Director of Public Prosecutions v Ravanello

[2022] VCC 1889

IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA

AT Melbourne

CRIMINAL DIVISION

Revised
Not Restricted
Suitable for Publication

CR-20-01835

THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

NATHANIEL RAVANELLO

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JUDGE:	HER HONOUR JUDGE MARICH
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:	2 September 2022
DATE OF SENTENCE:	28 October 2022
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Ravanello
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2022] VCC 1889

REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject:Criminal Law

Catchwords:              Traffick drug of dependence, 1-4 Butanediol, Deal with proceeds of crime

Sentence:                  29 Days Imprisonment in combination with a 18 Month Community Corrections Order

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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the Director of Public Prosecutions	Ms F. Martin	Office of Public Prosecutions
For the Accused	In person

HER HONOUR:

1In relation to your charge of trafficking in a drug of dependence, I am going to convict you and impose a combination of 29 days' imprisonment and I will eventually declare 29 days' is pre-sentence detention, so you owe nothing by way of imprisonment. 

2

And I am going to require you to do a community correction order for 18 months, on condition that you perform 75 hours of unpaid community work; that you undertake treatment and rehabilitation for your drug addiction and for your mental health; and that you undertake supervision.  All hours that you spend in drug dependency counselling or mental health counselling will be credited towards your

75 hours of unpaid community work.  So you need to do further work, but your work can be on your mind and on your addiction, it does not just have to be picking up rubbish and so forth.

3In relation to your related summary offence of possess proceeds of crime I am going to convict you and fine you $750.  So that hopefully removed some of the stress of today's hearing.  And at the end of it I will ask you whether you are willing to enter into that order, because I cannot impose it on you unless you agree to it.

4In relation to my reasons.  You have pleaded guilty to two charges, one of trafficking in a drug of dependence on 16 July 2020, namely 1-4-Butanediol, which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years' imprisonment.  You have also pleaded guilty to a related summary charge, being in possession of proceeds of crime that is 23 and a half thousand dollars, which carries a maximum penalty of two years' imprisonment.

5I have received the benefit of a number of written documents from the prosecution that you have had a chance to have a look at.  And also a number or reports and references on your own behalf, and I have read and considered those very carefully.

6

In very, very brief compass.  On 15 July 2020 about 11.07 pm, we have police officers patrolling in Main Street in Thomastown, and they are approached by a male who said, 'There were two males sitting in a four wheel drive nearby' and the male directed police to that car.  The police parked their vehicle near yours, turned on their body camera and came and spoke to you.  You were in the driver's seat and your co-accused Omran Ramadam was seated in the passenger seat.  You provided your names and address.  You co-offender, Mr Ramadam, said,

'Look, I'm in breach of bail' because he was out after his curfew.

7

They searched the car and police found various drugs that your co-offender

Mr Ramadam admitted ownership of, and he was placed under arrest.  After police searched the rear passenger side seat of your car they located an Esky, and contained inside were eight plastic bottles containing a clear liquid, which was later analysed as being 1-4-Butanediol, which led to you being arrested and remanded into custody.

8Butanediol, as you may know of itself is not a drug of dependence that can be used the same way that ice or GHB could, but the drug plays an important role in the trafficking operation of manufacturing amphetamine and methamphetamine.  So, its value lies in the fact that there are purchasers and scientists that can use that to wreak havoc by producing amphetamine, methamphetamine and adding to the business of the consumption of drugs.  So, to that extent it is a dangerous and horrible substance, and your criminality lies in the fact that you were willing to transport that liquid, having that value as it did.

9You were interviewed by police.  You admitted frankly that you had pulled over the car to smoke ice and then there the police were.  You gave certain explanations in relation to the cash.  You admitted that you were then driving and owning the vehicle.  You said the GHB in the backseat was not yours and relation to the Butanediol, you said you did not know how the Esky got into the car.

10Police analysed the drug and found it to be the drug that I have named.  You were eventually charged with the offence that you are pleading guilty to as well as a proceeds charge which relates to some cash that was found on you.

11Your co-accused was charged and he pleaded guilty before another judge of this court.  Mr Ramadam as has been summarised this morning, pleaded guilty not only to the trafficking in the drug of dependence, which is the same charge that you share with him in relation to the substance, but also to a breach of his bail by not only committing this offence but also being in breach of his curfew conditions.  He had a prior conviction for drug offending.  He was a younger man than you.

