Director of Public Prosecutions v Jeanes
[2024] VCC 273
•13 March 2024
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA AT MELBOURNE CRIMINAL DIVISION | Revised Not Restricted Suitable for Publication |
Case No. CR-23-00150
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| v |
| JED JEANES |
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JUDGE: | HER HONOUR JUDGE MARICH | |
WHERE HELD: | Melbourne | |
DATE OF HEARING: | 26 February 2024 | |
DATE OF SENTENCE: | 13 March 2024 | |
CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | DPP v Jeanes | |
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2024] VCC 273 | |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject:CRIMINAL LAW – SENTENCE
Catchwords: Plea following Sentence Indication Hearing; Traffickable quantity of firearms; Akoka time – residential stay at the Cottage.
Legislation Cited: Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic)
Cases Cited:DPP v Akoka [2017] VSCA 214; DPP v Nguyen [2020] VCC 1900; DPP v Kenny [2022] VCC 471; DPP v Parker [2022] VCC 1931; DPP (Cth) v Liew, Liu and Tiong [2023] VCC 1474; DPP v Sabitovic [2023] VCC 1894.
Sentence: Total effective sentence of four years imprisonment with a non-parole period of 2 years 6 months imprisonment; 225 days of pre-sentence detention reckoned as served; 6AAA declaration – head sentence of five years and 2 months imprisonment.
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APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the DPP | Mr F. Cameron | Office of Public Prosecutions |
| For the Accused | Mr M. Brennan | Emma Turnbull Lawyers |
HER HONOUR:
Introduction
1Jed Jeanes, you have pleaded guilty to an indictment containing two charges of trafficking in a drug of dependence, one of 1,4-Butanediol, and one of methylamphetamine each of which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years' imprisonment; one charge of unauthorised disposal of Category C or D longarm, which carries a maximum penalty of four years' imprisonment; two charges of possess a drug of dependence, namely cannabis L and cocaine, each of which relevantly carries a maximum penalty of one year imprisonment; and one charge of possess a traffickable quantity of firearms, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years' imprisonment.
2At the hearing of the plea in mitigation of penalty, you indicated your willingness for me to deal with three related Summary Offences, namely one charge of deal property suspected of being proceeds of crime, which carries a maximum penalty of two years' imprisonment; one charge of possess cartridge ammunition without a licence, which carries a maximum penalty of 40 penalty units, and one charge of commit indictable offence whilst on bail, which carries a maximum penalty of three months' imprisonment. Pleas of guilty were also entered in respect of these charges.
3The circumstances in which you came to commit those offences are set out in the Summary of Prosecution Opening for Plea dated 19 February 2024 (Exhibit A). Since the conclusion of the plea in mitigation of penalty, I have received an agreed chronology, which I now receive and mark as Exhibit B.
4
In addition to matters developed in oral argument, your counsel relied on defence plea submissions dated 22 February 2024 (Exhibit 1), neuropsychological assessment and report by Dr Matt Treeby dated 22 September 2023 (Exhibit 2); acceptance letter to The Cottage dated 6 February 2023, and completion letter from The Cottage dated 18 May 2023 (Exhibit 3); two hair follicle tests conducted on 23 October 2023 and 5 February 2024 (Exhibit 4); a letter from Dr Loke Tang, of Forest Road Medical Centre dated 18 February 2024 (Exhibit 5); letters to the court from Maria Hutchinson, addiction counsellor, dated 17 October 2023 and
8 February 2024 (Exhibit 6); letters of support from a number of character witnesses (Exhibit 7); and letter from Helen Elliott, Jenover Early Years, in relation to Hendrix Jeanes dated February 2024 (Exhibit 8).
5I have had careful regard to all exhibited documents, as well as to the matters addressed in the oral plea in mitigation of penalty.
Circumstances of your offending
6On 31 May 2022, two Victoria Police covert operatives met you outside the Geelong police station. You all struck up a conversation, they offered to drive you home, and you accepted. While the operatives were at your residence, you gave them a tour of the property including pointing out where certain drugs and firearms were secreted around the premises. After they had driven you from Geelong police station to your residence, you gave an operative a Nivea deodorant bottle filled with 1,4-Butanediol in exchange for them driving you home. The liquid was later forensically tested and was confirmed to be 1,4-Butanediol weighing 51.1 grams, which is part of the offending referable to your between-dates Charge 1, of trafficking in a drug of dependence.
