Director of Public Prosecutions v Manase

[2018] VCC 2028

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

AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

CR-18-00422

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

THERESA MANASE
MATTHEW EUESE

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JUDGE:	HER HONOUR JUDGE WILMOTH
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:	8 August, 12 November 2018
DATE OF SENTENCE:	3 December 2018
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Manase
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2018] VCC 2028

REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject: Criminal law - sentence
Catchwords: Both offenders pleaded guilty to 4 charges armed robbery ,  one charge attempted armed robbery, one charge theft  1 charge causing injury recklessly and summary matters.  Armed robberies of milk bars – victims badly affected by offences – both offenders New Zealand citizens - young offenders  - naïve – immature – experiencing homelessness – job loss – pregnancy – cut off  from families – Matthew Euese –drug  use.   Therese Manese – 6 month old child
Sentence:  Theresa Manase – 162 days pre sentence detention – CCO – 3 years
                  Matthew Euese  9 months CCO   - 5 years

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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the Director of Public Prosecutions	Mr P. Pickering - plea Ms B. Bleazby at sentence	OPP
For Accused Manase	Ms P. Smith	Dowsley Associates
For Accused Euese	Mr J. Westmore	Dribben Brown

HER HONOUR: 

Ms Manase and Mr Euese, you may remain seated for now.  I will ask you to stand later.

1Matthew Euese and Theresa Manase have pleaded guilty to charges arising out of incidents occurring over five days in November 2017, just over a year ago.  Today I will be imposing a prison term combined with a community correction order on Mr Euese.  The prison sentence to be imposed on Ms Manase will be the time that she has already served and a community correction order will also be imposed.  In other words, she will not be required to return to prison.

2The accused have each been charged with four charges of armed robbery, a charge of theft and one of attempting to commit an indictable offence, an armed robbery.  Matthew Euese has also been charged with causing injury recklessly and Theresa Manase has been charged with a further charge of theft and with causing injury recklessly, a charge different from that with which Mr Euese was charged.

3In addition to the charges on the indictment, Mr Euese has also pleaded guilty to eight summary charges, which have been uplifted.  They are one charge of resisting an emergency worker on duty; one charge of assault; and six charges of committing an indictable offence while on bail.  Those six charges mirror certain of the indictable charges - the four charges of armed robbery; one charge of attempted armed robbery; and the charge of recklessly causing injury.

4Ms Manase also pleaded guilty to two charges of contravening bail conditions; resisting an emergency worker and assault. 

5Both offenders are now aged 22, citizens of New Zealand living in Melbourne, who were and still are in a relationship together.  At the time of the offending they were homeless, living in a car which Ms Manase had bought. 

The incident on 26 November

6On 26 November, Mr Euese drove the car to a service station where Ms Manase filled the car with petrol to the value of $72.90 and they then drove away without paying.  That is Charge 1.

7Later that day they both went to a milk bar in Dandenong North owned by Yiting Zhao, who was looking after the shop.  Ms Manase walked into the shop and unplugged the fluorescent lights in the window and changed the open/closed sign to closed.  At the same time, Mr Euese walked behind the service counter and confronted the complainant, pointing a small hatchet at her.  He put his finger to his mouth, indicating for her to be quiet.  He then demanded money and cigarettes from her, giving her a backpack to fill.  She put several hundred dollars and an unknown quantity of cigarettes into it.  That is Charge 2.

The incident of 27 November

8On 27 November at about 6.55 pm, Ms Manase went to a milk bar in Clayton South, where Xiaorong Tang was working.  Ms Manase asked if there was any hot food and when told no, she left.  A few minutes later both offenders went into the shop and Mr Euese approached the complainant and demanded money.  He raised a hatchet in his hand and made the demand again.  That is Charge 3.

9The complainant asked what he meant and Mr Euese again demanded money and tried to open the register.  When this failed he raised the hatchet again and demanded she open the register.  He took $600 from it and the two offenders then ran from the shop and left in their car. 