12The sentencing judge took into account some of the matters I need to take into account, including the fact that there was a delay between the charge and sentence.  And the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic impacted both on the period of remand but also the relisting of trials by this court so that we provide a discount in sentencing I will just say, in those circumstances that the Court of Appeal tells us that we need to.

13He was eventually sentenced to nine months' imprisonment on his charge of trafficking in a drug of dependence, as well as other financial penalties on other charges including possession of a drug of dependence, commit indictable offence whilst on bail and contravene a conduct condition of bail.  He was also sentenced to gaol in relation to theft of a motor vehicle and retention of stolen goods.  But as you can see, while there are some similarities, there were also differences in your cases.  I have regard to the circumstances of his offending and the sentence imposed in the proper application of the parity principle.

14You pleaded guilty to this charge before me, and the prosecution has told me this was a plea that you offered very early in the piece.  I accept and take into account that you showed your willingness to enter a plea of guilty to trafficking in its simple form at the earliest possible opportunity.  And I also think that your plea is indicative of your remorse.  You understand you did the wrong thing.  It was stupid.  And happily you have managed to leave that life of addiction and the stupid decisions that come from it, behind you now that you have shown that you can be clean for over two years as you have.

15You were remanded into custody, and you spent nearly a month in custody before you were bailed.  And at that point, you put your life on a different track, to the track that it was on beforehand.  Now, I will just tick off the matters and make sure, as I have said I have taken into account the offence's seriousness, and I understand how serious this offence is in terms of the role that you played of transporting this drug for manufacture as part of your charge of trafficking.  I have taken into account your plea of guilty and your understanding of wrongdoing. 

16I have taken into account delay and the fact that you have managed to stay clean now for over two years.  I have taken into account the fact that you were remanded into custody at the start of the pandemic, the first six months, and that it was punishment of itself, but you also pleaded guilty at a time when the court is still experiencing backlogs.

Personal Circumstances.

17And this is where I can say that your circumstances are different from so many of the drug traffickers that come before me every week of my career.

18You were 26 at the time and you are now 28.  You are the second child of three siblings.  Your parents are both supportive.  Your father has an important job, and he has given me a reference in your matter.  And while you told me that your relationship with your father was strained at the time of your offending because of your habit, and your father's long work hours, and the fact that in childhood it was not always an easy relationship.  He has shown his support of you at a time when you have shown that you are able to go clean and do the right thing.

19Your mother has been loyal and supportive of you all the way through.  You have a supportive partner and your relationship commenced after you committed these offences.  She has supported you through these hearings.

20

I was told  about your primary schooling and the fact that you settled in Lancefield for your father's work and you experienced racial abuse in that community.  You moved periodically and you attended high school at

Salesian College where you were also bullied, including in relation to your brother's intellectual and mental health issues and also for racism, which upsets me very much.

21You were expelled in Year 10, for behavioural issues, which are unsurprising given that history and you told me about securing a carpentry apprenticeship at the age of 17, finishing that and working for various businesses as a freelance carpenter and labourer.  And I will get to the interaction in that career in a moment.

22I think it is worth mentioning, you have told me that you were especially close to your grandparents, your nonno and nonna, who passed away when you were aged around 13.  And how your nonno stepped up and became the predominant father figure in your life due to your father's busy work schedule.  And I think it is worth acknowledging the good work of your grandparents in steering you through this difficult period, including of bullying.

23Unfortunately, you have a prior conviction and this interrupted your career, which on paper otherwise looks very good.  You told me that, and I have the records about this, you were convicted of an armed robbery charge while resulted in a sentence of three years and nine months.  And you served two years.  After you were released in May 2016 you had some good patches, but also eventually, just before your commission of this offence, you ran into some difficulties and your drug use returned.

24Let us look forward though to what happened after you were released from custody.  You were a heavy user of methamphetamine which you have told me may or may not be linked with the fact that you were diagnosed with ADHD, and edicated as a teenager with medication including dexamphetamine, which is what is prescribed for that condition.  But you found that when you took methamphetamine that it managed to take the edge off the difficulties in focus and other difficulties that you experienced as a result of your ADHD.

25You have also told me that you experienced keratoconus which causes vision problems to you and that that life-long condition will require surgery in the future.  You told me about your drug usage and how it escalated and you told me went hard, going hard for three or four weeks prior to our offending.  And if you ever need a life lesson as to why you should try to resist ever using again, it is this offence.  And the fact that things had been going well and then suddenly everything escalated and here you are before me and you have had to come before me a number of times.

