Director of Public Prosecutions v Karam

[2025] VCC 230

IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA

AT MELBOURNE

CRIMINAL DIVISION

Revised
Not Restricted
Suitable for Publication

Case No. CR-24-00614

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

LETISHA KARAM

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JUDGE:	HER HONOUR JUDGE BLAIR
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:	16 December 2024
DATE OF SENTENCE:	6 March 2025
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Karam
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2025] VCC 230

REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject:CRIMINAL LAW – Sentence

Catchwords:              Obtain financial advantage by deception – Traffic Infringement Notice fraud – rolled up charges - limbs 5 and 6 of Verdins enlivened – early plea of guilty – significant delay

Legislation Cited:      Sentencing Act1991 (Vic)

Cases Cited:Boulton v The Queen [2014] VSCA 342; Bugmy v The Queen 249 CLR 571; R v Verdins [2007] VSCA 102; Rodriguez v DPP (Cth) [2013] VSCA 216

Sentence:                  Sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 2 years and 2 months with a non-parole period of 13 months

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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the DPP	Mr John Dickie	Office of Public Prosecutions
For the Accused	Mr Philip Dunn KC	Ms Zarah Garde-Wilson

HER HONOUR:

1Letisha Karam, on 18 October 2024, you pleaded guilty on indictment P12715354 to one charge of obtain financial advantage by deception.

Circumstances of the offending

2The agreed factual basis of your offending is contained in the Summary of Prosecution Opening for Plea dated 24 September 2024. This document was tendered on your plea and what follows is a summary.  

3Your offending spans a period of five years, from when you were 22 to 27 years old.

On 1,321 occasions between 3 April 2018 and 8 June 2023 you falsely nominated Elysia Kaya as the driver of a vehicle in respect of which a Penalty Infringement Notice (PIN) had been issued to drivers who had committed driving offences. In 2013, Ms Kaya had lost her wallet, including her driver’s licence, when her car was stolen and prior to the offending period, you obtained access to

Ms Kaya’s licence. By 2018 she no longer lived at the address specified on the licence. Ms Kaya was not known to you.

4On an additional 11 occasions during that period, on behalf of offending drivers, you falsely nominated Nikita Bullock as the driver of a vehicle in respect of which a PIN had been issued. In total you submitted 1,332 false nominations, averaging about 22 per month.

5Initially, nomination forms were submitted indicating that you were the driver, after which a further nomination form was submitted nominating Ms Kaya or Ms Bullock.

6Between August 2018 and October 2019, you nominated some Penalty Infringement Notices to another person, a Mr Singh. Mr Singh successfully contested the nominations at Court and those PINs were returned to you, and you then falsely nominated Ms Kaya.

7For the bulk of the forms lodged, Ms Kaya was the first person nominated.

8You understood, at the time, that Ms Kaya and Ms Bullock were not the drivers of the vehicles. In submitting the nomination forms with the false details, you deceived Fines Victoria. Consequently, Fines Victoria issued new infringement notices to Ms Kaya and Ms Bullock. The drivers of the vehicles avoided having to pay a fine directly to Fines Victoria. In addition, the drivers avoided loss of demerit points and, on occasion, offending drivers avoided suspension of their licence. In some instances, offending drivers had accrued multiple Penalty Infringement Notices, which were falsely nominated to Ms Kaya.

9Due to the false nominations being submitted, Fines Victoria did not receive the fines that were payable and this amounted, in total, to fines of $406,221.

10Given the number of Penalty Infringement Notices involved and the period covered, it is likely that all of the Penalty Infringement Notices submitted as part of your scheme will be deregistered. The drivers who committed offences will avoid any direct financial penalty to Fines Victoria and avoid demerit points and, in some instances, the suspension of their licence.

11You were paid by the offending drivers, either by way of cash or transfer into bank accounts held in your name or by your business. Based on messages found in WhatsApp on your phone in June 2023, you would charge the value of the fine plus $50 per demerit point and $100 for every month of licence suspension. Analysis of your bank records for the relevant period, with respect to deposits that could be directly linked to your offending, totalled $446,275.

