Director of Public Prosecutions v Marie (a pseudonym)

[2023] VCC 214

IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA

Revised

Not Restricted

Suitable for Publication

AT MELBOURNE

CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

JACK MARIE (A PSEUDONYM)

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JUDGE:

HIS HONOUR JUDGE CARMODY

WHERE HELD:

Melbourne

DATE OF HEARING:

12 December 2022

20 February 2023

DATE OF SENTENCE:

20 February 2023

CASE MAY BE CITED AS:

DPP v Marie (a pseudonym)

MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:

[2023] VCC 214

REASONS FOR SENTENCE

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Subject:  CRIMINAL LAW – Sentence

Catchwords:  Rape – attempted rape – false imprisonment – sexual assault – assault with intent to commit a sexual offences – common assault -  theft - serious sexual offender – standard sentence

Legislation Cited:  Sentencing Act 1991, s5A; s5B; s5B(3)(b); s6D; s6E; s6F

Cases Cited:R v Verdins (2007) 16 VR 269; Brown v The Queen [2019] VSCA 286; Worboyes v The Queen [2021] VSCA 169; DPP v Macarthur [2019] VSCA 71

Sentence:Convicted and sentenced to 14 years’ and nine months’ imprisonment with a non-parole period of 11 years’ and three months’ imprisonment.

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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the Director of Public Prosecutions	Mr A. McKenry	Office of Public Prosecutions
For the Accused	Ms R. Champion	James Dowsley & Associates

HIS HONOUR:

1Jack Marie[1], on 12 December 2022 at the Latrobe Valley County Court, you pleaded guilty to the following charges on Indictment No.N10709080:

·Charge 1, common assault of Sienna Herz[2].  This charge has a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment;

·Charge 2, false imprisonment of Sienna Herz.  This charge has a maximum penalty of 10 years' imprisonment;

·Charge 3, sexual assault of Sienna Herz.  This charge has a maximum penalty of 10 years' imprisonment;

·Charge 4, assault with intent to commit a sexual offence.  This charge has a maximum penalty of 15 years' imprisonment;

·Charge 5, rape.  This charge has a maximum penalty of 25 years' imprisonment;

·Charge 6, attempted rape.  This charge has a maximum penalty of 20 years' imprisonment;

·Charge 7, theft.  This charge has a maximum penalty of 10 years' imprisonment.

[1] A pseudonym name.

[2] A pseudonym name.

2You have served 317 days' pre-sentence detention, not including this day.

3You have admitted your prior criminal history.  You in total have 16 prior court appearances between 14 February 2005 and 8 April 2022.  Your offending has been for drug possession and violence offending.  You have breached intervention orders. You have criminal damage convictions.  You have one prior conviction for making a threat to kill.  You have no prior convictions for sexual offending.  I will return to the criminal history in more detail in your personal circumstances.

Circumstances of Offending

4The prosecutor tendered a Summary of Prosecution Opening dated 6 October 2022, and it was Exhibit “A” on the plea.  The chronology of events in this case is instructive:

1)At 3.20 pm on 8 April 2022, you were released from Fulham prison;

2)You booked room 19 at Motel24Seven in York Street, Sale, at 3.50 pm.  You booked into it on 8 April 2022;

3)Your victim, Sienna Herz, finished her shift at 11 pm on 8 April 2022;

4)At 12.21 am on 9 April 2022, you were in the car park at McDonald's restaurant on the corner of Cunningham and York Street in Sale;

5)At 12.29 on that same day, 9 April 2022, Ms Herz entered the
drive-through to collect her food from McDonald's store in Sale;

6)You approached Ms Herz’s vehicle as she exited the drive-through area and asked for a lift to the train station in Sale;

7)You got into the passenger door of Ms Herz’s Mazda vehicle;

8)Your offending against Ms Herz commenced shortly after she had driven you from McDonald's store down to the Sale railway station as you had requested;

9)Your offending continued against Ms Herz until she was able to escape from you towards a home nearby where the occupants rang the police at 1.06 am on 9 April 2022.  She was at that stage in the  safety of the verandah of that home in Topping Street, Sale;

10)In those approximately 40 minutes, you changed the life of Sienna Herz forever.

