Director of Public Prosecutions v Mongrag

[2018] VCC 131

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

AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

CR-17-02050

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

NEOK MONGRAG

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JUDGE:	HIS HONOUR JUDGE GRANT
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:	17 November 2017; 1 December 2017 and 1 February 2018
DATE OF SENTENCE:	1 February 2018
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Mongrag
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2018] VCC 131

REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the Director of Public Prosecutions	Ms C. Foot	Office of Public Prosecutions
For the Accused	Ms S. Stafford	Doogue and George Solicitors

Pages 1 - 7

 

 

HIS HONOUR:

1Neok Mongrag, you have pleaded guilty to one charge of attempted aggravated burglary.  The maximum penalty for this offence is 20 years' imprisonment. 

2You have also pleaded guilty to one charge of theft, and two summary offences of commit an indictable offence on bail, and contravene a conduct condition of bail.

3The theft charge carries a maximum penalty of ten years' imprisonment, and the summary offences have a maximum penalty of 30 penalty units, or three months' gaol.

4The prosecutor presented a summary of your offending; I do not intent to repeat the whole summary.  It is Exhibit A in these proceedings. 

5Briefly, at 2.37 am on 31 March 2017, you travelled to 8 Binalong Court,
St Albans in a stolen Lexus motor vehicle, with five other young men.

6All of you got out of the car and approached the house armed with sticks, bricks, and stakes.  You had a brick in one hand, and a stick in the other, and you used the brick to smash the window beside the front door.  All of you then attempted to gain entry to the house by smashing windows and banging and kicking at the front door.

7The people inside the house did what they could to resist your entry.  The two male victims were showered with broken glass whilst defending the front door.  At one stage, the female victim was looking out of a window, when one member of your group approached and smashed the window with a stick.

8After a minute or so, the rest of your group ran from the driveway.  You stayed behind and picked up a brick, which you threw at the front door.  You then also left the scene.

9As a result of this offending, three windows in the house were broken, and a small cabinet damaged by one of the bricks that went through a window.

10At 4.40 am on the same morning, the stolen Lexus was seen at a service station in Alphington.  You entered the store and prepaid for $15 worth of petrol.  You then put $19 worth of petrol into the car before the attendant stopped the bowser.  You got into the car without paying the additional amount, and the car was driven away.

11When you committed these offences, you were on two sets of bail.  Your bail included a condition that you not leave your place of residence between the hours of 9 pm and 6 am, unless in the company of a parent.

12This is serious offending.  You were with a group of young men who targeted a residential home in the early hours of the morning, and endeavoured to force entry into that home.  You were all armed with sticks and bricks, and you tried to disguise yourselves.  You continued even when it was obvious that there were people inside the house.

13It seems your intention was to steal car keys from the house and then use those keys to steal a vehicle or vehicles parked at the premises.

14You were a particularly prominent offender, throwing a brick through a window and as you were leaving, throwing a brick at the front door.

15Although the offending was over within a minute or so, you left a legacy of damage and emotional distress.  I have read the impact statement made by the female victim.  She details the emotional harm she has suffered.  She feels unsafe, fearful, and insecure.  She is unable to stay in her home alone, and her sleep has suffered.  In addition, she has had the expense associated with turning her home into a fortress.

16Although the other two victims have not made victim impact statements, I am satisfied that they must also have suffered emotional distress as a result of the terrifying events of this evening.

17Given the serious nature of this offending, general deterrence, denunciation, and just punishment are all relevant sentencing considerations.

18Your offending is aggravated by the fact that when you committed these offences, you were on two probation orders from the Children's Court of Victoria.

19The order made on 7 September 2016 related to a large number of offences, including aggravated burglary, affray, robbery, and recklessly cause injury.  The probation order made on 4 October 2016 related to a charge of attempted robbery.  In these circumstances, specific deterrence and community protection become relevant sentencing considerations.

20I now move to matters relevant to your background, and those matters in mitigation.

21You are 19 years old.  You were 18 at the time you offended.  You are a young offender.  As a general rule, the paramount sentencing consideration for the young offender is rehabilitation, however, in your case, the emphasis on rehabilitation is diminished to an extent by two matters.  First, the serious nature of the offending, and second, your past history of relevant serious offending. 

22You were born in the south of Sudan in 1997.  Your family fled to Egypt in 2004.  After 12 months in that country, the family came to Australia.  Your schooling commenced at St Albans Primary School, and even though you knew little English, you were regarded as a good student.

23You completed Grades 3 to 6 at Resurrection Primary School, and Years 7 to 10 at St Albans Catholic Regional College.  You completed Year 11 and the first term of Year 12 at Sydenham Catholic College.  I was told that you had no behavioural issues at that time.

