Director of Public Prosecutions v Morton
[2020] VCC 1273
•18 August 2020
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA | Revised Not Restricted Suitable for Publication |
AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL JURISDICTIONCR 20-00722
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| v |
| JARRAD MORTON |
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| JUDGE: | HER HONOUR JUDGE GAYNOR |
| WHERE HELD: | Melbourne |
| DATE OF HEARING: | 10 August 2020 |
| DATE OF SENTENCE: | 18 August 2020 |
| CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | DPP v Morton |
| MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2020] VCC 1273 |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the Director of Public Prosecutions | Ms C. Duckett | Office of Public Prosecutions |
| For the Accused | Ms K. Blair | David Barrese & Associates |
HER HONOUR:
1Jarrad Michael Morton, you have pleaded guilty before me to 25 charges of theft, five charges of attempted theft, 30 charges of intentionally damaging property, two charges of possessing a drug of dependence and one charge of trafficking in a drug of dependence. You have also pleaded guilty to eight summary charges of going equipped to steal, one charge of loitering with intent to commit an indictable offence, two charges of unlicensed driving, one charge of driving an unregistered vehicle and one charge of breaching a condition of bail.
2The facts underlying your offending are as follows; this offending is best described as a spree whereby during two specific time periods you either with unknown offenders, a co-accused Carter Smith-Minutolo or a third co-accused, Mr Anthony attended numerous stations on the fringe of Melbourne's south-east and there broke into Myki machines stealing cash inside.
3You invariably did this in the early hours of the morning when the stations were unattended and on most occasions disguised yourself in hoodies and balaclavas and wore gloves in order to avoid forensic detection. On virtually each occasion you took tools with you to effect the break-in to the machines including crowbars, blowtorches, metal poles and grinders and jemmy bars.
4The first period of offending occurred between 10 May and 12 June 2019 when you broke into or attempted to break into nine separate Myki machines over seven different days. The total amount of money stolen in this period was $6660. The total amount of property damage, that is by way of the Myki machines was $73,804.72.
5 The second period of offending occurred between 16 July 2019 and 28 August 2019 and during this period of offending you broke into Mykis at 22 different stations over 16 separate days. The total amount of money stolen in this period was $7450 and the total amount of property damage in this period was $149,632.
6There were two periods of offending because in fact you were arrested in between those two periods, that being on June 12 2019. At 2 am you had driven with your co-accused Smith-Minutolo to the Cardinia railway station where police were conducting surveillance. You were intercepted while driving. At the time the car was unregistered leading to Summary Charge 25 and you had no licence, also underlying Summary Charge 24.
7Your actions in taking the monies from the machines underlie the charges of theft. On five occasions you attempted to get into the machine and caused damage but were unable to do so and those actions underlie the five charges of attempted theft.
8Your actions in breaking into the Myki machines underlie the charges of criminal damage. Your actions in taking various items to break the machines open underlie the summary charges of going equipped to steal.
9On June 12, you were seen surveilling the train station in your car with your lights deemed and these actions underlie Summary Charge 23, loitering with intent to commit an indictable offence. You conducted a no-comment record of interview with police and then released on bail. About a month later, you resumed your criminal activity until you were arrested on 28 August 2019.
10On that date, at about 4.30 am, police covert operatives saw you driving Anthony's unregistered car and drop him off at an address in Langwarrin. Police then tried to intercept you but you sped away and they lost you.
11At about 4.40 am, two other police located you walking away from where you had parked the car in Terang Place, Karingal. You were arrested and the car searched. Police found jemmy bars, black torches, multiple gloves and a
$10-note. You were taken to Frankston police station where $1,160 in cash made up of $20 and $50-notes were located on you.12A search of your house at 1 Protea Court, Langwarrin, located a Ziploc bag of cannabis seeds together with, I think, two other bags of cannabis which underlies Charge 61 on the indictment, possessing a drug of dependence, cannabis.
13Police also found Ziploc bags containing ketamine, broken ecstasy tables and ice. Your possession of these items underlies rolled-up Charge 62, possession of a drug of dependence.
14Further, on 22 July 2019 at 10.30 at night, police attended your address and you were not there in breach of a curfew condition of your bail and this underlies related Summary Charge 121, contravening a conduct condition of bail.