7Over the course of the next three weeks, you and the operatives corresponded via mobile phone about the prospect of them purchasing drugs and firearms from you.
8On 21 June 2022, covert operatives purchased 2 litres of 1,4-Butanediol from you in exchange for $5,500 cash. The substance purchased was later forensically examined and was found to contain 1.82 kilograms of 1,4-Butanediol. This is the other act referable to your Charge 1, of trafficking in a drug of dependence between 31 May 2022 and 21 June 2022.
9On 21 June 2022, that is, the same day that operatives purchased the 2 litres of the drug, they also purchased from you a 12-gauge pump action shotgun for $7,000. This is the offending referable to your Charge 2, of unauthorised disposal of a Category C or D longarm on this date, and I understand that the 12-gauge pump action shotgun is the first of the firearms referable to your Charge 6, of possess a traffickable quantity of firearms. You arrived at this location in a white BMW sedan, which was later seized by police, who discovered various drugs and firearms therein.
10On 27 June 2022 at 6.00 am, police executed a Search Warrant at your home address in Otago Street, Mount Duneed, and the following items were seized:
· a Nikita brand duffle bag, which police had observed you throw over a side fence before you were arrested, containing a loaded revolver firearm with tape around the handle, and a torch taped to the barrel, which is the second firearm referable to your Charge 6, of possess a traffickable quantity of firearms;
· a vacuum sealed bag containing cannabis weighing 17.6 grams, which is the offending referable to your Charge 4, of possession of a drug of dependence;
· a red container of ammunition, which is the offending referable to your Summary Charge of possess cartridge ammunition (approximately 350 plus rounds);
· $2,600 in cash, which is the offending referable to your Summary Charge of deal property suspected of being proceeds of crime;
·
a number of plastic bags containing white crystals, which were subsequently analysed and found to be 12.1 grams of cocaine, which is the offending referable to your Charge 5, of possession of a drug of dependence, and
72.9 grams of methamphetamine with a purity between 77 to 85 per cent, which is the offending referable to your Charge 3, of trafficking in a drug of dependence.
11Also contained within the duffle bag were sets of keys for a number of vehicles including a blue Holden sedan parked at the property, in which a gold spray painted sawn off firearm was discovered in the passenger footwell, which is the third firearm referable to your Charge 6, of possess a traffickable quantity of firearms; and a white BMW sedan, which was later seized from a different location, and was found to contain a further eight firearms.
12You were arrested at the scene and taken into custody.
13At the same time as the search at Mount Duneed on 27 June 2022, police also executed a Search Warrant at an address at Mallacoota Crescent in Armstrong Creek. Your white BMW was found at this location, and is the vehicle to which I have referred in summarising one set of keys found in the duffle bag at your Mount Duneed address. The further eight firearms found within the white BMW were:
· an Adler 12 gauge shotgun in a grey case in the boot of the vehicle;
· a Churchill 12 gauge shotgun in a black Pelican case also in the boot, and I understand that that firearm was stolen from a burglary in Hamlyn Heights on 25 June 2022, (though it is not alleged that you were part of that burglary);
· an Enfield bolt-action rifle in a black case in the boot;
· a Sauer .308 calibre rifle with scope in a black case in the boot, which had been stolen from the registered owner, (though it is not suggested by you);
· an Enfield bolt-action rifle in a dark coloured case;
· a BRNO .222 calibre Remington rifle, which had been stolen in an aggravated burglary in Leopold on 14 and 15 May 2022, (though it is not alleged by you);
· one unknown rifle wrapped in sheets in the boot;
· a sawn off bolt-action firearm in the boot; and
· 300 plus rounds of ammunition though it is not alleged that this is part of summary Charge 14.
14The white BMW had been registered to your partner Chloe Mabbett, and was bearing false number plates. Ms Mabbett provided a statement in respect of the vehicle, and told police that you purchased the vehicle and registered it in her name, and she has never driven it nor stored any personal items inside it.
15The eight firearms discovered in your white BMW are the fourth to eleventh firearms referable to your Charge 6, that between 21 June 2022 and 27 June 2022, you possessed a traffickable quantity of firearms. At the time of this offending, you were on bail pursuant to the order of Geelong Magistrates' Court dated 7 February 2022, and your commission of Charge 6 in breach of this bail undertaking is the offending referable to your Summary Charge of commit indictable offence whilst on bail.
16I have been told that no less than ten of the cartridges seized were capable of being fired by the firearms found in your possession, however, not all of the cartridges and firearms have been analysed to determine the extent of compatibility between ammunition and the firearms.
