Director of Public Prosecutions v Mobasheri & Ors

IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA

Revised

Not Restricted

Suitable for Publication

AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION
CR 17-00426

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

JAMES MOBASHERI

JOSHUA MARCH

BRODIE HUGHES

JAYDEN REYNOLDS

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JUDGE:	HIS HONOUR JUDGE MULLALY
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:
DATE OF SENTENCE:	16 July 2018
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Mobasheri & Ors
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2018] VCC 1076

REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject:	CRIMINAL LAW – Sentencing
Catchwords:	Plea of guilty - Drug Trafficking – Commercial quantity –Drug of dependence – Young offending – Serious drug offending– Negligently dealing with proceeds of crime – Possess a firearm – Possess an explosive substance – Good prospects of rehabilitation.
Legislation Cited:	Sentencing Act 1991; Drugs Poisons and Controlled Substances Act 1981; Crimes Act 1958, Firearms Act 1996.
Cases Cited:	R v Storey (1998) 1 VR 359; DPP v SJK & GAS [2002] VSCA 131; R v Mills [1998] 4 VR 235; Azzopardi v The Queen [2011] VSCA 372, DPP v MHK (a Pseudonym) [2017] VSCA 157.
Sentence:	Imprisonment for a period of 12 years with a non parole period of 7 years and 6 months (Mobasheri); imprisonment for a period of 6 years and 3 months with a non parole period of 3 years (Hughes); imprisonment for a period of 3 years and 3 months with a non parole period of 14 months (March); imprisonment of 4 years with a non parole period of 2 years (Reynolds).

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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the Director of Public Prosecutions	Mr J. Singh with Ms V. Mellios	Office of Public Prosecutions
For Accused Mobasheri	Mr S. Tovey	Theo Magazis & Associates
For Accused March	Mr A. Lewin	Emma Turnbull Lawyers
For Accused Hughes	Mr J. Mortley	Emma Turnbull Lawyers
For Accused Reynolds	Mr N. Goodfellow	Balmer & Associates

HIS HONOUR:

1It is necessary to commence with some introductory remarks that explain the methodology, for want of a better word, that I have employed in this sentencing process. The reason for these remarks is that notwithstanding that there are four accused to be sentenced today, they are not strictly co-accused. Each has pleaded guilty to charges on indictment that names that accused and no other.
2But in broad terms, each accused operated his own independent drug trafficking business. The link is that the accused man Mr Mobasheri supplied the drugs to each of the other accused here before me, and as well he supplied drugs to many others.
3The point here is that as all accused were at different levels trafficking in the drugs supplied by Mr Mobasheri, I intend to make some general remarks about drug trafficking offending that apply to all accused at the outset. That will relieve me from simply repeating the same words four or five times in dealing with each of the offenders and another man at a later time.
4I will ensure later that the written reasons for the sentences imposed for each accused includes these remarks.
5There are some other important matters that are relevant to each accused, such as the impact of delay, the value of the pleas of guilty, and the fact that each is a young man. Again, I will say something of these important sentencing considerations at the outset, and then only a little more when dealing with the circumstances of each accused, so thereby not repeating all that has been said and taken into account in respect of those common factors.
6Finally, notwithstanding that each accused faces a separate indictment, there remains a need to consider broadly the principal of parity between all accuseds here and also others that have already been dealt with.
7However, as has recently been said by the High Court, a bedrock principle in the sentencing process is individualised sentencing. I have endeavoured to apply that principle, and thus some repetition will occur.
8Another more dated and perhaps more simply expressed principle of sentencing deserves to be referred to at the outset, as it is the guiding approach that I have followed. It was said by four of the five-member Bench of the Court of Appeal in R v Storey (1998) 1 VR 359 at 366:
Imposing a just sentence requires a judge to consider what the offender did and why, as well as who the offender is.

9I add to that simple formula for myself that I also consider for each accused what the future holds, and in particular whether he is likely to commit similar or any offences, or is likely to reform.
10So what each accused did was traffic in various drugs of dependence in quantities that align or in combination exceeded the large commercial quantity or commercial quantity, or trafficable quantities as set out in the legislation. As mentioned briefly, Mr Mobasheri obtained large and regular supplies of various drugs and trafficked those to the others, including the accused here.
11Each of the other accused men here then on-sold the drugs. The quantities involved were such that while Mr Mobasheri is described as a wholesaler, so too does that description fit the other accused men. In other words, to use the definition of trafficking as being the movement of drugs from source to user, each of the accused men here was above the user in the chain, perhaps by a couple of steps.
12There is no precision in that description. In respect of the drug offences, it is the weight and the quantity that is the key factor in determining the gravity of the crime. The point to be appreciated is that Mr Mobasheri and the other accused he supplied were all entrepreneurial drug traffickers playing an important role in the spread of drugs in our community.
13So to continue on important general remarks, and to connect them to the purposes of sentencing, it is plain that in our community, drug use is prevalent. It is also plain that drugs have a corrosive impact on our community. The courts daily deal with tragedy and harm, where the cause can be sheeted home to drug use and addiction.
14The impact is not just observed in the criminal justice system. The health, and in particular the mental health systems, are stretched and overburdened as a consequence of the destructive impact of drug use. Drug users, their families and others who are victims of drug-fuelled or drug-motivated crimes are adversely impacted. In short, there are too many broken and damaged individuals, all because of the scourge of drugs.
15Thus, when the courts are called on to deal with the drug traffickers such as you men, the response must be firm. Foremost in imposing a just sentence is the need for the court to reassert proper values by denouncing this greedy and destructive entrepreneurial conduct. The denunciation must be articulated not just in words, but there must be a palpable, practical implementation of this denunciation in the form of periods of incarceration.
16In blunt terms, drug traffickers like each of you men, having brazenly broken the law, and potentially or indeed likely causing harm in our community, you must each now face the consequences, involving being deprived of your liberty during what would likely be some of the best years of your lives. That is the harsh reality of committing the serious crimes that each of you have pleaded guilty to.
17The other primary sentencing consideration in respect of your drug trafficking is that the sentences of the courts must make it crystal clear to others who may be seduced into seeking so-called financial windfalls of drug trafficking, that if they succumb, stern and certain punishment awaits them in the form of lengthy terms of imprisonment.
18There are other sentencing considerations and purposes that I will refer to when dealing with each accused. In particular, what is set out in s.5(1)(c) of the Sentencing Act, which requires me to consider establishing conditions that will facilitate rehabilitation. This is a matter of particular relevance, due to what one counsel stated in his plea as being a remarkable feature of all these cases, and that is the very young age of each of you as the offenders.
19There seems to me to be two aspects of what I describe as the very young age of each of you. Firstly, in simple chronological terms, each of you was less than or just beyond 21 at the time of offending. Secondly, the age of each of you is unusual relevant to other offenders who commit such serious examples of drug trafficking. Those offenders are mostly older, hardened and organised criminals. None of you could be described in that way.
20I will of course deal with, by and large, the absence of relevant prior criminal history of each of you individually. The point here is that while the very serious nature, the gravity of your crimes, would ordinarily have the effect that rehabilitation must substantially yield to denunciation and deterrence, here there is an acute tension, for reasons I will explain in my view to some degree, rehabilitation must remain as an important sentencing purpose in respect of each of you.
21That point is given greater emphasis, because when closely examined the offending in most instances was over a relatively brief period of time in the last month or so of December 2015, and the first ten weeks or so of 2016. In some cases, much shorter.
22Further, since that time there has been a delay of now two years and four months, and much can be seen in each of your cases to give confidence that establishing conditions to facilitate your rehabilitation will likely see each of you fully and perhaps permanently reformed.
23Also, each of you has pleaded guilty, thus relieving the community of the great cost of a long trial or trials. Other cases in this court, all likely involving highly anxious complainants, witnesses and accused, can now be heard and determined in this court in a more timely manner because of your pleas. In fixing on the sentences, I make clear that I have given each of you a significant benefit or reduction because of your plea of guilty.
24In each case, I consider the plea of guilty is solid evidence of contrition, remorse and acknowledgement of wrongdoing. I will outline in respect of each of you how you now see the stupidity of what you embarked upon, and how you are determined not to repeat such foolishness in the future. Each of you is acutely aware of the point behind the words of Mr Hughes, spoken to his counsel, that this was "three months of stupid partying, then gaol, then two years of waiting, and now returning to gaol. It wasn't worth it in any way, it was a waste".
25All these and many other personal matters operate to inform me of those other questions that I set out from Storey's case,[1] being who you are and what the future holds. In that regard though, the primary importance is the sheer gravity of what you did, that is, the enormous quantities of drugs trafficked. This must not completely overwhelm the synthesising task that I have undertaken.
[1]R v Storey (1998) 1 VR 359
26I am mindful of what the Court of Appeal, in particular Chernov J with the agreement of Winneke P and Phillips J said in 2003 in not allowing a Director's appeal against the leniency of a sentence, so it is alleged, the penalty being a community-based order and a fine, both without conviction, for two armed robberies committed by four young men, some with prior convictions.
27Chernov J said:
In all the circumstances of that case, the seriousness of the offences should not wholly dictate the punishment that is appropriate.[2]
[2] Ibid