5The full details and circumstances of your offending are set out in Exhibit “A”.  A summary of your offending is as follows, and some of this is repetitive, but it is important that the detail of this offending is noted.

6You were released from Fulham prison on 8 April 2022 and driven to Sale by Mr Easton, who was a prison officer.  You asked to go to a supermarket and purchase some alcohol and some cigarettes.  You were booked into room 19 at Motel24Seven, which is in York Street in Sale.

7Your victim worked as a bar manager at a nearby hotel.  She left work at about 11 pm, locked up the hotel.  She then drove her boyfriend home and went to Sale where she lived.  She picked up her dog and then went to her mother's home where her four-year-old son was being looked after by her mother.  She then went with her dog in the car to McDonald's in Sale to pick up some food.  It was approximately 12.30 am on 9 April 2022.

8Whilst your victim was leaving the drive-through section of McDonald's, you approached her vehicle and asked her for a lift to the Sale railway station.  Your victim agreed to give you a lift to that railway station.

9Your victim then drove you to the railway station at Sale, but it was, in your words, 'pretty dead', and you asked her to drive you back to the main street.  She was in the process of taking you back to the McDonald's restaurant, and as the car was being driven back toward the town, you have then given your victim a cigarette butt to throw out her window.  The vehicle at that stage was still in motion, travelling in a slow manner toward a stop sign.  When Sienna Herz had turned away, you grabbed her in a headlock.  That is the charge of common law assault.

10Ms Herz braked her vehicle to stop it.  You tried to kiss her.  She resisted you and pulled away from you.  She tried to get out of her car, but you grabbed her arm and said, 'Where the fuck do you think you're going?'  That is the basis of Charge 2, false imprisonment, and that charge continues until she escapes.

11Sienna Herz broke into tears.  She told you she was pregnant and had a boyfriend.  You reacted by becoming more angry and aggressive.  You kept trying to kiss her and saying, 'Just come on, you want this'.

12You made her drive to a car park.  When you arrived at the car park, you then leaned over and flicked a lever which reclined her seat in the car.  Ms Herz was crying and scared.  You reached over to touch her and made her undo her bra.  You then pulled up her shirt and licked her breast.  That is the charge of sexual assault, Charge 3.

13You have then put your left hand down her tracksuit pants.  You have touched her vagina and tried to penetrate her but only managed to touch her vagina.  She was stiff and she was crying.  That is assault with intent to commit a sexual offence.

14You then made Sienna Herz drive back to the train station and finally park at the rear of a place known as Mary Field Hall, which is opposite the railway station.  You then started to kiss Ms Herz again and warned her not to run.  You have told MS Herz you just wanted 15 minutes.  Your victim was completely terrified, stating:

“I believed that if I didn't do exactly what he said, I would end up dead.  I thought I'd never see my son again.”

15That is part of the continuation of Charge 2, which is false imprisonment.

16You have then reached over again and reclined Ms Herz’s seat.  You told her to take off her tracksuit pants.  She lowered them but did not take them off.  You have then climbed on top of her and unzipped your pants.  You have tried to penetrate her vagina with your penis through her underwear.  You then pulled her underwear aside and started to rape her.  She continually said, 'No'.  You forced her legs over your shoulders and penetrated her vagina with your penis.  That is the charge of rape, Charge 5.

17You have then tried to penetrate her anus, but she wriggled so you could not enter her.  She experienced pain as you tried to penetrate her anus with your penis.  When she was wriggling around, you said words to the effect, 'I'm gonna fuck your arse', and, 'Don't stress', and, 'Don't fight it'.  That is the attempted rape.

18During the course of this, you said things to Ms Herz of this nature:

·You wanted to face-fuck her so hard she vomited;

·You wanted to fuck her so hard in the arse that she would bleed;

·You wanted to take her away to a hotel for a weekend so you could tie her up and abuse her and rape her all weekend. 

