Director of Public Prosecutions v Ram

[2024] VCC 1233

IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA

Revised

Not Restricted

Suitable for Publication

AT MELBOURNE

CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

CR-23-01117

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

SHANAL RAM

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JUDGE:	HIS HONOUR JUDGE MAIDMENT
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:	30 July 2024
DATE OF SENTENCE:	13 August 2024
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Ram
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2024] VCC 1233

REASONS FOR SENTENCE

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Subject:Plea - sentencing

Catchwords:          Armed robbery - common law assault - commit indictable offence whilst on bail

Legislation Cited: 

Cases Cited:

Sentence:288 days' imprisonment plus 2-year CCO

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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the Director of Public Prosecutions	Ms B. Goding	Office of Public Prosecutions
For the Offender	Mr D. Rofe	Balmer & Associates

HIS HONOUR: 

1Shanal Ram, you have pleaded guilty to three charges on an indictment: firstly to an offence of armed robbery, for which the maximum term of imprisonment is 25 years; secondly and thirdly to common law assault, each in respect of assaults on your parents, for which the maximum penalty is imprisonment for five years.  All of the events occurred on the same day, 22 March 2023.

2You have also asked me to take into account and have pleaded guilty to a related summary offence of committing an indictable offence whilst on bail.  The maximum penalty for that offence is imprisonment for three months.

3You have admitted a number of prior convictions set out in your criminal history.

4The prosecution tendered and relied upon a summary of prosecution opening for plea dated 13 December 2023.  I am not going to read that.  Suffice to say that on the date of the offending, 22 March 2023, your parents returned home to find you in an aggressive mood.  You demanded money from them.  You threatened them with a knife.  You assaulted each of them and thereby committed the three offences the subject of the indictment.

5You were on bail at the time.  Therefore you committed also the offence of committing an indictable offence whilst on bail.

6There are no victim impact statements but I am informed that your parents would hope to see your continued rehabilitation and in that sense I am encouraged to proceed in the way that has been outlined in previous hearings.

7I have been provided by your counsel with an outline of submissions, which is very helpful.  I take into account all of the matters contained in that document.  That is Exhibit 1. 

8Exhibit 2 is a report from Marlese Bovenkerk, forensic psychologist, dated 1 September 2023, in which she says a lot about your background and your progress since leaving school. 

9You are now 36 years of age and you come from a Fijian/Indian background.  You did not do particularly well at school.  You do not have a history of serious mental illness but you have a long history of drug abuse and alcohol abuse.

10You have managed to accumulate a number of prior convictions.  You have a very bad driving record and some of your offences involve violence.  That is relevant to the question of an appropriate sentence.  A number of the offences also involve violence within the home and breaching violence intervention orders.  That is a matter of significant concern.

11I suspect that you have been very difficult for your parents to manage over a considerable period of time and that what occurred in March of last year is merely one in a series of events which are symptoms of your drug and alcohol abuse.

12Fortunately, you have ultimately decided that rehabilitation is a better course than continuing to offend and spending time in gaol.  You have been diligent in your response to the programs offered to you by Odyssey House during the last six months.  You had a bit of a false start at the beginning of the year but it seems clear that you have now settled into the Odyssey House rehabilitative programs.

13Obviously, from the letters from Odyssey House it is clear that you have the opportunity to walk out if you wish to.  I hope you do not.  I strongly recommend that you do not because unless you take this opportunity, having come this far and built on the work that you have done very successfully with Odyssey House, there is a very significant risk that you will be back before this court in a short period of time and be sent back to gaol.

14Overcoming the kind of drug and alcohol abuse that you have engaged in over a number of years is not something that can be done in a short period of time.  It is a matter that you will no doubt have realised needs to be worked on, in a sustained and systematic way.

15I congratulate you on what you have done thus far, and I think you have the capacity to continue.  You clearly have the capacity for work and the ability to settle down to a law-abiding and fulfilling life.  All you need to do is maintain your progress at the moment and get yourself back to a point where psychologically and physically you are capable of resisting the temptations of getting back into a drug and alcohol abusive lifestyle.

16You have heard many people say similar things too, I have no doubt, and me giving you a lecture from the bench today is not probably going to add a great deal to what you have already been told. 

17What I can do is say that if you come back before me, and that is quite a possibility if you were, for example, to commit an offence whilst you were on the community correction order that I propose to make, then you are very liable to be sentenced to quite a significant term of imprisonment because you will have spurned the opportunity that you are now getting.  Alright?

18OFFENDER:  Yes, Your Honour. 

19HIS HONOUR:  There have been people who have worked hard on your behalf.  It is now for you to show the guts and determination that is necessary for you to sustain the hard work that you have put in over the last six months.  Are you up for that?

20OFFENDER:  Yes, Your Honour. 

21HIS HONOUR:  Formally, I intend to sentence you as follows: the sentence that I impose for the offence the subject of Charge 1, armed robbery, is that I convict you and sentence you to imprisonment for 288 days.

