Director of Public Prosecutions v Morrison

[2018] VCC 1446

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

AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION
KOORI COURT DIVISION

AP 18-0572

IN THE MATTER OF AN APPEAL AGAINST SENTENCE

KYJA MORRISON

v

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

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JUDGE:	HER HONOUR JUDGE LAWSON
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:	4 June 2018, 30 August 2018
DATE OF SENTENCE:	30 August 2018
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Morrison
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2018] VCC 1446

REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject: Criminal law – Sentencing – Appeal against sentence
Catchwords: – Participation in Koori Court Division of the County Court- Good rehabilitation prospects – Demonstrated rehabilitation – Community Corrections Order imposed

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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the Director of Public Prosecutions	Ms S. Locke	John Cain Solicitor for Director of Public Prosecutions
For the Accused	Mr G. Barnes (Plea) Ms Marakis (Sentence)	Patrick Dwyer & Associates

HER HONOUR:

1This is an appeal against sentence that was imposed by the Broadmeadows Magistrates' Court, Koori Court Division, on 14 March 2018.  On that occasion Her Honour Magistrate Falla convicted Ms Morrison in respect to a consolidation of a large number of offences and imposed an aggregate term of imprisonment of two months to be followed by a Community Correction Order for a period of 18 months with conditions.

2The appeal concerned the consolidation of charges involving some six informants and the offending spanned a period from December 2015 to December 2017. 

3The appeal was first listed and heard before the County Court Koori Court Division on Monday 4 June 2018.  Thereafter there have been a series of adjournments to facilitate Ms Morrison’s drug treatment.

4The Crown was represented by Ms Susanna Locke and Mr Greg Barnes of counsel instructed by Patrick Dwyer solicitors represented Ms Morrison at the hearing.  Also present were her partner, Nick Langton, and her father,
Mr Morrison.

5Rebecca Edwards, Koori Court Officer from Community Corrections was in attendance as well as Aunty Pam Pederson and Uncle Rod Jackson, Elders and Respected Persons and Micah Roe, the County Court Koori Court Officer. You actively engaged with the Elders and I am satisfied your engagement was genuine.

6The appeal was against sentence only. The summary of the offences was accepted as being accurate.  An early plea of guilty was entered on all charges. I have had regard to that fact.  The plea of guilty has real utility and has spared the inconvenience and expense of the matter having to be heard as a contest so that has to be taken into account and Ms Morrison's sentence is discounted accordingly. I accept that Ms Morrison has facilitated justice.

7Further, having regard to all the facts and circumstances I am satisfied Ms Morrison is genuinely remorseful.  Her post-offence conduct has demonstrated that she does have a genuine commitment to change, to address her long term and problematic drug use. 

8There was evidence before the court from Shanae Morrison, Ms Morrison's sister, about her long term drug use. She confirmed that her observation is that her sister Kyja was committed to addressing the difficulties that she had experienced from using drugs.

9Shanae Morrison noted the very difficult past family history.  Ms Morrison confirmed that her sister had made great strides by seeking counselling, obtaining full time employment, removing herself from the people with whom she was committing the offences, completing voluntary drug screens and generally making every effort to rebuild a work toward reunification with her son.

10Shanae Morrison has had the care of Ms Kyja Morrison's son who is now aged 6, for many years.  Kyja is continuing to see her son on supervised visits every second week for two to three hours and is working towards re-establishing her relationship with a view to formally taking over his care.

11It is evident that Kyja Morrison does have a supportive and loving network of family and friends and in particular, her partner, Nick Langton. 

12Tahnee McBean, psychologist and drug counsellor, at the Victorian Aboriginal Health Service Co-operative, has provided a letter to the court which confirms since 26 February 2018, Kyja has been engaging in cognitive behaviour therapy, that she is focussed and is dealing with her methylamphetamine addiction, including dependence and withdrawal and is motivated to continue to be abstinent.

13Emma Hooper, an alcohol and drug counsellor with the TORQUE program has written a letter to the court confirming that Kyja is due to commence treatment with TORQUE on 10 September 2018 that is due to finish on Friday
19 October, 2018.

14TORQUE is a six week non-residential rehabilitation program offering treatment and support for problematic drug use to enable participants to develop coping skills and maintain motivation to cease or reduce their substance use.

15From the other material I am satisfied that Kyja has obtained employment with her partner's family business. A written report provided from Phillip Langton, East Packaging Containers Pty Ltd, confirms that Kyja is considered to be very reliable and productive, involved in bookkeeping and other admin type roles.

16Ms Morrison is also undertaking work as a hair cutter, having performed a hairdressing apprenticeship in the past, working part time outside of work hours.

17Ms Morrison is pregnant and is due to have an elective C section performed in late November/early December 2018. The evidence is that currently she is abstinent from drugs.  Having regard to the past history of drug use commencing when she was 13 that is significant progress.

18I generally have regard to the report of Gina Cidoni, consultant psychologist, dated 25 May 2018. Ms Cidoni confirms that Ms Morrison has a difficult family history but that she is motivated to change currently. There has been a dramatic change in her lifestyle since her arrest and Ms Morrison’s dealing with all the issues that she now faces.

19Finally, there was a reference provided from Spasia Andronis, a self-employed hairdresser.  She has known Ms Morrison for seven years and she is able to confirm her observations about there being a dramatic change in her appearance in terms of changed attitude and behaviour and that she is now working towards being a responsible person.

20Nick Langton, has been in a relationship with Kyja for some almost 12 months, and they have been living together since January 2018.  He is extremely supportive and is supporting Kyja in her efforts to remain drug free.

21Having regard to Ms Morrison's current excellent progress in the community, seeking out appropriate supports and assistance to deal with her drug condition, that was the motivator for her offending I consider that the most appropriate course of action is to place her on a Community Corrections Order in the terms that I have already outlined, that is an order for two years' duration with a drug treatment condition and noting that Ms Morrison will be supervised by the Neighbourhood Justice Centre, Collingwood.

22To return Ms Morrison to prison would be very disruptive and corrosive of the very real progress that she has undertaken so far.  It is in the interests of
Ms Morrison, her partner, Mr Langton, her unborn child and her son that she be supported within the community to continue on the path that she has now chosen to take.

23Thank you all. 

24Addressing Ms Morrison: It has been a long journey but we got there in the end. I must say it is always very encouraging for a judicial officer to see somebody like you go through this process and come out the other side a much better person. I will make sure that my sentencing remarks get typed up and will send them to the two elders who sat on your sentencing conversation because that will give them real heart too and encourage them in the future because it is always helpful for all of us to see such genuine progress. It gives us courage then to try and help people like yourself because it is really encouraging to see such a turnaround.

25I congratulate you on your achievements.

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