12The Prosecution Opening, contained numerous detailed examples of the modus operandi of your offending, I do not propose to repeat these here noting that your offending occurred in circumstances as I have generally described.

13On 15 February 2021, during an unrelated investigation, a police officer identified that Ms Kaya was the recipient of an extremely high number of Penalty Infringement Notices The matter was referred to investigators from the Victoria Police Financial Crime Squad, who commenced an investigation. It was determined that Ms Kaya could not have been the driver for so many Penalty Infringement Notices.  At times, Ms Kaya was in custody and could not have been driving. In addition, the number of vehicles was so vast it would have been impossible for Ms Kaya, or any individual, to have been driving all of them, with Penalty Infringement Notices at times incurred within a confined period in different locations.

14

Ms Kaya was contacted by police, she advised that she did not know the people or businesses that nominated her for the Penalty Infringement Notices and was not the driver of the vehicles. Further, she advised that she was unaware of her details having been used for this purpose. Attempts were made to contact

Ms Bullock, without success.

15From March 2022, Internet Protocol (IP) addresses were identified of logins used to submit the nominations. Police investigators identified the internet providers and the persons linked to the addresses. This included various IP addresses used by or associated with you.

16On 22 August 2022 a selection of the nomination forms was analysed by a forensic scientist. Indentations were identified, which indicated at times nomination statements were completed at the same time. Further, a sample of forms were examined by forensic officers for fingerprints and your fingerprints were matched with fingerprints found on several documents.

17On 4 June 2023 a covert operative made contact with you via WhatsApp using your mobile phone number. The covert operative had deliberately incurred a Penalty Infringement Notice using a vehicle with an approved assumed identity. In the WhatsApp exchanges, the officer sought assistance from you, indicating he had been given your number by a mate.

18You replied, 'Hey yeah. No issues. Happy to help out. Just need photo of the fine and your license'. After the photo and PIN were sent to you, you messaged: 'Pictures are fine. So it’s a fine cost + 50 a point. Is that all good with you.' When this was confirmed, you stated: 'Done I'll do it now. Give me 5 minutes.' You then sent a screenshot indicating the application had been submitted. When asked how to provide the cash, you stated: 'You ok with transfer. For description just write “refund”.' You then sent details of one of your bank accounts. After confirming transfer of the funds and asking if there was anything else he needed to do, you said 'Thanks so much. Nup! You'll get a withdrawal letter in the mail in around a week of so.' On 14 June 2023 the covert police officer received a 'Traffic Infringement Withdrawal Notice Due to Successful Nomination' with respect to the assumed identity.

19On 9 June 2023, you were arrested and interviewed. Your home was searched, and police seized an iPhone 14, computers, two USB sticks and a portable hard drive.  You made extensive admissions in your record of interview.

Nature and gravity of the offending

20The charge to which you have pleaded guilty is serious as indicated by the maximum penalty of 10 years' imprisonment. In your case the single charge of obtain financial advantage by deception is a rolled up charge representing numerous fraudulent nominations of a driver to avoid a Penalty Infringement Notice. When sentencing on a rolled-up charge, the court must consider all of the circumstances of the offending, including the time frame over which it was carried out and the totality of the harm occasioned. A rolled-up charge is otherwise treated as a single formal charge.

21Your offending, as I have said, involved 1,332 fraudulent nominations over a five year period that resulted in fines totalling $406,221 being avoided and you receiving a direct financial gain of $446,275 paid into your bank account. A further impact of your offending has been that offending drivers avoided the accumulation of demerit points, and some avoided the consequent licence suspension that would have followed.

22Mr John Dickie, on behalf of the Prosecution, made the following submissions; your offending represented a very substantial financial advantage being obtained that resulted in significant loss to the public revenue; that at times the fraudulent nominations made by you involved multiple false claims; your offending was persistent, sustained, involving a very large number of individuals and was committed on a very regular basis; your offending was brazen, deliberate and not an error of judgement; your offending was easy to commit and not sophisticated, however, it undermined the integrity of the system of allocating fines which depends on the truth and accuracy of owners when using nomination forms. Further, Mr Dickie submitted that your offending had a direct impact upon Mr Singh, who was falsely nominated as an offending driver, in that he had to attend court to avoid liability being falsely allocated to him.

