Director of Public Prosecutions v Price

[2020] VCC 2091

IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA

Revised

Not Restricted

Suitable for Publication

AT MELBOURNE

CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

CR 20-00427

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

MAUREEN PRICE

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JUDGE:	HER HONOUR JUDGE GAYNOR
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:	30 September 2020, 19 October 2020
DATE OF SENTENCE:	9 November 2020
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Price
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2020] VCC 2091

REASONS FOR SENTENCE

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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the Director of Public Prosecutions	Mr M. Cookson	Office of Public Prosecutions
For the Accused	Mr J. Williams	Victoria Legal Aid

HER HONOUR: 

1Maureen Price, you have pleaded guilty before me to one charge of arson.  The facts underlying your offending are as follows

2On 24 January 2017 you entered into an agreement with the Hampshire Property Group to buy an 80 per cent interest in a manufactured home on site 65 at Pelican Shores Estate in Clifton Avenue, Leopold.  The purchase WAs for $224,000.  Pelican Shores Estate is a caravan park retirement village. 

3The property group retained a 20 per cent ownership in the manufactured home which they purchased and installed on the site in January 2015.  You entered a residential site agreement with Hampshire Villages Pty Ltd to list site 65 which obliged that you pay monthly rent on the land and monthly utility bills in return for sole tenancy of the site.

4Hampshire Villages Pty Ltd is associated with the Hampshire Property Group Pty Ltd and is the company which manages the operation of the Pelican Shores Estate. 

5On 1 November 2018 you were issued a notice to vacate because of a history of failing to pay the rent and this required that you vacate site 65 by
22 November 2018.  As at 23 November 2018 you had failed to vacate the site and the company then applied to VCAT for order of possession of the site which proceeded on 17 December 2018, and an order being made requiring that you vacate the site by 23 January 2020.

6Between 8 January and 23 January 2019, there were a large number of communications between you and the Hampshire Property Group where you asked the group not to enforce the VCAT order and instead allow you to continue to live at the site, however the property group told you that you were required to vacate the site by 23 January 2020.  By 24 January 2019 you were no longer living at the site but had a large portion of your personal belongings and property still inside the manufactured home.

7At 6.30 on 28 January 2019, you went to site 65 in your car and your neighbour Catherine Jordan who was watering her garden outside asked you whether you had come take some furniture to which you replied yes and you went inside the home there.  Soon after you sent a text message to your friend Susan Peterson asking her to come over, Ms Peterson also being a resident of the Pelican Shores Estate.

8She went around to your house and found you sitting alone in the lounge room with all the lights off, with two candles lit on top of a cupboard.  You were drinking wine and seemed to drunk to Ms Peterson. At one point you were sharpening a knife and threatening to harm yourself.

9Ms Peterson stayed with you for about one and a half hours and before she left suggested you should have a shower and go to bed.  You promised you would and
Ms Peterson left the property.  Soon after you went to the south bedroom of the home and used an unknown source of ignition to light a fire at the foot of the bed.  You did not put the fire out once it was lit and you did not call the fire brigade.  These actions underlie Charge 1 on the indictment.

10Ms Jordan was in the lounge room of her own property next door when she heard the sound of smashing glass at about 9.30 and a bang coming from your site, woke up her husband, looked outside and saw flames coming from the property.  She called 000 and went outside and saw you sitting across the road from the site with a glass in your hand.  She went up to you and asked what you had done and you had said, 'They're taking my house' and looked dazed.     

11Mrs Jordan and her husband tried to put out the fire but their hose was not long enough to reach and they went back inside their house and closed all the doors and windows to stop the fumes from getting inside.  While this was happening, other residents of the Pelican Shores Estate came out to see what was going on.

12Ms Peterson received a call from one of your neighbours alerting her to the fire and she walked back to your site and saw that you were standing outside with several other people and went up to you and asked what was happening but you did not say anything.

13Angela Adams, another resident of the Pelican Shores Estate, noticed the fire trucks, walked outside and met a further resident, Cheryl Greenwood, and her husband and another resident, Delphine Rogers.  That group walked to the fire.  She saw you standing on the road speaking to two other women and heard you say in a very loud voice, 'I lit the bloody thing and they're not going to get anything of mine.'  At this stage you had a half-full tumbler in your hands and you seemed to her to be affected by alcohol.

