Director of Public Prosecutions v Lewis (a pseudonym)

[2025] VCC 1292

IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA

AT MELBOURNE

CRIMINAL DIVISION

Revised
Not Restricted
 Suitable for Publication

GENERAL LIST

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

JOSEPH LEWIS (A PSEUDONYM)

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JUDGE:	HIS HONOUR JUDGE GEORGIOU
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF PLEA HEARING:	19 August 2025
DATE OF SENTENCE:	5 September 2025
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Lewis (a pseudonym)
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2025] VCC 1292

REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject:CRIMINAL LAW

Catchwords:              Kidnapping - persistent contravention of family violence intervention orders - family violence; flew drone over former partners workplace - locked victim in car and drove to an isolated area - significant and relevant criminal record - stimulant use disorder - persistent depressive disorder with anxious distress, and an antisocial personality disorder.

Legislation Cited:      Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic).

Cases Cited:

Sentence:                  Total effective sentence of 34 months’ imprisonment, non-parole period of 22 months.

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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the Director of Public Prosecutions	Mr Matthew Weinman Ms A. Lekamge (for sentence)	Solicitor for the Office of Public Prosecutions
For the Offender	Mr T. Sullivan	Middleton Maisner Legal

HIS HONOUR:

1Joseph Lewis,[1] you have pleaded guilty to a charge of kidnapping and four charges of persistently contravening a family violence intervention order.

[1] A pseudonym.

2You have also pleaded guilty to related summary offences of driving while disqualified (Summary Charge 3) and contravening a family violence intervention order (Summary Charge 7). 

Circumstances of offending

3The circumstances of your offending are detailed in the Summary of Prosecution Opening dated 6 June 2025, exhibit P1.  You do not dispute the matters in the summary and they will form the factual basis upon which you are to be sentenced.  I shall refer to the summary in brief only. 

4The victim of your offending was your former partner, whom I shall refer to only as “AB”.[2]  You and AB had been in a relationship for a period of twelve years, although you were separated when you committed these offences.   

[2] A pseudonym.

5Intervention orders had been taken out against you by AB on 9 October 2023, 2 January 2024 and 7 February 2024.

6Summary Charge 7, contravening a family violence intervention order, occurred on 27 October 2023.  On that occasion you launched a drone from your home and flew it over AB’s workplace for a period of some four minutes.

7Charges 2, 3, 4 and 5 are all charges of persistently contravening a family violence intervention order. The Indictment sets out the particulars relevant to each charge.  The particulars are lengthy and I do not intend to detail them in these reasons. However, your conduct involved sending numerous emails to the victim and others, and having numerous telephone communications with the victim.  Your conduct included the following:

(a)   On 10 February 2024 you sent AB some 40 emails (That conduct is relevant to Charge 2);

(b)   between 11 February and 10 April 2024 you telephoned AB on thirty-two occasions (That conduct is also relevant to Charge 2);

(c)   between 24 February and 3 March 2024, you sent emails to AB begging her to speak to you and clarify the status of your relationship (That conduct is relevant for Charge 3);

(d)   on 12 March 2024, you communicated with AB via text messages (That conduct is also relevant to Charge 3);

(e)   between 13 March 2024 and 14 March 2024, you accessed AB’s Facebook profile and sent messages to her and others.  In those messages you accused AB of receiving “dick picks” from others, and threatened another person to stay away from the victim, including not to “like” her pictures (that conduct is also relevant to Charge 3).

8Charge 4 is based on you contacting AB on numerous occasions between 15 March 2024 and 9 April 2024, and threatening others who appeared to be in some form of contact with her. You contacted a number of persons, telling them, in essence, to stay away from your girl.  In one of the messages, sent to three others, you stated:

“… Seriously where’s your respect I been with her along (sic) time now no cunt is going near her got it so yea where (sic) back together and no she doesn’t need anyone to talk to I’m her man and everyone else can fuck off …”

9During the period covered in charge 4, on 1 April 2024, you sent an email to AB, asking her to meet you at McDonalds for lunch.  When she did not arrive, you sent her emails accusing her of being with someone else, and begging her not to ignore you.

