Director of Public Prosecutions v Jeffic, Goran
[2012] VCC 2044
•15 October 2012
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA | Revised (Not) Restricted Suitable for Publication |
AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL DIVISION
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| v |
| GORAN JEFTIC |
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JUDGE: | HIS HONOUR JUDGE LACAVA | |
WHERE HELD: | Melbourne | |
DATE OF HEARING: | ||
DATE OF SENTENCE: | 15 October 2012 | |
CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | DPP v Jeffic, Goran | |
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2012] VCC 2044 | |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Catchwords: Armed Robbery
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APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the Crown (Plea) (Sentence) | Mr B. Stougiannos Ms J. Croxford | |
| For the Accused | Mr I. Polak |
HIS HONOUR:
1 Goran Jeftic, on the 3rd of July 2012 you pleaded guilty before me to each of seven (7) charges contained in indictment C10126076. Those charges concern offending committed by you between the 29th of December 2011 and the 14th of January 2012. There are three (3) charges of armed robbery (charges 1, 2 & 3), one (1) charge of aggravated burglary (charge 4), one charge of theft (charge 5), one charge of recklessly causing serious injury (charge 6) and one (1) charge of handling stolen goods (charge 7).
2 In sentencing you for these offences I am required to have regard to the maximum sentence for each offence you have committed. The maximum sentence for the crime of armed robbery is 25 years imprisonment. The maximum sentence for the crime of aggravated burglary is also 25 years imprisonment. The maximum sentence for the crime of theft is 10 years imprisonment. The maximum sentence for the crime of recklessly causing serious injury is 15 years imprisonment. The maximum sentence for the crime of handling stolen goods is also 15 years imprisonment.
3 You can see from the maximum penalties prescribed by the parliament for each of the kind of offences that you have committed that each is regarded seriously by the parliament.
4 The circumstances of your offending are summarised in a summary of prosecution opening which was tendered in evidence and marked as exhibit “E” on the plea. It was read in open court by the learned prosecutor Mr Stougiannos and accepted by your counsel then Ms Bolger as being accurate and as forming a proper basis upon which I can proceed to pass sentence upon you. It is not necessary that I repeat now what is there set out save in summary form.
5 On 29 December 2011 at about 2.10pm you robbed the St Albans Hot Bread Bakery whilst armed with a blood filled syringe. You forced the shop attendant MD into a backroom and ordered her to lie on the ground and said to her “where is the money I don’t want to hurt you”. You smashed MD’s mobile phone as well as the landline telephone. You stole money from a cash box which you told police later amounted to $375.00. You also said you were armed with a knife and not a blood filled syringe. For the purposes of sentencing it makes little difference. You were armed with a weapon and you threatened MD with it when she was defenceless working as a shop assistant. She was a soft target chosen by you. (Charge 1 Armed Robbery) In sentencing you I act on the summary of evidence which is based on the evidence of MD, namely, you were armed with a blood filled syringe.
6 The following day you committed a further similar armed robbery on the One Phone Store in St Albans. You entered the store which was being attended to by Ms N who was alone. You were armed with a knife which was shown to her. You told her “give me the money”. When she could not produce any money you demanded she give you a mobile phone. When Ms N called for help to people outside the store you threatened her saying “if you call the police, I will kill you.” You grabbed some keys from within the store and left. Theses keys were later found in your possession. (Charge 2 Armed Robbery)
7 Five days later you again returned to the St Albans Hot Bread Bakery the scene of your offending in charge 1 and committed yet another armed robbery. MD was again working alone in the shop and she saw you approaching her. She attempted to call the police however, before she was able to do so you jumped the counter whilst armed with a knife. You demanded money of MD who indicated the money was in a plastic container under the bench. You then told her to get on the ground and stay there for 2 minutes.