24I was told that you were involved in a fight outside the school grounds in
Year 12 that resulted in your expulsion from the school.  Despite your father's best efforts to enrol you in another school, you were unable to continue your education.

25Your expulsion seems to have also corresponded with a period when you disengaged from your sporting activities and from your participation in your local church.  Your counsel submitted that these factors led to an association with a negative peer group, and your offending escalated.

26You are indeed fortunate to have the continued support of your family.  That support is offered even though you have clearly failed to accept their advice, guidance, and direction.  Their good influence has failed to stop your criminal behaviour.

27The report from Ms Ascher from Youth Justice indicates that your first experience of youth remand was in May 2016, when you were 17 years old.  You were released on supervised bail on 16 June 2016.  This was your first period of supervision by Youth Justice.  You committed further offences, and you were returned to custody on 8 July 2016.

28On 7 September 2016, you were released on probation.  You received a further probation order on 4 October 2016.  You returned to custody on 13 October 2016.

29On 17 October 2016, you were one of the young offenders who accessed the roof space of the Parkville Centre, and one of the offenders who caused damage at the centre.

30You were released again on supervised bail on 11 November 2016.  You committed the current offences whilst on that bail, and whilst on probation. 

31You have shown a remarkable unwillingness to comply with court orders; bail orders and probation orders have failed to stop your offending.

32Given this history and the nature of the current offending, it is not surprising that an assessment from Youth Justice finds you unsuitable for a sentence of detention in a Youth Justice centre.

33Your situation is very different from that of the other adult co-offender, Mr Hadal.  He was not as prominently involved in the offending as you.  He had no prior convictions.  He had very strong character references, and I was satisfied that he had good prospects of rehabilitation.  These factors explain why his order is different to yours.

34Your situation is also different to the other youthful co-offenders.  Because of their ages, they appeared in the Children's Court.  The principles that govern sentencing in that court are very different to the sentencing principles that apply in the case of adults.  This means that the sentencing orders in the
Children's Court are not comparable to orders made for adult offenders.

35One matter in your favour is your plea of guilty.  It is entered at the earliest opportunity.  By your plea, you accept responsibility for your criminal offending.  In addition, the plea has saved the victim from the trauma of giving evidence, and save the community expense associated with a criminal trial.  You will be given credit for all these matters.

36In balancing the various sentencing objectives, I am required to consider your prospects for rehabilitation; I am guarded about your prospects.  Whilst you are still young and capable of reformation, you have shown an unwillingness to change your behaviour.  This is notwithstanding your obvious intelligence and your strong family support.

37The fact that this offending occurs in breach of two probation orders and supervised bail orders, is indicative of a dismissive attitude to court orders and Youth Justice support.

38The fact that this offending occurred in contravention of a curfew condition of bail, is further evidence of your disdain for court orders. 

39Because of your age, I did have you assessed as to your suitability to undergo a sentence of detention at a Youth Justice Centre.  When I did so, I did not fully appreciate the extent of your previous involvement with Youth Justice, or the extent of your involvement in the incident at Parkville on
17 October 2016.

40I have already referred to the fact that the assessment is unfavourable. Given your past failures to comply with Youth Justice orders; such an assessment is as I have already said, entirely understandable.

41Mr Mongrag, your counsel told me that you were an intelligent and capable, young man.  You have said over and over again, that you understand the importance of education in furthering your future.  You have a past involvement in sport, and you have very strong family support. 

42However, even though you have all these protective factors in your life, you have been unable to stop offending and you have found it impossible to comply with your obligations under court orders.

43It is the serious nature of the current offending and your inability to make the most of the opportunities offered to you by courts in the past, that have persuaded me that the only appropriate order in your case is a sentence of imprisonment with a non-parole period.

44I accept that in determining the period of imprisonment and the non-parole period, I must make an appropriate allowance for your youth and for the fact, that this will be your first sentence of imprisonment.

45You are sentenced to the following periods of imprisonment. 

46Charge 1, 2 years and 4 months. 

47Charge 2, one month to be served concurrently. 

48On each of the summary offences, one month.  These sentences are to be served concurrently with each other, and with the sentence imposed on the charges on the indictment.

49This makes a total effective sentence of 2 years and 4 months.  I order that you serve a minimum term of 16 months before you be eligible for release on parole.

50Had you pleaded not guilty and been found guilty after a trial, I would have sentenced you to a total effective sentence of 3years and 6 months, with a minimum term of 2 years and 6 months.

51I make a declaration that you have served 307 days by way of pre-sentence detention.

52Are there any other matters?

53MS FOOT:  No, Your Honour.

54MS STAFFORD:  No, Your Honour.

55HIS HONOUR:  All right.  Yes, thank you.  Mr Mongrag can be removed.

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