14Another neighbour Christine Partington also went to the area, saw Mrs Jordan who was very upset, and whom she asked where you were and heard Ms Jordan say to you, 'Why have you done this?  We've done you no harm'.  Then she was ultimately confronted by you who yelled into her face, 'This is what happens when you treat people like this'.  Delphine Rogers also overheard you saying to an enquiry by another person, 'How did the fire start?' that you had lit the fire.

15Mrs Rogers went back to her own unit, came back to site 65 and noticed you sitting with two other women up the street from your unit and overheard you say, 'I am going to come back and burn down the community centre'.

16Cheryl Greenwood, another resident of the Pelican Estate, also said that she saw you standing opposite the house on the edge of the road with a glass in your hand and  that you appeared affected by alcohol.  She gave you a hug and asked if you were okay and asked what you had done, and you told her that you had set fire to the house by setting alight some cushions.  She asked you why and you said, 'Because the bastards have taken my house and screwed me over'.

17Eventually emergency services came to the scene and put the fire out.  You were arrested by police at the scene.  You were lodged in the cells because police decided you were too intoxicated to be interviewed.  You were interviewed the next morning but you denied the allegations.

18There was a forensic analysis of the scene.  It was noted that there was a smoke detector on the floor which appeared to have been previously fitted in the hallway outside the bedroom, but this seemed to have been removed prior to or in the very early stages of the fire.  There was substantial fire damage in the southern bedroom of the home and on analysis of the fire damage, there was a pattern of damage which was to be expected from a single area of origin at the foot of the bed, although it was not possible to exclude multiple points of ignition within the area.

19The damage to the wardrobe located near the foot of the bed was significantly less then the damage to the foot of the bed and the shelves were in relatively good condition, so the expert opinion was that it was highly unlikely that the fire originated within the wardrobe.

20The origins of the fire were not able to be determined in terms of its source of the ignition but in the absence of any apparent source of accidental ignition it was concluded it was probably ignited directly either by a match or a cigarette lighter.

21Initially this matter was set down for trial but it was resolved at an emergency conference hearing where there was an indication of sentence.  As I understand it, the plea is entered by you on the basis that whilst you have no recollection of the fire starting probably because of the influence of alcohol at the time, you do accept that you intentionally lit this fire.

22I now turn to your personal circumstances.  You are now 55 years of age and you have no prior convictions.  A report was tendered on the plea from a Geoffrey Cummins.  This report was dated 11 September 2020.

23He described you as immediately presenting as a cooperative, intelligent and engaging interviewee.  You are now living with your parents in Safety Beach along with your sister and your niece.  You are the eldest of three children, raised by your parents.  You described a happy family life and you described a close relationship between your parents. 

24You went to school in Glenroy, then to Santa Sofia Catholic College after which you did a year of Art course at Glenroy Tech followed by a further year at Preston Tech.  You left school at 15 to work at Coles in Brunswick for between two and a half and three years.

25You then went back and completed Year 11.  You went to RMIT and completed two years of studies in Visual Merchandising.  After that you studied Arts and Graphics at various TAFE courses.

26Your first work after finishing your studies at RMIT was with McCann Ericson Advertising where you worked for three years, then you worked as freelance for several years in branded focused work.  For about 13 years you worked in the video industry and then you worked for Premier Home Videos and then for Network Entertainment, and for 21st Century Pictures.  During that time you held the position of State Manager.

27You then worked in graphic design for the Herald Sun for 14 years ceasing that work when you were about 45.  You then worked in the real estate industry for three years which came to an end when you suffered a grand mal seizure for the first time and were precluded from driving.

28You then worked as a telemarketer for Great Engineering, working there for 12 months.  Just prior to commencing this work, when you were about 50, you sold your house in Yarraville and used the proceeds of that to buy the premises in Pelican Shores Estate.