8 You then went to the front of the store where you opened the cash register and stole the cash within. Again you smashed the landline phone. You stole approximately $450.00 from the container and $20.00 from the cash register. (Charge 3 Armed Robbery)
9 On Friday 13 January 2012 at 1.50pm SF was working at a café in Princess Street, St Albans. The café was owned by her father who was also in the café at the time seated near the front window. At the rear of the café is a service counter where the cash register was located. SF left the café via the rear door to use a communal toilet located in an arcade area. At this time you entered the café through the opened rear door. You had no permission to do so. You were armed with a knife. Your intention was to steal money from the cash register. (Charge 4 Aggravated Burglary)
10 You unplugged the cash register and whilst carrying it towards the back door (Charge 5 Theft) SF returned from the toilet. She confronted you and tried to prevent you from leaving with the cash register which you dropped. At the same time you pushed SF causing her to strike the ground or doorframe and loose consciousness. SF suffered a fractured skull, a fractured jaw and two fractured vertebrae just below the neck. She received a large cut to her head which required closure by staples. The fractured jaw also resulted in a pinched nerve causing right sided facial palsy which is considered permanent and SF remains unable to close her right eye. As part of her treatment SF was placed into an induced coma for 36 hours. She is unable to remember details of the incident. (Charge 6 Recklessly Cause Serious Injury to SF) You ran from the arcade area and were pursued but you escaped to a nearby residential area.
11 On 14 January 2012 the police executed a search warrant at your residential address where they located two mobile phones identified as having been stolen. (Charge 7 Handling Stolen Goods)
12 You were arrested and interviewed in relation to the offending on 14 January 2012 and you made admissions. You were remanded in custody where you have remained pending plea and sentence since.
13 You have served 275 days pre-sentence detention up to and including yesterday, 14 October 2012.
14 As I said earlier you pleaded guilty before me on 3 July 2012. What has occurred since that time in terms of dealing with your plea needs to be set out. At the request of the parties I listed the matter again on 5 September 2012. At that time your previous counsel Ms. Bolger withdrew and I adjourned the plea until last Monday 8 October but the matter could not proceed on that date because your new counsel Mr Polak was not in a position to proceed on that day and asked for an adjournment which I granted. I then adjourned the matter again until last Friday 12 October.
15 Between 3 July and 5 September the prosecution filed further evidence that showed that what the court had been told on 23 July and what you had told Warren Simmons psychologist as to your involvement in the Balkans War was all false. What you had told Warren Simmons resulted in him opining that you had suffered a post traumatic stress disorder as a result of which you tended to self medicate on drugs. The fact that you did give false information to Warren Simmons is not challenged. On 5 September I was asked to and agreed to adjourn your plea so that a new psychological report could be obtained. That has now been done and the court has been provided with a report from Pamela Matthews dated 4 October 2012 and a copy of a report from neuro-psychologist Dr Sheryl Monteath prepared on 23 April 2010 and a report from Dr Yona Josefsberg dated 20 May 2012 and a report from Dr Michael Aufrang dated 23 May 2012. I marked these as exhibits 3 to 6 respectively.
16 In passing sentence I am required to have regard to various victim impact statements filed by persons affected by your crimes.
17 I admitted into evidence as exhibits “A” and “A1” respectively two victim impact statements from SF. In them she details how your offending and the injuries you imparted upon her have resulted in a complete life change for her. She has lost her ability to work and her complete independence. She struggles with daily tasks and is now dependent upon her husband to do things for her which she previously always attended to. Her husband had to leave work to become her full time carer and there has been a strain placed on her marriage. She suffers with a permanent bells palsy type injury to the right side of her face. She must drink through a straw. Her eyes require daily lubrication. She suffers on going short term memory loss and headaches. Because she can no longer work she suffers financial loss. She describes her financial situation as a result of your offending in seriously injuring her as now being “dire”.
18 I admitted into evidence as exhibit “B” a victim impact statement of the husband of SF. In it he describes how the impact of your offending has changed his life permanently.
19 The father of SF was in his café when you entered it for the purpose of stealing the cash register. He witnessed you injure his daughter. I admitted into evidence a victim impact statement from him which I marked as exhibit “C”. Witnessing you injuring his daughter whilst he was helpless to assist her has left him traumatised by your offending.
20 In relation to SF I also admitted into evidence as exhibits “G”, “G1” and “G2” respectively a medical report from Dr Angela Sungalia a Forensic Physician at the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine, photographs of SF taken whilst she was hospitalised depicting her facial injuries and a report from the Royal Melbourne Hospital. These reports describe in detail the extent of the serious injuries you inflicted upon SF.
21 In passing sentence upon you in relation to charge 6 I have taken all of this evidence into account which describes the injuries inflicted by you upon SF and the impact of your offending upon her and her husband and father.