23Overall, Mr Dickie submitted that your offending undermined systems established to collect traffic infringements and to ensure drivers were held accountable for poor driving. As a result, demerit points were not correctly allocated and people continued driving that likely should not have been. Although he conceded some of the proceeds from your criminal endeavours may have gone to your abusive partner, he submitted that your offending appeared motivated primarily by greed and the opportunity to make easy, fast money.  Mr Dickie also submitted that the court should find this to be a serious example of the offence and your moral culpability to be high.

24Your counsel, Mr Dunn KC, asked the court to consider the genesis of the offending. He submitted you became aware of the scheme after incurring your own penalty points whilst driving. At the time you needed your licence for work and so used a fraudulent means offered to you. Your offending started slowly but grew in volume and frequency over time. Further, Mr Dunn submitted your offending should be seen against a backdrop of your suffering from anxiety, depression, abandonment issues and related psychological deficits. These psychological issues he submitted continued for the duration of the offending and were exacerbated in 2018 when you were involved in a car accident which led to years of unresolved pain.

25Mr Dunn also submitted that originally you had offended only when you needed money. However, your ex-boyfriend later pressured you to offend. He submitted in the order of 223,000 was paid directly to your boyfriend from the funds you received. Your relationship with your ex-boyfriend was described as toxic and one where you were subjected to financial, physical and emotional abuse. You were particularly vulnerable given your own issues with abandonment. In support of these contentions, Mr Dunn noted that this relationship ended when police took out an intervention order in late 2022-23 on your behalf.

26Your offending was simplistic, adopted from somebody’s else’s scheme that was established prior to your own involvement, submitted Mr Dunn. Further, evidence of this was that you used the one name over 1,000 times, your bank account and your own computer. Often the money received was paid into your account using the description of 'fines'. There was no sophistication or planning required by you and it was only a matter of time before you would be caught. Mr Dunn submitted your moral culpability should be assessed in this light and further that there was no evidence that you used the proceeds of your offending to fund an extravagant lifestyle.

27In my view, your offending can only be categorised as a serious example of the offence of obtain financial advantage by deception. This is so in light of the persistent and repeated nature that you perpetrated fraudulent transactions. Further, notwithstanding that your offending was not sophisticated or well-planned it was very effective and went undetected for five years. Your offending resulted in not only a substantial financial loss to the public revenue but also strikes at the heart of the administration of fines and the regulation of road safety in this State. Although I have taken into account the context in which you offended, as outlined by your counsel, I do find your moral culpability to be high.

Personal background

28By way of background your father was raised in the Brunswick area with his parents and siblings. The family were small business operators who owned and ran milk bars. Your father worked as a mortgage broker. In 1994 your father met your mother at the Brunswick baths and shortly after they commenced a relationship.

29You were born on September 1995 and you are now 29 years old. Your parents' relationship broke down shortly after your birth. At this time you were effectively abandoned by your mother. You were raised and cared for by your father, your grandmother and your Aunt Rana. When you were around five years old you father bought a home in nearby Coburg, and you continued to spend a lot of time with your grandmother and your Aunt. Your father continued to work and would take you to and from school each day. As a young child you had occasional contact with your mother, you were regularly disappointed at times when she did not attend as arranged. Your mother was largely absent on birthdays and Christmas also.

30In 2005, your father left his work as a mortgage broker and went to work with his brother in a Freight business. In this context, he was caught up in a police investigation and the business was closed. In 2007, you moved with your father to a rental property in Essendon. You attended an all-girls school in Essendon. You returned to live with your grandmother and Aunt as your father needed their assistance, having returned to work in South Melbourne.

31In 2010, you moved with your father to another address is Coburg. By this time, you were in your mid-teenage years. Your mother was only superficially engaged in your life. You blamed yourself for your mother's absence and envied children who had been raised by their mother. By contrast your relationship with your father was very close and you idolised him.

