Director of Public Prosecutions v Paul

[2025] VCC 1086

IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA

AT MELBOURNE

CRIMINAL DIVISION

 Revised
Not Restricted
Suitable for Publication

Case No. CR-24-01400

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

TIMOTHY PAUL

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JUDGE:	HIS HONOUR JUDGE DOYLE
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:	18 July 2025
DATE OF SENTENCE:	31 July 2025
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Paul
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2025] VCC 1086

REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject:CRIMINAL LAW - Sentence

Catchwords:              Late guilty plea – Possessing a traffickable quantity of firearms - Three firearms - Recklessly causing injury – Offender used a machete - Caused large laceration – Significant criminal history - Committed in company with co-offender.

Legislation Cited:      Crimes Act 1958; Sentencing Act 1991;

Cases Cited:

Sentence:                  Total effective sentence of 28 months imprisonment with a non-parole period of 18 months imprisonment.

6AAA: Three years’ imprisonment with a non-parole period of 28 months’ imprisonment. 

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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the DPP	Ms S. Thomas	Office of Public Prosecutions
For the Accused	Ms N. Grunwald	Giorgianni & Liang Lawyers

HIS HONOUR:

1Timothy Paul, you have pleaded guilty to one charge of possessing a traffickable quantity of firearms, for which the maximum penalty is 10 years' imprisonment; and one charge of recklessly causing injury for which the maximum penalty is five years' imprisonment.

2The indictment in this matter contained charges against two other offenders, Joseph Eydems and Diesel Handley.  Mr Handley was your co-offender in relation to the recklessly causing injury and has already been sentenced to a period of eight months' imprisonment for that offence, of which two months was made cumulative on the sentence that he is undergoing for culpable driving.

3At the time of the offending, you were living with Mr Handley at Blyth Place, Mulgrave (“Blyth Place”). You were staying in the shed on the property.

4It is not necessary to go into full detail in relation to the burglary offence to which Mr Eydems pleaded guilty, but some explanation is required because that offending is linked to the possession of the traffickable quantity of firearms and the reckless cause injury offence.

5On 26 October 2021, Eydems committed a burglary in company with Josua Gilbert and Michael Smith at a house in Drouin. The owner of the property that was stolen was John Richardson, who is Mr Gilbert's uncle. The premises burgled was Lois Ryan's address. She is Richardson's mother and Mr Gilbert's uncle.

6Mr Gilbert was a drug user, and he knew Mr Eydems.  Stolen in the burglary was a safe containing three firearms and five kilograms of silver bullion. The property was loaded onto the rear tray of Mr Gilbert's Ute.  The firearms were: one Enfield MK3 303 rifle, with an attached bayonet; a Sturm Ruger .300 Winchester; and a Stirling Model 14 .22 Rimfire.  The Enfield is a World War 2 firearm of interest to collectors.

7Gilbert, Eydems and Smith disposed of the safe and then drove towards Mulgrave. Mr Eydems told Mr Gilbert they would meet someone in Mulgrave who would purchase the firearms, and they would split the proceeds.

8Mr Eydems knew you, Mr Paul.  Mobile phone records show that he contacted you at 4.19 pm on 26 October, between 6.41 pm and 7.08 pm, then at 10.23 pm, and then at 12.27 am on 27 October and then again between 2.09 and 2.18 am.

9The prosecution case is that these were phone calls relating to the sale of the firearms that had been stolen.

10Shortly after 2:30 am, Eydems, Gilbert and Smith arrived at Blythe Place and entered the shed. You were present. Mr Gilbert and Mr Smith were introduced to you. They carried the firearms into the shed.  You picked up one of the firearms and handled it.

11Your phone records showed that at 2:38 am on 27 October, you messaged a contact known as 'Pops' and said '…Can you come past mine'.  The identity of this person is still unknown to the police.

12Shortly after, this man arrived at Blythe Place and negotiated a price of $3,500 with Mr Eydems for the Enfield. He left approximately five minutes later, leaving his details with Mr Eydems.  He was a collector.

13You searched various terms for firearms on Google between 2.44 am and 2.48 am.

14About 3.25 am, police attended Blythe Place to conduct a bail check at that address in relation to Mr Handley. Mr Smith and Mr Gilbert packed up the firearms and left via the side door of the shed and then over the fence. You went over the fence shortly after.

15When police arrived, they observed a black BMW sedan belonging to Mr Eydems.  

16At 3.28 am, you sent another message to a contact named 'Charlee' which said, 'Don’t go to mine' and 'Cops are there'.