22 I also admitted into evidence in relation to charges 1 and 3 a victim impact statement of MD who was the hapless shop assistant you robbed whilst armed with a weapon on two occasions. She remains anxious and nervous especially when by herself. She has flashbacks to both offences. This kind of reaction is understandable. I also admitted into evidence as exhibit “D” a victim impact statement from Christine Attard who owned the St Albans Hot Bread Bakery that you robbed twice. She was so traumatised by your repeated offending at her business. In consequence she says she has had to close the store with the financial implications that entails.
23 In passing sentence upon you in relation to charges 1 and 3 I have taken these victim impact statements into account as I must.
24 Your offending here is very serious. It is explained by a motive to obtain money to buy drugs. I was told and accept you owed a drug debt and that is what motivated your offending in the charges. That is no excuse just an explanation. In each of charges 1 to 3 you were armed and threatened violence on unarmed helpless women who you no doubt assessed as a soft target. Each was alone when you offended. Your offending in each charge is a serious example of what is clearly a serious offence. On each occasion you were seen loitering in the vicinity of the target. You no doubt had time to stop and think. Instead you chose to act when your victim was most vulnerable.
25 In charge 4 you clearly entered the café for the purpose of stealing the cash register. Again that is a serious example of what is regarded as a serious offence.
26 Charge 5 was really part of charge 4. It is the result of taking the cash register. There must be full concurrency between the sentences imposed on charges 4 and 5.
27 Charge 6 in my view is a very serious example of the offence of recklessly causing serious injury. Your counsel conceded this was the most serious of the charges. It occurred because you were more intent on protecting and getting away with the cash register you had stolen than you were for the safety or well being of SF. I observed SF in the Court. I asked her to stand up so that I could see the extent of her bells palsy. She is a person of slight physical build. In dropping the cash register and pushing her out of your way you imparted very serious injury to her from which she is I think likely to suffer for the rest of her life. You must have appreciated that your actions would probably injure SF. You went ahead with pushing her out of your way regardless of the injury you might cause to her.
28 The circumstances of the offending in Charge 7 in my view place it towards the bottom end of offending of that kind.
29 In passing sentence upon you I must and do have regard to the fact that you have pleaded guilty to the charges and the time at which you indicated you would do so. You pleaded guilty to the charges at the first committal mention. I treat you as having pleaded guilty to the charges at the first available opportunity. In my view you are entitled to a lesser sentence than you would otherwise have received had you pleaded not guilty to the charges.
30 In pleading guilty you have saved the time and costs of possibly three or more trials and you have saved your victims from being forced to give evidence against you and from being cross examined by your counsel. In passing sentence I have taken these matters into account and this is reflected in the sentence that I will shortly pass.
31 It was not in dispute that when you committed these offences you were drug addicted and that the offences occurred because you owed about $2,000.00 to your drug dealer. Ms Bolger told me that you had become addicted to heroin whilst in Serbia fighting the war that took place there. She told me that you had there witnessed various war atrocities and that this had left you suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and that in consequence your use of heroin operated as a form of self medication. Ms Bolger relied upon a forensic psychological report of Warren Simmons dated 19 June 2012 which I marked as exhibit 1 on the plea to support her submissions.
32 Ms Bolger submitted that because you were suffering from a Post Traumatic Stress Disorder at the time of offending which in turn was self medicated by you by illicit drug use I should moderate my sentence. This submission was based on the principle in Verdins that where an offender suffers from a mental condition such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and there is a link between that illness and the offending then the court should regard the offender’s moral culpability as having been reduced and, in such circumstances should moderate any sentence because there is less need to have the sentence reflect application of the principle of general deterrence.
33 As I said earlier the basis upon which Warren Simmons prepared his report was false. Mr Polak told me he no longer relied on it when he appeared on 12 October. Instead he relied on the report of Ms Matthews and the other reports which had been provided to her.
34 You were introduced to cannabis at age 12 and you used between 7 to 14 grams per day. You continued to use cannabis right up until the time you were arrested. You were introduced to ecstasy at age 16 which you used as a party drug on a weekly basis from 2001 to 2007 ingesting between 20 to 30 tablets at a time. In Serbia in 2005 whilst associating with your cousins you began using heroin and cocaine as well as cannabis.