29Shortly after moving to Geelong you had a number of jobs including working in sales for Dymocks, selling appliances for Harvey Norman and you did cleaning work for CSIRO and Aldi.  These were all part time jobs.

30Over many years you have worked in the television industry as an extra in television productions. 

31When you ceased work in Geelong, about two years ago, you were in the receipt of the Job search allowance.  You are now a carer to your mother.

32While working at the Herald Sun you suffered a work related injury which was a back injury including bulging discs and two perforated discs and you have never had surgery for this, although you do take medication for it.  You received $10,000 worker’s compensation from the Herald Sun.  You were prescribed Epilim after your grand mal seizure.

33You have never been in the habit of abusing prescription medication.  You have never experimented will illicit drugs.  You were a social drinker of alcohol until about four years ago when you dated and married a man named Tim and this appears to be a major factor in my view, leading to the state you were in at the time that this offending occurred.

34You married very quickly, then you separated about 11 months later.  He cleaned out your bank account including superannuation.  He was himself a drinker.  You told Mr Cummins that essentially he forced you into drinking.  You said to Mr Cummins that for a while you believed that you were an alcoholic.  As at the time of the fire you were drinking every day.  The situation now is, according to your counsel, you drink very little indeed.

35You also told Mr Cummins that shortly after living at the Pelican Shores Estate you became a regular gambler playing the pokies, drinking at the same time and that you spent about $100 every two weeks.  You have ceased that activity. 

36Mr Cummins stated, 'At interview she became obviously upset when talking about her history of failed and complicated intimate relationships.'  Between the ages of 15 and 21 you dated a Lebanese man who was two years your senior and he eventually became physically and mentally abusive towards you.  You then had a relationship with a man for three years who was cannabis dependent.  You then dated another man Joe, who was separated with children and that relationship ended because friends criticised him as he was about nine years older than you and they felt it was inappropriate.  You said this relationship was heartbreaking for you.

37You married a man named Frank.  That relationship essentially broke up when you were 32 because you were still in love with your previous partner.  You then dated a man called Rick who was a property developer and he convinced you to sell the house you then owned in Newport with a view to purchasing and renovating a restaurant.  He disappeared and took all your money and then ultimately, as you said, you ended up with this man Tim to whom you were married and again suffered devastating financial loss as a result of your relationship with him.

38You have had a very difficult mental health history as a result of the incidents I have outlined.  You made a suicide attempt in 2016 and on that occasion were admitted to the acute psychiatric ward at the Footscray Hospital.  This was after the end of your relationship with Tim.

39Essentially you told Mr Cummins as a result of that relationship, you ended up in debt and a heavy drinker of alcohol.

40Around Boxing Day of 2019, you overdosed on medication.  You were apparently at that time under the influence of alcohol.  You described both of those suicide attempts as cries for help.

41It would seem that in the circumstances leading up to what I accept, given your hardworking and offence-free history, the context of the traumatic aftermath of your last relationship, the development of what you frankly described was an alcohol addiction and then the loss finally of your home in service of a notice.

42Essentially you were described by Mr Cummins as having what he called a well-documented mental health history.  You have been diagnosed with depression and possible post-traumatic stress disorder.  You are currently medicated with anti-depressant medication.  He stated that:

'Based upon my assessment of Ms Price, it is my opinion she has suffered from a major depressive disorder which has been recurrent in type and moderate severity since she was diagnosed with epilepsy.  Further it would appear that she was first diagnosed with symptoms of depression four to five years prior to that time.  It is further my opinion that she now has developed symptoms of PTSD'.

43He also said that:

'This has been exacerbated by the fire.'

44He stated:

'In my opinion she actually suffers from complex PTSD because some of her PTSD symptoms including flashbacks and negative ruminative thinking also relate to previous failed relationships and significantly for nearly 20 years she had declined to date any male because she had been so traumatised by her being financially deceived by her partner.  It is therefore my opinion at the time of the fire on 28 January 2019 she was suffering from a major depressive disorder and from some symptoms of a complex PTSD related to earlier failed relationships and that she is now also suffering from symptoms of PTSD triggered by the actual fire and the consequences for her in relation to that fire.'