Plea of guilty and timing
17You were charged after your arrest, and were remanded into custody on 27 June 2022. You spent a period of 225 days on remand, before you were bailed to The Cottage Rehabilitation facility.
18The matters proceeded through the committal stream of the Magistrates' Court, with an expert witness and the informant cross-examined by your legal representative, and you were committed on your pleas of guilty to the current Charges 1, 2 and 4 and on pleas of not guilty to the other charges you now face. And here I interpolate you were also committed on other charges more serious than those you now face following an initial directions hearing in this court. On 7 March 2023, I understand that you made an offer to plead guilty to charges including Charges 1 and 3, and you indicated a partial acceptance of Charge 6, comprising four firearms instead of 11. The matter proceeded to case conference before me, and you made a further accommodation in respect of the number of firearms referable to your Charge 6, although still falling well short of the number that you have since accepted, and the matter was listed for a sentence indication before me.
19On 23 October 2023, that sentence indication on the charges you now face proceeded, with my order made on 31 October 2023.
20On 28 November 2023, you indicated your intention to plead guilty to all charges on the current indictment including the earlier dispute with respect Charges 3, 5 and 6, and on 12 December 2023 you were arraigned and entered pleas of guilty. I accept and take into account in respect of Charges 1, 2 and 4 that your pleas of guilty were signalled at an early opportunity. And in respect of your Charges 3, 5 and 6 that your pleas of guilty were entered at the mid point of proceedings in this court, prior to the court listing the matter for trial before judge and jury. I take into account in respect of each charge both the pleas of guilty and the stage of proceedings at which they were entered, the utilitarian benefit of those pleas, and the fact that they are reflective of remorse, and I mitigate sentence on each of those bases.
Personal circumstances
21You are now 29 years of age, and at the time of your offending you were 27. You were born and raised in Stawell, the second of three children born to parents; your father worked as a truck driver, and your mother was an aged care worker. You have an older and a younger sister, each of whom are employed.
22I understand that you had somewhat of a difficult childhood, marred by parental substance misuse, and separation. I was told that your parents drank heavily in the family home, and your father also used cannabis to excess. Your father also had difficulties with managing his anger, and was often verbally aggressive in the home, which understandably resulted in a tense family home environment. Your parents ultimately separated when you were aged 10, and you lived with your mother, saw your father perhaps once a year if you were lucky.
23You then moved from Stawell to Lara at the age of 13, and you struggled with the move and the dislocation from your friends. Your mother entered into a new relationship with a man who assumed the role of your stepfather, in respect of whom you were not fond. You describe him as a full-time drinker and marijuana smoker, a grumpy person, who was also violent a few times.
24Your mother separated from this man when you were aged about 18.
25You completed Prep to Grade 6 at Stawell 502 Primary School, and I understand that during your primary schooling you had disciplinary issues for not listening and being disruptive, and you were diagnosed with ADHD during late primary school, and you took stimulant medication to assist with the management of your behaviour and attention.
26You attended Year 7 at Stawell Secondary College, and were suspended on numerous occasions during this year, which led to a modified timetable during Year 8. Upon your relocation to Lara, you enrolled in Lara Secondary College, but your behavioural issues persisted, and you left secondary school during the first quarter of Year 9.
27You then enrolled in an Automotive Work Skills Training Program, and then enrolled in a Certificate III in Automotive at TAFE, but you left halfway through this program.
28At the age of 16, you worked briefly at Geelong Mowers and Chainsaws, but you left after a month. You then worked for Shojun Concreting full-time between the ages of 17 to 21, and then worked at Cormac Concreting between the ages of 22 and 24, and then worked for a period of time at Macklin Concreting.
29You established your own concreting business in 2020, which was successful for a period of time, however, you lost a number of key workers during the pandemic, whom you struggled to replace with other capable workers.
30I have the benefit of a neuropsychological assessment and report by Dr Matt Treeby, and he reports that you told him that during COVID, you hired new staff that used methamphetamine, and you tried it and got hooked, and then you said “things went downhill fast”c. Apparently, your business collapsed in the context of your heavy substance use, and then you began supporting yourself and your family through illegitimate means.
31You have four sons with your long-term partner of the last 11 years, Ms Chloe Mabbett, who are now aged ten, seven, four and nearly two. You separated from Ms Mabbett in February 2021, when your drug taking started to become noticeable. Ms Mabbett has remained loyal to you, and you have reconciled.