28Here, the circumstances of the offences committed by each of you lead to the grave outcome of terms of imprisonment, but the point that I am now making is that the gravity of what each of you did in trafficking significant amounts of drugs, while important, does not wholly dictate the length of the imprisonment, and more importantly the period fixed as the minimum period before you are eligible for parole.
29It seems to me one important reason that the large quantities involved should not wholly dictate the length of the punishment emerges when consideration is given to the other matters spoken of in Storey's case, and that is why each of you did what you did.
30The usual answer to that in drug offence cases is why it is done is unadulterated greed. Here I am compelled by the material in the prosecution case and by evidence led on each of your pleas to give real weight to that important but sometimes under-emphasised aspect of dealing with young offenders. It was best put by the Court of Appeal, which was comprised by Phillips, Chernov and Vincent J in DPP v SJK & GAS [2002] VSCA 131 at paragraph 161, when their Honours said:
When youth is raised for sentencing consideration, the focus is usually placed upon the offenders' prospects of rehabilitation, but this is by no means the only basis upon which it assumes relevance. For at least a century the attribution of criminal responsibility and the response in terms of the dispositions handed down upon offenders has increasingly reflected developing ideas and understandings concerning personal responsibility, moral culpability and accountability. In the case of young people, to some extent the law incorporates an acknowledgement of aspects of immaturity. By reason of the stage of development that an offender may have reached, he or she may not fully appreciate the seriousness and the real consequences of the offending actions. However, it does not follow that this is always the situation, or that as teenagers offenders cannot be appropriately accountable for their conduct in engaging in serious criminal activity.

31In more recent times, sentencing judges in appellate courts have dealt with the issue of the immaturity of the young where crimes are serious, and are commonly committed by the young. Here I refer to offences of alcohol-fuelled violence or driving offences causing injury or death. This set of circumstances is different, but in dealing with a 17-year-old who had pleaded guilty to serious terrorist offences, the Court of Appeal in 2017 stated the following:
Ordinarily and in general the youth of an offender is an important mitigating circumstance. It is relevant to an assessment of the moral culpability of the offender as the law recognises that immaturity and impressionability of youth may be, and commonly is, an important contributing factor to the involvement of a young offender in the crime for which that offender is to be sentenced. In addition, the law regards the rehabilitation of offenders of substantial if not primary importance, not only in the interests of the offender but also in the interests of the community. On the other hand, it is recognised that those principles need to be appropriately moderated where, as in a case such as this, the offender has been involved in serious and dangerous offending.[3]
[3]DPP (Cth) v MHK (a Pseudonym) [2017] VSCA 157 at 56.

32The relevance of immaturity is that it may to some extent lower moral culpability, and thus the weight that needs or can be given to denunciation.
33I will endeavour to make clear any moderation in respect of each offender in dealing with a particular accused.
34The issue of the primacy of certain sentencing purposes over others, such as youth and rehabilitation, is further complicated in some instances by the operation of the Serious Offender provisions of the Sentencing Act. In respect to Mr Mobasheri, Mr Hughes and indeed Mr O'Kane, who I will sentence later, by reason of the plea of guilty to trafficking in not less than a large commercial quantity, I must regard protection of the community as the primary sentencing purpose. I will say more of that and the additional aspects of the Serious Offender Provisions later in dealing with the offenders to which the provisions apply.
35As to the operation of parity, I requested the prosecution make written submissions as to where each of you men sat, as it were, in terms of the seriousness of your offending. The grouping of you, Mr Mobasheri, at the top is of course obvious and unarguable. The other rankings, fitted with my own analysis as things went on, of you Mr Hughes and Mr O'Kane, who is not here, being together and above you Mr March and you Mr Reynolds.
36I have also considered the sentences and sentencing remarks that were available of Lacava J, who dealt with Mr Fulloway, Hogan J who dealt with a much older and much more criminally-involved Troy Donaldson, Davies J who dealt with Jason Scott, and Stuart J who dealt with Mr Whitelaw.

James Mobasheri
37I will now move from those general comments to deal with each accused, starting first with you, Mr Mobasheri. You have pleaded guilty to committing the following crimes: Charge 1, a rolled-up charge of trafficking ecstasy, methamphetamines (or as it is known, ice), in not less than a large commercial quantity.[4] The timeframes of that offending was 24 November 2015 to 16 March 2016. I calculate that at 112 days.
[4]Drugs Poisons and Controlled Substances Act 1981, s 71 (‘DPCS’).
38The maximum term fixed by our Parliament for this offence is life imprisonment, and that makes it clear just how serious our Parliament, and thereby our community, considers the crime that you committed.
39Charge 2 is a rolled-up charge of trafficking in GHB, the 1, 4-Butanediol and cannabis in not less than a commercial quantity, the timeframe being 11 December 2015 to 25 February 2016, being 76 days.[5] The maximum term for this offence is 25 years' imprisonment.
[5]Ibid s 71AA.
40In respect of Charge 3, it also is a rolled-up charge of trafficking in ketamine, cocaine and amphetamines, that is, at a trafficable quantity.[6] The period of time again was 11 December to 25 February 2016, 76 days. The maximum term for this crime is 15 years' imprisonment.
[6]Ibid s 71AC.
41There is one charge of negligently dealing with the proceeds of crime, the crime being of course the drug trafficking.[7] The sum involved was $3,480 cash found on your arrest on 23 March 2016. The maximum term for that offence is five years, so also one charge of being in possession of fireworks also found on your arrest.[8] The maximum term there is five years.
[7]Crimes Act 1958 s 194(4).
[8]Ibid s 3174).
42And one charge of resisting a police officer during your arrest, the maximum term again is five years.[9]
[9]Ibid s 31(1)(b).
43From November 2015, police investigators targeted you, intercepting and listening to your telephone calls on, as it turned out, five mobile phones that you used over the time. They covertly put tracking and listening devices in your car. Further, three covert police operatives purchased drugs from you.
44By use of those investigation tools and techniques, the police were able to discern that yours was a large-scale operation, and that there were many other drug associates to whom you were trafficking. In addition to the three other accused that are here, Mr Reynolds, Mr Hughes, and Mr March, nine others were arrested and have been dealt with by judges in the County Court or by a magistrate.
45In the course of the investigation, some drugs were secured from searches and seizures. Also obviously the police gained possession of the drugs sold to the covert operatives. Through that means, the weight of all ecstasy tablets could be estimated. The estimates were conservative. The weights and quantities of other drugs were deduced from the conversations. The quantities and weights of drugs trafficked were as follows:

