up in the morning.

Charge 14 – Causing Injury Intentionally

71Between 1 April 2021 and 3 May 2021, you pushed your open hand into the victim’s face for no reason. This resulted in a bruise on her left eye.

Investigation and  Arrest

72On 3 May 2021, police attended the house to arrest you on an unrelated matter.

73Two members of the Wangaratta SOCIT team attended the house where the victim disclosed the extent of the offending she had endured. Police were concerned about her medical condition and she was transported to the doctor, and then to hospital where she was placed on an antibiotic drip due to the severity of her infection. She also underwent several blood transfusions.

74While in hospital a formal statement was commenced, however numerous sessions were required due to the ongoing medical treatment and quantity of incidents.

75Wangaratta Police assisted with searching the property and processing the scene.

Record of Interview

76You were arrested in relation to this matter and interviewed on 3 May 2021.

77You denied having a consensual sexual relationship with the victim, stating ‘she is like a mother to me.’ You denied sleeping in the same bedroom as her stating that you left a lot of clothes in the house because you were afraid ‘someone will break in or pinch some clothes.’

78You denied ever calling the victim any names or that you perpetrated any physical violence towards her. You also denied hitting her with a pitchfork or threatening to blow up her house.

79You also stated that you had $7,000 when you went to Wangaratta, spending $4,500 of those funds on the Mercedes Car, and that you helped a lot around the house.

Nature and gravity of the offending

80When consideration is given to your offending as a whole, its nature and gravity can only be described as very serious. You took advantage of a trusted relationship where the victim had opened her home to you offering you accommodation and support.

81As the relationship progressed  you repeatedly used control and coercion over the victim which culminated in serious offending involving threatening the victim, physically assaulting her and damaging her property as particularised in the charges you have pleaded guilty to.

82Turning more specifically to your assaults on the victim, while all of the injury charges are serious, Charge 11, where you assaulted the victim with a pitchfork and caused a number of injuries, one of which resulted in a serious infection, is particularly serious. Following the police attendance and your arrest, the victim required hospitalisation as a result of the infection.

83Your offending spanned almost a year and what is clear from the prosecution opening, is that the impact of your offending progressively led to the victim moving from a social and active community life into becoming a person who was entirely isolated and controlled by you. She withdrew from the community and was unable to escape your coercive control, living in fear in the months leading up to your arrest.

84A victim impact statement was prepared by the victim, who requested that the statement not be read in open court. The victim explains the ongoing impact your crimes have had on her life. I have taken the content of the statement into account.  

Personal Circumstances

85In the various reports tendered on the plea, you have provided conflicting accounts of your personal history and circumstances, often struggling to recall information. For example, in a report prepared by consultant forensic psychiatrist, Dr Remy Glowinski, dated 19 August 2022, he noted that as a result of the nature of your engagement in interview, he was unable to rely on the history you provided.[2] Nonetheless your circumstances may be summarised as follows:

[2] Other reports were tendered from: Fiona Best, Forensic Psychiatrist, dated 7 March 2022 and 24 April 2022; and Leanne Kennedy, Psychologist dated 12 July 2021.

86You were born in Morocco in September 1972, and at the time of the offending were 47 to 48 years of age. You are now aged 50 years of age.

87You are the middle of three children. During your childhood, you and your family migrated to Australia. You said that you had a happy childhood, competing in dancing competitions and going fishing, but are now estranged from your family. You do not know if your parents are alive and could not recall the last time you spoke to them. You reported on one occasion that you believe your father has now returned to Morocco.

88Your primary school years were unremarkable, although you have little memory of that time. You have self-reported that at aged 14, you sustained a head injury and were hospitalised for seven months, when you fell off a swing. You left high school after Year 10 because you struggled academically and would skip class to catch and race pigeons.

89You then attended nightclubs and began performing. At some stage you left the family home and began living with friends, but you could not remember why. Medical reports tendered on plea suggest that you have experienced periods of homelessness and lived in commission housing prior to moving into the Wangaratta property.

90In around 2000, you had an accident which resulted in the loss of your left eye, for which you now wear a prosthetic eye. You reported that you ceased performing at this time. You said that you do not want to live anymore as you are now having trouble with your right eye. You do not want seek help from doctors because you are scared to undergo an operation or do not have the money to fund it.

91You have had sporadic employment. You worked as a kitchen hand but left because you did not like your employer. You have also worked in nightclubs and as a performer, but have not been employed in recent years.

92You have provided conflicting information regarding your medical, mental health and substance use history. You reported to psychologist Leanne Kennedy that your drinking increased after your eye accident and that you smoked cigarettes to calm you down. In the same assessment, you also reported that you commenced drinking and smoking cannabis at age 35, having never consumed these substances prior. You said that you usually drink between three to six bottles of wine daily, even though you do not like it but that it is something you cannot stop. You have acknowledged that you need help but do not have anyone to help you on a daily basis.

93You have a history of illicit substance use dating back to 1993. You have used heroine intravenously and reported that your dependency caused you to die ‘a couple of times’. You declined to elaborate on this during assessments but indicated that you no longer use heroin. It was also noted that you, in the past, have been aggressive with hospital staff when you were ‘coming off an ice binge’.

94You have reported that you have been hit by cars and your medical notes suggest a possible history of an acquired brain injury secondary to head trauma with cognitive and memory deficits. The First Step Program notes suggest an assessment for a brain injury was arranged but never conducted. Psychiatric reports before the Court indicate that while substance use can alter the brain function, including impact to memory and executive function, your presentation did not allow for analysis of such a pattern.