19You have then asked her in the course of all of this, if she liked that and made her say yes.  Ms Herz recalls you saying these things to her as you were actually raping her during the act of penetration itself.  You told her, 'I've just done three and a half years locked up.  I deserve this, and I deserve to orgasm in a beautiful woman'.

20Ms Herz, in fear, said she had a son at home, and you responded by saying, 'Not anymore, you don't'.  Ms Herz tried to get away from you, saying she needed to relieve herself, but you told her that she was not getting out and that she could do it on him, meaning yourself.

21You asked Ms Herz where you could get some crack or meth whilst you were raping her.  She told you she did not know.  You became even more aggressive.

22Ms Herz was able to escape from the car through the passenger door of her car.  She got her dog out of the back door of the car.  She ran into the night barefoot, no pants on and with her bra undone.  Ms Herz saw a light on in the house nearby in Topping Street.  She knocked on the door of the house, and the occupants rang the police.  Ms Herz told the occupants that she had just been raped by a hitchhiker.

23The police attended and Ms Herz was taken to the Sale police station for forensic medical examination.  Sale police located Ms Herz’s car at the Mary Field Hall car park.  You were not there.  The police attended at room 19, Motel24Seven, where you had been staying, and you were not there either, but police located Ms Herz's mobile phone, her laptop and a folder of her personal papers there.  That is Charge 7, the theft.

24At 9.15 am on 9 April 2022, you were arrested by police as you walked along Pettit Drive, Sale, in the direction of the Sale railway station.  At the time of your arrest, you said:

·You were remorseful;

·You had made a mistake last night;

·You were remorseful about the girl he had met and that he had kissed and touched her;

·You had lost your son in a setup with DHS; and

·You said: 'I seen the girl.  I thought she was very attractive.  I just wanted her'.

25You took part in a record of interview at the Sale police station on 9 April 2022, and you made the following responses, and I am going to set them out:

“I've done something stupid, and I told you.  I just – I'm just devastated about losing my son.  I was just looking for a connection.  I've lost my son.  I dunno what's going on with my partner.  I just needed something.  I'm sorry to do that, that lady.  I just – I just fucking – I dunno, I just needed to feel love.  I just needed to feel something.  I hate meself.  I just – I dunno, I just wanted – I don't know what I was doing.”

26You described to police how you had been in Fulham, meaning Fulham prison, and had been dropped off at the motel in the afternoon.  You had been to the supermarket to buy some food, and you had been given $200 upon your release.  When you were asked what you did for the rest of the evening, you said, 'No comment'.  The rest of your record of interview statements are set out in Exhibit “A” and I will not continue with them.

27You did tell the police you do not remember your offending, in effect, because you have blackouts due to your drinking of alcohol.  I do not accept you cannot remember the offending against Sienna Herz.

Victim Impact Statements

28In this case, Sienna Herz filed a victim impact statement dated 12 October 2022.  Ms Herz victim impact statement was read in open court.  Clearly, the pain of remembering what had been done to her by you was extreme.  As she said, 'I decided to trust someone I shouldn't have'.  That decision by Ms Herz to help a stranger has changed the course of her life forever.

29At the time of your offending, Ms Herz was a mother of a four-year-old boy and pregnant with her next child.  You were not to know that Ms Herz struggled with mental health issues in her teenage years.  Your offending provoked a traumatisation of her psychological response to those events, resulting in Ms Herz terminating her pregnancy.  Ms Herz says she could not make rational decisions and has now made one herself that she cannot change.

30Her son has been affected adversely by the offending due to her psychological response to your offending.  Ms Herz cannot get your voice and smell of your breath out of her memory.

31Ms Herz's medical practitioners have attributed the return of eczema and her eye spasm to the stress and emotional trauma of your offending.  Your victim has also suffered financial loss in respect of selling her car, which you had offended in, and having to borrow money to finance the purchase of a different vehicle.  Ms Herz has had to change her type of employment after having a two-month period without work.  She says:

“In terms of safety, I feel insecure in my own home, in my own car and in my own hometown.”