45He noted that you are now a controlled drinker of alcohol, that you are no longer dependent on gambling. It was his view that you were dependent on alcohol at the time of the fire to an extent that would have attracted the diagnosis of alcohol use disorder.

46He stated:

'In my opinion her level of dependency on alcohol at the time of the fire was such that at times her behaviour would have been disinhibited as a result of her level of intoxication on alcohol'.

47It was also his view that if you were gaoled your mental health would inevitably deteriorate and certainly it was his view that you would find service of a term of imprisonment more difficult than the ordinary person.

48I am satisfied you have undertaken a number of steps of your own volition to rehabilitate.  As I have already stated, you have attended to you drinking problem.  You have attended to your gambling problem.  You are now living in a supported environment.  You are a carer to your mother who suffers a number of disabling conditions.  You have, as I have said previously in my sentencing remarks, an impressive and prosocial history of work and personal responsibility.

49You have had a difficult history in terms of relationships and I am satisfied that at the time of this offending, you were indeed suffering from the effects of mental illness in the way described by Mr Cummins, combined with an alcohol abuse disorder.

50I am satisfied that you now pose little, if any, danger to the community.  I am satisfied you have very strong prospects of rehabilitation.

51I also accept that you were in particular distress not only because of the demise of the relationship, the loss of your savings for the second time in your life, the alcohol dependence which I am satisfied was bedevilling you at the time, but also particular to stress relating to the loss of your premises.

52Indeed the loss, this fire, and your offending have had what is called an extra curial effect.  That is, you have lost a large part of your belongings in this fire.  It was quite clear from what you said, of which I accept you have very little recollection, two other persons attending at the fire on that night, that you were very much intoxicated on that night and I accept that your plea is based on the premise that you cannot recall the incident but accept that you must have intentionally started this fire in the context of all the difficult surrounding factors that I have outlined, including a particular feeling of grievance against the owners of the site.

53You told Mr Cummins that at the time the fire occurred you were feeling depressed and angry.  You felt that the property company was behaving like a bully.  You made offers to pay them, which they would not accept.  You were in a state of some anger towards the owners of the land on which your property stood.

54The prosecution submitted that I should deal with you by way of a term of imprisonment but I am not satisfied that this is an appropriate disposition in your case. Section 5 of the Sentencing Act makes it very clear that a court should only impose a term of imprisonment if it is of the opinion that a community corrections order is not appropriate.  I am not so convinced.

55As I have said, in my view this was uncharacteristic offending by you, a woman at the age of 55 who has presented before this court with no history, either previously or since this offending.  As I have said, you have acted responsibly in terms of determining the problems of drinking and gambling in your life.  You have sought to deal with them off your own bat, if I can put it that way.

56This is always encouraging for a court.  It means that you are insightful as to your condition and that you are a responsible person, because you have attended to your problems rather than a court ordering you to.

57I note that when you were assessed for placement on a community corrections order, during what appears to have been perhaps some mixed communication between you and your assessing officer, it was determined that you believed you had not started a fire in the way that was alleged by the prosecution and which I am satisfied that you now accept. 

58The Corrections assessing officer was understandably concerned about the efficacy of such an order given that any rehabilitative conditions would involve treatment whereby you had to accept the intentional nature of your actions.  I was assured unequivocally by your counsel, Mr Williams, that you do accept that you intentionally lit this fire.

59In those circumstances, it is my view that because, as I have said of your previous strong history, subsequent rehabilitative actions you have already undertaken, the protective environment which you live, it is appropriate that I place you on a community corrections order.

60I should also add that in terms of general deterrence and the requirements that the courts respond to serious offending such as this in a way which sends out a message to other would-be offenders as to what they can expect if they offend in this way that it is well-established by the authorities that a community corrections order does have the capacity to enact that principle.

61In other words, a community corrections order is both a punitive and rehabilitative order.  It means that persons like yourself who behave in an uncharacteristically criminal fashion but do so for reasons such as a mental health or substance abuse disorder arising from mental health difficulties, can be dealt with in a dual track way, both by way of rehabilitation and by way of punishment.