15When you were first arrested, police searched the car that you were driving and on that occasion located three jemmy bars, two pairs of gloves, two balaclavas and a gas relief. Those items and your possession of them underlie some, if not all, of the charges of going equipped to steal but on the occasion of your apprehension on 12 June, your driving around and surveilling the train station which is the charge of using unregistered motor vehicle and Charge 25, unlicensed driving and also Charge 23, loitering with intent to commit an indictable offence.
16On your arrest in August, your phone was seized and analysis of it revealed a number of text messages relating to the purchase and sale of drugs. The prosecution is not able to say what the amount involved was. Your counsel informed me it related to a purchase for your own use and use of other friends who put in to buy larger amounts of drugs at a cheaper rate with some extra to be sold on again in order to support your drug habit.
17In the record of interview conducted in August, you only admitted to being involved in six break-ins of the Myki machines and overall it was a record of interview which contained general denials. You said that the six occasions which you did admit to involved you seeking to gain money for your drug habit. You told police that overall you had gained no more than $4,000 from your criminal enterprises which you used on drugs.
In total you stole $14,110 from these Myki machines and the total damage to the Myki machines was $223,436.72. The prosecution informed me this caused a particular difficulty for railway authorities as there was - in terms of the insurance called upon in order to effect repairs to the machines - involved high excess in relation to each machine which greatly diminished the amount of insurance able to be called upon.
18You have been remanded in custody since your arrest in August.
19I now turn to your personal circumstances.
20You are now aged 26. You were 25 at the time of this offending. You were raised essentially by your mother in Langwarrin. Your parents separated when you were young and you thereafter had little contact with him apart from a
six-month stint when you lived with him when you were 13.21You have an older brother and sister and a younger brother. You have a close relationship with your mother who remains supportive of you, however, you are estranged from your sister; your older brother has severe diabetes which often required hospitalisation and you told psychologist Aaron Cunningham whose reports were tendered on the plea that your mother's attention was often directed towards him. He was also extremely violent towards you.
22As a result of the situation at home, you left when you were aged 13, spending, as I said, six months with your father, returned briefly to live with your mother and then moved in with the Johnsons, the parents of your girlfriend, Rhiannon, with whom you formed a relationship when you were 14.
23You lived with her and her family until you were 17 when Rhiannon felt pregnant and ultimately gave birth to your eldest child, now aged eight. You were 17 at the time of your son's birth. You and she remain in a relationship and you now have three children aged eight, six and 17 months.
24You had an undiagnosed learning difficulty when you were at school. Referring to testing done by Dr Cunningham, it appears you have ADHD. You therefore left school about two weeks into Year 8 and thereafter worked as a concreter before taking up an apprenticeship in bricklaying. However, when your partner, Rhiannon, fell pregnant, you left the apprenticeship in order to go and work in concreting to earn more money and to support her.
25Overall, you have been employed on and off in both bricklaying and concreting over the years, your counsel informing me that you have been employed more often than you have been unemployed. At the time of this offending, you were undertaking concreting on a sub-contracting basis and this had been going well so that you were essentially being used on a full-time basis. However, the development of a particularly severe ice dependence made you unreliable and you were working very little at the time you were arrested.
26You began using cannabis from the age of 13, abused mushrooms and then used ice from the age of 16. Rhiannon was working in a café owned by her father. I mention Rhiannon's father because it appears there were two particular incidents of stress which arose in your life that took you from an occasional user of ice to a very entrenched addict.
27Most importantly, at the end of 2018, a close friend committed suicide. That friend had reached out to you on the evening of his suicide but at the time Rhiannon was heavily pregnant with your third child, you were caring for the children and were unable to attend on your friend. You have blamed yourself ever since for his death. It appears that at that time, your use of methamphetamine became a daily one and then became one where you were using a considerable amount of the drug on a daily basis. As I have said, this affected your work and also severely affected your financial position, given the amount of money you needed to support your habit. I accept that this offending was carried out in support of your drug habit.
28Further, even though you were already, I am satisfied, in the grip of an ice addiction, in mid-2019, Rhiannon's father suddenly suffered a massive heart attack. He and his wife had separated some time before so that much of the burden of attending on him in hospital fell on Rhiannon and indeed, I was informed, she had to make the decision to turn off the life support system.
29Whilst in goal, it appears you have used remand in order to break that cycle of drug dependence. You were assessed at the Melbourne Assessment Prison as requiring methadone but you refused to take this and once you were remanded at Ravenhall, you took advantage of virtually every program that gaol had to offer.
