Director of Public Prosecutions v Kallidis

[2023] VCC 2308

IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA

AT MELBOURNE

CRIMINAL DIVISION

Revised
Not Restricted
 Suitable for Publication

Case No.  CR-23-00562

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

THOMAS KALLIDIS

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JUDGE:	HIS HONOUR JUDGE MOGLIA
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:	1 November 2023
DATE OF SENTENCE:	11 December 2023
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Kallidis
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2023] VCC 2308

REASONS FOR SENTENCE

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Subject:Criminal Law – Sentence – guilty plea.

Catchwords:              Sentencing – attempted armed robbery – committing an indictable offence whilst on bail – threatened violence twice over short time – entrenched drug dependency – significant history of like offending – CCO not appropriate - general and specific deterrence.

Legislation Cited:      Crimes Act 1958 (Vic); Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic).

Cases Cited:Verdins v R (2007) 16 VR 269; Brown (aka Davis) v The Queen [2020] VSCA 60.

Sentence:Total effective sentence: 2 years and 3 months with non-parole period of 1 year and 3 months; 371 days of pre-sentence detention reckoned as already served; 6AAA: 2 years and 11 months and non-parole of 1 year and 11 months.

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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the Director of Public Prosecutions	Ms U. Ramachandran	Office of Public Prosecutions
For Accused	Ms A. Reader	Stary Norton Halphen

HIS HONOUR:

1Thomas Kallidis, you have pleaded guilty to an attempted armed robbery and a related summary offence of committing an indictable offence while on bail, both occurring on 30 November 2022.

Summary of offending

2The agreed basis for your guilty pleas is set out in the prosecution opening dated 3 October 2023.

3In summary, on 30 November 2023 at about 6:50 pm you were pacing for several minutes outside the EzyMart at 382 Chapel Street, South Yarra.

4You then walked into the store holding a small knife and asked the complainant to open the till.  She refused and so you then walked around the counter to where she was standing.  As you approached the till, the complainant screamed and fended you off.  You then left the store.

5A short time later, however, you entered again and went directly behind the counter, telling the complainant, 'I don’t want to hurt you, just open the till'.  She did not, but you grabbed some keys from the front of the cash register and attempted to open it yourself.  The complainant then placed her body against the till to prevent it opening.

6You fought with her then until she screamed loudly for help, which caused you to walk out of the store.

7A number of bystanders saw the struggle and came inside to help the complainant.

8She has not provided a victim impact statement, but I accept on the basis of the agreed facts that she was scared and was physically assaulted by you. 

9At the time of this offence, you were on bail for two other matters and were on a Community Correction Order.

Procedural history

10You were arrested on 5 December 2022 on unrelated matters and remanded in custody.  Meanwhile, you had been identified from CCTV footage as the offender in this matter.

11You, through your lawyers declined to be interviewed by police and were then charged in January 2023 on summons.  Ultimately, you were formally remanded on this matter on 30 March 2023, just prior to the case settling on 6 April 2023.

12You offer to plead guilty came at an early stage in the proceeding.  It shows you have accepted responsibility for your offending and your willingness to facilitate the course of justice.  I accept, in light of your later comments to a psychologist, that your plea represents remorse.

13Your plea also avoids the need for a trial, which attracts greater than the usual weight, as it has helped this Court reduce its backlog of trials due to the effects of the COVID pandemic.

Personal circumstances

14You were born in August 1993 and are now 30 years.  You were 29 years old at the time of committing this offence.

15You grew up in New South Wales and were raised by your stepfather but primarily by your mother. Your biological father is an Aboriginal man, although you have never had contact with him and it has not been said that you have any engagement with that side of your family heritage.

16Your early childhood and teenage years were marred by neglect, and you often suffered violence at the hands of your stepfather.  You also witnessed your mother’s and stepfather’s drug use.

17You report being sexually abused by an older family member when you around six years old and that it was reported to police.  However, unfortunately, no action was taken.

18At about age 12, you were placed into foster care and tragically exposed to further neglect and drug use.  You returned to live with your mother and stepfather until you turned 20.

19You have worked in various jobs over the years, but not for some time now.  You were injured in a motorcycle accident about five years ago and since that time you have been severely addicted to heroin.

20You have a relevant and lengthy criminal history.  Most recently, you were sentenced to 180 days’ prison and a CCO in July 2022 for burglary, theft and offending while on bail.  In January 2022, you were sentenced to 73 days’ prison for theft, handling and offending on bail.  In August 2021, you received 45 days for trespassing, theft, offending on bail and breaching a CCO.  In March 2021, you were placed on that CCO for possessing heroin, theft, offending on bail and breaching a previous CCO.  Your history in Victoria dates back to when you were 25 and in New South Wales, for similar offending, to when you were 18 years old.

