Director of Public Prosecutions v McDonald

[2017] VCC 1949

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

AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

CR -17-01647

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

STEVEN JAMES MCDONALD

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JUDGE:	HIS HONOUR JUDGE DEAN
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:	15 December 2017
DATE OF SENTENCE:	19 December 2017
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v McDonald
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2017] VCC 1949

REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject:  Criminal Law     
Catchwords:  Blackmail; General deterrence; CCO refused
Legislation Cited:
Cases Cited:
Sentence:

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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the Director of Public Prosecutions	Ms N. Burnett	Office of Public Prosecutions
For the Accused	Ms S. Kermath	Markotich Lawyers

HIS HONOUR:

1Steven James McDonald, you have pleaded guilty to one charge of blackmail contrary to s.87 of the Crimes Act 1958. The maximum penalty for that offence is 15 years' imprisonment. You have also pleaded guilty to the related summary offence of committing an indictable offence on bail contrary to s.30B of the
Bail Act 1977. The maximum penalty for that offence is a fine of 30 penalty units or three months' imprisonment.

2You pleaded guilty at committal mention and I have taken your early plea into account in your favour in mitigation of sentence.  It has spared the victims of your offending the burden of giving evidence in this case and the community the expense of a criminal trial.  I also accept that it is evidence of some remorse for what you did.

3You have admitted a criminal history dating to 1999 involving numerous court appearances for offences of violence, burglary, criminal damage and dishonesty.  You have breached a number of court orders imposed to support your rehabilitation.  At the time of your offending in this instance you were on bail for offences of breaching a family violence intervention order. 

4A Prosecution Opening was read to the court and tendered in evidence and your offending may be summarised as follows –

5At 2.45 am on 18 May 2017 you attended at premises in Bamfield Street, Sandringham, occupied by Christian Trapski, his wife and ten year old daughter.  Trapski was at that time involved in a financial dispute with a contractor and sub-contractor, Jackson Harris, in relation to the sum of $8000 said to be outstanding for building works at the premises.  The sub-contractor was an associate of yours. 

6You knocked on the door and woke Mr Trapski, his wife and daughter. 
They went to the front door and observed you through an adjacent window.  You demanded that $8000 be transferred to Harris' bank account by 5.00 pm that day or seven members of the Bandidos motorcycle gang would be on their doorstep the following night.  You threatened them that they would be "fucked up".  Your offending was filmed by the victims who immediately reported it to the police.  The following day you attended at Bayside police station for interview and following being shown the film, made full admissions to investigators. 

7I have received in evidence two victim impact statements of Mr Trapski and his wife and I accept that your offending has had a disturbing and traumatic effect upon them and their daughter.  In the dead of night you stood over a family for money in relation to a dispute that was of no concern of yours.  You breached the safety and privacy of their family home in a cowardly and threatening way. 

8In my opinion offending of this type has no place in our society and I have no doubt the sentence I impose must be calculated to deter others from offending in this serious manner.  Your offending must be unequivocally denounced by this court and our society protected from people like you.  Having regard to your criminal history specific deterrence is also a significant sentencing consideration in your case. 

9I now turn to your personal circumstance.  You were born on 11 February 1982 and are now aged 35 years.  You were raised in Mordialloc where you now reside and it would appear your schooling was disrupted by undiagnosed learning difficulties.  Your parents separated when you were ten years old. 
Your father suffers from alcoholism and your mother bipolar disorder. 

10I have received in evidence the psychological report of Mr Jeffrey Cummins setting out your background and psychological profile.  I accept that you suffer from alcohol use disorder and depression and anxiety.  You have previously undertaken treatment and counselling for anger management.  In Mr Cummins' opinion you currently pose a mild to moderate risk of committing a further offence of violence and you require further anger management counselling.

11You recently separated from your partner of 17 years with whom you have two daughters aged nine and five.  I accept that your separation has compounded your alcohol dependency and psychological vulnerability.  I also accept that these conditions will compound the hardship that imprisonment will have upon you.

12On 11 September 2017 you were “glassed” while attending Crown Casino and suffered injuries to your face and right eye.  You underwent surgical repair to the injuries on 23 September 2017 and whilst you require further treatment your condition is now stable.

13I also accept that your imprisonment will have an adverse impact on your concreting business which you have operated for ten years although no doubt you will be able to make arrangements for the business to continue to operate while you are in prison. 

14Your counsel submitted on your behalf that I should impose a community corrections order in this case but I am firmly of the view that the purposes for which this sentence is to be imposed would not be met by the imposition of that disposition. 

15In my opinion your prospects of rehabilitation are to be approached with caution. As I have said on this occasion you offended whilst on bail for breaching a family violence intervention order and you have an extensive criminal history.  Your offending was calculated to instil in your victims the very real fear of violence and whilst you may have been intoxicated at the time it was clearly a deliberate, considered and threatening act.

16In the result, the sentence of the court is as follows. 

17On the charge of blackmail you are convicted and sentenced to be imprisoned for 18 months. 

18On the charge of offending whilst on bail you are convicted and sentenced to be imprisoned for one month.

19I order that you serve nine months' imprisonment before becoming eligible for release on parole. 

20I declare that you have served four days by way of pre-sentence detention.

21But for your plea of guilty I would have imposed a total effective term of imprisonment of two years and six months with a non-parole period of one year and six months. 

22You can be seated, Mr McDonald.  Are there any further orders required?

23Thank you, we'll adjourn until 10.30 tomorrow.

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