30You completed the following programs; Ice and Me; the Health Mind Module; Coping Inside; Better Connections Module; Cleaning; Keeping Your Cool; Alcohol and Me; Ice and Me; Skating On Ice.
31You have performed work as a billet whenever you could and you are attending almost daily on Narcotics Anonymous.
32Whilst in custody, you have been subjected to random urine screens on three occasions. the results on each occasion being negative for drug use.
33You are confident when you ultimately leave gaol that you will be able to pick up concreting work once more.
34Your family situation has been an extremely difficult one. Your two eldest children, both boys, suffer severe difficulties. Your eldest son has anxiety, is dyslexic and extremely introverted. His condition has worsened since you have been in custody. He is now on a mental health plan for counselling.
35Your second son has a sensory processing disorder and possible autism. For the past two years, he has had NDIS funding for speech therapy, occupational therapy and a psychiatrist. There has been a dramatic behavioural deterioration since you were gaoled and there has subsequently been an increase in the NDIS services afforded to him.
36Your infant daughter suffers from asthma.
37Rhiannon herself is on medication for depression and anxiety. Her current situation is that she is home-schooling her sons and all their activities have stopped. She has limited family support from both your mother and her own but appears to be struggling very much in her current situation.
38Initially when you were gaoled, Rhiannon and the children visited you on a regular basis. The onset of the COVID pandemic and associated restrictions at the gaol have had a dramatic effect upon both you and your family.
39You yourself have been unable to participate in any further programs. You cannot attend Narcotics Anonymous. You have been unable to have any contact with your family even via technology as they are unable to use it so that your contact with your family has been confined to telephone calls.
40You have some prior criminal history but it is not extensive. It is particularly not extensive for a young man who left home at a very early age and who became a father at 17. That prior criminal history begins in 2008 when the Children's Court placed you on an adjournment without conviction on a charge of recklessly causing injury and for entering a public house without authority.
41Then in 2009, the Frankston Children's Court placed you on a good behaviour bond on charges of criminal damage, theft from a motor vehicle and being drunk in a public place. In August 2011, you were placed a good behaviour bond by the Frankston Children's Court for recklessly causing serious injury. In August 2012, you were fined and placed on a good behaviour bond for charges of driving in a manner dangerous, failing to stop a vehicle on police request and other minor driving offences.
42In 2013, you were fined in the Magistrates' Court, your first appearance in an adult court, for stating a false name when requested, failing to answer bail and being drunk. Sorry, I withdraw that.
43And finally in 2012, you were fined for failing to comply with the conditions of an order, that being an adjournment without conviction on which you were also placed in 2013 for the charges I have just outlined.
44That comprises the entirety of your prior criminal history and I accept that it is not an extensive history.
45This offending which has brought you before the County Court is an escalation of such offending. Despite your unhelpful record of interview with police in August, the matter was ultimately settled at committal mention to a plea.
46There was an unsuccessful application to have this matter dealt with in the Magistrates' Court and, as I understand it, this was essentially unsuccessful because of the value of the criminal damage to the Myki machines.
47Your counsel, Ms Blair, told me on your instructions that you were shocked at the value of the damage you had caused to the machines and, indeed, that criminal damage does comprise the most serious aspect of your offending.
48However, it is also the case that there is a particular principle of general deterrence which must be adhered to in the sentencing exercise before me because your offending involved damage to a public facility used by commuters every day and which is vulnerable to exploitation by persons such as yourself.
49I have described this offending as a spree. Certainly the seriousness of the offending was aggravated in my view by the fact that on being arrested in June 2019 and released on bail, you proceeded only a month later to go on to continue offending in exactly the same way but at a greater rate.
50Overall, however, I do accept, notwithstanding the seriousness of the offending, that this amounted to a person severely in the grip of drug addiction who, desperate for money to support it, devised a scheme whereby he could easily access money and it would seem developed some skill in it. Again, this is serious offending but to some extent I accept that the seriousness of it was lost on you.
51The amounts you obtained from the Myki machines ranged from only a few dollars - on one occasion, you obtained only $5 and, on another occasion, $10 from the machine - but generally speaking yielded you several hundred dollars and on about three or four occasions, more than $1,000. I am satisfied the whole of it was spent on drugs.