10At 5.42pm, that day you sent further emails to AB.  You demanded to know where she had been; demanded that she respond; asked her to bring you drugs; accused her of cheating; threatened to tell her boss about her drug use; and blamed her for your relationship not working.

11Other messages of a similar nature were sent to her from 2 to 4 April 2024, 7 April 2024 and 9 April 2024.

12Your messages were persistent, controlling, and aggressive. In some instances you threatened physical violence.

13Charge 5 is based on you contravening the Family Violence Intervention Order between 11 April 2024 and 15 April 2024.

14On 11 April, AB went the McDonalds store during her lunch break.  As she approached the store, you arrived and followed her in. While there you had a conversation with her, in contravention of the intervention order.

15On the evening of 14 April, you attended the netball courts close to AB’s house and took a photograph of her house. 

16On 15 April, pretending to be a person, to whom I shall only refer to as CD,[3] you sent the victim a text message from a phone number ending in the digits 489.  The message read:

““Hey (A) ive been told you have some pictures for me could you send them and ill throw you some stuff for your troubles”

[3] A pseudonym.

17When AB responded asking “Who is this”, you sent her a reply stating, “C”.  The victim believed she was speaking with an acquaintance, CD, and the conversation continued throughout the day.

18At 12.00pm that day, AB went to the McDonalds store during her lunch break.  You entered the store and proceeded to order food before approaching AB and having a conversation with her.

19Later that day, the conversation between AB and the person she believed to be CD continued. AB and the person she thought was CD planned to meet later that evening.

20At 8.18pm, AB left her home on foot.  Just before 8.30pm, she attended a local intersection, where she was confronted by you.  You grabbed AB and began to kiss her.  She tried to walk away, however, you grabbed her and dragged her towards your car.  AB began to scream and cry. She bit your finger in an attempt to make you let go of her.  You forced AB into the rear seats of your car.  The car’s child lock was activated and AB was not able to escape.  She proceeded to kick and punch the rear windows in an effort to escape. 

21You entered the driver’s seat and took from the victim her telephone, wrapped it in aluminium foil and placed it out of her reach.  You then drove in an erratic manner to an isolated location on the banks of a river.  While driving, you were screaming at her and accusing her of being unfaithful.

22You eventually stopped your car, got into the rear seat with AB and attempted to cuddle her.  She pleaded with you to return her home, telling you she was scared.  However, you continued to try and discuss relationship issues with her.

23AB described you as “a different person, crazy, like [you were] on something”.  You expressed paranoid thoughts to her, stating “they’re after me” and you kept looking behind you.

24After approximately 1½ hours, you drove AB back and dropped her off near her home.  Before she left, you asked her to “unblock” you on social media and speak to you.  You returned her telephone and asked her for a kiss.  She complied out of fear of being further harmed.

25Later that evening, you sent AB further text messages, asking if she was okay and telling her you loved her. 

26The matter was reported to the police the following day.  You were ultimately arrested on 23 April 2024.  You were interviewed by police and denied sending AB text messages and kidnapping her.

Criminal record

27You have a significant and relevant criminal record.  It includes appearances before the courts dating back to 2013.  On 26 June 2013, you were fined $300 without conviction for offences of theft and contravening a family violence final intervention order.  On my calculation, you have some sixteen prior convictions for offences involving contravention of family violence orders.  You have received sentences for those contraventions, including community correction orders and terms of imprisonment.  It would appear that the longest sentence you have received for past contraventions is four months’ imprisonment and most recently, 38 days’ imprisonment.  You also have prior convictions for weapons’ offences, assault, recklessly endangering serious injury, making threat to kill, and stalking. 

Background and personal circumstances

28You were born in September 1987.  You are the eldest of two children, your sister being approximately 12 months younger than you.

