Director of Public Prosecutions v Reith

[2016] VCC 1552

IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA Revised
Not Restricted
Suitable for Publication

AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION  CR-16-00028

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

V

ROSANNE REITH

---

JUDGE:	HER HONOUR JUDGE WILMOTH
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:	12 October 2016
DATE OF SENTENCE:	12 October 2016
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Reith
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2016] VCC 1552

REASONS FOR SENTENCE

---

Subject: Criminal law- sentence             

Catchwords:   pleas of guilty to two charges of trafficking drug of dependence, one charge of theft and 4 summary charges: possess weapon, commit indictable offence on bail, contravene bail condition and deal in suspected proceeds of crime – low level trafficking limited to assisting packaging drugs – 31 year old woman- early drug use – related criminal history – violent marriage – separation leading to escalated drug use – children initially placed in grandmother’s care – youngest child intellectually disabled – offender gradually responded well to CCOs and CISP – remorse - compliance and no offending since new CCO in January – exceptional commitment to rehabilitation reflected in assistance given by offender to residential rehabilitation programs – undertaking diploma course with view to higher education – very good prospects for rehabilitation.

Sentence: 67 days imp (agg) as time served; 2 year CCO.          

---

APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the DPP	Ms C Hollingworth	OPP
For the Defendant	Mr W Barker	David Baresse & Associates

HER HONOUR:

1Rosanne Reith, you have pleaded guilty to three indictable charges comprising two charges of trafficking in a drug of dependence and one charge of theft.  You have also pleaded guilty to four summary charges: possessing a prohibited weapon, trafficking in a drug of dependence while on bail, contravening a condition of bail and dealing with property suspected of being the proceeds of crime.

2A further summary charge as Ms Hollingworth just said, which was listed as Charge 6, has been withdrawn in view of the pleas of guilty to the three indictable charges.

3You committed these offences in July 2015 at a time when you were on three sets of bail and living at an address in South Yarra, contrary to a condition of your bail that you reside at an address in Springvale.  That gives rise to summary Charge 11, breaching bail conditions.

4You were living alone at the South Yarra apartment which belonged to a friend.  He had provided you with a security swipe card which was registered to the apartment in which you were staying.  The card enabled you to gain access to the car park there.

5On 2 July at 1.38 am, you and a co-accused, Veronque Chang-Time used the security swipe card to gain access to a storage area for the apartment building.  At 3.42 am on that same morning, you were both seen on CCTV entering the mail room for the same block of apartments.  You used a screwdriver to break into a number of mailboxes and took the contents of the mailboxes with you.  That gives rise to Charge 3 on the indictment, the charge of theft.

6Police were notified of the thefts and as a result the swipe card was deactivated the following day.  On 5 July you called the apartment manager to complain that your swipe card would not allow access to the underground car park.  On 7 July police executed a search warrant at your apartment and found you there with the other co-accused Phuong Thi Le Tran.  She was the babysitter of your children from time to time when they were living with you.

7You told police you had been living there for the past two weeks.  A taser was located in the pocket of the jacket you were wearing when arrested.  That gives rise to summary Charge 9, possessing a prohibited weapon.

8Ms Tran was searched and found to have a ziplock bag containing 1.3 grams of methylamphetamine and $2,890 in cash.

9A locked box was found on your bed which, when unlocked, was found to contain a set of scales, two ziplock bags containing heroin and 11 vacuum sealed bags of methylamphetamine.  Rolls of plastic vacuum sealer were found in two rooms and a vacuum sealer machine was found plugged into a power board and switched on.

10The heroin, when analysed, was found to weigh 75.4 grams and to be 73-75 per cent pure.  The methylamphetamine weighed 185.6 grams and was 83-90 per cent pure.  These matters give rise to Charges 1 and 2, the charges of trafficking.

11Your DNA was found on some of the items. Various items of stolen mail were found in the apartment, relevant to Charge 3 as already mentioned.

12A number of other items were found in the apartment including a red coloured bag, an Apple Mac computer and a Crown card, a driver's licence and a bank card all belonging to other people.  These are the subject of summary charge 12, dealing in property suspected of being the proceeds of crime.

13You were remanded in custody until 11 September when you were released on bail with the condition that you take part in the CISP program which you completed successfully.  You spent 67 days in pre-sentence detention.

14At the committal hearing on 14 January 2016, following discussions, you pleaded guilty to the charges.  You had offered before this to plead guilty to the same charges but the offer had not been accepted.  Accordingly your plea can be regarded as having been entered at the earliest possible time and so you are entitled to a discount on your sentence for having avoided the expense and inconvenience of a trial.

15You are aged 30 and you are the mother of four young children, the custody of whom you share with their father from whom you are separated.  Your childhood was disrupted by your parents’ separation and as a teenager you began using drugs.  After some instability, you completed Year 10 at school and almost completed a hairdressing apprenticeship.  You were involved in a serious car accident and the injuries prevented you from working as a hairdresser for some time.

16Soon afterwards you married and your four children were born.  The marriage was unhappy, dominated by violence towards you and ended when your husband was unfaithful.

17Your state of mind deteriorated, your drug use escalated and you were unable to care for the children who were placed with your mother.

