Director of Public Prosecutions v Krause

[2023] VCC 840

IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA

  Revised

  Not Restricted

          Suitable for Publication

AT SHEPPARTON

CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

CR 23-00327

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

JUSTIN KRAUSE

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JUDGE:	HIS HONOUR JUDGE CHETTLE
WHERE HELD:	Shepparton
DATE OF HEARING:	25 May 2023
DATE OF SENTENCE:	25 May 2023
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Krause
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2023] VCC 840

REASONS FOR SENTENCE

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Subject:   CRIMINAL LAW SENTENCE

Catchwords:  Sentencing – burglary, theft of firearm, theft, obtain property by deception, obtain financial advantage by deception, possess drug of dependence.

Legislation Cited: s6AAA Sentencing Act,

Cases Cited:

Sentence: Imprisonment – Total Effective Sentence 20 months. Non-   parole period 17 months. Disposal order.

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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the Director of Public Prosecutions	Ms C. Pezzimenti	Mr. A. Lew, Office of Public Prosecutions
For the Accused	Ms L. Bull	Mr. G. Clancy, Clancy Solicitors.

HIS HONOUR: 

1Justin Krause, you have pleaded guilty to one charge of burglary, one charge of theft of firearms, two charges of theft, one charge of obtaining property by deception, one charge of obtaining a financial advantage by deception and one charge of possession of a drug of dependence. 

2The facts of your offending are set out in Exhibit A, the summary of prosecution opening on plea.  I was informed by your counsel whether I could treat that document as an agreed statement of fact.  I incorporate it into these reasons for sentence and I sentence you on the basis of the facts set out therein. 

3There is no need therefore, for me to set out the facts in any detail, suffice to say in summary, in the early hours of 2 November 2022, you entered a motor vehicle in a property in Shepparton in the middle of the night.  The owner was asleep inside their house.  You stole keys, wallets, cash, a Mastercard and various identifying documents from that motor vehicle.  You then went into a garden shed on the property and stole two shotguns and some ammunition for those shotguns. 

4You used the Mastercard you stole at a service station to obtain cigarettes and other items.  You paid off a debt to Afterpay and you stole $1000 from the bank of the man who owned the Mastercard.

5You have admitted a prior criminal history which, as you heard me say, is extraordinary.  You have got convictions in New South Wales and Victoria that are innumerable, most for theft or related offences, some for burglaries, breaking and entering and like-offences.  It would take me some hours to recite your history.

6Most recently, in Shepparton, you were sentenced to 15 months' imprisonment on breach of a community Corrections order which involved you committing violent offences, but also burglary with intent to steal, burglaries, going equipped to steal and drug offences.  It is a pattern that has been repeated over the years. 

7During your times in custody, you have attempted to make the most of your time in custody.  I have certificates that demonstrate you have done whatever courses were available to you and you have had plenty of opportunities in custody.  You have been in and out repeatedly over the last five to 10 years.

8Your personal history is set out in the submissions of your counsel, Exhibit 1.  On your own report, you suffered from a dysfunctional and violent childhood.  You witnessed family violence; you were the subject of sexual assault yourself.  You grew up in the Griffith area and moved between Griffith and New South Wales, and your history with your father was problematic. 

9You left school in Year 8 level when you were about 14 or 15 and at the same time you started using amphetamines and you have used drugs throughout your life and clearly there is a link between your use of drugs and your offending.  You have had had some employment in sandblasting, but generally you have had large periods of time in custody, and as I said, indulging in a cycle of being in custody, then being released, using drugs, predominantly ice, but of more recent times one for Butanediol. 

10You purport to want to change your ways and you write a letter to the court saying that you intend to change your ways.  Ultimately that is up to you.  I assume you have said this on numerous occasions to numerous Magistrates' and Judges' in the past. 

11Your prospects of rehabilitation depend entirely upon you ceasing using drugs.  If you do that and get a job, look after yourself and keep yourself fit like you look now, you will have some hope for your future, but your prior history leaves me rather pessimistic as to your prospects for rehabilitation.

12I take into account the fact that you have pleaded guilty to these offences.  You have done so at the earliest opportunity.  I accept that you are entitled to a reduction in sentence to reflect those pleas of guilty and that reduction of sentence has increased because of the greater utilitarian value of your pleas of guilty because of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

13I treat your pleas as evidence of your remorse and when you are straight, as you appear to be in the letter you wrote to the court, you are capable of having clear thoughts for your future and I do accept that you are remorseful for your conduct.

14I take into account in the general way, your impoverished background, and as I said to your counsel, really if what you report is true, you never really had much of a chance of a straight and law-abiding life. 

15I am required to have regard to specific and general deterrence and denunciation as central sentencing matters in this case.  Your prior history is appalling.   You have not been deterred by earlier sentences. 

16It is clear that nothing other than a term of imprisonment is appropriate in respect of each of the offences for which you have pleaded guilty.  The sentence of the court are, on all charges, you are convicted: 

17On Charge 1, the charge of burglary, you are sentenced to nine months' imprisonment;

18On Charge 2, theft of the firearms, you are sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment;

19On Charge 3, theft of the shotgun shells, keys, wallets, cash, Mastercard and other identifying documents, you are sentenced to six months' imprisonment;

20On Charge 4, obtaining property by deception, the cigarettes at the service station, you are sentenced to three months' imprisonment;

21On Charge 5, the Afterpay, obtaining financial advantage by deception, you are sentenced to three months' imprisonment;

22On Charge 6, theft of the thousand dollars from Mr Davies' bank account, you are sentenced to six months' imprisonment. 

23Finally, Charge 7, possession of the 1-4 Butanediol you are sentenced to sentenced to seven days' imprisonment. 

24I order that three months of the sentence imposed on Charge 1, one month of the sentence imposed on Charge 3, one month on the sentence imposed on Charge 4, one month of the sentence imposed on Charge 5 and two months of the sentence imposed on Charge 6 be served cumulatively upon the sentence imposed on Charge 2, which I declare to be the base sentence. 

25That is an effective term of imprisonment of 20 months, and I order that you serve 14 months of that sentence before being eligible for parole. 

26I declare 203 days of the sentence I have just imposed has already been served by way of pre-sentence detention and pursuant to s6AAA of the Sentencing Act, I indicate that but for your pleas of guilty, I ought to impose an effective term of imprisonment of three and a half years with a non-parole period of two.  I make the disposal orders sought by the prosecution. 

27MS PEZZIMENTI:  As Your Honour pleases.

28HIS HONOUR:  Are there any other orders required?

29MS BULL:  No, Your Honour.

30HIS HONOUR:  All right, thank you.  I will terminate the link. 

31OFFENDER:  All right.  Thank you.

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