Director of Public Prosecutions v Marsden

[2014] VCC 808

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

AT SALE
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

CR-14-00190

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

ANTHONY MARSDEN

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JUDGE:	HIS HONOUR JUDGE DEAN
WHERE HELD:	Sale
DATE OF HEARING:	15 May 2014 and 20 May 2014
DATE OF SENTENCE:	23 May 2014
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v MARSDEN
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2014] VCC 808

REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the Office of Public Prosecutions	Mr. N. Hutton	O.P.P.
For the Accused	Mr. J. Sullivan	Sullivan Braham

HIS HONOUR:

1Anthony Paul Marsden, you have pleaded guilty of one charge of recklessly causing serious injury contrary to s.17 of the Crimes Act 1958. The maximum penalty for that offence is 15 years imprisonment.

2A committal proceeding was conducted in this matter, but the prosecution accept that your plea of guilty may properly be characterised by me as an early plea, and I have taken it into account in your favour in mitigation of sentence.

3You have admitted an extensive criminal history for offences including matters of violence and a number of dispositions of courts imposed to facilitate your rehabilitation have to date, been unsuccessful.  

4A prosecution opening was read to the court and tendered in evidence and your offending may be summarised as follows:

5On 11 September, 2013, during the course of a dispute with your then partner Emma Franklin, you stabbed her three times with a sharp kitchen knife.  It is not clear how her wounds were inflicted, and I accept that they were caused during the course of each of you pushing at one another.  Nevertheless, Ms Franklin suffered two significant wounds to her face, and one to her abdomen.

6Following the incident which took place in the home you occupied with her and her three children, who were present, she was admitted to hospital where her injuries were surgically repaired.  I have received in evidence victim impact statements of Ms Franklin and her 8 year old son, Tyler, and I accept that your offending has had a deeply traumatic effect on both of them. 

7It would appear that your offending occurred while you were highly intoxicated, and your behaviour was, at that time, irrational and unpredictable.  Nevertheless, violence of this nature is clearly very serious, and the sentence I impose must be calculated to deter you and others from offending in this way.  Courts must send an unequivocal message to the community that domestic violence of this nature will attract a significant term of imprisonment.  You must also be punished for the violence that you inflicted upon a person who trusted you. 

8I now turn to your personal circumstances.  You were born on 21 January, 1984, and you are now aged 30.  Your parents separated when you were an infant and you were raised by your grandmother.  Your work and educational history are limited. 

9I have received in evidence, a body of material in relation to your mental health and I accept the following matters: 

10(i) That you are of low intellectual capacity with an I.Q. of 69;

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(ii) That since the age of 13, you have suffered from

poly-substance abuse disorder, which has resulted in an acquired brain injury;

12(iii) You suffer from Tourette's disorder and Schizophrenia, which conditions are currently controlled with medication;

13and (iv) Since the age of 17, you have been in receipt of a Disability Support Pension, due to your psychiatric illnesses. 

14I accept the principles enunciated by the Court of Appeal in R v Verdins (2007) 16 VR 269, are engaged in your case. Your offending was, in part, caused by disinhibition resulting from your acquired brain injury, and your mental illness has led me to conclude that general deterrence should be moderated in your case. You require ongoing treatment and support and imprisonment will, to some degree, result in greater hardship to you than would otherwise be the case.

15Any assessment of your prospects for rehabilitation must nevertheless be guarded.  You require on-going supervision, however you do have the support of your grandmother and your father, and I accept that you are now remorseful for your offending.  

16By reason of your mental illness, and the impact imprisonment will have upon you, I have decided to fix a shorter than usual non-parole period in this case. 

17In the result, the sentence of the court is as follows: 

18On the Charge of recklessly causing serious injury, you are convicted and sentenced to be in prison for three years and six months. 

19I direct that you serve one year and three months before becoming eligible for release upon parole. 

20I declare that you have served 203 days by way of pre-sentence detention, not including today. 

21But for your plea of guilty, I would have sentenced you to a term of imprisonment of four years and six months and imposed a non-parole period of two years and three months. 

22I have made the disposal order sought on behalf of the prosecution. 

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