21I am not sentencing you for this history, but I must take your progress on previous orders into account when deciding what order to make in this case.

22While on remand on this matter, I am told that you were prescribed methadone, a common treatment for heroin addiction, but that you ceased taking it some weeks ago, against advice, because you did not want to be tied to a chemist when released.

23Psychologist Peter Hanley in his report dated 31 October 2023 (Exhibit 1) stated that you are very likely to have had a severe Opioid Use Disorder at the time of this offending and likely have had for some time.  I find that it explains your recent history with police.

24Mr Hanley reports you to be aware of the harm your addiction causes you and that you regret your actions that arise from it.  However, your insight into this problem and how to change it is limited.  He states that your risk of ongoing offending such as this is high, until you address your drug problem.

25Mr Hanley states that your offending on this occasion is connected to the maladaptive coping mechanisms that you have developed over the years, partly in response to your early years.  He suggests you feel chronically misunderstood and little hope for your future, which results in you believing you have little choice but to commit crime to get by, even by violence.

26He suggests you may well have an antisocial personality disorder, which he expects will make for conflict with staff and other prisoners.  You have already been assaulted in prison over a drug debt.

27He suggests you will require a multi-modal model of treatment involving addiction specialists, psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers.  He also suggests offence-specific programs in prison and case management to ensure that your needs are met.  This is something that you will likely find challenging.

28Mr Hanley had a large number of historical records about your development and progress during your early years until 2009 when you were 16 in New South Wales (Exhibit 2).

29I accept Mr Hanley’s opinions.  I find that your early years were impoverished and marred by violence at home and a lack of proper care.  It was a dysfunctional upbringing that left you without the opportunity for stable development of good values and behaviours.  This has resulted in what I have just summarised from Mr Haley’s assessment.  Accordingly, the considerations set out in the case of Bugmy apply in the general sense in your case.

Sentencing issues

30The maximum penalty for attempting an armed robbery is 20 years' imprisonment.  For offending whilst on bail, it is three months.

31The seriousness of your offence is clear from what I have already described.  The complainant was a woman just doing her job and you approached her, threatening violence, twice over a short time – the second time involving you physically assaulting her.  It is made more serious by you being on bail and under a Community Correction Order at the time.

32While your offence is ably explained by your drug addiction and your behaviour in trying to feed it, the consequences of this are that you must be deterred from doing so.  Your history of similar behaviour, and lack of success in changing, means that more serious interventions are required, not only to change your habits, but to protect the community.

33You have been in custody since 5 December 2022.  While restrictions in prison due to the COVID-19 pandemic have greatly reduced, I have taken into account that you have spent your time there at risk of lockdowns, restricted movements, reduced access to work, programs and contact with others in the community.[1]

[1] Brown (aka Davis) v The Queen [2020] VSCA 60, [48].

34In order to decide whether there is a program that could assist you to engage in the kind of change that Mr Hanley set out, I had you assessed by the Court Integrated Support Program.  You gave evidence in Court of your willingness to engage with them, even if it took time to do so.

35CISP have provided a report (Exhibit A) having examined your situation, spoken to you and reviewed Mr Hanley’s report.  Unfortunately, in light of your recent history, your needs and the limitations on the services they can provide, they have not recommended that you be placed on the program.  Unfortunately for you, I accept that position.

36The prosecution submitted that a parole type sentence be imposed, but also accepted that a term of imprisonment combined with a CCO might be open.  That was prior to the receipt of Exhibit A.  Your lawyer submitted that a combination sentence would meet all of the sentencing requirements.

37Having considered the detailed reports of Mr Hanley and of CISP, I do not accept that a Community Correction Order is appropriate in your current circumstances.  I find that the degree of case management and supervision that you will require to progress towards controlling your addiction is high.  I do not find that releasing you on a CCO will be sufficient for your needs in the current circumstances or provide sufficient deterrence to influence future change.

38I sentence you on the charge of attempted armed robbery to imprisonment for 2 years 3 months and on the charge of offending whilst on bail to 1 month, to be served concurrently.  That means a total of 2 years and 3 months.

39I fix a non-parole period of 1 year and 3 months.

40I declare that you have served 371 days pre-sentence detention and direct that this be reckoned as a period already served under this sentence.

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In accordance with section 6AAA of the Sentencing Act 1991, but for your plea of guilty I would have imposed 2 years and 11 years and fixed a

non-parole period of 1 year and 11 months, if you were found guilty following trial.

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