17You ran with Mr Eydems, Mr Smith and Mr Gilbert for about 300 meters, before turning back towards the Blythe Place address.  You told them you would contact them later.

18Mr Eydems later returned to his vehicle and Mr Smith remained with the firearms at a nearby construction site.

19Mr Gilbert made his way back to Blythe Place, but no one was there, so he began walking along the road. You picked him up in a black SUV and then went back to the shed. You asked him if he had taken anything from the house.  

20

When you returned to Blythe Place, you accused Mr Gilbert of taking $2,500 in cash.  You called Mr Handley into the shed.  You proceeded to question

Mr Gilbert about the money.  You and Mr Handley were in possession of weapons; you had a machete, and he had a police truncheon. You aggressively questioned Mr Gilbert, with Mr Handley's encouragement.  Then, Mr Eydems and Mr Smith returned to the shed.

21You continued to accuse Mr Gilbert of stealing.  He became impatient and suggested that you and Mr Handley should check the cameras.  You lost your temper with Mr Gilbert and forced him against the shed wall and then made him sit down while you and Mr Handley stood over him.

22You yelled at Mr Gilbert, 'I don’t believe you'.  You swung the machete at him, he ducked down but was struck across the head by the machete which caused him immediate pain, and he began to bleed. 

23

You threatened Mr Gilbert and said he had two seconds to tell, or he would be killed.  Mr Handley said, 'just tell him'. Mr Handley then swung the baton at

Mr Gilbert, hitting him in the mouth causing further pain and injury.  Mr Gilbert was left bleeding, and he felt dizzy from the blows.  He could not control his body, he said.

24Mr Eydems and Mr Smith later took Mr Gilbert to the Dandenong Hospital and dropped him out the front at about 6.45 am.  He had a large laceration to the left side of the back of his head which was bleeding and a laceration inside his upper lip.  He underwent tests in hospital.

25Mr Richardson went to the Dandenong hospital and questioned Mr Gilbert about the thefts and where the guns were. Mr Gilbert told Mr Richardson that Mr Eydems had been involved, and he referred to ‘Timmy from Mulgrave’, which was you.

26Mr Eydems retained possession of the firearms and later sold two of them to a man named Nick Ward.  The Enfield was used in an incident in Warragul on 23 June 2023.  Some parts of it were recovered but the other firearms sold have not been located.

Guilty Plea

27You pleaded guilty in this matter at almost the last opportunity, on the day the matter was listed for jury empanelment. The lateness of the plea limits its utilitarian value, but the trial would have taken at least another week of the Court's time, and you saved the court, the prosecution and the police the use of the resources required for a trial. You spared the witnesses the experience of having to give evidence, in particular Mr Gilbert.  It would have been a difficult situation for him, giving evidence in a proceeding such as this.  Therefore, there is utilitarian value in your plea, and I have taken that into account.  I am not satisfied your guilty plea indicates any significant remorse for the offending in this case.

Personal Circumstances

28You are now 35 years old. You were 32 years old at the time of the offending.

29You were raised by your mother and father, and you have one older brother.  Your parents separated at the age of nine. Following the separation, you had no significant relationship with your father.

30You were evicted from the family home at 17 and moved into your aunt's house before moving in with a girlfriend for some time. You had periods of transient living with friends and going back to your mother's at times.

31You went to Eumemmerring College.  You completed Year 10 although you told Dr Cunningham, the psychologist who assessed you in 2023, that you 'failed every subject'.

32You struggled with reading and writing through school,

33You have a solid employment history. You began working in retail at the age of 14 and then started a bricklaying apprenticeship which you left after six months.

34In your early 20s, you worked with TurnGuard, a pest control company, for approximately six years; they funded you to complete a Pest Controller course. You then left TurnGuard to start your own company. Your counsel submitted that your employment ceased when your drug use escalated to a significant extent. You have an interest in returning to pest control when you are released from the prison sentences that will be imposed for this matter.

35You were introduced to alcohol at the age of 13 and you started using cannabis at 15. You have used methylamphetamine since your late teens, initially it was just social use, but you have been a daily user of methylamphetamine.

36You commenced a relationship with Ms Vanessa Bradford in 2013 and, in 2014, your son, Romeo, was born. You separated from Ms Bradford when Romeo was one year old, but you maintained a friendly co-parenting relationship with her. In 2018, you say your drug use increased, and mental health declined due to an overdose of your best friend and as a result, your mother had to care for Romeo on your allocated weekends.

37Ms Bradford was diagnosed with terminal cervical cancer in 2023 and transferred to palliative care.  She passed away on 14 January 2024. I was told you relapsed into drug use after that.  Your mother now looks after Romeo and your counsel submitted you are motivated to return to the community to be involved as a father with Romeo.