22On Charge 2 of common law assault, I convict you and sentence you to imprisonment for 60 days.

23On Charge 3 of common law assault, I convict you and sentence you to imprisonment for 60 days.

24On the related summary offence of committing an indictable offence whilst on bail, I convict you and sentence you to imprisonment for 30 days.

25All of those sentences will run concurrently.

26I declare 288 days as time to be reckoned as served on the sentence that I have imposed and deducted administratively from that sentence, which means that from the term of imprisonment that I have imposed you are eligible for release immediately.  However, you are of course on bail and you are at Odyssey House.

27I propose in respect of Charge 1 on the indictment to also sentence you to a community correction order for a period of two years.

28I am going to read the conditions to you.  Listen carefully to the proposed conditions because I am going to ask you in a minute whether you, first of all, understand the conditions, and I suspect that you are well aware of the conditions that attach to all community correction orders, but nevertheless I will start with the other conditions so that you can understand the structure of the order that I propose.

29The period of the order is for two years.  It will commence today. 

30You will be required to report to the Community Corrections centre at Coolaroo, that is at 5/1640 Pascoe Vale Road, Coolaroo, within two clear working days of the order commencing.  That means that you will be reporting by phone as indicated in the report from Community Corrections finding you suitable for an order.  That will relieve you of the necessity of leaving Odyssey House.

31In addition to the mandatory terms, which I will go through in a minute, you must be under the supervision of a Community Corrections officer for the period of two years during which the order is in force.

32Now, so far as the treatment and rehabilitation conditions are concerned:

·     you must undergo assessment and treatment, including testing, for drug abuse or dependency as directed by the regional manager;

·     you must undergo assessment and treatment, including testing, for alcohol abuse or dependency as directed by the regional manager;

·     you must undergo any mental health assessment and treatment that may include psychological, neuropsychological, psychiatric or treatment in a hospital or residential facility as directed by the regional manager;

·     you must participate in programs and/or courses that address factors relating to the offending as directed by the regional manager. 

Now, that obviously could include the treatment that you are receiving at the present time, and I imagine that it would be essentially under the auspices of this condition that you will continue at Odyssey House, but that is a matter for the regional manager to determine.

33In addition, I would like to check on your compliance and I would therefore set a judicial monitoring date as being 12 November 2024 at 9.30 am, and that may be either by you attending in person or by video link, or indeed by phone if that becomes necessary.  I will have a report from Corrections about your progress and I would certainly like to hear anything from Odyssey House that they are able to tell me at that stage that is relevant.  We can review your progress at that stage and review the community correction order at that stage.

34Do you understand those terms and conditions? 

35OFFENDER:  Yes, Your Honour. 

36HIS HONOUR:  Now, I need to go through the mandatory terms of the order, that is those that attach to all community correction orders:

·     you must not commit another offence for which you could be imprisoned during the time that the order is in force;

·     you must comply with any obligation or requirement prescribed by the Sentencing Regulations, and that would include not turning up to appointments drunk or drug-affected;

·     you must report to and receive visits from the Secretary of the Department of Justice or his or her delegate;

·     you must report to a Community Corrections centre within two clear working days of the order starting, and that would be, as I say, by telephone in your case;

·     you must let a Community Corrections officer know within two clear working days of you changing your address or job;

·     you must not leave Victoria without first getting permission to do so from the Secretary of the Department of Justice or his or her delegate; and

·     you must obey all lawful instructions from and directions of the Secretary of the Department of Justice or his or her delegate.

37In addition, I should make clear to you that if you do commit an offence punishable by imprisonment during the period of the order, you are likely to be brought back before this court, it may well be before me, and you will be liable for further punishment, which may include a further term of imprisonment.  In addition to that you would be liable for up to three months' imprisonment for merely breaching the community correction order.

38Now, do you understand all those terms?

39OFFENDER:  Yes, Your Honour. 

40HIS HONOUR:  Are you willing to be placed on an order under those terms?

41OFFENDER:  Yes, Your Honour.

42HIS HONOUR:  I accept what you say and have endorsed the draft order with your agreement and consent to be placed on this order through the audiovisual link.  Do you understand that?

43OFFENDER:  Yes, Your Honour. 

44HIS HONOUR:  I have now signed the order.  Mr Ram, you will get a copy of the order from Mr Rofe.  That order is now in place. 

45But for your pleas of guilty I would have sentenced you to imprisonment for a period of three years with a non-parole period of two years.

46Are there any other matters that I have left out, counsel?

47MS GODING:  No, there's nothing further from the Crown, Your Honour.

48MR ROFE:  No, Your Honour. 

49HIS HONOUR:  Thank you.  Mr Ram, I repeat that I congratulate you for what you have done so far.  I know that it's not an easy road and I have seen plenty of people in your position before.  Some people succeed, some fall off the wagon, and I hope you can maintain the rage, stay on the wagon and lead a happy and fulfilling life from here on in.

50OFFENDER:  Thank you, Your Honour. 

51HIS HONOUR:  Thank you.

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