52The offending occurred over a period of about 3,5 months. I am satisfied that whilst in custody, you have taken every opportunity you can to deal with the drug habit that underlay your offending. I also accept that the COVID restrictions have had a particularly deleterious effect upon you both in terms of your capacity to access the programs that you need in gaol and also have added greatly to the difficulties experienced by your family.
53As I have already said, you became a father at 17 and appear to have responded to the responsibilities thrust upon you at a very young age in an impressive manner over a long period of time.
54I accept, notwithstanding your use of drugs, that you are a committed father and indeed your counsel informed me that gaol has been an opportunity for you to reflect on the damage you were doing, in particular to your family if not to yourself. To have the sorts of problems that your children have, they attaching to two out of three of them is a fairly extraordinary situation.
55I had you assessed for a community corrections order and you have been found suitable. Although you were assessed as being at a high risk of reoffending, largely it was seen because of your drug addiction, you were described by the assessing officer as having some insight into your offending.
56The report stated,
'Mr Morton displayed some insight stating that he acknowledges the impact that his behaviour may have had on others in the community, particularly public transport users. With regards to the drug-related offending, Mr Morton expressed remorse stating that, "He should not have been doing it". '
57Assessment by Dr Cunningham is also in my view significant in terms of the sentencing exercise before me. He diagnosed you as suffering from ADHD and a major depressive disorder and possible autism. It was his view that these particular difficulties that you suffer could be worsened by your continued detention in gaol.
58In my view, the mitigatory factors that I have outlined in this case, they being your early plea of guilty, relatively confined prior criminal history, your progress in gaol, your demonstrated capacity to be a responsible member of the community as demonstrated by your good work history and continued commitment to your partner and children from a very young age, together with the difficulties that the current pandemic has brought upon your situation and that of your family have led me to the view that I should deal with you by way of a combination disposition.
59My concern is that whilst you remain in custody, your drug addiction is not being properly attended to and cannot be properly attended to.
60The placement on a community corrections order will involve a condition that you attend both for treatment and rehabilitation programs for drug use and/or dependency and for mental health difficulties. These are both aspects of you that require attention in order to ensure that you do not relapse into the sort of offending that unusually brought you before this court.
61The seriousness of the offending, its continued nature and the aggravating feature of most of it having been committed whilst you are on bail do mean that there should be some response by way of a term of imprisonment both as a means of specific deterrence and because of general deterrence, principles which have application to your case.
62Ms Duckett, I propose dealing with this matter in sentencing by way of imposing an aggregate term. I am doing so on the basis that this offending is clearly simply a repetition of the same offending over and over and over. It seems to me a futile exercise to engage in sentencing involving cumulation of 50 charges.
63MS DUCKETT: No, Your Honour. I did have that thought process this morning about whether or not an aggregate sentence would be imposed and given the relatively short length of time between the two periods of offending and of course the fact that Mr Morton has really not even got a criminal history, he has actually only got appearances before the courts, I understand the position that the Bench is taking today, Your Honour.
64HER HONOUR: Thank you, Ms Duckett. It was more to do with the fact that this was, as I have said a number of times, a 3,5-month spree just involving the same offending over and over and over. So it could be said to be a course of offending but I am grateful for the indication.
65In the circumstances, therefore, it is my view that a combination disposition involving both a term of imprisonment and a community corrections order answers the punitive and rehabilitative aspects of this case in an appropriate way.
66It is also my view that protection of the community is best served by your continued rehabilitation but is somewhat less of a principle applicable to this sentencing because of your progress in gaol, in particular in relation to the steps you have taken in attending to your drug addiction and the negative results of the random urine screens.
67I am therefore going to sentence you as follows, but before I do so, I need to have regard to the maximum penalties applicable in this case.
68They are as follows; the maximum penalty for theft is 10 years' imprisonment; the maximum penalty for attempted theft is five years' imprisonment; the maximum penalty for intentionally damaging property is 10 years' imprisonment; the maximum penalty for possession of a drug of dependence is one year imprisonment or 30 penalty units; the maximum penalty for trafficking in a drug of dependence is 15 years' imprisonment; the maximum penalty for going equipped to steal is two years' imprisonment; the maximum penalty for loitering with intent to commit an indictable offence is two years' imprisonment; the maximum penalty for using an unregistered vehicle is 25 penalty units; the maximum penalty for unlicensed driving is 60 penalty units or six months' imprisonment; and the maximum penalty for contravening a conduct condition of bail is 30 penalty units or three months' imprisonment.