29Your parents live together in the Mildura area.  Your father was employed with the New South Wales Department of Agriculture. He recently retired from that position and now works as a seasonal truck driver.  Your mother works on a full-time basis.  I was informed by your sister, who gave evidence at the plea hearing, that you enjoy a very close relationship with your parents and that it is your intention to return to live with them upon your release from prison. 

30Your sister has her own family and works full-time as a team leader of mental health, drug and alcohol counselling.

31You experienced difficulties at school and were required to repeat Grade 3.  You had behavioural issues and difficulties with others in the school environment.  You were suspended on a number of occasions, and you were eventually asked to leave school in Year 10.  You report having made a few friends at high school who were, in your words, “unfortunately, the wrong group”. 

32On leaving school, you obtained a tyre-fitting traineeship and worked for the same employer for approximately eight years. You were forced to leave that employment due to a shoulder injury suffered at the age of 26.  This left you in difficulty in trying to pay for your mortgage.  Since then, you have had an inconsistent work history, including commencing, but not completing, an apprenticeship as a tractor mechanic, employment as a casual farmhand, and as a builder’s labourer.  You received WorkCover payments for your shoulder injury and you also had treatment for carpal tunnel syndrome.  You did return to work as a tyre fitter and a reference from your employer’s managing director, Garry Starn,[4] dated 3 June 2024, confirmed your employment.  Mr Starn stated you were an integral part of the team and essential for the business given your experience as a heavy-vehicle tyre fitter.

[4] A pseudonym.

33This morning a further reference from Mr Starn, dated 4 September 2025, was tendered on your behalf. Mr Starn speaks very highly of your qualities as a worker and as an employee who enjoys a good relationship with your co-workers.

34You have had two significant intimate relationships and have an 18-year-old daughter from your first relationship.  You report a positive relationship with your daughter and prior to your incarceration, you were seeing her approximately once a week.  Your second significant relationship was with the victim of these offences.  You lived together for some seven or eight years. 

35You have an extensive history of drug and alcohol abuse.  You started drinking alcohol when aged about 12 or 13 years.  You report having regularly engaged in binge drinking until the age of 18.  That ended upon you obtaining your driver’s licence.

36You report having used cannabis habitually from the age of 12 or 13.  You stopped using cannabis at around the age of 25 and instead commenced using methylamphetamine.  You have, over the years, also used MDMA, cocaine, GHB and amphetamine.  You state that your prior offending occurred in the context of drug abuse. 

37During your period on remand, you have completed courses in “Ice and Me”, “Cannabis and Me”, and “Keeping Your Cool”.  You are employed in the timber section at Ravenhall Correctional Centre and are engaged in making toys, repairing prison items and working on personal projects.  You have not had any disciplinary issues during your remand. 

38You are currently prescribed medication for the treatment of depression and anxiety. You otherwise report your health as good.  You have regular telephone calls with your parents, and they also visit you in prison every month.  You have telephone and email contact with your sister.

39You were assessed by Christine Kennedy, psychologist, on 22 May 2025.  Ms Kennedy administered the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory, but you returned an invalid profile.  Her assessment, accordingly, is based on clinical interview and the documents provided to her by your solicitors.

40You explained your offending to Ms Kennedy as occurring in the context of drug use and loneliness.  You express a vague memory of the events and denied the kidnapping charge, claiming that the victim jumped in your car.  You also stated that you recalled sending text messages but were under the influence of more than the usual quantity of illicit substances.  Ms Kennedy states you expressed simplistic regret and remorse for your conduct.  You said you were sorry for what had happened and how you behaved.

41In Ms Kennedy’s opinion, you are a socially detached individual who struggles to take responsibility for your conduct.  You suffer a fragile ego, episodes of emotional dysregulation, depression and anxiety.  You satisfy the diagnostic criteria for stimulant use disorder, persistent depressive disorder with anxious distress, and an antisocial personality disorder.  The antisocial features of your personality mean that without treatment you are likely to continue to have an indifference to the rights of others, to engage in socially destructive behaviours and evade taking responsibility for your actions. 