32You attended three different secondary schools. You did not experience any social problems, apart from the instability arising from shifting schools and you did not have any behavioural issues. You completed Year 12 and enrolled at La Trobe University but only attended for a short period of 10 days.

33Your father commenced a relationship in 2012. Your relationship with your stepmother was complex and difficult. In June of 2013 your father was charged with serious offending. He was released on bail. This caused significant worry and anxiety for you. You obtained fulltime work for 18 months. Your employment came to an end after your father was imprisoned in mid-2016. The absence of your father was exacerbated by your poor relationship with your stepmother. You found living with her to be extremely difficult. Your mental health unravelled. You began to engage in self-harm behaviours and suicidal ideation. The culmination of significant anxiety and panic attacks resulted in your presentation to the emergency department of St Vincents Hospital in both April and July 2017. Despite medication changes and some assistance from the St Vincent's HOPE Suicide Prevention Team your mental health did not improve. You experienced periods of unemployment, instability within an intimate relationship and following a serious incident of self-harm you were admitted to St Vincent's Hospital in January 2018.

34It is apparent from this history that in the months leading up to the commencement of offending in April 2018, your mental state was unstable, and you experienced periods of unemployment. You commenced employment as a receptionist in North Melbourne. Your father was released from prison in May 2018.

35The schedule to the indictment reveals that although you had begun to offend in April 2018 between then and a motor vehicle accident in early August there had been only six occasions of offending.

36On 9 August 2018, you were injured in a motor vehicle accident. The car you were in was struck by another car on the passenger side, where you were sitting. You sustained a head strike on the dashboard and briefly lost consciousness. You also sustained an injury to your left hip and a whiplash injury. The accident led to ongoing physical complications, namely bilateral thoracic outlet and chronic pain. In addition, you were diagnosed as suffering from PTSD in the aftermath of the accident and I will return to these issues involving your physical health shortly.

37In early 2019, you commenced a part-time course in Health Science Clinical Aesthetics in the hope of achieving your own business. Toward the end of 2019, you entered a new intimate relationship. When Covid-19 lockdowns were enforced, your partner lost his job and became financially reliant on you. You had rented a room at a shopping centre and opened a salon doing facials and eyebrows. This business failed in the wake of the pandemic. Over this period, you continued to struggle with poor mental health, chronic ongoing pain and you were the victim of increasing incidents of domestic violence. Your father and step-mother had by this time had two children, starting their own young family. They both disapproved of your relationship, which led to you moving out and spending less time with family. Although you continued to obtain employment, it was not sustained and you had numerous jobs.

38Your relationship lasted until November-December 2022 at which time the police obtained an intervention order in your favour. In January 2023, you moved address and commenced work in a beauty salon. It was around this time you met your current partner, Mr Thomas. In June 2023 you were arrested and interviewed.

Mental health and psychological assessment

39On your plea, your counsel tendered a psychological report by consultant psychologist Luke Armstrong.

40Mr Armstrong provided a detailed history of your background including the mental health difficulties that occurred in 2017 and 2018 to which I have referred. It was Mr Armstrong’s opinion that you would appropriately be diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. In particular he considered that your personality was likely fragile before your father was imprisoned in July 2016. Your close relationship with your father and his protective function over you, albeit well-meaning, led to you idealising him. Whilst your father’s attempts at a protective attachment were genuine, you were nonetheless profoundly impacted by your experience of dysfunctional attachments. Your mother’s absence, and your father’s extreme protective functions mirror your own personality, your outlook on relationships and your coping behaviour, which is extreme, and dichotomous. When your father was removed entirely from your support base, your mental state unravelled. You began self harming, your relationship attempts were dysfunctional, and you admitted that you felt completely directionless.