69On all charges but the two charges of using an unregistered motor vehicle, you are sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 11 months and three weeks and you are then to be released on a community corrections order for a period of 2,5 years.
70Now, Mr Morton, I can only place you on such an order with your consent. So I need to outline the conditions that are attached to the order.
71They are that within two days of this order starting, which will be two working days after you get out of gaol, I think you will have a little more time to serve, you must attend upon the community corrections officer and that will be at Cranbourne.
72Whilst on the order, which, as I have said, will last for 2,5 years, you must not commit any offence punishable by imprisonment. What that means is that if you commit any offence for which you could be gaoled, you do not have to be gaoled, but if you just commit an offence which theoretically you could receive a sentence for such as knocking off a box of matches from Woolworths, that will breach the order, you will be brought back in front of me and I will resentence you on this. Do you understand?
73OFFENDER: Yes, Your Honour.
74HER HONOUR: If you do not obey any of the conditions of the order either, you will breach it and you will be brought back in front of me.
75Whilst on the order, you must notify the community corrections office of any change of address or employment within 48 hours of the making of that change. You may not leave Victoria without the permission of the community corrections office whilst you are on the order. You must report to and receive visits from the community corrections office. You must obey all lawful directions of the community corrections office and you must not attend upon a community corrections office under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
76The recommended conditions which I agree with from the report are firstly that you be placed on supervision; that is a special condition. You are to attend for treatment and rehabilitation for drug abuse and you are to attend for treatment and rehabilitation for mental health difficulties.
77Now, you have finally been formally diagnosed as having ADHD, all right?
78OFFENDER: Yes, Your Honour.
79HER HONOUR: What that means is - and you need to learn about that. It means you are going to have difficulties concentrating.
80OFFENDER: Yes.
81HER HONOUR: And you also need to be treated for the depressive disorder that Dr Cunningham has found that you have.
82In the report, I make the note, it was recommended that I not place you on community work and this is because the community work programs have been suspended nor was judicial monitoring recommended because you have no previous history of non-compliance with a community corrections order. Well, you have never been on one so it is a matter for you.
83So the three special conditions, as I have said, will be treatment and rehabilitation for drug use, treatment and rehabilitation for mental health difficulties and supervision.
84Are you prepared to enter this order?
85OFFENDER: Yes, Your Honour.
86HER HONOUR: Thank you.
87All right. So what will happen is that my associate will prepare the documentation, forward it to the gaol for signature by you and you will probably be released in the next two to three weeks, all right?
88OFFENDER: Thank you, Your Honour.
89HER HONOUR: Now, Mr Morton, do not blow this opportunity, all right?
90OFFENDER: All right, Your Honour. Thank you.
91HER HONOUR: You sound like you have been a good dad over the years.
92OFFENDER: Thank you.
93HER HONOUR: That is so hard when you start off when you are 17 but because of what you did and the way you reacted to the pressures in your life at the time, Rhiannon has had to do all the work, has she not?
94OFFENDER: Yes, she has, Your Honour.
95HER HONOUR: Yes. And you have got two boys who need you very badly. Their difficulties have got very much worsened since you have been in gaol and Rhiannon has simply had to carry the load. If you go back to using ice again, this whole opportunity is going to collapse. You get that?
96OFFENDER: Yes, Your Honour.
97HER HONOUR: So please take advantage of this opportunity. When you may find when you get out that life is very stressful and difficult, your kids at home, they cannot do their normal activities, they need home-schooling, neither of your boys seem to be travelling particularly well. So life is going to be fairly stressful when you get home. That is not an excuse for you to go off and use ice.
98OFFENDER: Yes, Your Honour.
99HER HONOUR: I am telling you what you already know, aren't I?
100OFFENDER: Yes, Your Honour. Yeah.
101HER HONOUR: Yes. And it would be incredibly selfish of you. All right? To some extent - I know you do not enjoy being in gaol but you probably had a far more peaceful life than Rhiannon has.
102OFFENDER: Yes, I have.
103VOICE (from body of the court): Just checking (indistinct words).
104HER HONOUR: Excuse me. I am trying to sentence. Can you please not interrupt? Just give me one moment. Thank you.
105All right? That being so, that is my - in relation to the charge of driving an unregistered vehicle, you are fined $50 and I will give you six months to pay and that is taking into account your financial capacity.