26

You spent your time on remand completing courses related to drug and alcohol counselling and other courses.  And I have the benefit of reports from the

Office of Corrections and the Australian Community Support Organisation in which you told them frankly, 'I'm an addict in remission.  I am always going to be an addict and I have to keep working at it.'  All of this is to your enormous credit.  I understand that people get drug addicted and I understand particularly that is sometimes linked to experiences of traumas and difficulties with family.  You have done a very good job at presenting the history in a way that I can understand it and take it into account.

27

Let us look at the last 18 months, which is why you have had these charges hanging over your head.  You have continued work as a carpenter.  You worked full-time in the months leading up to your Office of Corrections assessment,

six days a week, 55 hours, Monday to Saturday with an occasional Sunday for an employer.  And your employer is not aware of your offending.

28This is a skill that will see you all the way through to retirement.  I have to punish you and I have to give you a message that tries to stop you from returning to the same sort of offending as well as send a message to the community, that tries to stop people from being tempted to be involved in this sort of offending.  I also need to allow space for you to continue doing the good job of rehabilitation that you are doing.  Making good with your partner, staying out of trouble, working your butt off and showing the sort of person that I believe you to be, which is a good egg and not a bad egg.

29The Office of Corrections has told me that even though you are time poor you are interested in helping - getting help from them and in turn helping the community by staying clean.  So continuing the punishment side of things, I’m obliging you to do some unpaid community work even if it is done by way of your rehab courses, but also getting help from them in your rehab.  This includes your mental health as well as your drug addiction issues.

30So, in a roundabout way that is why I have come to the conclusion that I have.  Prosecution has reminded me not to lose sight of how serious these charges are and I do not for a moment.  They have also submitted and I agree with this, that a combination of custody and an order, like a CCO works well in your case to punish you, but also to allow for your rehabilitation and keep you out of trouble.

31Now as far as keeping you out of trouble, I need to remind you for the time of your community correction order, which will be 18 months from today, if you commit another offence punishable by imprisonment you have the unhappy occasion of having to come back before me where I will need to resentence you on this offence.  This has to be seen as a stay out of gaol opportunity that is in your hands.  You have shown me that you can and I have every faith that you can, but you take away my choice if we have to go back and for me to resentence you.

32

So, coming to my conclusion.  On your Charge 1 of trafficking in a drug of dependence, you are convicted, and I impose 29 days' gaol which you have previously served.  But I will then oblige you to go on a community correction order for a period of 18 months starting today.  You have to undertake 75 hours of unpaid community work over a period of

18 months.  You will need to undertake drug and alcohol abuse and dependency counselling including testing and treatment and mental health assessment and treatment.  All of the hours that you are undertake in treatment will be credited towards you unpaid community work.  You will also be supervised by the

Community Corrections Office.

33So, in relation to that community correction order, I can only impose it if you are willing to do it.  Are you willing to do it?

34OFFENDER:  Yes, Your Honour.

35

HER HONOUR:  Very good.  In relation to your related summary offence, I will convict you and fine you $750, we will speak no further of that, I find it secondary to your drug addiction and trafficking.  Now, my declaration under s6AAA of the

Sentencing Act

, actually ends up at almost the same point as

His Honour Judge Hannebery.  I will declare that had you not pleaded guilty to these offences, had you been found guilty following trial by jury, I would have imposed 15 months' imprisonment.

36I will order, it was disposal of the Porsche key and forfeiture, but I am not prepared to sign an order until I know that it excludes the watch that we were talking about.  And will the arrangement be that he can contact the informant for the smooth return of that watch?

37MS MARTIN:  Yes, and we'll pass that message back to the informant.

38HER HONOUR:  All right.

39MS MARTIN:  She's to assist or facilitate the return of that watch to Mr Ravanello.

40HER HONOUR:  That's fine.  So I'll sign the other forfeiture orders, that's just the natural process.  But you'll be able to get your watch back.  Now, is that everything that I needed to consider this morning?

41MS MARTIN:  Yes, Your Honour.

42HER HONOUR:  Thank you.  Do you have any questions for me before I let you go?

43OFFENDER:  No, just thank you.

44

HER HONOUR:  It's a pleasure.  Now, in relation to your order you will need to

attend - you will get a form which Mr Kemelfield will explain to you once we have a chance for me to sign it, I can hear it being printed.  You have to attend Broadmeadows Community Correctional Services, within two days from today.  So that will take you to - any time before Wednesday of next week.  That will kick off and they'll explain to you what the conditions are.  Could you please follow their direction?

45OFFENDER:  Yes.

46HER HONOUR:  The court will adjourn sine die please and I'll just wait out the back to sign the orders.

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