Sentencing considerations

42You pleaded guilty to the offences following a sentence indication hearing on 23 June 2025.  A committal hearing occurred on 1 November 2024 at which the victim gave evidence.  Although you did not plead guilty at an early time, you are nevertheless entitled to some benefit in having spared the victim and other witnesses the trauma of having to give evidence at a trial.  You have also spared the Court and the community the time and expense of a criminal trial. I have some regard also to your simplistic expressions of remorse.

43Your counsel, Mr Sullivan, submitted that while your relationship with AB formally ended in September 2023, you continued to see each other “on and off” after then, including staying together at hotels. This was notwithstanding an intervention order being in place. While further breaches of the intervention order do not assist you in the least, the thrust of Mr Sullivan’s submission is that you found it difficult to accept the end of your relationship, that you were trying to re-kindle it, and that this is the context in which the offences occurred.

44Whatever you may have thought you were doing, your behaviour in committing the offences before me was completely unjustified, and provides you with no mitigation. I do not accept that your offending falls at the lower end of the scale. You have shown a complete disregard for the rights of AB to live her life as she chooses, and you have ignored Court Orders put in place to protect AB. Your use of illicit drugs at the time of your offending, also does not provide you with any excuse for such conduct. You are probably at a point where your use of illicit drugs might be considered an aggravating factor, given you know how such use affects your behaviour.  I will not treat it as such for present purposes, it not having been raised during argument, but you are now on notice.

45I accept the submission of the learned prosecutor that your conduct may properly be described as a desire to subjugate the victim to your will.  Your conduct was premeditated and involved deceit to lure the victim to the location where you forced her into your car. In all the circumstances, I find that your level of moral culpability for your offending is high.

46Your overall conduct, including the numerous communications you had with AB, shows that at the time of your offending you were unable to accept that your relationship had ended.  I am told by Mr Sullivan that by reason of AB’s evidence at the committal hearing, you are now in no doubt about that matter.

47The offence of kidnapping is an inherently serious offence, carrying a maximum penalty of 25 years’ imprisonment. It is also a Category 2 offence requiring the Court to impose a sentence of imprisonment, other than a combination sentence, unless one of the exceptions under s5(2H) of the Sentencing Act 1991 applies.  It has not been suggested that any of the exceptions apply in your case.

48The learned prosecutor fairly conceded that the kidnapping was not for an extended period.  Nevertheless, I have no doubt that it was an extremely terrifying experience for the victim. This is well borne out in AB’s victim impact statement which I have carefully read and considered. I will not go into the detail of her statement as AB did not want it read in open Court, save to say that your disgraceful and criminal conduct has caused AB significant emotional pain, distress, and anxiety. It has impacted on her ability to enjoy life and has also had a financial impact upon her.

49You have a significant and relevant criminal history.  While you do not fall to be punished again for your previous offending, I may have regard to your criminal history in my assessment of the need to protect the community from you, the need to deter you from further offending, and in my assessment of your prospects for rehabilitation. 

50I note that these offences occurred approximately two months after you were released from custody for offending against the same victim.  Your current period of remand of 500 days, is the longest period of incarceration to which you have been subjected.

51Regarding your prospects of rehabilitation, and notwithstanding the support you enjoy from your parents and your sister, and your good work history, they must be viewed with a degree of caution, particularly in view of your criminal history.

52Mr Sullivan submitted that your period on remand has been of benefit to you with an emerging realisation that your behaviour was based on jealousy, and a sense of entitlement, and was totally unacceptable. It is hoped that this remand, and the courses you have completed, will have had some benefit in deterring you from further offending.

53Your sister gave evidence that she has noticed changes in you, including that you appear less agitated, are calmer and open to discussion.  Your sister stated that it took a few months after you were remanded for these changes to become apparent. You also told her that you accept that your relationship with AB is over, that you intend to remain drug free, and that your goal upon release is to obtain work and move on in your life.  

54Your prospects of rehabilitation, in my opinion, are very much tied in with you continuing your progress in custody, and upon your release, you obtaining appropriate therapeutic assistance.  You are in need of appropriate treatment, including for drugs and alcohol, as Ms Kennedy makes clear in her report.