46Ecstasy pills - 63,250 weighing 16.128 kilograms;
471, 4-Butanediol or GBH - 28.946 litres or kilograms;
48Cannabis - 28.946 kilograms;
49Methamphetamines (ice) - 1.342 kilograms;
50MDMA (ecstasy powder) - 804.5 grams;
51Ketamine - 416.5 grams;
52Cocaine - 72 grams, and;
53Speed - 1.75 grams.
54One other aspect of the calculations of weights and quantities was what was said by you, Mr Mobasheri, as to what was stolen in a burglary at your house on 12 February 2016. From various telephone calls where you complained to your suppliers or customers of what you lost, the prosecution added to the calculation the conservative figure for each drug mentioned. The amounts were not insignificant relative to the total amounts that I have just outlined. The figures were:
55Ecstasy pills - 26,000 or 6.5 kilograms, which is 40 per cent of the total of 16.128 kilograms;
56Methamphetamines - 500 grams, which is 37 per cent of the total of 1.342 kilograms;
57For MDMA powder - 500 grams or 62 per cent of the 804.5 grams;
58For cocaine it was 56 grams or 77 per cent of the total of 72 grams;
59For cannabis it was 4.5 kilograms, which was 15 per cent of the total of 29.37 grams.
60The point is that although those drugs are part of the calculation as being possessed for sale, the estimates must be seen as imprecise. Also, you did not actually move those drugs to or towards the user, though you intended to do so. Others may have. In the end, whichever way it is examined, the amounts are very substantial, but there is a significant level of estimation, which by your plea and your agreement, you do not quibble with.
61What is not estimated, but can and was precisely calculated, was your 13 sales to covert operatives from 24 November to 16 March. In those transactions, you sold ecstasy in a number of forms, but principally as pills. The total weight sold to the police covert operatives was 1.301 kilograms. The police paid a total of $50,500. The total methamphetamines and ice was 286 grams, for which you received $44,100. For GHB, you sold 6.196 litres or kilograms and received $7,200.
62These were sizable portions of the overall sales. They were revealing of the scale of your operation. Those drugs were of course stopped from being passed on to users in the community.
63So as to adhere to what has been said in the Court of Appeal about the need to assess the gravity, or the methodology of assessing the gravity of the offending, it is done by the quantums involved, and I had the prosecution calculate for me the multipliers of large commercial quantity and commercial quantities involved in your offending. The figures are as follows:
64Ecstasy pills - 16 times the large commercial quantity. It only has to be said for the seriousness to be revealed;
651,4-Butanediol, it was 14 times the commercial quantity, however as it is to be noted, there is no threshold for large commercial quantity for 1, 4-Butanediol;
66Cannabis - it was 1.175 times the commercial quantity;
67Methamphetamines - it was 1.3 times the large commercial quantity;
68MDMA powder - it was 1.6 times the commercial quantity;
69Ketamine - 138 times the trafficable quantity, and;
70Cocaine - 24 times the trafficable quantity.
71These quantities, even taking into account the imprecision of the conservative estimates, the amount said to be stolen from you and the amounts not distributed onwards by the covert police officers, this was a substantial operation that caused the distribution of vast quantities of damaging drugs into our community.
72Beyond this, it was a business that you were engaged in regularly, full-time. There were 13 transactions to the police over the period 24 November - 16 March, or 112 days. But to the co-accused, there were a further 75 transactions over a shorter period of 11 December to the last transaction that I can discern with Mr O'Kane on 2 March 2016. Also, there does appear to be a gap in and around the time of the burglary, as you were concerned about detection and probably had limited supply.
73Thus, a lot of your drug trafficking was in an intense period in December over the New Year period and January, before it tailed off in February. Another insight into the nature and gravity of your offending was what you said in conversations that were intercepted. The excerpts provided to me indicate that there was a businesslike commitment to the task. Also, you did use some encrypted services to hide your criminality, though many conversations were naively coded or barely coded. I will say more of this shortly.
74As an overview, you established and for a short period of time ran a very busy drug wholesale business, able to supply significant quantities of all manner of drugs as requested by a large number of customers.
75The way you operated was described by your counsel as unusual. You did not establish a hierarchy of other workers doing the pickups and the on-sales so as to keep someone like you, as the head of the business, at arms' length from the riskier aspects of this illicit trade.
76Rather, you picked up the drugs from even bigger wholesalers. You did so when orders were made direct to you, such as from the three other accused that are here, and Mr O'Kane, and the undercover police operative. You then delivered the drugs yourself using your own car, which was being covertly tracked.
77You mostly used unencrypted phones. The language of the orders and deliveries and amounts was not well-coded, if at all. Your counsel described your conduct as having all the hallmarks of a street-level dealer, just with very much larger quantities. You did do deliveries, some over long distances. You allowed many, if not most, transactions to be on credit, and you operated on credit to your suppliers yourself.
78It was said on your arrest you still owed significant amounts. On 22 February 2016 you said in a text message to a co-accused or to a purchaser that you were owed $171,000, and you owe between $65,000-$75,000.
79What you got out of all this criminality is hard to discern. There were not - these were not insignificant amounts that were spoken of, and I have outlined what you were paid by the covert police operatives. Some of the other accused say that they came to you as opposed to others in this trade because your prices were the lowest.
80For the broad range of prices set out by the prosecution and the total amounts of money involved here were up to and likely quite a bit beyond the $100,000, but this remains uncertain. You had $3,480 with you when you were arrested. You claimed that $40,000 in cash was stolen in the burglary. You funded your lifestyle - this was not just using profits to fund your own drug use.
81Apart from buying two jet skis, one for another person and one for yourself, there seems little to show for all your highly-risky criminal behaviour. So there can be no argument that this was serious drug trafficking of large amounts of many drugs. Its gravity is established by the volumes and the other matters that I have outlined, not necessarily by the fact of enriching yourself. However, it is a factor I have taken into account.
82As will be seen when I outline your personal circumstances, you are a man with real capacity, with intelligence that saw you secure an education to Year 12 level, then you commenced a trade. You have a supportive family. You have not displayed a profound lack of maturity in any other part of your life except this.
83Your use of drugs was foolish, but you then applied yourself to the selling of drugs at such a high level, it reveals that you could not have thought through the grave risks involved. Your decisions and actions were calculated and businesslike, however it seems your youthful immaturity and approach to life meant that you did not think what you were doing and what you were putting at risk. In that sense, while your moral culpability is high, it has to be seen in light of your immaturity. However, because of the way you conducted this operation, its scope and entrepreneurial focus, I cannot and do not allow much moderation of your moral culpability because of immaturity.
84I will not repeat what I have already said as to the corrosive nature of drug trafficking, you must now face the consequences. You accept that, Mr Mobasheri, notwithstanding the dreadful implications are that there will be years more in prison.
85As to your personal circumstances, you are now 25 and were 22 and turned 23 during the period of your offending. You were brought up in the Kilsyth area by a loving and supporting family. You enjoyed all the many benefits of stable family life. Your family, though shattered by your predicament, stand solidly behind you. I have been assisted in knowing who you are and what the future holds for you by reading the very considered letters written by your parents, grandparents and employer.
86As noted, you have a close family. You were troubled when your father fell seriously ill with leukaemia while you were still at primary school. His, and your mother's necessary absence for lengthy periods of treatment caused you anxiety as you grew up. Fortunately, he is in remission. You have thereafter felt concern for a brother who suffered a stroke at a young age - a very young age, and also has undergone serious spinal surgery.
87You yourself, as I said, successfully completed Year 12, though there were learning difficulties early on. You moved from school into a carpentry apprenticeship. You had already shown an almost remarkable work ethic as a teenager, working in the local pizza shop as well as helping at your father's work, especially during school holidays.
88Your solid work history was interrupted when you sustained a serious work-related injury in April of 2014. You were off work for four months. You had commenced to use cannabis and ecstasy, though in relative terms quite late as an 18 or 19-year-old. You went clubbing and used drugs in that context or scene.
89During the time you were off work in 2014, your drug use increased, however this was only a taste of what was to develop in 2015. You gained some work from August 2014, but it did not last. Attempts to return to your employer in 2015 became impossible due to disputes over WorkCover payments. You were idle, and in 2015 your use of drugs increased. You moved out of the family home, you became more connected to others using drugs, and realised if you bought more than you needed for your own use and sold it to others, you could fund your habit.
90You then significantly increased your involvement in buying and selling drugs, as it became your primary if not sole source of income.
91I have outlined the nature and scope of your trafficking. In respect of your personal circumstances, you remain in contact with your family, but in all other respects, you did not adhere to their example of law-abiding conduct through this period in 2015-2016. What perhaps you did was apply yourself with your already-developed considerable work ethic to this task of trafficking in drugs.
92As noted, rather than establish a hierarchy or network, you did all the tasks of supplying your customers, taking orders directly, keeping tabs on monies owed to you and by you, and you did the deliveries, you did all the work.
93You had, in March of 2016, only just returned to living with your family when you were arrested. The fact and especially the extent of your drug trafficking shocked your family. You had been in some trouble with the law at an earlier point. In early 2002, you were put on a community corrections order by a County Court judge for the serious crime of aggravated burglary and intentionally cause injury. Later in 2014, you were sentenced again to a community corrections order for possession of drugs and weapons. That community corrections order had just ended when this offending commenced.
94Those previous court appearances should have acted as a warning to you to stay away from crime and drugs. It was not heeded. I do not overemphasise these prior matters, but they cannot be overlooked entirely.
95You have been on remand since your arrest and now have a total of 845 days in prison. You have applied yourself in custody as much as you could to get help for your problems with drugs and improve yourself. Your considerable efforts are to your credit. I discern from your family letters that you have learnt a hard lesson and are determined to make good on your release. With your family's support, I am of the view that you will be able to make a contribution as a hardworking, law-abiding man upon release.
96Of course, time will tell, as you will necessarily have to spend a lengthy period in custody, mixing with others who may not be as dedicated to putting crime behind them on release as I consider you are. To put it simply to you, Mr Mobasheri, do not let your family down again once you are released. Use your undoubted capacity in decent pursuits.
97I accept that you are remorseful, evidenced by your plea of guilty, your efforts in prison, and what has been seen by those who know you best, your family, on visits and in communications.
98In your case, I accept you intended to plead guilty to the grave crime of trafficking in a large commercial quantity, effectively from the outset. What I have said as to the value of the pleas of guilty in this case very much applies to you. You have been at the heart of any trial or trials. The resolution of your matter was paramount to the reducing of potential for very long trials.
99Although it is inevitable, it is always a grave step to send a young man with much going for him to gaol for what will be his prime years. Your prospects for reform, your young age, again raise the tension with the gravity of your crime when it comes to my consideration of fixing a period for which you could be placed on parole.
100A decision as to whether you were granted parole is of course for others, not me. There are no formulas, but the authorities are clear that the sentencing discretion can be exercised to promote hope. Hope in you, and thereby facilitate your rehabilitation, which is in your interests, and also in the interests of the community. I must impose a minimum term of what I consider is the minimum period of incarceration that the law requires, given all aspects of your offending committed by you as the offender. That is, individualised sentencing.
101I have also considered in an appropriate way the penalties imposed by other judges on Mr Whitelaw, who was engaged in a sale to an undercover operative with you, Mr Donaldson, Mr Scott and Mr Fulloway. But recognising that you are, by a considerable margin, the most serious offender. I have applied the provisions of the serious offender aspects of the Sentencing Act, though it is plain that no disproportionate sentence is called for or required.
102As your offending as a drug trafficker is divided into three charges by reason of the legislation establishing offences involving large commercial quantity, commercial quantity and trafficable quantity, I do not consider that there is a need to cumulate in any significant extent, and thus I have approached that aspect of the serious offender mindful that the charges really are about a single, ongoing trafficking business that you ran.
103I have not overlooked the other offences that you have pleaded guilty to, but as is obvious, they are not the main concern. As mentioned, you had $3,480 being the proceeds of crime. This offence is completely connected to your drug trafficking. You had illegal fireworks, but more concerning was that on your arrest, you tried to push past the arresting officers and one sustained a broken bone in her hand. This must be denounced and met with appropriate punishment, though I must always apply the principle of totality.
104I have decided, given that there remains some connection between each of you that I will defer the announcing of the sentence until I have spoken of the other accused, and announce all the sentences at the one time.
Brodie Hughes
105Moving next to you, Brodie Hughes. You had just turned 22 when you embarked on this serious offending. The telephone intercepts reveal that you were engaged in 12 transactions with Mr Mobasheri, the drugs and quantities that you sought from him were as follows:
106Ecstasy - 8,097 pills weighing 2.104 kilograms;
107Methamphetamines (Ice) - 66.5 grams;
108Cannabis - 3.1 kilograms;
1091, 4-Butanediol (GHB) - 1.4 litres or kilograms, and;
110Ketamine - 10.5 grams.
111The period of time of the transactions was 11 December 2015 to 7 February 2016, so just under two months, though the charge period was 11 December until 23 March 2016, and three months.
112I was told you became, to use your own words, "spooked" after Mr Mobasheri's premises was burgled on 12 February 2016, and there were no more orders or purchases or transactions after then. You were arrested on 23 March 2016. In the search of your premises, the police found some ecstasy and ice in your house, and buried in the backyard was more ecstasy and cannabis and liquid GHB.
113You had seven cannabis plants under cultivation in your backyard,[10] you had $2,100 in cash being the proceeds of crime.[11] There was also a Taser, knuckledusters and some fireworks,[12] and an odd firearm which operated by a gas cylinder.[13] There were also steroids and prescription drugs.[14]
[10]DPCS (n4) s 72B.
[11]Crimes Act (n7), s 194(4).
[12]Ibid s 317(4).
[13]Firearms Act 1996 s 7B(1).
[14]DPCS (n4) s 73.
114The offences to which you have pleaded guilty to were trafficking in a drug of dependence, being the ecstasy, ketamine and cannabis in not less than commercial quantities.[15] As stated, the maximum term is life.
[15]Ibid, ss 71, 71AA.
115Trafficking in a drug of dependence, being the 1, 4-Butanediol in not less than a commercial quantity, the maximum term being 25 years' imprisonment.
116Cultivation of the seven cannabis plants, the maximum term is 15 years. Possession of the drug of dependence, being steroids and the prescription drugs - I have operated on the basis because there does not seem much information of the maximum term being one year, as it seems in all the circumstances these were for personal use.
117As for the possession of firearms and the negligently dealing with the proceeds of crime, the maximum term is five years. Possession of the Taser and the knuckledusters, two years, and the possession of the firearm, the gas cylinder gun, the maximum term is six years.
118You, Mr Hughes, were a significant wholesale drug trafficker. This is evidenced by the quantities you sought from Mr Mobasheri, and the frequency that you did so in the period December, January and early February of 2016. You sought out a wide range of drugs from Mr Mobasheri. The telephone intercepts reveal that Mr Mobasheri spoke of significant sums of money being owed by you to him. You told Mr Mobasheri when he asked you what you were doing with the large amounts of drugs you were getting almost daily in and around late-December and early January that "the quality of the ecstasy pills was good and everybody wanted them".
119You were particular in your management of your drug business, ordering on one occasion 2,500 ecstasy pills, then advising Mr Mobasheri the day after that he must have given you the wrong bag, as there were only 1,997 pills. Mr Mobasheri made up the difference the next day.