32You also have a daughter Riley, three months younger than your youngest son, whose mother is not Ms Mabbett. You now live with your mother, Ms Mabbett, and your four sons in a four bedroom property in Lara. Your mother provides you with stability and support, and has provided me with a letter explaining, but not justifying, your circumstances, including your descent into drug addiction, and the catastrophe that your choices have wrought on those around you. Understandably, she was relieved when you were arrested, given that it marked such a significant turning point for you. Your older sister has also provided me with a letter, and she has spoken of the support that you now provide your mother, she describes you as a devoted father, and a skilled and kind uncle to her children. This is a credit to you and permits me to see you in a more balanced light. Your partner speaks of your remorse, and the accountability that you have taken in making amends for committing such very serious offences, and for the devastation that you have caused your family.
33In February 2018, you appeared in the Geelong Magistrates' Court and were convicted of a charge of recklessly cause injury, and were placed on a community correction order for a period of 24 months, which obliged you to undertake a significant number of hours of unpaid community work, with other special conditions including the obligation for assessment and treatment for alcohol abuse or dependency. This community correction order apparently was satisfactorily completed in February 2020, though as I have noted you were on bail for unrelated offending at the point in time that you committed these offences, which was of no deterrent to you.
34On 7 February 2023, on these matters, you were bailed into the residential program at The Cottage and I have been provided with a report of that organisation apparently relied on in your bail application, setting out the phases involved in that rehabilitative program. The first phase, as I understand it, involved four weeks on site, with conditions including compulsory morning check ins, attendance at four compulsory twelve step meetings, attendance at daily The Cottage conversations workshops, no personal phone calls, and limited calls via the office at one per day, and no visitors. In the second phase of eight weeks duration, there is an opportunity to walk around the Shepparton area, which is where The Cottage is located, and you are able to have personal phone calls, and were eligible for visitors between 1 pm and 4 pm on site. The compulsory morning check ins, the four compulsory twelve step meeting attendances weekly, and daily The Cottage conversations workshops continued. The third phase, I was told, allows for weekend leave, though I understand that you were slow to take advantage of this opportunity because of concerns with your bail conditions.
35A report on 18 May 2023 confirmed that during your rehabilitation program, you were required to abstain from alcohol and other drugs for the duration of the program, and provided me with some information around morning 8.30 am check ins, which permitted participation in meditation and honest and open sharing within the community, and confirmed that the operations manager was pleased with the level of responsibility that you had taken. You have instructed your legal representatives that you have managed to remain drug free since completing The Cottage program. I have helpfully been provided with a number of cases from your counsel confirming that in those cases, participation in an inpatient rehabilitation at The Cottage was taken into account in mitigation of sentence.[1] In the seminal case of Akoka v The Queen,[2] the Court of Appeal confirmed that residence in a rehabilitation facility has the potential to significantly assist an offender's rehabilitation, by assisting an offender to overcome drug dependency and other factors that have contributed to their offending, and to develop strategies for becoming a law abiding citizen. These outcomes, the Court of Appeal said, benefit not only the offender but also the community. In the facts of Akoka, the evidence indicated that residency at Odyssey House involved significant restrictions on the liberty of those undertaking the treatment offered by that facility. The Court of Appeal stated that:
'the nature and severity of the restrictions and the treatment programs on offer may vary as between different facilities. Where reliance is placed on residency at such a facility, evidence will be required to establish that it is appropriate for the court to give credit for such residency. It will be relevant for the court to know whether the residency is entirely voluntary or whether there is an element of compulsion”.
[1]See DPP v Nguyen [2020] VCC 1900; DPP v Kenny [2022] VCC 471; DPP v Parker [2022] VCC 1931; DPP (Cth) v Liew, Liu, and Tiong [2023] VCC 1474; DPP v Sabitovic [2023] VCC 1894; these cases involve the application of the reasoning of the Court of Appeal in DPP v Akoka [2017] VSCA 214.
[2] DPP v Akoka [2017] VSCA 214, [105]-[111].
36In your case, there was an element of compulsion in that your residence at The Cottage was a condition of your bail. In Akoka, the court confirmed that the extent of any credit towards a later sentence will depend on the circumstances of each case, including the nature and severity of the restrictions to which an offender has been subject, and the duration of the offender's residency. Any credit forms part of the application of the instinctive synthesis without being numerically identified. In your case, I am prepared to afford an accommodation by way of a credit towards your sentence, in respect of the first phase of your rehabilitation at The Cottage, and to a lesser extent in respect of the second phase.