10The incident on 28 November

11On 28 November the two offenders separately entered a milk bar in Keysborough, where the owner, Beihua Zhang was working.  Ms Manase lingered in the shop while Mr Euese tried to open the locked door to the private area, at the back of the store.  He told the owner he was looking for paper.

12He then produced a hatchet from his clothing and shouted at the complainant, but she did not understand him.  She activated the alarm button which caused a loud siren to sound and the two offenders ran from the shop.  That is Charge 4.

13Later that day they went to a milk bar in Clayton South where the owner, Ying Zu was working.  With Ms Manase already in the shop, Mr Euese asked the owner for cigarettes and as she turned to get them, he climbed over the counter and pointed a hatchet at her saying, "I need cash.  Quickly give me cash".  He then struck the counter hard with the hatchet, hard enough to leave a mark.  The complainant opened the till and then retreated into the back room for safety.  The offenders stole between $400 and $500 and an unknown quantity of cigarettes and then left.  That is Charge 5.

The incident on 29  November

14On 29 November they went to a milk bar in Mulgrave, owned by Yan Su who was working there.  Ms Manase went in first, as she had done in earlier incidents, asked for an item, then left and returned with Mr Euese.  He showed the hatchet he was carrying to the complainant and demanded money.  Ms Manase had a knife she has stolen from a Grill'd restaurant and she also armed herself with a baseball bat she found in the shop.  That is Charge 7.

15Mr Euese climbed over the counter and demanded money, taking about $500 from the till.  That is Charge 6.  He said, "You want to get the alarm?" while holding the hatchet, as if to strike.  Ms Manase held the baseball bat over her shoulder and pretended to swing it while facing the complainant, before the two offenders then ran out of the shop.

The incident on 30 November  

16On 30 November, the two went to the Spleen Bar in Bourke Street, Melbourne.  At about 3.30 am, Ms Manase was yelling at bar staff while waiting to be served.  She was told by the barman, Jeremy Keegan, that she needed to wait her turn.  About 40 minutes later, Mr Euese also started yelling to be served.  Mr Keegan decided that Mr Euese had had too much to drink and would not be served.  Mr Euese then stood on a chair and yelled, "What are you gonna do?"  When told he would not be served any more alcohol, Mr Euese climbed over the bar and gestured to fight Mr Keegan. 

17A patron, Nathan Debritt, stood between the two men to try to calm the situation.  Mr Euese shoved Mr Debritt and threw punches at him, hitting him twice in the face.  That is summary Charge 6.

18Mr Euese then hit Mr Keegan twice to the face with his fist.  Ms Manase came around the bar and tried to calm Mr Euese down, but he was able to hit Mr Keegan again to the face.  He was later treated at St Vincent's Hospital and was found to have concussion and bruising.  That is Charge 9.

19A short time later the supervisor of the Spleen Bar, Emma Sheridan, was out on the street waiting for the police to arrive when Ms Manase approached her, yelling an expletive at her and telling her not to ever strangle her again.  Ms Sheridan denied this but Ms Manase grabbed her by the throat and started to strangle her.  Ms Sheridan escaped from Ms Manase's grip and walked back into the bar, but Ms Manase followed her.  She screamed an expletive at her and threw a full pint glass at Ms Sheridan, striking her in the mouth.  This knocked out three of her teeth and broke two others.  Ms Sheridan was taken to St Vincent's Hospital and later to the Royal Dental Hospital. 

20The two offenders returned to the bar a short time later.  Mr Euese yelled for the barman and banged his fist on the bar.  A female patron told him to leave and he became aggressive towards her.  The complainant, Nick Somerville, put his hands on the shoulders of Mr Euese and tried to steer him away, but was then struck by Ms Manase to the face.  That is summary offence No.6 against her.