120As I have outlined, drug trafficking at this level is plainly grave offending. In respect of the ecstasy, it was twice the threshold for large commercial quantity. In respect of 1, 4-Butanediol or GBH, your trafficking involved twice the commercial quantity.
121The sums of money were significant, though it seems not at the extreme levels as might normally be expected for trafficking in large commercial quantities. The drug trafficking charges are punishable by maximum terms at the highest possible level, or one level below.
122However, it seems to me you did not or could not have thought through the dire consequences of your offending. As I have mentioned, your immaturity as a young offender must be considered. I have already raised the principles governing sentencing of young offenders. I have reconsidered those principles articulated in the key cases of Mills and Azzopardi, SJK and MHK, which I have quoted from, in respect of your individual circumstances.
123What I will outline shortly is that when your personal circumstances and attributes, especially what you have done since being released on bail - these establish that your prospects for rehabilitation are good.
124Accordingly, despite the gravity of the crimes, there is still an important place for recognising your youth and immaturity, and your rehabilitation. These matters are important generally, but especially in fixing the minimum term that you will be required to serve.
125As to your personal circumstances, you are now 24. You were just 22 during the three months of your offending. You were raised in a large family in the Dandenong Ranges. Your life at home was supportive, but at school you had difficulties. Your learned difficulties resulted in you being seen, or you felt that you were seen, as different. You were excluded and bullied. Changing schools did not help.
126In your early years at secondary school you started wagging school and hanging out with other young adolescents who then introduced you to smoking cannabis and alcohol. You felt connected to these teenagers, and quickly took to the more damaging drugs of methamphetamines and later, GHB.
127You were quickly hopelessly addicted to methamphetamines or ice. It led to episodes of psychosis and consequential hospitalisation. Your relationships with your family were also badly affected by your drug use. You were told to leave the family home because you were presenting as a danger, especially to your mother. You ultimately moved in with your grandparents, but unfortunately an uncle was living at the house at the time. He was a heavy drug user and had significant mental illnesses. In this environment, with a regular supply of drugs from him, you escalated your drug use.
128Your parents have not given up on you, and while still only 18, you were moved into a unit purchased by your parents. You lived there with a young woman, and both of you engaged in little more than heavy drug use.
129When your mother and her partner - who you treated as your father, and who acted as your father throughout your life – separated, he came to live with you in the unit.
130You did not deal well with the breakup of your parents. You and your girlfriend broke up. Despite this, heavy drug use and relationship turmoil, you had persevered with vocational education. You had taken up a carpentry apprenticeship. You struggled with the schooling aspect of it, and with remaining reliable to your employers due to your continued drug use. It was in this context of heavy drug use that you came across Mr Mobasheri. You were quickly engaged in buying in bulk to fund your own drug use, and acting in a scene of wasteful days and nights of drug-fuelled partying.
131Any profits that you might have made from the sale of drugs were quickly wasted. After your arrest and remand, and thus enforced withdrawal from drugs, it seems the fog lifted and you gained insight into your poor decision and the dreadful consequences.
132What has occurred since your release on bail in May of 2016 is important in establishing that you can reform and put this offending, and perhaps drug use, behind you. You were bailed on a CISP program. You complied well with the onerous requirements. This was no small matter, as you had also resumed your carpentry apprenticeship, which you have now successfully completed.
133You secured a full-time job as a carpenter with Pro Con. The letter written by the owner of the business, Mr Chris Murphy, describes well how committed you are to reform. He wrote:
Two years ago I was looking for another person to join our small team of carpenters, which is when I met Brodie. He was young, enthusiastic and keen to learn. Since that date, he has not missed a beat. He is hardworking, punctual, reliable and honest. As a small business we are forced to work closely with one another, and I feel I have a great sense of what Brodie is all about. After Brodie's initial trial, he made me aware of his past and indiscretions with the law. I am against drugs, drug dealing and any form of drug-related offences, especially as I am a father of four young children entering into a world where it seems to be everywhere. However, Brodie shows nothing but regret, remorsefulness and dedication to turning his life around since he started working for me. I was very wary at the start of his employment after he told me, but he has proven his regret and remorse of what he has done through the past two years, which tells me he is for real.

