Director of Public Prosecutions v Jabir
[2023] VCC 1637
•7 September 2023
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA | Revised Suitable for Publication | |
AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION
CR 22-02181
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| v |
| NASSER JABIR |
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JUDGE: | HER HONOUR JUDGE HARPER | |
WHERE HELD: | Melbourne | |
DATE OF HEARING: | 28 August 2023 | |
DATE OF SENTENCE: | 7 September 2023 | |
CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | DPP v Jabir | |
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2023] VCC 1637 | |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject:CRIMINAL LAW
Catchwords: Obtain property by deception; robbery; plea of guilty
Legislation Cited: Sentencing Act 1991
Cases Cited:Worboyes [2021] VSCA 169
Sentence:280 days imprisonment
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APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the Director of Public Prosecutions | Mr S. Lee | Office of Public Prosecutions |
| For the Accused | Mr J. Connolly | Chris McLennan & Co. |
HER HONOUR:
1 Nasser Jabir you have pleaded guilty to one charge of obtaining property by deception and one charge of robbery. The maximum penalty for Charge 1, the deception, is 10 years imprisonment and for Charge 2, robbery, it is 15 years imprisonment.
2
The circumstances of your offending were outlined in Exhibit A the prosecution opening dated 21 August 2023. I will summarise those facts here. Around
June 2021 your victim, Ibrahim Ibrahim, returned to his home address in Springvale after a period of time spent in Morwell with his family. When he arrived home he found his truck, a 2018 white Hino, that he used for work had been stolen. He saw that the glass to his front door was broken and that the keys to the truck had been taken from his bedroom. He called the Springvale police station a few days later and reported that his truck had been stolen.
Mr Ibrahim then asks his contacts whether they knew the whereabouts of his truck. He was provided with a mobile number and advised to call it to arrange the return of his truck.
3
On 27 June 2021 Mr Ibrahim messaged the number he had been given and asked for his truck to be returned to him. It was at this point that he first spoke to you and you identified yourself as Nash. You then spoke to Mr Ibrahim on
1 July 2021 when he again contacted you on the same mobile number and offered you a sum of money in return for your assistance in getting his truck back. You exchanged numerous text messages with Mr Ibrahim in which you made demands for money in exchange for returning his truck to him. You stopped replying to Mr Ibrahim on 3 July 2021. He made further unanswered attempts to contact you.
4
On 1 September 2021 you sent the following text message to Mr Ibrahim accompanied by a photograph of his truck. 'The address of a guy is
253 Hoddle Street, Collingwood, my brother. He says you bring $1,500 he will give us the truck. If you don't bring money by 5 pm he will not give the truck. For me bring cold but hurry up please'.
5 Mr Ibrahim went to the address provided with a friend. You met them in the car park, told the friend to wait in the car and took Mr Ibrahim to Level 13. You made him wait in the hallway and asked him to show you the money he was to pay. Mr Ibrahim showed you that he had $500 in his wallet and you demanded that he transfer money to you via PayID. You demanded a transfer of $300 and he agreed on the condition you showed him the key to his truck. He transferred $300 to you using PayID using the phone number ending in 481 but you did not show him the key. This forms the basis of Charge 1.
6 Instead of showing him the key you took the $500 from Mr Ibrahim's wallet. This forms the basis of Charge 2.
7 Your victim ran to an elevator and left the building calling Triple 000 when he reached his friend. Police attended and obtained CCTV from the building. Subscriber checks revealed the phone number ending in 481 belonged to a known associate of yours; however, the PayID transfer stated your name as being linked to that number. Mr Ibrahim never recovered his truck.
8 You were arrested on 10 July 2022 and interviewed in relation to this matter. You told investigators that the mobile number ending in 481 did not belong to you. You did not know the victim. You are not the person depicted in the CCTV stills and you denied the alleged offending.