35 You have 22 prior convictions from six court appearances in the Magistrates’ Court between April 2002 (Aged 23) and July 2010 (Aged 32). There are a number of relevant matters that need to be noted here. The first is that until aged 23 you had lead a blameless life. However, once addicted to drugs your life seems to have spiralled out of control. As is often seen, your prior convictions are for acts of dishonesty. You received dispositions which were non custodial and no doubt designed to assist you to rehabilitate yourself. It was not until July 2010 that you received a disposition in the form of a prison sentence and that sentence was wholly suspended with an operational period of eight months applicable. The offending for which you received that disposition was burglary and theft and going equipped to cheat and steal. Notably none of your prior offending involved the use of weapons and nor it seems did it involve acts of or, threats of, violence. The offending in the offences for which I sentence you involving as it does arming yourself with weapons and threats and acts of violence therefore represents a considerable escalation on your part in the level of your criminal behaviour.
36 Your background is difficult to trace. It seems different persons have been told different things. For example you told Mr Simmons you attended St Albans Primary School and later Kealba Secondary College until year 10 when you were apparently expelled for fighting. In contrast you told Ms Matthews you attended Meadows Primary School then Kealba Secondary College until mid way through year 11 when you were expelled but you were not sure why. You asserted to Mr Simmons that you are illiterate. In contrast you told Ms Matthews “He reports not (sic) learning problems or difficulties learning to read and write, he just could not put pen to paper”. I act on what you told Ms Matthews.
37 Your father was Yugoslavian of Serbian descent and your mother Croatian. You were born in Melbourne and grew up in St Albans. You were apparently good at sport and at school you handled art and trade type subjects better than others. After leaving school you have had a series of jobs in various fields of endeavour. You use alcohol with moderation.
38 You have made various attempts to rid yourself of drugs. At the time of the occurrence of these offences you had been assessed to attend Odyssey House and were awaiting a vacancy.
39 You told Ms Matthews you were abused physically by your father but that has not been confirmed by evidence from your mother or brother or any other relative. I do not accept as a fact that you were physically abused by your father absent proper evidence that you were.
40 Ms Matthews opined that you have developed low level mental health problems characterised by a diagnosis of Dysthymic Mood Disorder as defined by DSM-IV. Ms Matthews also opined you suffer from Poly Substance Dependence and have done so since age 18 which she opined resulted in you self medicating as your mood fluctuates. Ms Matthews opined your behaviour is a product of mood disorder and substance abuse interacting.
41 Mr Polak conceded there is no evidence in this case which would mean that I should have regard to application of any of the principles in Verdins in sentencing. On the available evidence that can be relied upon, that concession is undoubtedly correct.
42 In passing sentence I have had regard to the following mitigating factors advanced on your behalf:
43 You have pleaded guilty to the charges and indicated that you would do so at the earliest opportunity;
44 When arrested you were cooperative with police and made admissions;
45 Your offending was unsophisticated and random;
46 You have expressed remorse and even though you lied to Warren Simmons you are nevertheless remorseful and especially sorry for the physical harm and injury that SF suffered at your hands. I accept you are remorseful despite your lies to Warren Simmons.
47 You have made and are making genuine attempts to rid yourself of drugs;
48 You have good family support from your mother, brother and uncle. I note your mother and uncle have been in the court each day to support you and that I think is to your credit because the court can have some comfort that you will have somewhere to go when released from prison.
49 You have a limited criminal history that commenced only when you were aged about 23 and this is the first time you will have committed a criminal act that has resulted in immediate incarceration
50 In passing sentence I have taken all of these matters into account.
51 In sentencing for offending of this kind I must have regard to application of the principle of general deterrence. Armed robbery is a prevalent offence as is recklessly causing serious injury. My sentence must deter others who might be minded to offend in the way that you have.
52 In addition my sentence must properly reflect the court’s and the community’s denunciation of your conduct. I must also have regard to application of the principle of specific deterrence. In your case this principle must have only minor application here because of your limited prior criminal history for offences of dishonesty and possession of drugs.
