Director of Public Prosecutions v MacPherson

[2015] VCC 1451

IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA Revised
(Not) Restricted
Suitable for Publication

AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

CR 11-014456

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

MATTHEW MACPHERSON

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JUDGE:	JUDGE HAMPEL
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:	12 October 2015
DATE OF SENTENCE:	13 October 2015
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v MacPherson
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2015] VCC 1451

REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the Director of Public Prosecutions	Ms A. Kapitaniak	OPP
For the Accused	Mr C. Terry	Tony Hannebery Lawyers

HER HONOUR: 

1On the breach of community corrections order imposed on 6 March 2014, I find the breach proven and take no further action.

2I resentence you, Matthew MacPherson for the original offences of intentionally cause injury and two charges of intentionally damage property, having regard to the compliance with the CCO and a previous CCO already by the time of the sentencing to an aggregate sentence of two months' imprisonment.

3I declare that he has spent 34 days in presentence detention, and direct that it be counted and reckoned as part of the sentence already served.

4I recommend that Mr MacPherson be considered for participation in programs in relation to drug and alcohol abuse, and in relation to anger management, whilst he completes his term of imprisonment.

5Can you stand, please, Mr MacPherson.  I am sorry to see you in this position today; you have had a long and rocky road, and you have got some really serious charges that you are facing and that need to be dealt with in the Magistrates' Court tomorrow.  You have had a significant compliance when you have been well and able to manage your life with the two CCOs I imposed upon you, but nonetheless the breaches are significant and the devastating consequences for those who are affected by it are unfortunately to a large part visited upon your own family, who have been loyal and staunch supporters of yours despite your difficulties.

6It is for all of those reasons, and understanding what a blight a condition such as bipolar disorder is, that I have imposed the sentences I have.  They are, one would think looking at them on the face of it, very, very light indeed.

7However, I am conscious of the fact that you are a person who has got to live with this diagnosis for the rest of your life, and must learn to manage it better than you have, and that you are properly to be regarded as someone who should not be made an example of in respect of this offending because of the effect on you, and the effect it has on your moral culpability, and your capacity personally to be deterred by reason of your mental illness.

8I am imposing these sentences in the understanding that you are facing very serious charges in the Magistrates' Court, and it is at least likely that a further term of imprisonment will be imposed.  But what I do not want to do is to have something that overwhelms you or overwhelms the Magistrates' Court in looking at tailoring what is an appropriate sentence for your most recent offending, and which I hope will have built into it a program of staged release that will assist you upon the completion of your term of imprisonment to get back, to enjoy that family support, and to go into the residential rehabilitation that you so clearly need, and that you acknowledge you need.

9But I am not imposing a longer sentence or a non-parole period, because that would be disproportionate to the matters that I must now deal with, having regard to your compliance to date.  Do you understand all of that?

10OFFENDER:  Yes, Your Honour.

11HER HONOUR:  All right.  That, then, Mr MacPherson I think is the last time you are going to be before me, because that disposes finally of the CCOs that were before me.  So once these Magistrates' Court matters are cleared up tomorrow, that should be again a slate clearing for you, so you can start to plan towards your future.

12You have shown, during those periods when you could and were in compliance with your CCOs that you can balance living a normal life with a mental illness, and you can remain drug and illicit substance free, and you can have a happy and rewarding life.

13Hold onto that and remember that when you are doing the rest of your sentence, so that instead of looking at the times when you did not do well, you can get courage and encouragement from the times when you did, and make that your future plan, rather than one that will see you come back to a place none of us want to see you.  That is, in a goal.  Do you understand that?  All right.

14Thank you everybody for your assistance, I apologise again for the lateness.  Are there any further orders that are required to me made?

15MS KAPITANIAK:  No, Your Honour.

16HER HONOUR:  I am not going to make a 6AAA declaration.  It is just meaningless in the circumstances, because this is the third time he is being sentenced for this matter.

17MS KAPITANIAK:  Yes.

18HER HONOUR:  So if that is a problem with 6AAA, it is a problem with 6AAA.

19MR TERRY:  No issue with that, Your Honour.

20HER HONOUR:  Thank you.  Can you remove Mr MacPherson, please.

21OFFENDER:  Thanks, Your Honour.

22HER HONOUR:  He is a lucky man to have such a supportive and loving family, who have got such understanding and compassion, with such balance, too, and understanding.  Not only trying to look after him, but looking after yourselves.  I wish you all well.

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