134You have repaired things with your mother. You live with her and help her out financially. You have good supports, including from your stepfather, technically, or your father, and his extended family. Beyond that, you have yourself taken to helping out another young man who is struggling badly with drug use. The mother of that young man has seen your commitment to remaining drug-free and helping others. She speaks of your deep remorse and how you have applied yourself to helping the sort of people your drug-trafficking hurt.
135You have formed a new, important relationship. Your partner has seen your remorse and practical efforts to get your life back on track with a solid working life and considerable efforts to contribute to your family. Thus, the evidence from those who know you best, and reports from the bail and drug treatment practitioners, as well as from Ms Lechner the psychologist, convince me of your determination to rehabilitate. You accepted that there is no other sentencing option but further gaol, but with that heavy burden you have done much to show your better qualities. I am persuaded that your prospects for the future are good.
136It is for you to remain committed during what will be a hard and wasted time in custody. There are the other offences that arise from what the police found at your premises. Principles of totality will come into play as those offences are far less serious than the drug-trafficking offences. You will be sentenced as a serious drug offender by reason of you pleading guilty to the crime of trafficking a large commercial quantity, but there is no call for a disproportionate sentence, and I refer to what I said in respect of Mr Mobasheri as to whether there is any need for much cumulation in respect of the drug offences.
137I repeat that your plea of guilty means that your sentence will be much less than it otherwise would have been. What I have said in respect of Mr Mobasheri in relation to the fixing of a minimum term - that is, fixing a minimum term that endeavours to facilitate your rehabilitation, applies in your case as well, perhaps in more force, given this is the first time that you have been in any trouble.
138I consider in your case, as I hope I have made plain, that immaturity in committing these offence does to a degree moderate the need for denunciation by lowering to a small degree your moral culpability.
139As I said, I will defer announcing the sentence to a later point.
Joshua March
140I move now to you, Mr Joshua March. You have pleaded guilty to one rolled-up charge of trafficking in a commercial quantity of a drug of dependence.[16] The drugs involved in that charge were ecstasy pills, and 1, 4-Butanediol in liquid form. You have also pleaded guilty to a rolled-up charge of trafficking in a drug of dependence in more than the trafficable quantity, namely methylamphetamine or ice and ketamine.[17]
[16]DPCS (n4) s 71AA.
[17]Ibid s 71AC.
141In your case, precise quantities agreed to are:
142Ecstasy pills - 2,549 pills and the weight attributed to that number of pills was 637.25 grams. This is 137 grams over the commercial quantity;
143As to the 1, 4-Butanediol or GHB, it is 11.75 kilograms or litres. This is nearly six times the commercial quantity;
144In respect to methamphetamines, 170.5 grams, which is a significant amount but well-under the threshold at the next level of commercial quantity;
145As to the ketamine, that was 7.5 grams. What was involved with this last mentioned drug ketamine was that you simply transported it to another offender, Ashley Crawford, thus the charge of trafficking simplicitor is really all about methylamphetamines alone.
146You have also pleaded guilty to a charge of dealing in the proceeds of crime, which related to $5,000 found during the search of your premises.[18] You, like all others detected and dealt with in this police operation, engaged in transactions with Mr Mobasheri seeking supplies of drugs from him for sale to your customers.
[18]Crimes Act (n7) s 194(4).
147The telephone intercepts reveal that there were 13 transactions, commencing on 11 December 2015 with the last on 25 February 2016. It is notable that the second last transaction was on 30 January 2016, thus your criminal conduct was quite intense during December and up to mid-January 2016, but it fell away thereafter.
148Again, it seems that this is likely due to the impact of the burglary on Mr Mobasheri on 12 February 2016. While the quantities of the drugs and the businesslike approach to the trafficking are central aspects of the assessment of the gravity of your offending, the relatively short period of your offending must be taken into account.
149There are other matters that come into play as a consequence of the relatively short period of your offending that relate to your prospects of reform. In short, it seems to me you became quickly and deeply but briefly involved in buying and selling and using drugs, but you have not become embedded in antisocial criminal lifestyle. In other words, you may be able to put this period of gross stupidity behind you.
150As I said, the central aspects of assessing the gravity of your offending is the quantities of drugs that you trafficked and the businesslike focus of your criminality. Here, the quantities speak for themselves. This is serious offending. The amounts here are not as large as others that are before me, but by the same token they are much more than the majority of offenders who are dealt with in the Magistrates' Court. Your counsel conceded yours was serious criminality. What he urged was that I see what you did in light of your tumultuous personal circumstances at the time of your offending involving addiction and heavy use of ice.
151Thus, I turn to your personal circumstances. You are now 23 years old, and had just turned 21 at the time of your offending. I have read carefully the psychological report written by Mr Mackinnon.[19] I have also read the counselling report of Mr Pa’apa’a.[20] He has been involved in counselling you for serious childhood trauma for near on ten years, that is, well before you fell into significant drug addiction.
[19] Dated 31 March 2018.
[20] Dated 15 September 2016.
152I will refer more to the consequences of your childhood trauma - more to those consequences than the dreadful causes, though the many letters tendered on your plea make it clear to me that you have explained your circumstances of your painful childhood to those that now support you.
153In brief terms, sexual assault has long and deep consequences. You were raised in the Carrum Downs area by your mother. Your father left her when she was pregnant with you. Your mother re-partnered, but that man was violent to your mother, your siblings and you.
154That was not the worst of it. You suffered significantly at the hands of an elder sibling. Your mother was an important stabilising person in your life. Tragically, she took her own life in 2012 when you were still a teenager. I have no doubt that the diagnosis of Mr Mackinnon is accurate. He says that the significant traumatic events that you suffered as a child constitute a basis for your current presentation of post-traumatic stress disorder, the symptoms which include anxiety, depression, flashbacks, rumination, nightmares, and importantly the resort to substance abuse.
155You told Mr Mackinnon of your drug use, that is, smoking 1.5 grams of ice daily from the age of 14 or so onwards. I am in no doubt that yours is a genuine example of using drugs to self-medicate to deal with your significant psychological trauma and damage.
156In his report, Mr Mackinnon was firmly of the opinion that your drug abuse and addiction can be linked to your self-medication for your post-traumatic stress disorder.
157Although your counsel contended that the principles set out in the well-known case of Verdins and others, he said they did not arise for consideration. Nonetheless, Mr Mackinnon the psychologist wrote as follows:
Mr March's post-traumatic stress disorder probably made a significant contribution to his offending by degrading his ability to reason and make sound judgment, eroding his sense of morality and personal responsibility, making him more impulsive, easily frustrated and generally engendering a self-absorbed perspective that tended to disregard the need for others.[21]
[21] Report of Dr Ian Mackinnon dated 31 March 2018.