55Sentencing considerations of general deterrence and denunciation, in cases such as yours, are of particular significance.  Others in the community who are minded to engage in such behaviour should understand that if they do, they risk stern punishment. Your conduct must be strongly condemned and the sentence to be imposed must, as I previously stated, serve to deter you from further offending. 

56The offence of persistently contravening a Family Violence Intervention Order carries a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment.  Although you are charged with four separate offences of persistently contravening a Family Violence Intervention Order, your conduct may be viewed as a prolonged course of conduct  over the period 18 January 2024 to 15 April 2024, broken up into four separate periods marking the four separate charges.  It was conceded by the learned prosecutor that the principle of totality has relevance. 

57With respect to sentence, your counsel properly conceded that the only realistic sentence is one that involves a head sentence and non-parole period. However, he urged that I impose a relatively short non-parole period, to enable your continued rehabilitation on parole.

58In determining the appropriate sentence, I have also had regard to current sentencing practice for the offences you committed, and the relevant Sentencing Advisory Council’s Sentencing Statistics for those offences. However, each case must ultimately be decided by reference to the personal circumstances of the offender, the circumstances of the offending, and the aggravating and mitigating features present in the case.

Sentence

59Having regard to the circumstances of your offending, your personal circumstances and each of the relevant sentencing considerations under the Sentencing Act, you are sentenced as follows:

On charge 1, the offence of kidnapping, you are convicted and sentenced to 20 months’ imprisonment;

On charges 2, 3, 4 and 5, charges of persistent contravention of a Family Violence Intervention Order, I impose an aggregate sentence. You are convicted and sentenced to  24 months’ imprisonment;

On Summary Charge 7, contravening a Family Violence Intervention Order, you are convicted and sentenced to six months’ imprisonment;

On Summary Charge 3, driving while disqualified, you are convicted and sentenced to six months’ imprisonment.

60The aggregate sentence imposed on Charges 2, 3, 4 and 5 of 24 months’ imprisonment is the base sentence.  I direct that eight months of the sentence imposed on Charge 1, one month of the sentence imposed on Summary Charge 7, and one month of the sentence imposed on Summary Charge 3, be served cumulatively upon each other and upon the base sentence.  This makes a total effective sentence of 34 months’ imprisonment.  I set a non-parole period of 22 months. This is somewhat less than I would otherwise have imposed, and I do so in the hope that time on parole, should you receive parole, will enable you to undertake appropriate counselling. If you do not undertake the counselling you require, particularly for your drug use, you will find yourself, in all likelihood, spending more and more of your life in custody.

61Pursuant to s18 of the Sentencing Act, the period of 500 days, not including today, is to be reckoned as a period of imprisonment already served under this Sentence.

62Pursuant to s6AAA of the Sentencing Act, had it not been for your pleas of guilty, the sentence I would otherwise have imposed is one of 44 months’ imprisonment with a non-parole period of 34 months.

63MR SULLIVAN:  As it please, Your Honour.

64HIS HONOUR:  Thank you Mr Sullivan.  Madam Prosecutor, were there any other orders that - - -

65MS LEKAMGE:  Your Honour, there's a forfeiture order for the drone that has been filed, that we need to make.

66HIS HONOUR:  Mr Sullivan?

67MR SULLIVAN:  Yes, no submissions, Your Honour.

68HIS HONOUR:  All right.  I will make the forfeiture order, as has been sought.

69MS LEKAMGE:  As the court pleases.

70MR SULLIVAN:  It please Your Honour.

71HIS HONOUR:  Mr Lewis, I'm sure Mr Sullivan will speak to you about the sentence and my sentencing remarks, particularly that comment I made that you are now on notice.

72MR SULLIVAN:  As it please Your Honour.  I've made a note of that.

73HIS HONOUR:  Thank you, Mr Sullivan.  I'm grateful to counsel for your assistance in this matter.  There being nothing else, I will stand down temporarily.

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