41Further, it was Mr Armstrong’s opinion, that your offending occurred as a result of the culmination of stressful events, to which your response was dysfunctional and your coping reflective of dissociative processes, given your personality disorder. It was these dissociative processes in his view that impaired your capacity to think clearly. The chronology of events included your mental state breakdown during your father’s imprisonment; the motor vehicle accident and ongoing pain and medication issues that followed; and the abusive relationship that commenced at the end of 2019 and continued until late 2022. Your continued offending cumulatively, had a paradoxical effect on your mood, the arousal associated with each transaction most likely countered your overpowering dysphoric mood, agitation and irritability, which are secondary to a personality disorder. For this reason, whilst you knew you had to stop offending, you had in part become addicted to the behaviour.

42Mr Armstrong’s summary view was that your Borderline Personality Disorder did not singularly compel you to offend, however it was his view that this condition had a part causative connection in activating decision making toward a continuation of your offending behaviour.

43In Mr Armstrong’s opinion, the impact of imprisonment would prove significantly more arduous for you than a prisoner without a personality disorder. Prisoners with borderline personality disorder without psychopathy are particularly vulnerable to more exploitative and sophisticated psychopaths within prison settings, who identify vulnerable prisoners and groom them for their gain. Your acquiescing and secretive responses to family violence underscore your vulnerabilities if exposed to predatory individuals. Individuals with borderline personality disorder are vulnerable as a consequence of their fractured or unstable identities. The unpredictable nature of a prison setting would place you at risk of becoming destabilised.

44A further psychological report was tendered by your counsel, from your treating psychologist, Reshema Varghese. Mr Varghese assessed you for the PTSD symptoms you experienced in the aftermath of the motor vehicle accident in August 2018. To this extent, his opinion as it relates to your offending is extremely limited. However, he is able to attest to the fact that you have engaged well in treatment and based on this therapeutic work he considers that you have shown insight into your personal challenges which supports your potential for rehabilitation. Further, it was his opinion that you would likely find incarceration particularly challenging in light of your PTSD symptoms which could be exacerbated in the prison environment due to the lack of control, potential exposure to triggering events and the limited access to supportive therapeutic resources. Such a setting could intensify your symptoms of anxiety, depression and distress and potentially led to a deterioration in your mental health.

Physical health

45The physical complications you experienced in the aftermath of the motor vehicle accident are detailed in a report by your general practitioner, Dr Sara Hassan dated 25 October 2024.

46Following the accident in August 2018, you underwent extensive physiotherapy for your hip, and neck and shoulder pain caused by the injuries you sustained. Initially, your pain was not modified by the treatment you received. By July 2020, an independent assessor found that you were under-diagnosed and under treated for your pain. Subsequently, there have been multiple interventions by your pain specialist team and your treatment included ketamine infusions, nerve blocks and pulsed radiofrequency. The treatments helped but did not fully resolve the pain.

47In further imaging assessment of your shoulder pain in September 2023, it was confirmed that you had bilateral thoracic outlet syndrome. You underwent surgery for this on 1 July 2024. The surgery helped to ameliorate the pain slightly, but you continued to experience paraesthesia. There are plans in place for revision surgery and further nerve blocks.

48As a result of your chronic pain, you are impaired in your ability to stand, sit or walk. Your post-traumatic thoracic outlet syndrome has also impaired your ability to lift or carry items. Dr Sara Hassan opined that you’re unlikely to be able to return to your pre-injury duties for the foreseeable future. The prognosis for a full recovery looks bleak. However, with intensive physical and surgical interventions, Dr Hassan is hopeful that your pain can be reduced so that you can enjoy a better quality of life.

Matters in mitigation

49I turn now to matters raised in mitigation. First, I take into account your personal circumstances and the background of your offending. Whilst I do not consider the principles 1 to 4 in the case of Verdins are enlivened in your case,[1] I accept that your judgement was likely somewhat impaired by your psychological vulnerability. On the basis of the assessments of Mr Armstrong and Mr Varghese, I consider that limbs 5 and 6 of Verdins are enlivened and I accept that a term of imprisonment is likely to weigh more having on you that a person in normal health and that there is a serious risk that imprisonment will have a significant adverse effect on your mental health. I have mitigated the punishment I will impose accordingly.

[1] R v Verdins [2007] VSCA 102.