32She trusts no one and sees every man as a threat to her life.  A judge's summary of the impact of this crime on Ms Herz could not cover all aspects adequately, but the impact on Ms Herz's life has been highly traumatic and will be long lasting.

33A victim impact statement was also filed on behalf of Ms Herz's mother.  It was Exhibit “C”.  She described Sienna as a person with a heart of gold.  Sienna was a thoughtful, helpful young woman.  At the time of the offence, she was only 23 years of age.  Ms Her’z mother set out in detail the impact of the offending on Sienna’s four younger sisters.  The mother described how Sienna has changed from a 'sunny disposition', which were the words she used, to a person who hides behind a shield of darkness.  Ms Herz’s mother expresses a guilt that she feels because she brought up her daughter to be such a trusting person.

Personal Circumstances

34You are now 36 years old.  At the time of your offending, you were 35.  You have admitted your prior criminal history.

35On the day prior to this offending, you were before the Melbourne Magistrates' Court for contravening a family violence safety notice.  You were sentenced to 14 days' imprisonment and a declaration of 165 days of pre-sentence detention was made on that date.  You were also released on that date, 8 April 2022.

36On 28 February 2022, you were convicted of shop theft and committing an offence on bail.  A sentence of seven days was noted as time served.  On 22 June 2021, you were at Dandenong Magistrates' Court for breach of a CCO, burglary, theft, bail offences, assault, contravening a family violence safety notice, possessing methylamphetamine and sentenced to 210 days, with a pre-sentence detention of 193 declared.

37Prior to those court appearances, you had 13 preceding court appearances for dishonesty, violence, drug and driving offences, the sentences of imprisonment, community corrections orders breached by you by further offending.  You have no prior convictions for sexual offending.

38You grew up in Wantirna.  You are the middle child of three boys in the family.  Your father worked as a truck driver.  When you were young, your parents separated.  You lived with your mother and stepfather, with whom you enjoyed a good relationship.

39You reported to Laura Fleming, a clinical psychologist – her report is Exhibit 2 – that your own father was physically abusive to you.  Both of your biological parents went on to have further children after their separation.  Your two brothers are employed and own their own homes.  You described yourself to Ms Fleming as “the black sheep” of the family.

40You attended two primary schools due to your family relocating after the separation of your parents.  At primary school, you got into trouble for stealing from the canteen and other students.  You remained at school until Year 10. You left school after an incident where you assaulted a teacher.

41After leaving school, you worked in metal fabrication and panel beating.  You have qualifications in metal fabrication and forklift driving and engineering/ boilermaking.

42You have one child, Declan[3], who was born on 23 March 2017.  He is now nearly six years old.  Declan has been the centre of ongoing legal custody battles between yourself and Declan's mother.  The family violence intervention order charges are around these disputes.  You last saw Declan when he was 16 months of age.

[3] A pseudonym name.

43You have reported mental health problems to Ms Fleming, including hearing voices that torment you.  I requested a formal psychiatric report from Forensicare, which is Exhibit 4. It is a report prepared by Dr Katherine Tan, a psychiatrist, dated 3 February 2023.  You told Dr Tan you had never engaged in self-harm or had any suicidal ideation.  Dr Tan had access to your Justice Health JCare clinical file.  You have never been diagnosed as having any serious mental health condition.  The only treatment received in prison has been antidepressant medication for a period of six weeks in 2021.

44On 2 March 2022, six weeks prior to your offending – you were assessed at Fulham prison as not having any psychiatric condition requiring treatment or diagnosis.  After your arrest for these offences, you were assessed on 13 April 2022 as having no acute mental health concerns.  Whilst in custody on remand, you have seen nurses and medical staff but no consultations or treatment for mental health symptoms.

45Dr Harriet Downing, who is a clinical neuropsychologist, had a complete history relating to your psychiatric history.  On 23 December 2014 at Eastern Health, you were diagnosed as suffering from a drug-induced psychosis.  In January 2015, you had three days in hospital in the psychiatric unit of the Alfred Hospital and were discharged with a diagnosis of drug-induced psychosis.  In April 2019, you were admitted to Casey Hospital and diagnosed as suffering from a psychotic episode after heavy cannabis and ice use.  In September 2019, you were admitted to Dandenong Hospital for a period of seven days and discharged with a diagnosis of drug-induced psychosis.  On 9 September 2019, after that time in hospital, no acute concerns were noted on a discharge follow-up examination.