158As discussed during your plea, the post-traumatic stress disorder and your consequent heavy use of ice are the significant background for you becoming involved in this offending. In my view, your psychological state and the immaturity of your youth are powerful explanations as to why you became involved in this trafficking, and to the extent that you did.
159What has to be appreciated is that despite your difficulties and your early fall into drug abuse, you were able to maintain a solid work history as a cabinet-maker.
160Also of note is that you have very limited criminal history, being driving offences punished without conviction in the Magistrates' Court. Those matters are of no relevance in respect of the serious matters that are before me.
161On your arrest on 23 March, you were remanded until granted bail on 4 July 2016. You were engaged in a CISP bail program. You committed to it and successfully met all the obligations. More importantly, you established a strong counselling relationship with a drug counsellor, Mr Francke. He wrote in his report:
Since July 2016, Mr March has regularly attended counselling sessions and explored many of the facets of his life. After his CISP order was completed in early 2017, Mr March continued his sessions with regularity and continues to attend counselling on a voluntary basis. During this time I witnessed his deep remorse for his past actions, and on numerous occasions he verbalised his regret over many decisions that he has made that has led him to this place. I have found Mr March not to shirk from his responsibilities. Rather, he displays a willingness to face the consequences.[22]
[22] Dated 19 March 2018.

162Mr Francke went on to say that he has worked with people for the past ten years, many who are on mandated drug orders. He indicated that you have achieved, by your complete abstinence from illicit drugs, a significant amount of progress. He says that this has occurred, and commendably so, because you have faced many opportunities to relapse during the time, but you have not.
163He said that you found great support from your community church, where you have now found meaning and purpose. I will say more about this shortly. You have gone on to voluntarily contribute to the community in many positive ways through your church, both here and interstate. You have spoken to Mr Francke on many occasions about your desire to impact young people by being a positive role model.
164I heard evidence and read letters from members of the church you have joined. It is plain that you get a great deal from your faith-based drug rehabilitation. You have yourself commenced to contribute to assisting others, both in Melbourne and in the Northern Territory. I will not quote at length the many pieces of evidence, both oral and written, provided by members of your church. They have seen your genuine commitment to turn your life around and make a contribution to others who are in difficulty.
165As an example, a member of your church Ms Berani wrote as follows: "I have been privy to some of Josh's story and his past history."
166I just pause to say that Ms Berani has very significant experience as a nurse and dealing with many who need counselling, palliative care and the like. She deals with many people who have addictions and mental illness. She says, and I accept, she has a good sense of judgment with reference to a person's character, and I take from that. She can tell whether people are genuine or not in this regard. She says:
I believe Josh's drug addiction and consequential criminal activity is directly related to the emotional pain from the past. It is very clear that he does not make - that this does not make crime right, and there are legal consequences to his choices. He has displayed significant remorse and understanding with regard to his criminal activity. Josh has shown commitment to and diligence with the conditions of his bail. I find Josh to be a wonderful young man who is intelligent, responsible and highly motivated. He is a kind, considerate, polite, respectful and caring young man, and I believe he has a bright future. My husband and I, along with our family, have adopted Joshua into our family. I am very careful with whom I let into my home and have around my children, but I feel at ease with Joshua. We have him over regularly, and he is welcome any time. We will provide long-term family support for him.[23]
[23] Dated 27 March 2018