50Further, whilst I accept that you have experienced significant issues of abandonment and instances of childhood adversity, I do not consider these reach the depths of profound childhood deprivation required to enliven the principles in the case of Bugmy.[2] That is not to say I have not taken your difficult personal background into account in a general way in formulating the sentence I will today impose.

[2] Bugmy v The Queen 249 CLR.

Plea of guilty

51You entered a plea of guilty at the earliest possible opportunity. Your matter resolved at a committal mention. Your plea of guilty spared the need for committal or trial which has utilitarian value in sparing the Court time and resources. In addition you were highly cooperative with police and made extensive admissions during your police interview. In these circumstances I consider that your early plea and admissions are indicative of your remorse. I accept your remorse is genuine.

52Accordingly, I propose to allow a significant discount for your plea of guilty and your co-operation with police.

Prospects of rehabilitation

53Your counsel Mr Dunn KC submitted that you have no prior history and you have not been charged with any subsequent offending. Further, your attitude in the record of interview revealed your desire to assist police, accept responsibility for your offending and do what you could to right the wrong.

54Your domestic circumstances have now settled and you are currently in a steady relationship with a young man who works and has pro-social attitudes. You have the support of your family and you are engaged in employment.  

55You have demonstrated positive engagement with psychological treatment thus far, and shown insight into your personal challenges. In the opinion of Mr Armstrong, you will be require further intensive psychological treatment to adequately address your borderline personality disorder and PTSD. With ongoing support to address unresolved trauma and strengthen coping mechanisms, the risk of adverse reactions in high-stress situations may be mitigated. You will require support to understand the many pathological triggers you have previously used to regulate your unstable self-image, for example, a deeper understanding of your use of dissociation. Continued therapy is essential to reinforce your resilience and adaptive responses. Mr Armstrong assessed you to be a low risk of re‑offending.

56In my view, notwithstanding the protracted period of the offending, I consider that in all the circumstances you have good prospects for rehabilitation and I also note that that concession was made by Mr Dickie on behalf of the prosecution.

Good character

57A number of impressive and eloquent testimonials were tendered on your behalf. These character references from family and friends confirm that you are part of a stable and loving family, despite the felt absence of your mother. You are described as a caring, loving person. You are always willing to help and are incredibly generous. You have assisted your family through difficult times, which were greatly appreciated. Your aunt, Rana Karam, has great hopes for your future, noting you have made efforts to turn your life around.

58Your partner, Tane Thomas, described your commitment to overcoming your past as inspiring; that you have committed yourself to growth and accountability. As a result, he observed that you have grown into a stronger, more positive and more confident individual. You and Mr Thomas have hopes of starting a family and building a stable, fulfilling life together.

59I have taken the contents of each of these, and the other testimonials tendered, into account. However, I have tempered any reliance upon them by the fact that you were able to perpetrate this ongoing fraud for five years without the knowledge of each of the authors.

Delay

60The police investigation began in 2022 and because of the volume of the material it was not until June of 2023 that you were arrested. Following your arrest, it took some months for the police to formulate the charges. Your matter has moved relatively swiftly through the courts, however, it is now 18 months since your arrest.

61There are two ways in which delay is relevant to sentencing. First, it is relevant to rehabilitation that has occurred during the delay and the effect that has in turn on specific deterrence. Second, delay is relevant in the sense of the anxiety and uncertainty or prospect of a sentence hanging over one's head during the period of delay. This is akin to punishment in itself.[3]

[3] Rodriguez v DPP (Cth) [2013] VSCA 216 [36].

62I consider delay to be a mitigatory factor in your case. This matter has been hanging over your head whilst you have been waiting for resolution. I appreciate this would have made life difficult to plan and you have lived with a sense of not knowing what your future holds, particularly given the prospect that a term of imprisonment was likely to be imposed for this type of offending.

63Your counsel, Mr Dunn KC, submitted that during the time between the arrest and now, you have demonstrated a steady path towards rehabilitation which in turn gives specific deterrence less weight in the sentencing task.