21Police then arrived and the offenders both ran out of the bar, west along Bourke Street.  First Constable Hatzimanolis caught up to Mr Euese and Mr Euese tried to strike him but the punch was blocked and only grazed the complainant's neck.  That is summary offence 3 against him.  Ms Manase then tried to help Mr Euese to resist police.  That is summary offence 3 against her.

22The offenders were arrested after the use of OC spray and were taken to the police station where they were interviewed and made full admissions.  Mr Euese was on bail at the time and so was charged with the five charges of committing an indictable offence while on bail.  And those are summary charges numbered 7 to 11.  He was remanded in custody from 30 November until 21 December 2017, a period of 22 days.

23Ms Manase spent the same 22 day period in custody and when released on bail on 22 December, conditions were that she live at her father's house and report daily to Narre Warren police station.  For a two week period in January 2018 she breached both conditions, and on 16 January her bail was revoked.  She was charged with summary offences numbered 8 and 9, contravening a condition of bail.  She remained in custody until 4 June 2018, a period of 140 days which comes to a total of 162 days.

Victim impact statements

24Ying Xu provided a victim impact statement which describes the great fear she felt when threatened with the hatchet.  She feared she was going to be killed or badly injured.  She suffered nightmares afterwards and then a second robbery occurred, making her ordeal worse.  Since then she has decided to sell the business and has had to move away from the residence.  This has cost her a lot of money.  She states that she wants the offender to learn from his mistake and to know how much it has affected her.

25Yiting Zhao has also written an account of the impact upon her.  Sadly these two offenders were not the first to target her.  She had been through something similar before, she said, and she would like to sell her shop but she needs to persist for a few more years.  Rather than sitting in her shop waiting for customers, she remains in the back of the shop and checks customers on her security camera before venturing out.  Her daughter is too frightened to stay at the shop and her mother is reluctant to come to visit her from China.  Both of these victims have had to reduce the opening hours of their shops, to ensure greater safety, and this has been at the cost of fewer customers.  These statements will convey some idea of the serious effects of this criminal behaviour on people trying to make a living through hard work, having their personal safety threatened.

26I turn now to the background and circumstances of each of you. 

Personal circumstances of Mr Euese

27You, Mr Euese are a young man aged 22.  You were 21 at the time of the offences.  You were born in New Zealand and came to Australia with your family when you were ten years old.  Your childhood was difficult as your father was violent to you and your mother, resulting in you having to live at times in crisis homes for the victims of family violence.  Your parents were strict and that has led to problems more recently, arising from your relationship with Ms Manase, of which your parents did not approve.  You completed secondary school but school was not a happy place for you, contrasting with your success playing rugby. 

28You represented Victoria when you were growing up but you were dropped when you were 18, which was a great disappointment to you and you believed you had let your parents down.  You began using cannabis and ice, although with periods of abstinence, until you lost your job and began using daily just before the offending.  After leaving school you had begun a Certificate IV course in youth work but you dropped out after six months as you felt you lacked maturity and that you were hypocritical, given that you were using drugs at the time. 

29In 2017 you moved to Griffith in New South Wales to study a Diploma in Christian Ministries but returned to Melbourne for several reasons, including the need to provide financial support for your parents.  It also seems that the Church authorities did not approve of you living with Ms Manase.  I understand that when you have served your sentence you would like to become involved in the Christian Ministry.  While in New South Wales, you were admitted to a psychiatric ward in Wagga Wagga for two weeks, after attempting suicide following an incident when you had hit your partner. 

30You reached this point because you were so disappointed in yourself for repeating the cycle of violence you had grown up witnessing.  You were not charged with any offence but the police found you and took you to hospital.  This was the second time you had become suicidal, the first having been in 2015.  Since leaving school you have worked in various unskilled jobs, the most recent being as a machine operator in a glass factory.  You began working there on your release from custody and in April this year, your bail was varied to allow you to continue working there in a full time capacity earning $780 per week. 