46Dr Downing assessed you as a full-scale IQ of 92, which places you in the average range.  Dr Downing's opinion was:

“In the absence of acute alcohol use, there was no tangible connection between Mr Marie’s likely neuropsychological functioning at the time and the alleged offending or the nature of his reported patchy memory of events after the fact.”

47It was noted by Dr Downing that you reported, you were doing fine in prison.  Dr Downing excludes any acquired brain injury diagnosis relevant to your offending.  In summary, Dr Downing's opinion is:

1)There is no evidence to support a diagnosis of a major mood disorder or an enduring psychotic illness.  She notes your problematic substance abuse, personality dysfunction and drug-induced psychosis in the past;

2)You were not experiencing any psychosis at the time of your offending in this case;

3)There is no evidence to suggest your mental state will deteriorate as a result of your current incarceration.

48I do not accept that there is any psychiatric condition that played any part in your offending in this case.

49As I understand it, you have spent a total of 317 days' pre-sentence detention.

Sentencing Considerations

50The basic purpose for which a court may impose a sentence are just punishment, deterrence both specific and general, rehabilitation and denunciation of your actions and the protection of the community. In sentencing you, I must have regard to a range of factors, such as the seriousness of your offending and your culpability for it and your personal circumstances. 

51I am also required to balance the interests of the community in denouncing your criminal conduct with the interests of the community in seeking to ensure, as far as possible, that you as an offender are rehabilitated and reintegrated into society.

52I am also required to take into account current sentencing practices in fixing your sentence.  That enquiry is directed particularly, but not exhaustively, to the kinds of sentences imposed in comparable cases and the statistics for those sentences.  In your case, it relates to standard sentencing cases.  Nevertheless, many of the cases would be distinguishable from your case as indeed they are from one another.  The cases to which I have been referred to, fit entirely in that category.

53The standard sentencing regime applies to Charge 5 on the indictment. The maximum penalty for Charge 5 is 25 years' imprisonment. Pursuant to s5A and 5B of the Sentencing Act, this charge is also a subject of the standard sentencing provisions.  The standard sentence for this charge, as in, Charge 5, is 10 years' imprisonment.

54The standard sentence only takes account of the objective factors affecting the relative seriousness of the offence of rape. The maximum sentence and the standard sentence are to be taken into account as guideposts in the sentencing process. In s5B(3)(b), the Parliament enacted the standard sentencing provisions that are not intended to affect the approach to sentencing known as the instinctive synthesis.

55In the case of R v Brown, Champion J set out that the standard sentence is not to take the predominant role in sentencing and is just one of the factors to be taken into account.  It follows that the standard sentence does not assume a dominant role in the determination of the sentence for your charges.  The standard sentence prescribed by Parliament for the offence is simply one of the relevant sentencing factors to which a court must have regard along with other sentencing factors identified, which are required to be taken into account under the Sentencing Act.

56Further, so far as consideration of current sentencing practices are concerned, as I said before – requires a court, when considering current sentencing practices for a standard sentence offence, to only consider sentences previously imposed where the relevant offence was subject to the standard sentencing scheme.

57The serious offender provisions of the Sentencing Act apply to Charges 5 and 6 on the indictment.  Under the serious offender provisions of the Sentencing Act, on your conviction and sentence to a term of imprisonment in respect of Charges 3 and 4, I am required on the sexual offences charges thereafter to regard the protection of the community from you as a principal purpose for which the sentence is to be imposed. If necessary, in order to achieve that purpose of protecting the community, I am empowered under s6D of the Sentencing Act to impose a sentence greater than is proportionate to the gravity of the offence.  This means that the sentencing task in respect of Charges 5 and 6 on the indictment is to be undertaken on the basis that the protection of the community from you is a principal purpose for which the sentence is to be imposed.  To achieve that purpose, a sentence may be imposed longer than that which is proportionate to the gravity of the offence considered in the light of the objective circumstances.