37Returning to Dr Treeby's assessment of you, Dr Treeby notes your history of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, an apparent borderline intellectual disability, and concerns expressed by your parents regarding verbal aggression. You have experienced unconscious collapses in the past, and when you were taken to Geelong Hospital in September 2021 after a collapse, a past medical history of methamphetamine abuse and depression was noted. A CT brain scan was undertaken which was described as normal, and there was no evidence of head injury.
38You reported to Dr Treeby that you started drinking at the age of 14, which continued throughout your teens and in your early 20s with one or two beers consumed after work during your early 20s, and binge drinking at the weekend. You first tried cannabis at the age of 14, and by the age of 15 would smoke 1 gram of cannabis three times a week, but you stopped smoking cannabis at the age of 20.
39You first used amphetamine at the age of 19 and engaged in occasional use during your early 20s, and then as I have mentioned, you were introduced to methylamphetamine by work colleagues in 2021 when you were aged 25 years, and you rapidly developed a dependence on this substance.
40On Dr Treeby's assessment, your premorbid intellectual skills are broadly estimated to have fallen in the borderline to low average range, your overall level of intellectual function falls in the borderline range, as do your verbal comprehension skills, but your visual intellectual skills are stronger and within normal limits. You have an intact ability to learn and recall simple visual information, but you struggle with learning and recalling visual information that was complex and abstract.
41In Dr Treeby's view, you have a number of notable cognitive impairments, particularly in the domains of language function, learning and memory, visuospatial analytical skills, complex information processing, and higher order attention. Your overall level of intellectual functioning is worse than 92 per cent of your similarly aged peers. In Dr Treeby's view, as a result you are likely to experience a range of day-to-day difficulties across life domains relative to others your age.
42His impression is that you continue to satisfy the DSM 5-TR criteria for a diagnosis of attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder (combined presentation) as an adult. In Dr Treeby's view, your polysubstance use is clearly problematic, and you meet full DSM-5-TR diagnostic criteria for diagnosis of stimulant use disorder (amphetamine-type) and other substance use disorder (GHB). Here, I note that you have sought the assistance of Maria Hutchison, Addiction Counsellor, since your discharge from The Cottage, and have continued to participate in Narcotics Anonymous sessions. Dr Treeby strongly recommends that you continue to engage in appropriate drug and alcohol counselling, which is a recommendation I support.
43Since 2021, Dr Treeby's impression is that you satisfied DSM-5-TR criteria for a diagnosis of major depressive disorder, and you have developed the proclivity to engage in substance use as a means of self-medicating negative emotions, and this contributes to your disordered substance use. I accept and take into account in mitigation of sentence that your diagnosis mean that any sentence of imprisonment will weigh more heavily upon you than it would another person who does not experience the symptoms with which you have long grappled.
44I have also been told that your eldest son, Cooper, has an established diagnosis of ADHD, and as a result of your time on remand, and Cooper's understanding of the prospects of you returning to custody, that his mental health has deteriorated. Your third son, Hendrix, has also recently been found suitable for early childhood intervention to assist with speech therapy, funded by NDIS, and has been referred to a paediatrician.
45
As I have mentioned, I have been provided with letters from your partner,
Ms Mabbett, and your mother, Ms Brown, and they have told me of Cooper's declining health whilst you were in custody; and the developing awareness of Hendrix's additional needs; and also that the need to care for the children without your support impacts on Ms Mabbett's health and mental health. I take into account in mitigation of sentence that service of any time in custody in consequence of your serious offending weighs heavily upon you by reason of the complications that it causes to your family.
46I accept your counsel's submission that your offending is closely connected to your unfortunate descent into methylamphetamine addiction in the year prior, that it is unrelated to the prior conviction with which I have been provided, and was motivated by your disordered thoughts as a result of your drug addiction. It is to your credit that you have managed to work through your addiction, and have reconciled with your former partner, and you have secure accommodation in the care of your mother. These are all factors that are protective of your prospects for rehabilitation, and I am cautiously prepared to view the prospects overall as being good, and they will be more favourable if you are able to continue to abstain from drugs upon your eventual release from custody, and if you do not engage in any further behaviour that undermines your strong family support.
Objective gravity: moral culpability
47Having considered the evidence carefully, I form the view and accept the prosecution contention that your charge of possess a traffickable quantity of firearms is a serious example of that offence.