31You have been giving your parents $400 per week and supporting Ms Manase and the baby, and on Saturdays you have been doing six hours of community work as part of a Community Correction Order imposed on you in the Magistrates' Court. 

32Your criminal history is limited.  Of relevance are several incidents involving violence.  A Good Behaviour Bond was imposed in the Children's Court in 2014, for recklessly causing injury and affray and an Adjourned Undertaking in the adult court, for resisting a protective services officer in the context of failing to have a valid Myki card and possessing a controlled weapon, which was a box cutter used for your work.  None of these matters are indicative of any criminal disposition, given the other relevant factors about your background and likely future prospects and I put them to one side.

33It was subsequent to committing the present offences that you were placed on the Community Correction Order for driving offences, property damage and assaults and I am told that you are progressing well on that order with only a few hours of community work remaining.  In July this year you were assessed by the forensic psychologist, Ms Pamela Matthews, who provided a report to the court.  Her opinion is that the underlying dysfunction in your background makes you vulnerable to depressive symptoms and that other issues you face include the threat posed by substance abuse and the need to establish your own family base, rather than remaining dependent on your family of origin.

34Programs dealing with mood regulation and family and other violence are recommended to assist in your rehabilitation.  Ms Matthews sees your acting out in the form of criminal behaviour, as an indication of these problems and that the risk of reoffending would be reduced by these needs being met, and also by your graduation from adolescence to adulthood, something which, according to Ms Matthew's report, is now understood to occur when a person reaches their mid-20's.  Ms Matthews stated that your behaviour can be explained by, "The emotionally heightened context of homelessness overriding moral and social concerns".

35This leads me to the immediate context of your offending in this case.  You gave evidence at your plea hearing about your background, as to the matters I have already set out and in particular you describe your relationship with Ms Manase and the birth of your son, five months ago.  You describe returning to Melbourne after some time away in New South Wales and living with Ms Manase at your parent's home.  They had difficulty accepting that she was pregnant at such a young age and after an argument they asked you to leave.  With nowhere to go you went together to the railway station and set up a tent to sleep in.  That was for two weeks, until you told Ms Manase's brother, who spoke to his father and you were able to stay at his home for two weeks. 

36This was a week or two before the offending.  However owing to the tension in that household you were asked to leave.  Ms Manase bought a car and you stayed in that.  You were still working but one morning the car would not start and neither of you could get to work.  As a result, you both lost your jobs.  Ms Manase was suffering from morning sickness and there were expenses associated with her pregnancy as well as the need to pay for emergency housing, on occasions.  You were not eligible for Centrelink benefits and in all these circumstances you relapsed into drug use and began spending money on them.  Your last pay packet was used to fix the car.

37You settled on the idea of getting cash from milk bars which you looked at, and you bought the hatchet and then carried out the robberies over four days.  On the fifth day, the incident in the bar occurred.  You were intoxicated, you saw others being served before you and you perceived the barman was being rude to Ms Manase and ignoring you.  An argument broke out and in your words you exploded.  You described spending 22 days in custody as having a huge impact on you, because you were supposed to be working and saving up for the baby's birth.  You say you reflected on your behaviour and had flashbacks of the expressions on the faces of the victims. 

38Since being released on bail you were working and having counselling, as well as being very involved with your church.  Your relationship with your parents is now good, and you and Ms Manase have married.  You consider yourself to be a different person now, from the one who offended and you have written a letter conveying your apologies to the victims.  You have used your tax return of $1,200 together with savings to pay compensation to them and Ms Manase has contributed as well.  It is unusual for that to occur and it indicates that you have both taken responsibility for what you did, and it demonstrates your remorse, as does your decision to give evidence.  These are indications, along with other factors, that your prospects for rehabilitation are very good.