9 As I have said, the offending occurred on 1 September 2021. You conducted a committal as your right and the matter resolved on 3 July 2023 in this court. While not at the earlier stage your plea nevertheless has significant utilitarian benefit. You have saved the court and the community the time and expense of running a trial and spared the victim the ordeal of giving evidence. In those circumstances you have facilitated the administration of justice and you are entitled to a benefit for that.
10
The utilitarian benefit of your plea is enhanced by the fact that the
Worboyes [2021] Victorian Supreme Court of Appeal 169considerations are engaged. This results in a more pronounced amelioration of sentence then at other times.
11 I turn now to your personal circumstances. You were born in war-torn Sudan to an Eritrean mother in July 1979 and are now 44 years of age. You were exposed to violence, poverty and disease in Sudan and were molested by an uncle when you were aged 9 or 10.
12 At the age of 14 you moved to Australia where you are now a permanent resident. You spent your first six months in Melbourne at Maribyrnong College in an English as a second language class but quickly progressed to a mainstream education in Year 10. You completed your VCE and enrolled in an IT course at RMIT. Unfortunately, your mother developed a brain tumour and you left University to look after her and your younger brothers. You completed a three-year business certificate at Victoria University but did not avail yourself of career opportunities in that field.
13 You began to take illicit drugs to forget about everything. You developed a heroin addiction and were using significant quantities of ice on a daily basis prior to your remand. I was taken to the principles of Bugmy v Queen [2013] High Court of Australia 37 on 2 October 2013 and considered that they apply in the general sense to your circumstances.
14 Your early years were clearly traumatic and have had an ongoing effect on you; however, I note that you had a supportive mother and engaged well with education.
15 You had been staying in the Richmond flats with your associates but were essentially homeless at the time of your remand. I'm told you'll move in with an uncle upon your release. You plan to rekindle relationships with your mother and your children from whom you are presently estranged. No psychological report was provided on your behalf.
16 Mr Jabir, your offending was opportunistic in the sense that you saw it as a way to make some easy money; however, there was clearly a degree of thought and planning involved in Charge 1. I accept that the robbery was spur of the moment upon seeing the cash in Mr Ibrahim's wallet. Fortunately, there was no weapon involved in your offending and no-one was injured. I note there is no victim impact statement but this would no doubt have been a frightening incident for Mr Ibrahim.
17 You are an educated and clearly intelligent man but one whose life has fallen into disarray. You have an extensive criminal history which reflects your descent into addiction. You have a large number of prior driving matters together with drug, violence and property charges. I note you have had numerous opportunities to participate in drug and mental health assessment and treatment through community corrections orders but they have had little to no effect. Specific deterrents is a relevant consideration. I consider your prospects of rehabilitation to be guarded at best, although I note that to your credit you have participated in courses on remand and have held the position of billet in custody.
18 While you have served just over nine months on remand for this incident, I note you have been in custody for 13 months as you were initially serving a sentence on another matter. I take this time into account when considering totality. Just punishment, denunciation and general deterrents all loom large in this case. The community must also be protected from your opportunistic efforts to obtain money to support your drug addiction upon your release.
19 The two offences are temporarily linked and founded on the same facts.
I, therefore, intend to impose an aggregate term of imprisonment.
20 I impose an aggregate term of imprisonment of 280 days pursuant to s18 of the Sentencing Act 1991.
21 I declare 280 days, including today, served by way of presentence detention.
22 Pursuant to s6AAA of the Sentencing Act 1991 I direct that had you not pleaded guilty to the offences before the court the sentence I would have imposed would have been an aggregate term of 18 months' imprisonment with a minimum
non-parole period of 12 months.
23 HER HONOUR: Is there anything else from either party?
24 MS CAVKA: No, Your Honour.
25 MR McLENNAN: No, Your Honour. And thank you for the opportunity to appear by remote facility today, Your Honour. I appreciate that, Your Honour.
26 HER HONOUR: Not a problem, Mr McLennan. We'll adjourn the court, thank you.
27 MR McLENNAN: Thank you.
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