167There are many other examples in like terms. The senior minister of the church, Mr Clancy - or Reverend Clancy gave evidence, and he wrote in a letter that was dated 8 October 2017 that he has been involved in drug and substance counselling for 30 years, mainly with teens challenges in Indigenous communities, and you have been under his care for about 12 months. That is continuing.
168He said that he was aware of the seriousness of the crimes and the offences of spreading drugs, and the harmful effects they have caused on individuals and families. He says that you have shown sincere repentance, shame and deep regret for your past behaviours. He explains all your efforts in both Melbourne and Alice Springs, in helping the church with their rehabilitation programs.
169You have continued to show a solid work ethic. You have gained work in the construction industry. Your employer's letter was glowing. He wrote - this is Mr Will Gallicio from Precision Pits. He said that you had been employed since June 2017, your dedication and effort is appreciated immensely, and you put in long hours. He says that it has taken the business over four years to find such a hardworking, loyal employee who can be trusted to hold Precision Pits' high reputational quality and efficiency.

170He says that you have developed a good relationship and reputation with senior management in the industry, and there is constant positive feedback. He says that his organisation Precision Pits will continue to support you into the future, and in completing any sentence imposed by the courts.
171In terms of your rehabilitation, I am confident that you will continue with the path you have embarked on, contributing to your church and its work with troubled youth. You will be a valuable model and mentor. I am sure you have put drug use and that lifestyle behind you.
172Your counsel urged that I not return to you to gaol, but rather impose a community corrections order. The prosecution oppose that course. It is clear that a community corrections order can be imposed for serious crimes, and that an onerous community corrections order can simultaneously punish and rehabilitate. I have considered whether the community corrections order would meet all sentencing purposes. In this regard, of course I have taken into account the very serious nature of your offences.
173I have taken into account your very fractured, difficult upbringing and the consequences of that which led to drug use and onwards to this crime. I have taken into account the very significant steps you have taken on bail, and the high level of maturity you now display.
174I have also taken into account your physical or health problem. That is, you have been since your early childhood, a type 1 diabetic, insulin-dependent. That is no small matter. Prison will be hard if imposed because of your health problems, but also the psychological ones.
175Those matters have weighed heavily on me. But I am left with the hard conclusion that the sentencing purposes of denunciation, deterrence to others and punishment cannot be appropriately met by a community corrections order, even taking into account your time on remand.
176In my view, a term of imprisonment, as harsh as that is, is necessary in this case. The very considerable matters in mitigation that I have spoken of can justify a lower non-parole period than might otherwise be the case.
177Again, your plea of guilty and the time that has passed since your arrest are factored into the mix, resulting in a lower sentence than would otherwise have been the case. I will move to the precise sentencing when I have dealt with Mr Reynolds.

Jayden Reynolds
178Jayden Reynolds, you have pleaded guilty to the following four charges: trafficking in 1, 4-Butanediol in not less than a commercial quantity.[24] The maximum term for that offence is 25 years' imprisonment. Secondly, a rolled-up charge of trafficking methamphetamines, cannabis and ecstasy in not less than the trafficable quantity, the maximum term for that is 15 years' imprisonment.[25]
[24]DPCS (n4) s 71AA.
[25]Ibid s 71AC.
179You have also pleaded guilty to negligently dealing with the proceeds of crime, being $3,730.[26] The maximum term for that is five years. You have also pleaded guilty to being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm.[27] The maximum term for that offence is ten years' imprisonment.
[26]Crimes Act (n7) s 194(4).
[27]Firearms Act (n13) s 5(1).
180You were involved in eight transactions with Mr Mobasheri. The first was on 21 January 2016, and the last on 25 February, a period of just over four weeks. The charge itself has an end date of 23 March 2016, when you were arrested.
181The amount of 1,4-Butanediol was 4 litres, purchased on three different days, 22 January, 31 January and 2 February, and is twice the threshold for commercial quantity. The amounts of other drugs in the rolled-up charges were: 500 ecstasy tablets, 49 grams of methamphetamines and 453 grams of cannabis.
182As can be seen, the quantity involved were less than others, but remained significant enough. Your conversations as recorded in the telephone intercepts make it clear you had a regular business of on-selling the drugs and seeking out where the largest suppliers were possible. Sometimes you reduced your orders.
183While you were not as involved as others, and only came into the investigation in mid to late-January, you nonetheless engaged in serious criminality. As I have outlined when dealing with your personal circumstances, the argument that you were an immature and naïve drug user who fell into drug offending without thinking of the consequences is not as clearly made out as might be the case with some others.
184What comes into consideration is that it is notable that you have a significant criminal history, involving as is the case here, crimes of possession of handguns and other weapons, and armed robbery and recklessly causing injury and possession of drugs. The penalties imposed by a County Court judge with very considerable experience in dealing with young offenders was a lengthy community corrections order for the armed robbery and the recklessly cause injury. You breached that order and were given another chance to continue the order. Although the order is now complete, it seems while on the order you relapse into drug use and commenced trafficking to pay for your own use.
185I have noted your shorter period of offending. This is not overlooked. Your counsel made it clear that you ceased contact and transactions with Mr Mobasheri because you woke up to yourself, that this just could not go on. That is an important insight in respect of your chances for the future.
186As to your personal circumstances, you are now 23. You were 20, and turned 21, during the period of your offending. Your parents separated when you were quite young. Thereafter your upbringing was unstable. Both your parents had re-partnered. You did not enjoy a good relationship with your stepfather. You worked for your father in the period leading up to your offending.
187In your adolescence, you took up drinking to excess and regularly using ice. You were introduced to ice when you first commenced work as a roof tiler and plumber at the age of 16. Sadly, you are not the only one who has come before me or the courts who, in taking up a trade, is introduced to the drug ice by those in that trade, who are older. It is a matter of real concern in our community.
188Your schooling was not really productive or a particularly happy time for you. The use of ice saw you suffer episodes of drug-induced psychosis, requiring hospitalisation. You became involved in antisocial behaviour, which as I have mentioned saw you before the County Court in April 2014 pleading guilty to armed robbery, recklessly cause injury and possession of weapons and drugs.
189As noted, the long and onerous community corrections order was imposed. At a hearing for the breach of that order, the judge varied the order to include judicial monitoring. It is of note that subsequent to your release on bail for these matters, you have been able to complete the very large number of hours of unpaid community work.
190While it remains a concern that you were on a community corrections order when you committed these offences, it seems once you were released from prison that you have woken up to yourself.
191As I said, you were remanded in custody after arrest. You were first granted bail on 30 November 2016. Your bail was at the residential drug rehabilitation facility, Odyssey House. You remained there, but you had some difficulties with the strict regime. You left Odyssey House, and your bail was revoked on 30 June 2017.
192You remained in custody until 19 December 2017. In that time, you were then released on bail to reside and participate in the residential drug facility at Windana. You have remained there to date.
193So while you have had two lengthy stints on bail, the whole time that you have been on bail has been in onerous residential programs, where your movements are strictly limited and monitored, along with who you associate with. There are significant limitations in that respect.
194In accordance with what was said by the Court of Appeal recently about this situation in Akoka v The Queen.[28] I have taken into account this restrictive period of time in calculating my sentence. I heard evidence from Ms Phelp from Windana. She is a very experience practitioner in dealing with drug addiction. She explained the very strict, comprehensive and intensive stage program at Windana. She spoke of your very considerable efforts. You have done a lot to rehabilitate and tackle your long-term program with drugs.
[28]Akoka v The Queen [2017] VSCA 214.
195You are gaining insight into many aspects of your personality, moods and psychological issues, and you are learning how to cope without resorting to anger or falling into states of anxiety. These are all aspects of your relapse prevention strategies, which you have to your credit absorbed.
196I consider your prospects for rehabilitation to be good, notwithstanding your previous crimes and breaches of community corrections orders. It seems you have matured as a consequence of your time in prison, and in particular your time at Windana. Whether you persevere after a period of imprisonment, which sadly has to occur, of course is entirely up to you Mr Reynolds.
197Your possession of the loaded and altered rifle is most concerning of all the other offences other than drug offences that I have had to deal with in this group. It must be, that is, being a prohibited person in possession of that gun, must be met with the appropriate punishment and some cumulation. There is a need for both specific and general deterrence in respect of these firearm offences, as well as, as I have stated in the general comments, general deterrence looms large in the drug offences. But in your case, specific deterrence also has a role.
198I have taken into account the psychological reports of Mr Healy and the older report of Mr Joblin, as well as the reports from Odyssey House and the certificates indicating that you did courses and programs while on remand. They are to your credit.
199As stated with all others, your plea of guilty is a matter of real value, and your sentence is much less than it otherwise would be. I see the plea of guilty and your efforts to rehabilitation as indicative of acknowledging the wrongfulness of what you did, and a determination to change your ways.