39Your counsel characterised this serious offending as misguided desperation by young, naïve and immature people experiencing homelessness, job loss and pregnancy while cut off from their families and in your case, Mr Euese, having relapsed into drug use.  I note that fortunately that is not the case for Ms Manase, who has never had a problem with drugs or indeed alcohol.  That description of overwhelming circumstances seems to me to be accurate, as an explanation for the irrational behaviour which has caused much suffering for the victims. 

40Your rehabilitation is of great importance because of your youth and indeed, your moral culpability is reduced because of your youth and immaturity.  That means the focus on general deterrence is reduced and in the particular circumstances of this case, specific deterrence too.  Because of the seriousness of the offending involving the use of violence on each occasion, and in particular the injuries to Ms Sheridan and Mr Keegan, a term of imprisonment is warranted but its length is a matter for particularly careful determination, to take account of the unusual circumstances.

41There are several strongly mitigating factors, in addition to the difficult circumstances in which you and Ms Manase were living at the time.  You made admissions in your record of interview.  You have pleaded guilty at an early stage and that plea has avoided a trial and for that you are entitled to a discount on your sentence.  I accept that your remorse and regret is genuine and that you have sincerely reflected on your behaviour.  You have a very good work ethic and you have used the time since being bailed, to support your wife and baby and also to help your parents, as you have done in the past.  You have not relapsed into drug use.

42Your good prospects for rehabilitation must be acknowledged.  You have positive plans for the future and those prospects suggest that you are unlikely to offend again.  You have been attending drug counselling for several months and the counsellor at the service states that you have engaged well.  Others who know you, have provided references for the court confirming your involvement with your local church.  Those who know you through work and sport, also confirm their respect for you and their understanding that you have made bad mistakes.

43The message conveyed by these people is that you are fundamentally a good person who deserves a second chance and has potential to contribute positively to the community.  Because you are not an Australian citizen, but a citizen of New Zealand, you would face possible deportation should you be imprisoned for 12 months or more.  If that happened you would be separated from your wife and child and returned to a country which you left at the age of ten.  I can take into account as a mitigating factor the stress and anxiety that the possibility of deportation is likely to cause you while in prison. 

44This combination of mitigating factors calls for a very much moderated prison term than would otherwise be the case, to be combined with a long Community Correction Order which will punish you and require you to participate in programs to address the causes of your offending.  Would you stand now please, Mr Euese.  You have been assessed as suitable for a community correction order which will be imposed in addition to a prison sentence.  I have had prepared for counsel the details of the sentence, which may help you to follow what I am saying.

45I sentence you to the following terms of imprisonment. 

46For Charge 1 on the indictment, theft of petrol, one month;

47For each of Charges 2, 3, 5 and 6 on the indictment, the armed robbery charges, eight months;

48For Charge 4 on the indictment, attempted armed robbery, seven months;

49For Charge 9 on the indictment, causing injury recklessly to Mr Keegan, six months.

50Turning now to the summary offences, for Charge 3, resisting an emergency worker on duty, one month;

51For each of Charges 4, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11, committing an indictable offence while on bail, one month;

52For Charge 6, the assault of Mr Debritt, one month.

53The sentence for Charge 2 is the base sentence for the purposes of cumulation.  I order that one month of the sentence for charge 9 be served in cumulation upon the base sentence.  All other sentences are to be served concurrently.  This results in a total effective prison sentence of nine months.  In determining the orders for cumulation and concurrency, I have had regard to the principle of totality and the need for proportionality.  It is important that a prison sentence not be crushing on a young person, particularly when there is compelling evidence of unusual steps having been taken towards rehabilitation and where those steps have been successful, as in this case.

54The Community Correction Order will begin as soon as you are released and will last for five years.  You will be required to report to the Corrections Office at
46-50 Walker Street, Dandenong within two working days of your release.  It will apply to all the indictable charges, in combination with the prison sentences.  You will be under supervision and must perform 130 hours of unpaid community work.  You must have treatment for drug and alcohol abuse and any time you spend on this treatment, may be credited towards your hours of community work.