62A community corrections order requires an undertaking that there will be no further offending, and if there is, within the life of that order, then that person is brought back before the court and dealt with more sternly for failing to have taken the opportunity given to them.  This is one of the punitive aspects of a community corrections order that is very important. 

63Essentially it means a person is not out of the woods until they have satisfactorily completed a community corrections order and the conditions attached to it.  Until then they remain in danger of being gaoled for this offending.  It is essentially an opportunity given to persons such as yourself to prove themselves, to rehabilitate themselves further, but with the Damocles sword hanging over their head if you like, so that if they fail to comply with the order, and that includes failing to remain offence-free, they still face gaol.

64In all of the circumstances therefore, I have determined as I have said, that you should be placed on a community corrections order.  Before I can do so, Ms Price, I must obtain your consent, and therefore I must outline to you the conditions that attach to this order.

65They are:

66You must report to the Community Corrections office within 48 hours of the making of this order.  That means by Wednesday of this week;

67The order will last for a period of two years.  Whilst on this order you must not commit any offence punishable by imprisonment.  Now that does not mean you have to be gaoled if you reoffend.  That means if you commit an offence for which theoretically could be gaoled, something as small as stealing a box of matches from Woolworths, theoretically you can be gaoled for that, if you commit that sort of offence, you will be brought back before the court and you will be re-sentenced on this arson; do you understand?

68Whilst on the order you must report any change of address or employment within 48 hours of the making of that change;

69You must not leave Victoria without the permission of the Community Corrections office;

70You must report to and receive visits from the Community Corrections office;

71You may not attend upon the Community Corrections office under the influence of drugs or alcohol;

72You must obey all lawful directions of the Community Corrections office.

73I am going to order special conditions:

74The order will last for two years and whilst at the moment Corrections is not running unpaid community work, that may change in the future.  So I am going to order you to undertake 150 hours of unpaid community work;

75You are to attend for assessment and treatment for alcohol use and you are to attend for assessment and treatment for mental health difficulties;

76I am also going to order judicial monitoring.  What that means Ms Price, is that in a few months' time you will come back in front of me in an informal hearing where I will have a report from Corrections detailing your progress of the order.  All right.

77Are you prepared to enter this order?

78OFFENDER:  Yes.

79HER HONOUR:  Thank you very much.  I think March next year will be sufficiently soon.  We will just get you a date, Ms Price, all right. 

80MR COOKSON:  Pardon me, Your Honour, I didn't quite catch it.  It was supervision ‑ ‑ ‑

81HER HONOUR:  No I'm not going to order supervision.  I regard, as I think I have made very clear, Ms Price to be ordinarily a responsible, efficient person and I do not think she requires - she does not strike me as the sort of person that requires that more intensive level of involvement by the corrections order in order to make sure she complies by the conditions.

82MR COOKSON:  If Your Honour pleases.

83HER HONOUR:  Thank you.  Yes. 

84ASSOCIATE:  I have 1 March at 9.30.

85HER HONOUR:  Yes, thank you.  So the judicial monitoring will occur on 1 March 2021.  I give permission for that to occur by way of video link from the Community Corrections office on that date if you require.  All right, thank you.

86Now I think because I have - do I need to do a s.6AAA declaration?  I think if I do a two year order, I do have to. 

87MR COOKSON:  I believe so, Your Honour, I will confirm that.

88HER HONOUR:  Thank you.  I also wish to add that whilst your plea was not necessarily an early one, I also understand the difficulty of you accepting that you had behaved in such an uncharacteristic and destructive way, particularly in relation to your own belongings.  I understand that a very large percentage of what you owned in the site was destroyed in that fire.

89MR COOKSON:  Your Honour is correct.  Section 6AAA is required for two years or more.

90HER HONOUR:  Thank you.  Pursuant to s.6AAA I declare that had you not pleaded guilty, I would have sentenced you to a term of imprisonment of 3 years and order that you serve a minimum term of 18 months.  Thank you very much.  Is there anything else I need to attend to?

91MR COOKSON:  Nothing on my end, Your Honour.

92HER HONOUR:  Good.  Thank you very much.  Yes, I thank counsel very much for their assistance.  Thank you.

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