48You possessed 11 firearms over a period just shy of a week, at two locations. One, a revolver handgun, was loaded and concealed within a duffle bag that police observed you throw over a side fence when you were about to be searched. One was found in the passenger side of a vehicle at your home address. A weapon was sawn off. There was cartridge ammunition found in proximity to these weapons at your home address. The value of these firearms in the illicit market is considerable. Their value lies in their potential to cause menace, fear, and injury to others, and they are elusive to detect because they are being mismanaged in this way. You sold one 12-gauge pump action shotgun for $7,000. Your motive for participation was apparently for financial gain. You were on bail at the time of your commission of the offence of possess the traffickable quantity of firearms, which as I have said was of no deterrent to you. Here, I will indicate and interpolate, that I consider there to be considerable overlap in criminality between your commission of Charge 6, and Charges 2 and your summary offence of possess cartridge ammunition and breach of bail, and in proper reflection of the totality principle of sentencing I have ordered complete concurrency given that I have taken the circumstances of those other offences into account in assessing the gravity of your Charge 6.
49You possessed a variety of drugs, in a variety of quantities. Your two trafficking simpliciter charges involved transactions with respect to the 1,4-butanediol over a three week period, the second occasion involving a significant amount, for a significant amount of money. Separately the quantity and purity of methylamphetamine was considerable. The cocaine represents a third variety of a drug of dependence in your possession at this time. Your behaviour would create grave and direct consequences upon your family, and you were aware of this context and background of course when you committed these offences, but you committed them anyway.
Purposes of sentencing, sentencing submissions and relevant sentencing principles
50In cases of this nature the need for general deterrence is high. In other words, I am required to send a message to the community generally to deter others from engaging in this type of behaviour. I must give significant emphasis to this objective of sentencing, as well as to the need to denounce your behaviour and to punish you for your offending. I must also impose sentences that specifically deter you.
51As I have mentioned, I have had full regard to your successful rehabilitation since committing the offence and rehabilitation is a relevant purpose of sentence.
52Whilst you have an addiction to drugs, you are motivated to abstain, and you now understand the serious detrimental and devastating effects of your behaviour and your periods of absence from your childrens' lives and the pressure that it places upon them and your partner as a result of your offending.
53Your counsel urged upon me a sentence involving a combination of imprisonment and a community corrections order. The prosecution has submitted that only a sentence involving a head sentence and minimum period before parole eligibility could satisfy all of the purposes of sentencing in this case. I have reflected exceptionally carefully upon these competing submissions. Ultimately, I must accept the prosecution position. Having regard to the long period during which you have not reoffended, I am prepared to impose a long period of parole eligibility. I have mentioned the totality principle of sentencing in respect of some of your offending, and here I will interpolate that I have structured my order so as to have regard to this principle in respect of other sentences as well.
54You are now sentenced as follows:
· On Charge 1, of trafficking in a drug of dependence, you are convicted and sentenced to 10 months' imprisonment, two months of which I order be served cumulatively upon the base and upon other sentences;
· On Charge 2, of unauthorised disposal of Category C or D firearm, you are convicted and sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment, to be served concurrently;
· On Charge 3, of trafficking in a drug of dependence, you are convicted and sentenced to 15 months' imprisonment, three months of which I order be served cumulatively upon the base and upon other sentences;
· On Charge 4, of possess a drug of dependence, you are convicted and discharged;
· On Charge 5, of possess a drug of dependence, you are convicted and sentenced to four months' imprisonment, one month of which I order be served cumulatively upon the base and upon other sentences;
· On Charge 6, of possess a traffickable quantity of firearms, you are convicted and sentenced to three years and six months' imprisonment. This is the base.
· On your summary charge of possess proceeds of crime, you are convicted and sentenced to one month imprisonment, wholly concurrent. On the charge of possess cartridge ammunition, you are convicted and discharged. On the charge of commit indictable offence whilst on bail, you are convicted and sentenced to two months' imprisonment, concurrent.
55This is a total effective sentence of four years' imprisonment, and I order that you serve two years and six months before parole eligibility. 225 days of pre-sentence detention are reckoned as time already served under this sentence.
56Were it not for your pleas of guilty in this case, if you had pleaded not guilty but been found guilty after jury trial, I would have imposed a head sentence of five years and two months' imprisonment.
57I make the forfeiture and disposal orders sought by the Prosecution, that are not opposed by Defence.
58Thank you. Thank you, we will now adjourn.
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