55You have spent 22 days in pre-sentence detention and I declare that time to be reckoned as already served and I shall cause that to be noted on the court record.  The prosecution seeks orders for forfeiture and disposal and for compensation.  I have already made the compensation order and I will make the orders for forfeiture and disposal.

56MR WESTMORE:  As Your Honour pleases.

57HER HONOUR:  If you had pleaded not guilty to these charges, I would have sentenced you to a prison term of three years with a non-parole period of two years.  Just be seated for now, Mr Euese, please.

I now turn to you, Ms Manase.

Personal circumstances of Ms Manase

58Although this series of offending was the idea of Mr Euese, you agreed to take part and you shared the planning.  You equipped yourself with a stolen knife and later with a baseball bat.  Your role in each robbery incident was as a backup, rather than the key offender but you are of course, no less guilty for that.  At the Spleen Bar you tried to calm Mr Euese down but then acted aggressively towards Ms Sheridan, before throwing the glass at her, an unprovoked attack which caused very nasty injuries to her teeth. 

59You had a difficult childhood, suffering significant trauma and abuse at a young age.  You have just turned 22 and indeed you had your 21st birthday on 29 November last year, during the five days of offending just over a year ago.

60You were born in New Zealand and came to Australia with your parents and your twin sister and brother when you were four years old.  The family moved around a lot searching for a permanent home.  You had a good relationship with your mother but your father, whose background is Samoan, was a strict disciplinarian.  When you were seven, you were raped by a relative but you told no one until many years later and it has not been reported to the police.

61In 2010 your mother was diagnosed with cancer and you took over the care of her and the running of the household.  Your mother died in 2012 when you were 15, and the family home became a very tense and abusive environment.  Your father restricted you and physically assaulted you on a daily basis and would not allow you to have a normal, social teenage life.  This led you to acting out in order to cope with grief and stress and you started using cannabis and not going to school.  Your brother and sister left home, unable to cope with the dysfunctional environment and you were left alone with your father.  You felt obliged to stay and look after him as your mother had and you stayed until you met Mr Euese in 2017. 

62Despite the pressures of your home life you completed Year 12, although lacking academic skills.  This was as an “unscored” student.  You were never in trouble at school and there were no behavioural issues, nor do you have any prior criminal convictions.  Although you enrolled in a TAFE accounting course in order to acquire some further education, the pressures at home and the need to contribute financially made this too difficult.  You then worked in factories with all your income put towards household expenses.  You also worked in Griffith, when you were living there with Mr Euese. 

63The psychologist, Mr Jeffrey Cummins, saw you in May for an assessment in anticipation of a bail application, and he provided a report.  You had been released on bail after 22 days in custody, following your arrest, but because you breached the conditions of your bail, it was revoked as I explained earlier, and you remained in custody again until June, not long before the birth of your baby.  Mr Cummins said that you expressed your remorse, feeling guilt and shame, that you empathise with the victims and that you believed you had become more responsible since then, completing courses in prison.

64His opinion was that you suffer from an adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood stemming from childhood experiences and that you also have symptoms of a persistent complex bereavement disorder, following your mother's death.  He concluded that as a young person you are psychologically vulnerable and that remaining in prison as you were at that time, would make deterioration of your mental health likely.  Similarly spending time in custody would be more onerous for you than for others not affected similarly.

65Mr Cummins assessed your risk of reoffending in a violent manner, and testing results suggested some residual anger towards your father, indicating the need for anger management treatment.  Overall, Mr Cummins considered your offending was situational, arising from your homelessness and desperation and he emphasised that there was no suggestion of any anti-social attitudes on your part.  His clinical conclusion was that your risk of reoffending was low and that your time in custody had had a salutary effect upon you. 