58Pursuant to s6F of the Sentencing Act, I will make a declaration at the end of my reasons that you have been sentenced as a serious sexual offender.

59Section 6E of the Sentencing Act also requires, unless I otherwise direct with respect to Charges 5 and 6 on the indictment, the sentences I impose on you are to be served cumulatively. I note that the Crown did not call for a disproportionate sentence or cumulation contemplated in s6D or 6E of the Sentencing Act.  Allowing for the matters I have already outlined, in my view, it is appropriate to impose only the degree of cumulation to which I subsequently refer, reflecting, as it does, several episodes in one course of events.  To do otherwise may produce a sentence that is not appropriate and is unjust.

60You have pleaded guilty to these charges.  Your plea of guilty was indicated at an early stage.  Your plea does have the utilitarian value of allowing for the orderly and effective administration of justice.  There is a certainty of outcome and a resolution of the substantive issues raised by your offending, and your plea allows for the preservation of court and police resources to deal with other matters.  Your plea vindicates the public confidence in the legal process set up to protect the community, and your plea has also avoided the necessity for your victim to give evidence in your trial or at a committal.

61Your plea is also a clear acknowledgment by you that you accept responsibility for your criminal behaviour on this occasion.  Your plea also recognises you are willing to facilitate the course of justice in the community, and I accept that your plea of guilty to these charges indicates and demonstrates remorse on your part.

62Your plea of guilty is entered at a time when the courts and the criminal justice system is under enormous backlogs due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  The Court of Appeal in the case of Worboyes stated that a plea of guilty in pandemic times should attract a more pronounced amelioration of sentence than in ordinary times.  The sentencing court must ensure that a plea of guilty results in a perceptible amelioration of sentence, and I have taken that matter into account when finalising your sentence in this case.

63Your offending is a very serious example of this type of offending.  The Parliament has set out the maximum penalty of 25 years and a standard sentence of 10 years in respect of Charge 5.  This is a clear indication of the seriousness with which the community, through Parliament, treat this type of offending.  The indictors of level of seriousness are as follows:

1)Your attack was random in nature and executed on a vulnerable young woman;

2)Your offending was violent and persisted over a period of 40 minutes;

3)You took advantage of a person who was trying to help you;

4)Despite your victim's pleas to be let her go, you continued with your offending;

5)You did not use a condom, adding to the risk of disease transmission;

6)Your attack only ceased after your victim was able to make good her own escape from your clutches.  In other words, you were not going to stop;

7)You deliberately raised personal fear in your victim for her own personal safety;

8)Your offending occurred within a 12-hour period of your release from prison.

64I take into account your personal circumstances as set out in the reasons when fixing your sentence.  I note your prior criminal history, which has violent offending but no sexual offending.

65I also take into account that your offending occurred within 12 hours of your release from custody after serving six months' imprisonment.  This raises the sentencing consideration of specific deterrence to a higher level than would ordinarily be the case in an offence of this nature.

66In recent times, the Court of Appeal – and I am quoting from DPP v Macarthur [2019] VSCA 71 at paragraph 69 – set out the following in relation to this type of offending:

“In cases of this kind, the sentencing purposes of general deterrence and denunciation are given particular weight.  In such a context, it is the duty of the Court to impose sentences which can provide some protection to members of the community, particularly women, who may otherwise be vulnerable when going about their business in public on their own at night.  Accordingly, the sentences to be imposed in a case such as this must make it clear that any person who is minded to exploit the vulnerability of members of the public, particularly women, in such circumstances by sexually interfering with them will suffer a deprivation of their right to be at liberty within society for a substantial period of time.  As an associated consideration, it is important that the Court make it plain that offending of the kind that was engaged in in this case is entirely unacceptable and reprehensible.  In that way, in a case such as this, the Court, by the sentences imposed by it, has a duty to express its denunciation of such offending in clear terms.