53 Mr Polak asked that I impose a longer than normal parole period arguing you will need help when you are eventually released. I am not satisfied you are a good candidate for rehabilitation. Whether you can come back to a normal life after release from prison will depend I think on how determined you are to remain drug free and whether through treatment or otherwise you can learn the required skills to say no to drug use. Time will tell. I hope sincerely that you can prove me wrong and that you do fully rehabilitate yourself.
54 Mr Stougiannos who appeared to prosecute submitted that an appropriate sentencing range in this case was of a head sentence in the range of seven and a half years to nine and a half years imprisonment with a non parole period of the range of 7 to 9 years. Mr Polak did not argue with that range but as I said submitted you should be given a longer than normal non parole period. I have not seen any evidence in this case that would justify me directing a non parole period longer than what might be regarded as normal and this is reflected in the sentence that I will now pass.
55 These charges save for charges 4, 5 and 6 arose out of separate incidents and there needs to be a measure of cumulation which I have provided for. Charges 4, 5 and 6 all arose out of the one incident but it is appropriate there be some cumulation between charges 4 and 6 in my view and this is reflected in my sentence.
56 Would you please stand, Mr Jeftic.
57 On charge 1 armed robbery you are convicted and sentenced to a term of imprisonment of three (3) years.
58 On charge 2 armed robbery you are convicted and sentenced to a term of imprisonment of three (3) years.
59 On charge 3 armed robbery you are convicted and sentenced to a term of imprisonment of three (3) years.
60 On charge 4 aggravated burglary you are convicted and sentenced to a term of imprisonment of three (3) years.
61 On charge 5 theft you are convicted and sentenced to a term of imprisonment of three (3) months.
62 On charge 6 recklessly causing serious injury you are convicted and sentenced to a term of imprisonment of four (4) years.
63 On charge 7 handling stolen goods you are convicted and sentenced to a term of imprisonment of six (6) months.
64 Pursuant to section 16 of the Sentencing Act 1991 I direct that one year of each of the sentences I have imposed on charges 1, 2, 3 and 4 cumulate upon the sentence I have imposed on charge 6 and upon each other. This makes a total effective sentence of 8 years imprisonment.
65 Pursuant to section 11 of the Sentencing Act 1991 I direct that you serve a minimum term of five years and four months before being eligible for release on parole.
66 Pursuant to section 18 of the Sentencing Act 1991 I declare there has been 275 days pre-sentence detention and that 275 days be reckoned as having been already served of the sentences passed this day and entered into the records of the court.
67 Pursuant to section 6AAA of the Sentencing Act 1991 I state that I have imposed a sentence being a term of imprisonment on the charges. Had it not been for your pleas of guilty to the charges I would have imposed a term of imprisonment of eleven years and I would have directed that you serve a minimum term of seven years and eight months before being eligible for release on parole.
68 The prosecution seeks an order for the taking of a forensic sample order under s 464ZF of the Crimes Act 1958. Having regard to the nature and seriousness of your offending it is in the public interest that such order be made which was not opposed by your counsel and I have signed the order submitted by the Director of Public Prosecutions.
69 Mr Jeftic, I am required to inform you that having made this Order, once it is served upon you, then a member of the police force may use reasonable force to enable the procedure to be conducted, which in this case is the taking of a scraping from your mouth. I have signed an Order to the above effect.
70 The prosecution also seeks an order for the disposal of clothes and a knife used by you and for the disposal of two mobile phones. The orders sought being unopposed I have also signed those orders submitted.
71 The prosecution sought an order for compensation in favour of the St Albans Hot Bread Bakery in the sum of $845.00. That order being unopposed I have also signed that order.
72 Any matters arising out of that, Ms Croxford?
73 MS CROXFORD: Just one matter, Your Honour, in relation - I might have misheard Your Honour when Your Honour was outlining the prosecution submission on range. If I could just ask Your Honour to clarify that again. I think Your Honour said seven to nine years for the non-parole period and I think the prosecution's submission on the non-parole period was five to seven years.
74 HIS HONOUR: It was, correct. Sentencing range was seven and a half to nine and a half with a non-parole period of five to seven.
75 MS CROXFORD: Thank you, Your Honour, that was all.
76 HIS HONOUR: Thank you. Mr Polak.
77 MR POLAK: Nothing, Your Honour.
78 HIS HONOUR: Thank you. Would you remove Mr Jeftic please.
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