66This offending certainly seems to be out of character for you.  Your youth and immaturity led you to making very poor decisions as to how to survive in the circumstances, with no consideration as to where those decisions might lead.  I accept that your perception was that your survival was at issue in the circumstances you were in and no other possibilities presented themselves to you, having been ejected from two family homes, compounded by loss of your job and the expense of fixing the car consuming what remained of your income.  Those were the immediate circumstances in which you turned to crime.

67Since your baby was born on 20 June you have had the support of your parents-in-law and you have been repairing your relationship with your father, who came to court for the plea hearing.  You plan to live with your father if free to do so.  If not, you have been facing the prospect of being in prison with your baby which has been approved, but may be subject to review and revocation of approval.  You were anxious about prison in that regard and that aspect alone would be likely to make your experience of prison more burdensome.  Even though I accept the likelihood that the baby would be unlikely to suffer any disadvantage, your perception of such a possible disadvantage appears, understandably, to be a different matter.

68In addition, because you are a New Zealand citizen, although a permanent resident of Australia, you would be subject to possible deportation if sentenced to prison for 12 months or more.  The uncertainty and consequent anxiety arising from that possibility is a matter to be taken into account as a mitigating factor, as deportation would require you to return to New Zealand as a sole parent to your son and separated from your partner and with your family of origin living here.  These combined circumstances are unusual, indeed exceptional, and persuade me that a term of imprisonment beyond the time you have already served is not warranted. This was the submission of your counsel, based primarily on your youth and immaturity and the strong likelihood that you will not offend in this way again. 

69You have been assessed as suitable for a Community Correction Order, one which requires you to be treated for mental health issues.  Would you stand now please, Ms Manase?  I sentence you as follows:

70I sentence you to the following term of imprisonment.

71For Charge 1, theft of petrol, one month;

72For each of Charges 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8, for charges of armed robbery, attempted armed robbery and recklessly causing injury, 162 days imprisonment;

73For Charge 7, theft, fourteen days.

74For each of the summary Charges 3, 6, 8 and 9, one month.

75I declare to be reckoned as already served the period of 162 days of
pre-sentence detention and I shall cause it to be noted on the court record. 

76The Community Correction Order starts today and will last for three years.  It applies only to the indictable charges.  The only condition apart from you not reoffending of course, will be that you be treated for mental health issues.  You must attend the Corrections Office at 46-50 Walker Street, Dandenong by 4 pm on Wednesday 5 December.  That is in two days' time.

77If you had not pleaded guilty to these charges, I would have sentenced you to 18 months imprisonment with a non-parole period of 12 months. 

78Again, the prosecution seeks orders for forfeiture and disposal and I make those orders.

79I also make the same note about the compensation orders. 

80Just be seated for the moment please, Ms Manase.  You will both be asked to sign the Correction Order in a moment.  Do counsel wish to accompany my associate to the dock for that purpose?

81MR WESTMORE:  Yes, Your Honour.

82MS SMITH:  Yes, Your Honour.

83HER HONOUR:  All right.  I will just correct the orders in relation to Ms Manase, in that the correction order applies to all charges.  Mr Westmore, did you wish to raise something?

84MR WESTMORE:  No, Your Honour.  Well, I just have a query.  Paragraph 89, the draft reasons for sentence which seems to apply to what Your Honour just read out.  There is a reference to the fact that the compensation orders have been made already, but apparently cheques were not paid as they were not made out ‑ ‑ ‑

85HER HONOUR:  Yes, I just noted that to raise it, because I was told that that is what happened.

86MR WESTMORE:  Very well.  All right.  I think we can probably work it out, given that Ms Manase will now be in the community.  She will be able to attend to getting the right bank cheques, I would have thought.

87HER HONOUR:  All right.  That will be fine.

88MR WESTMORE:  Yes, Your Honour.

89HER HONOUR:  Are there any other matters before I rise?

90MR WESTMORE:  No, Your Honour.

91MS SMITH:  No, Your Honour.

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