106Pursuant to s.6AAA, I declare that had you not pleaded guilty, I would have sentenced you to a term of imprisonment of two years and order that you serve a minimum term of 15 months' imprisonment.
107OFFENDER: Thank you, Your Honour.
108HER HONOUR: I note that your plea of guilty to these charges has saved the community the time and expense of what would have been a reasonably lengthy prosecution.
109Thank you. Is there anything else that I need to attend to?
110MS DUCKETT: Your Honour, just for the sake of completeness, the prosecution were seeking an order against Mr Morton's drivers licence given that ‑ ‑ ‑
111HER HONOUR: Look, I am ‑ ‑ ‑
112MS DUCKETT: I understand the authority of Lethbure and that such orders are not of course to cripple someone's opportunities or chances of fulfilling their prospects of rehabilitation.
113HER HONOUR: That is beautifully put, Ms Duckett, and I am going to steal that in the future.
114MS DUCKETT: Yes.
115HER HONOUR: Go on.
116MS DUCKETT: But the order was sought because of the use of the vehicles of course during the course of committing crimes.
117HER HONOUR: Look, I do understand that but given the spree-like nature of this offending and the drug habit underlying it, I am disinclined to accede to your understandable prosecution request, Ms Duckett.
118This man earns his living as a concreter. I am also concerned about - which would involve use of a car. I am also concerned about his capacity to deal with his children and their various needs if he has not go a licence. I mean it appears he has never got around to getting one but, Mr Morton, that is something you need to do, is it not?
119OFFENDER: Yes. Yes, Your Honour.
120HER HONOUR: I mean it is just ridiculous. I do not know how on earth Rhiannon has managed having a partner with no licence.
121OFFENDER: Your Honour, I ‑ ‑ ‑
122HER HONOUR: Yes? Sorry, Mr Morton.
123OFFENDER: I - I did have a licence but I - I (indistinct words) and ‑ ‑ ‑
124HER HONOUR: All right.
125OFFENDER: ‑ ‑ ‑ (indistinct words).
126HER HONOUR: Mr Morton, I know I have said you have done well as a father but you really need to get your acting to gear, all right?
127OFFENDER: Yep.
128HER HONOUR: You know, your kids need you to have a licence and your kids certainly need you not to be on ice.
129Now, I do not know what you were like while you were on ice but it is the experience of this court that fathers who are on ice or anyone on ice is very short-tempered and you are setting up a situation where domestic violence can most easily occur both to Rhiannon and to your kids, all right?
130OFFENDER: Yes, Your Honour.
131HER HONOUR: So, you know, you just need to take all these things into account.
132So I am giving you this opportunity, all right? If you muck it up, you are not going to be getting another one. I am prepared to assist you in getting back on your feet, getting back to employment, getting back to being a proper father and partner and that includes not agreeing with the prosecution that you should be disqualified from obtaining a licence. All that is going to go away if you do not abide by the order. All right?
133OFFENDER: Yes, Your Honour. Thank you.
134HER HONOUR: Thank you very much.
135Yes. Is there anything else that I need to attend to?
136MS DUCKETT: They are the matters, Your Honour. Thank you.
137HER HONOUR: Thank you.
138MS BLAIR: Your Honour, I thought - sorry, I thought there was a disposal order. I am not sure whether that was made.
139MS DUCKETT: It was made.
140MS BLAIR: It might have been made.
141HER HONOUR: Well, if there is - I would imagine there would be. I think the order was made - I beg your pardon. Look, if there is a disposal order or forfeiture order or anything of that nature, I will grant that.
142MS BLAIR: Certainly. It was just I saw it in the opening and I did not remember it being done on the last occasion and just to avoid having to come back or anything of that nature.
143HER HONOUR: You would make a wonderful associate, Ms Blair. Thank you very much. Apart from being an excellent barrister.
144All right?
145MS BLAIR: I would hope I am little over-qualified.
146HER HONOUR: Pardon?
147MS BLAIR: I would hope I am little over-qualified.
148HER HONOUR: Totally over-qualified. An absolute bonus for me and a disaster for you, Ms Blair, I completely accept that.
149All right. Look, I thank counsel very much for their assistance in this matter and we will now stand down to 10.30. Thank you.
150MS DUCKETT: If the court pleases.
151MS BLAIR: As Your Honour pleases.
152HER HONOUR: Thank you.
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