Sentencing principles

64The purposes for which sentences may be imposed are just punishment, general deterrence, specific deterrence, rehabilitation, denunciation and protection of the community.  In light of my assessment of your circumstances and your prospects of rehabilitation, I consider specific deterrence and community protection are of reduced significance to the sentencing discretion. Given, however, the lengthy offending period they certainly remain relevant.  General deterrence and denunciation are of particular importance in this case. 

65I take into account the sentencing guidelines referred to in section 5 of the Sentencing Act1991,[4] where relevant in your case. I also take into account the principles of parsimony, proportionality and totality, that is totality in the sense that I have got one charge, but it is, as I say, a rolled up charge with numerous facets to it. While you fall to be sentenced for the one charge, this charge is a rolled up charge and deals with 1,332 incidents of offending. I need to ensure that the sentence I impose is a just and appropriate one for your offending.

[4] Sentencing Act1991 (Vic) s5.

66Further, I have taken into account the general sentencing landscape for such offending and the relevant cases, noting however that of course each case is unique. Mr Dickie helpfully provided several comparable cases involving financial advantage or dishonesty offending that involved exploitation of the fines systems in Victoria. He conceded that each case involved different offences, different scenarios, and offenders who have a multitude of variable factors. What was clear that each of the cases involved offending of less quantum. These cases are useful in the guidance they provide however each case must be decided on its own facts. Whilst your offending may have been of a larger quantum, it was simplistic and unsophisticated, and you are to be sentenced for one rolled up charge that has a maximum penalty of 10 years. Further, there are factors relevant to you such as your age, your background, your lack of prior history and lack of subsequent offending and your prospects for rehabilitation that mitigate your offending.

67The prosecution submit that a term of imprisonment structured by way of a head sentence with a non-parole period is required. Your Counsel submits that a combination penalty involving imprisonment and a community corrections order ('CCO') is capable of reflecting and balancing all relevant sentencing purposes. I had you assessed for a CCO; you were assessed as suitable.  The MHARS report that was obtained also recommends psychological counselling.

68Guided by the Court of Appeal in Boulton,[5] I accept that a CCO is capable of being a highly punitive sentence and can be imposed in cases of relatively serious offending. After careful consideration however, I consider that an immediate term of imprisonment involving a head sentence and a non-parole is necessary, and I consider that a combination sentence would be inadequate in the circumstances of your case.  Your offending occurred over five years, involved over 1,300 instances of dishonesty, resulted in significant loss to the public revenue and undermined the system of road safety fines, demerit points and in some cases licence suspension.

[5] Boulton v The Queen [2014] VSCA 342.

Sentence

69On the charge of obtain financial advantage by deception you are convicted and you are sentenced to be imprisoned for two years and two months.

70In the circumstances of your case I consider it appropriate to provide for your rehabilitation by way of a lengthy parole period. Accordingly, I order that you serve 13 months before being eligible for parole.

71Pursuant to s 6AAA of the Sentencing Act,[6] had you pleaded not guilty and been found guilty I would have sentenced you to a term of four years with a non-parole period of two years and six months.

[6] Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic) s6AAA.

72MS GARDE-WILSON:  If I could ask those medical records be provided to Corrections, Your Honour?

73HER HONOUR:  Yes, definitely.  So the medical records as well as the psychological reports, yes.  Ms Garde-Wilson, obviously you will go down and see Ms Karam. 

74MS GARDE-WILSON:  Yes, Your Honour.

75HER HONOUR:  Yes, and I will make sure that they get their medical reports.  Is there any custody management issue I should note?  Just that it's first time in custody?

76MS GARDE-WILSON:  If it could simply be noted first time in custody (indistinct words) the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and requires a pain specialist.

77HER HONOUR:  Yes, okay, I'll make sure that those notations are made, thank you.

78MS GARDE-WILSON:  Thank you, Your Honour.

79HER HONOUR:  Can I thank both counsel and can you thank Mr Dunn for his submissions, they were really helpful.

80MS GARDE-WILSON:  Certainly, Your Honour.

81HER HONOUR:  And Mr Dickie, thank you very much for your submissions, they were very thorough and appreciated.

82MR DICKIE:  Thank you, Your Honour.

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