Sentence
200I now turn to the sentences to be imposed. This as well will take some time. I am very grateful to the accused men and to their families for the dignity that has been shown, but that must be continued while I go through the difficult process of the time that each must spend in prison.
James Mobasheri
201Mr Mobasheri, you can remain seated. In respect of Charge 1, trafficking a large commercial quantity, you are sentenced to nine years' imprisonment; in respect of Charge 2, trafficking a commercial quantity, you are sentenced to five years' imprisonment; in respect of Charge 3, trafficking in a drug of dependence, you are sentenced to three years' imprisonment; in respect of Charge 4, resisting the police or the emergency officer, you are sentenced to nine months' imprisonment; in respect of Charge 5, the proceeds of crime charge, you are sentenced to three months' imprisonment; in respect to the possession of the fireworks, it is proven and discharged.
202I order that two years of Charge 2 and one year of Charge 3 be cumulative upon Charge 1, that is the nine years. That gives a total effective sentence of 12 years. As I have said, I intend to impose a minimum term that recognises many of the matters that relate to each of these men. In that regard, I fix a minimum non-parole period for you, Mr Mobasheri, of seven years and six months. You have already served 845 days on remand. That figure having been reckoned, I declare it is part of the sentence that I have just imposed. I will ensure that that declaration is entered into the records of the court so the prison authorities are left in no doubt. You have already served 845 days of the sentence I have just imposed.
203In respect to Charge 1, you are declared as a serious drug offender. Had you pleaded not guilty to these offences and been found guilty of them, I would have imposed a term of imprisonment of 16 years with a minimum term of 12.
204There are other orders that follow from your plea of guilty and the resolution of this matter. I intend to deal with each of those other orders relating to forfeiture and the taking of forensic samples in respect of each of the accused administratively in chambers, and I will sign the documents and they will be forwarded to the parties.
205But in respect of any forensic sample, it needs to be understood by the accused that I will order that forensic samples be taken, that is, scrapings from the mouth so that DNA can be extracted. I make that order on the application of the Crown because of the seriousness of the offending, and because it is in the interests of justice that the orders be made.
206What you need to understand is when the authorities come to take the sample that if you do not cooperate, they are authorised to use reasonable force to obtain the sample. The best way forward is to cooperate.
Brodie Hughes
207I will move to you, Mr Hughes. In respect of Charge 1, the trafficking in a large commercial quantity, you are sentenced to five years' imprisonment; in respect of Charge 2, trafficking in a commercial quantity, you are sentenced to two years' imprisonment; in respect of Charge 3, the cultivation of the plants, you are sentenced to two months' imprisonment; in respect of Charge 4, the possession of drugs of dependence, the steroids and others, you are sentenced to 14 days' imprisonment.
208In respect of Charge 5, the possession of the fireworks, that is proven and discharged; in respect of the firearm or handgun, you are sentenced to nine months' imprisonment; in respect of Charge 7 the proceeds of crime, you are sentenced to one month imprisonment; in respect of the summary charges that I have to deal with - that is, the possession of the Taser and the knuckleduster, you are sentenced to seven days' imprisonment.
209I order that one year of Charge 2 be cumulative, and three months of Charge 6 be cumulative upon each other, and upon Charge 5. That gives a total effective sentence of six years and three months. I order that you serve three years before being eligible for parole.
210Had you pleaded not guilty to these offences and been found guilty of it, I would have imposed a sentence of ten years with a minimum term of seven. You have been held on remand for 64 days before being granted bail. With that figure having been reckoned, I declare that that term of 64 days is part of the sentence that I have just imposed. I will ensure that that declaration is entered into the records of the court so the prison authorities are left in no doubt you have already served 64 days.
211In respect of Charge 1, I declare that you are a serious drug offender. There are other orders which will be dealt with in the way that I have described.

Joshua March
212Mr March, in respect of Charge 1, trafficking in a commercial quantity, you are sentenced to three years' imprisonment; in respect of Charge 2, the trafficking, you are sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment. In respect of Charge 3, the proceeds of crime matter, you are sentenced to two months' imprisonment.
213I order that three months of the sentence on Charge 2 be cumulative upon Charge 1. That gives a total effective term of three years and three months, and I order that you serve 14 months before being eligible for parole.
214You have already served 97 days on remand. This figure having been reckoned, I declare that it is part of the sentence that I have just imposed. I will ensure that that declaration is entered into the records of the court, so the prison authorities are left in no doubt. Had you pleaded not guilty to these offences and been found guilty of them, I would have imposed a sentence of five years and six months with a minimum period of three years and six months.

Jayden Reynolds
215Mr Reynolds, in respect of Charge 1, trafficking in a commercial quantity, you are sentenced to two years and nine months; in respect of Charge 2, trafficking in a drug of dependence, you are sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment; in respect of the proceeds of crime, you are sentenced to one month imprisonment; in respect of being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm, you are sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment.
216I order that six months of Charge 2 and nine months of Charge 4 are cumulative upon each other and upon the sentence imposed on Charge 1. That gives a total effective sentence of four years, and I order that you serve a minimum of two years before being eligible for parole.
217You have already served 424 days on remand. This figure having been reckoned, I declare that it is part of the sentence that I have just imposed. I will ensure that this is entered into the records of the court so that the prison authorities are left in no doubt that you have already served 424 days of the term that I have just imposed. Had you pleaded not guilty to these offences and been found guilty of them, I would have imposed a penalty of six years with a minimum term of four.

[2018] VCC 1076

16 July 2018