38Your mother wrote a letter to the court which was tendered.[1]  She referred to the loss of your best friend from a drug overdose in 2019. She said you have suffered mental health problems since then and you have been heavily addicted to drugs.  She says you have a cycle of relapsing into drug use when people close to you have died, which has included your best friend, Vanessa Bradford, your father and grandparents, and there has been a cycle of returning to drug use in those circumstances.  She refers to your job as a pest controller and says that your drug use impacted on your ability to work. She says you are motivated to return and look after your son.  Vanessa Bradford had two other children with a different person and all three children are currently living with Ms Denman in order to keep the family together.  

[1]Exhibit “2”.

39A psychological report from Dr Aaron Cunningham, which was prepared in 2023, was tendered.[2] It was prepared for a previous matter. He describes you as suffering from Persistent Depressive Disorder; and says you have a 'tendency to fall into periods of hopelessness'.   

[2]Exhibit “3”.

40He says you were maintaining stable employment, but the cycle of drug use drugs, after personal crises has been the reason for your criminality. I accept drug use and personal issues have played a part, but I do not accept that your involvement in this offending was entirely due to those factors.  It seems to me you have been immersed in a criminal milieu and that was a significant reason for your offending in this case.

Criminal History

41You have a significant criminal history, which began in 2019 when you were in your late 20s.

42In February 2020, for trafficking methylamphetamine, GHB and some weapons offences, you were put on a Community Correction Order for a period of 12 months with supervision and various other rehabilitative conditions directed towards your drug use.

43On 1 February 2021, for car theft, dealing in proceeds of crime, possessing a controlled weapon and possession of a traffickable quantity of firearms, you were sentenced to two years with a non-parole period of 18 months.  You appealed that sentence to the County Court and on 19 March 2021 your appeal was allowed, and your sentence was reduced to 22 months with a minimum of 13 months. You were allowed 342 days of pre-sentence detention. 

44Ten days later, on 29 March 2021 for trafficking and weapons offences you were sentenced to a period of six months with two days declared as pre-sentence detention.  That sentence seems to have been concurrent with the appeal sentence from 19 March.  It would have delayed your eligibility for release on parole from the earlier sentence.

45You were released from these sentences on 1 September 2022, just short of two months before the current offences occurred.  I was told by your counsel you were released without supervision. Looking at your prison indent, it appears you were released at some point on parole late in 2021, but you breached parole and went back into custody in May 2022 and served the balance of your sentence.  You then went to live in the shed at Mr Handley's place where these offences took place.

46

After these offences occurred, you were remanded in custody on 26 December 2022 for drug offences and what appear to be driving offences.  You were ultimately dealt with at the Ringwood Magistrates' Court in October 2023 and you received a sentence of two years' imprisonment with a non-parole period of

15 months; 309 days was declared as presentence detention.  Again, you appealed and that sentence was reduced to one year with a Community Corrections Order. I have no idea how you are ever going to complete that Community Corrections Order because you have been in custody ever since and as I understand it, you have not started the Community Corrections Order component of that combination sentence.

47Your prior convictions indicate you have been immersed in drugs and criminal conduct for the last six years.

48You are not to be punished again for your prior convictions, but they are relevant to the need for specific deterrence and community protection, the assessment of your prospects of rehabilitation and your moral culpability for the offending in this case.

Objective Gravity

49In relation the firearms offences the seriousness of the offending is underpinned by your willingness and your ability to quickly arrange for potential buyers of the stolen firearms. You were able to arrange the attendance of your contact in relation to the antique firearm, and you sent another message to a different person telling them not to attend after the arrival of the police.  In relation to the Enfield rifle, the prospective sale was to a collector of antique firearms, so it seems that sale was not to someone who intended to use it for a criminal purpose. 

50In relation to the other two firearms your possession was for the purpose of arranging sales. The sale of the firearms did not eventuate through anything that you did.

51Ms Grunwald submitted the prior conviction involved possession of firearms for a criminal purpose and, therefore, that was a more serious example of the offence than this offence.  I do not think it is useful to engage in a comparison between your prior conviction and this offence, as to which one is more serious. The sentence you received on that occasion is not a benchmark from which to add or subtract. 