95You have had a number of psychiatric assessments, reports of which were tendered on the plea. A Mental Health Advice and Response Service summary notes that you have had eight registrations with area mental health services in Victoria between 2007 and 2015.

96In 2015, you were admitted to Northern Hospital’s acute psychiatric inpatient unit for psychosis treatment and were prescribed antipsychotic medications. You were diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Personality Disorder, Delusional Disorder, Alcohol and Opioid Dependence and Acute Stress Reaction. You were again prescribed antipsychotic medications in 2020 but ceased prior to moving into the Wangaratta property. You have reported that you began drinking more frequently during this time.

97Since your remand in May 2021, you have had 50 mental health assessments with psychiatric nursing staff, three of which were classified as urgent, three assessments with psychiatric registrars, four assessments with consultant psychologists and three assessments with psychologists. Custodial psychiatric practitioners who assessed you upon your remand, concluded that you presented with depression and suicidal symptoms with a history of maladaptive coping and alcohol dependence. You have been prescribed anti-anxiety and antipsychotic medication while in custody, but have been non-compliant with medication and refused psychiatric support services. You have become increasingly worried that other inmates would harm or kill you and have been placed into protective custody units to protect you from harming yourself. You have attempted suicide twice, once while on remand, and said that you often feel numb and ‘dead on the inside’. You have had trouble sleeping and have refused to eat which has resulted in weight loss.

98Your psychiatric assessments conclude that while a psychotic disorder could not be wholly excluded, it was unclear whether you have a diagnosable disorder or if your responses were due to low effort, fabricated responses and intentionally creating lower scores. Ultimately, a diagnosis could not be made. I note the comments of Dr Glowinski that your ‘general conduct was inconsistent with an individual with gross cognitive deficits, and some of [your] behaviours indicated capacity for visual praxis, planning and verbal and written fluency.’ And further that ‘…there appears a lack of definitive evidence suggesting acute psychotic symptoms while under observation during a lengthy period of remand. [She] therefore think that on the balance of probabilities [you are] unlikely to have a psychotic illness severely impairing [your] mental processing.’

99You have a relevant, although historic, prior criminal history. It includes assault, recklessly cause serious injury, make threat to kill and wilful damage charges spanning some 20 years.

Sentencing Considerations

100I first take into account your plea of guilty. The matter proceeded to this court by way of straight hand-up brief and no witnesses have been cross-examined. As such your plea has saved significant court time and expense, and has thereby facilitated the course of justice. The plea carries additional weight which must be reflected in a further amelioration in sentence, as the plea was entered in circumstances where the pandemic has caused a substantial backlog of cases in the criminal justice system.[3]

[3] Worboyes v The Queen [2021] VSCA 169, [39].

101Turning to your mental health. As noted above, various clinicians have been unable to determine what, if any, psychotic illness you may be suffering from. It appears that when interviewed, the clinicians observe you to be thought disordered at times however your responses were vague and any specific diagnosis was unable to be determined. That said, Dr Fiona Best reported that you have coped poorly in custody and a result of your behaviours in custody, you have spent considerable time in safe cells, protective custody and management units. As such was submitted on your behalf that Verdins principle five has application in this instance. Having considered the material submitted I accept that your complex mental health and presentation has made custody more difficult for you and as such I accept that Verdins principle five has some application.

102Your prospects of rehabilitation must be approached with caution. It is clear that you will need considerable support upon your release from custody which, at this stage seems to be only the parole board as you have little other support in the community. Your prospects will clearly improve if you more actively engage with the health practitioners and supports that are offered to you.

103Turning to other sentencing principles. General deterrence, specific deterrence and denunciation of your conduct are all prominent sentencing considerations. Your manipulation of a vulnerable member of the community resulting in serious offending against her must be condemned in the strongest terms and a message must be conveyed that such conduct will be met with stern consequences.

Sentence

104Mr Ibraham, would you please stand.

105Azzidine Ibraham, on Charge 1 damaging property, you are convicted and sentenced to 12 months imprisonment. On Charges 2, 11 and 14, causing injury intentionally, you are convicted and sentenced to 2 years imprisonment on each charge. On Charges 3 and 13, make threat to kill, you are convicted and sentenced to 12 months imprisonment on each charge. On Charge 4, threat to destroy property, you are convicted and sentenced to 8 months imprisonment. On Charges 5, 8, 9 and 10, causing injury recklessly, you are convicted and sentenced to 18 months imprisonment on each charge. On Charge 6, conduct endangering persons, you are convicted and sentenced to 12 months imprisonment. On Charge 7, common assault, you are convicted and sentenced to 12 months imprisonment. On Charge 12, make threat to inflict serious injury, you are convicted and sentenced to 12 months imprisonment. Charge 2 will be the base charge.

106I direct that 3 months of the sentence imposed on Charges 5, 10, 11 and 14, and 2 months of the sentence imposed on Charges 1, 12 and 13 be cumulative on each other and on Charge 2 making for a total effective sentence of  3 years and 6 months imprisonment. I direct that you serve 2 years and 3 months before becoming eligible for parole.

107Pursuant to s 18 of the Sentencing Act1991 (‘Sentencing Act’), I declare that 802 days be reckoned as the period of imprisonment already served under the sentence I have imposed. That does not include today.

108Pursuant to s 6AAA of the Sentencing Act, I indicate that had you not pleaded guilty, I would have sentenced you to a period of 4 years and 6 months imprisonment with a non-parole period of 3 years and 6 months.