In addition, in the present case, as acknowledged by the sentencing judge, it was important that the sentence imposed on the respondent be such as to protect the community and to serve the purpose of specific deterrence by teaching the respondent that conduct of the kind that he engaged in will not be tolerated.”

67I assess your prospects of rehabilitation as poor.  You have a criminal history pattern of violence, dishonesty and serious drug abuse and now this most serious example of sexual offending.  You do not have any ongoing supports in the community that were set out for me, and to date, you have done nothing to rehabilitate your problematic substance abuse problem.

68It was submitted today that limb 5 of Verdins has application in your case.  I take into account what was set out in Dr Tan's report about your personality structure, as she described it, and that could make a sentence of imprisonment weigh more heavily on you, but I also note that you had reported to Dr Downing in her report that you were coping fine in prison, and I do not accept that Verdins limb 5 is made out in your case.

69I have cumulated those parts of the sentence that reflect the seriousness of each offence whilst at the same time considering the sentencing principles of totality to ensure that a crushing sentence has not been imposed upon you.  The sentencing principles of general deterrence, specific deterrence, just punishment, protection of the community, denunciation of your actions and your rehabilitation dictate that the only appropriate sentence is a term of imprisonment with a fixed non-parole period.  If you are granted parole, the Adult Parole Board will further supervise your rehabilitation.

70Would you stand, please.

71On Charge 1, you are convicted and sentenced to one year imprisonment; on Charge 2, you are convicted and sentenced to two years' imprisonment; on Charge 3, you are convicted and sentenced to two years' imprisonment; on Charge 4, you are convicted and sentenced to three years' imprisonment; on Charge 5, you are convicted and sentenced to 11 years' imprisonment – that is the base sentence; on Charge 6, you are convicted and sentenced to seven years' imprisonment; on Charge 7, you are convicted and sentenced to one year imprisonment.

72The cumulation is as follows:  for Charge 1, two months of that sentence; for Charge 2, six months of that sentence; for Charge 3, six months of that sentence; for Charge 4, six months of that sentence; as I say, for Charge 5, that is the base sentence; for Charge 6, two years of that sentence; and for Charge 7, one month of that sentence.

73On my calculation – and I will ask counsel to check it – that is a total effective sentence of 14 years and nine months' imprisonment.  I fix a non-parole period of 11 years and three months.

74Pursuant to s6AAA, but for your plea of guilty, I would have sentenced you to 17 years and six months with a non-parole period of 15 years.

75I declare that you have served 317 pre-sentence detention days. I declare I have sentenced you as a serious sexual offender under s6F of the Sentencing Act.

76In terms of the Sex Offenders Registration Act, I am ordering that you be on the Sex Offender Register for your life, and that for 15 years you have a reporting condition on it upon your release.

77OFFENDER:  How long was my sentence for, Your Honour?

78HIS HONOUR:  Sorry?

79OFFENDER:  How long was my sentence?

80HIS HONOUR:  Yes.  The head sentence, the top is 14 years and nine months.  The bottom is 11 years and three months, and you have served 317 days.

81Ms Champion, I will have this SORA documentation given to you, and I will ask you to attend at the dock with it so that your client can sign it.

82MS CHAMPION:  Yes, Your Honour.

83HIS HONOUR:  Ms Champion, I just want to check.  Have you checked my arithmetic about the time?

84MS CHAMPION:  I am just in the middle of checking that.

85HIS HONOUR:  Sorry.  You finish that before I - - -

86MS CHAMPION:  Yes, thank you, Your Honour.

87HIS HONOUR:  Just so he knows.  You can take a seat, Mr Marie.

88MR McKENRY:  Your Honour, my mathematics says it is correct.

89HIS HONOUR:  Thanks.

90MS CHAMPION:  Yes, Your Honour.

91HIS HONOUR:  Thank you, thanks.  You can remove the prisoner, thank you.

92PRISON OFFICER:  Yes, Your Honour.

93MR McKENRY:  Your Honour pleases.

94(At this stage the offender left the court.)

95HIS HONOUR:  Thanks, counsel, for your assistance in this difficult matter.  Ms Herz, best of luck.

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