52On this occasion you intended to facilitate the sale of stolen firearms into the community which shows a preparedness to participate in an unregulated black market in firearms. The risks to the community from that illegal market are obvious and indeed illustrated by what happened to the Enfield when Mr Eydems sold it, and it was subsequently used in an incident in Warragul.  In my opinion, significant criminality and moral culpability attaches to your involvement in that offending

53Obviously, your conviction for possessing a traffickable quantity of firearms is highly relevant. You must have understood the gravity of possessing firearms given the sentence you received on the previous occasion and yet here you were attempting to sell these stolen firearms just shy of two months after you were released from prison.  

54That said, I have not overlooked that your possession of these firearms was for approximately one hour, and you were only involved in terms of the phone calls for around just short of 12 hours.  The prosecutor, Ms Thomas, described your offending in respect of the guns as quite serious, and I agree with that description. 

55The assault offence is, in my opinion, a reasonably serious example of recklessly causing injury.  As I said when sentencing Mr Handley, it occurred in an atmosphere of criminality where you turned on Mr Gilbert and enlisted Mr Handley to assist. The two of you were behaving like gangsters.  The offence was committed in company, a factor which elevates its seriousness. You are criminally responsible for all the injuries that Mr Gilbert sustained. He was in a very vulnerable position, being attacked by two men with significant weapons, for seemingly spurious reasons, in the middle of a criminal endeavour. The potential for him to be badly hurt, given the presence of the weapons, was very real.  You swung at his head with the machete, and he had to duck.  The potential for serious injury was extremely high from that act. The injuries he received were not insignificant. He had to be taken to a hospital and treated.

56You are much older than Mr Handley, who had the benefit of youth. He was 18 years old, you were 32, and you had only recently been released from prison.  In my opinion, you were the major offender. You started the argument with Mr Gilbert; you called Mr Handley in; you did most of the interrogating; you swung the first blow, and you used the most dangerous weapon. Because of those differences, I will impose a longer sentence on you for the recklessly causing serious injury than I did in relation to Mr Handley and the cumulation will be more substantial.

Subsequent matters

57You have further matters pending at the Latrobe Valley Magistrates’ Court next week which are listed for contested hearing, and I pay no regard to those matters.

58Your history does mean that although you have been in custody for the bulk of the last four years, you have less than a year pre-sentence detention to be credited to this offence.  I can hardly ignore the fact that you have been in custody for that period and that, if this matter had settled, there were opportunities for concurrency with other sentences.  That said, most of the reoffending occurred when you were released on bail and totality, whilst it has some role to play, is limited in these matters. But I do not ignore the risk that you are becoming institutionalised, and it is a moderating factor in this sentence.

Prospects of Rehabilitation

59The main factors in your favour in the assessment of your prospects of rehabilitation are as follows. Firstly, you were not an offender until your late 20s; so, you have in the past demonstrated that you can lead a productive offence free life.  You have family support.  You have a solid employment history and a skill (pest control). Your mother will provide you with a place to stay when you are ultimately released and you will be with your son. These are all protective factors.

60However, for the last six years you have been immersed in drugs and criminality. You have been a serious and prolific offender. The offences in this case indicate you made no effort to rehabilitate after you were released from prison in September 2022.

61I can take no more than a guarded view of your prospects, but your history does show you do some capacity rehabilitate.  The key to your rehabilitation will be curtailing your drug use.

Principles

62In sentencing you, general deterrence and specific deterrence must both be emphasised.  Those minded to participate in the black market for firearms must be deterred by significant sentences, and the sort of assault behaviour here that you engaged in also attracts, general deterrence, specific deterrence and just punishment.  Community protection too has a role to play given the prolific nature of your offending however, I must not lose sight of your rehabilitation in sentencing.

Totality

63The totality principle requires the overall sentence I impose to be just and proportionate to the total criminality of your offending.  However, in this case the assault was a quite separate offence and some not insignificant cumulation must be imposed to reflect the harm inflicted on Mr Gilbert.

64The non-parole period mitigates punishment in favour of rehabilitation, but it must be consistent with the objective gravity of the offending.  In fixing the non-parole period, I have had regard to your prospects of rehabilitation and indeed your progress on parole on the last occasion that it was imposed.

Sentence

65In relation to Charge 5 of possessing a traffickable quantity of firearms, you are convicted and sentenced to be imprisonment for a period of 22 months.

66In relation to Charge 6 of recklessly causing injury, you are convicted and sentenced to be imprisoned for a period of 12 months.  Six months of the sentence on the recklessly causing injury is to be served cumulative on the base sentence for the traffickable quantity of firearms on Charge 5.  That makes a total effective sentence of 28 months.

67I fix a non-parole period of 18 months.

68s6AAA, but for your plea of guilty I would have imposed a sentence of three years with a non-parole period of 28 months. 

69Pre-sentence detention of 345 days.

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