18It seems that the period immediately following that was very difficult for you and you were on a downward spiral, as your mother put it in her letter to the court.

19In October 2015, you were placed on a Community Correction Order for a consolidation of offending.  That order was imposed after you had completed a rehabilitation course at The Basin Centre but despite that, your compliance was sporadic due to relapse, and breach proceedings saw you back in court in January this year.

20I have omitted there to note that there was another community corrections order which was running at the same time.

21You were given the chance by the learned Magistrate and placed on another Community Correction Order and you have been compliant.  You had been able to complete the CISP program within a much shorter time than prescribed and that seems to signal the beginning of a much more positive period for you, which was no doubt recognised by the Magistrate.

22Having been released on bail for these matters in September last year, you began studying for a Diploma in Drug Counselling at Holmesglen TAFE and have been achieving very good results.  You hope to go onto further studies at university later and in the mean time you hope to work in this field when you graduate from the Diploma course.

23Mr Vito Doquille, a pharmacist and drug counsellor of many years' experience, gave evidence of your consultations with him beginning at The Basin in 2014.  Since last year you have been seeing him at his private practice each week and he is very impressed, not only with your progress but with your commitment to your wish to become qualified and to work in the field yourself.

24He described you as committed to overcoming your difficulties with drug use, chiefly in order to be a better parent for your children.  He referred to your volunteer work in speaking to residents in drug rehabilitation centres, specifically in relation to methylamphetamine and in helping to train staff who work with the residents.

25You have remained abstinent from drugs and have not committed any further offences.  You have mended your relationship with your brother who was in court to support you, as were your mother and grandfather, both of whom provided letters with details of their knowledge of your past difficulties and your efforts to overcome them.

26Two of your children now live with you, the youngest of whom has been diagnosed with an intellectual disability.

27The prospects for rehabilitation in a case such as yours are very important because the community has very great investment in the cessation of drug use and the reduction of offending or cessation of offending, which describes your own criminal history.  Your previous convictions are mainly for offences of dishonesty and drug use and possession, with no prior drug trafficking.

28Your pleas of guilty and your remorse as well as your insight into your drug use and the means of preventing relapse are all significant indicators of your good prospects.

29It is well known that relapse is unfortunately very common and is hardly surprising when it occurs.  It may be that you have already been down that path and that the risk of reoffending is very much reduced.  It follows that the need for specific deterrence is also reduced.  General deterrence remains important because others should be deterred from such offending by the imposition of an appropriate penalty.

30This type of offending usually attracts a prison sentence.  Indeed, the maximum penalties for trafficking and theft are 15 years and 10 years' imprisonment respectively.  The summary offences are also punishable by imprisonment: 2 years for possessing a prohibited weapon and for dealing in the proceeds of crime and also 3 months for the bail offences.

31That being said, you have been assessed as suitable for a new Community Correction Order which was urged upon me by your counsel and with which the prosecution took no issue.

32You have almost completed the Community Correction Order imposed in January and as I said before, you have been compliant since then.

33In relation to the indictable charges, I sentence you to a term of imprisonment of 67 days for the three indictable charges.  That is an aggregate sentence of imprisonment and I declare that time to be reckoned as already served.  I shall cause that to be noted on the court record.

34The new Community Correction Order, which applies to all the charges, begins today and it will last for two years. Convictions will be recorded for all charges.

35You will be under supervision and you must perform 100 hours of unpaid community work within nine months, you must engage in the drug treatment program to monitor your progress and explore possible treatment options and you must attend court for judicial monitoring from time to time.  I will explain more about that in a moment.

36You are very familiar with all these conditions and hopefully you will be able to comply as you have done in the recent past.

37The Corrections officer who assessed you today noted in her report that His Honour Mr Martin, the Magistrate, who sentenced you to the new order in January, noted in September during a judicial monitoring hearing that your response to the order was extraordinary and that your report was one of the most encouraging he has seen.  It may be that I will be able to note something similar at some stage during the next two years.

38You must attend the Ringwood Corrections Office at 2 Bond Street, Ringwood by 4 pm on 14 October and your obligations will be explained to you then.

39The prosecution seeks a disposal order for the drugs and related items and a forfeiture order for the cash and various other items, but I have not heard from Mr Barker whether that is consented to or not opposed?

40MR BARKER:  It is not opposed, Your Honour.

41HER HONOUR:  Thank you.

42MR BARKER:  Ms Reith  has an appointment tomorrow morning, Your Honour.

43HER HONOUR:  All right.  Well I will alter that so that it is the 14th.  She has got two working days but an appointment tomorrow in any event, so it probably does not matter.

44If you had pleaded not guilty to these charges I would have sentenced you to 6 months' imprisonment with a longer Community Correction Order.

45Now that order is ready for signature and perhaps Mr Barker, while you are having a look at it, I will look for a date for the first judicial monitoring appointment.

46I am going to have a look at early next year, Ms Reith, given that you are familiar with these orders.  You know what you have to do.  I do not need to see you for a while.  

47I will make it Thursday 16 March.  As you know, you do not need attend with your lawyer.  The prosecutor will not be here.  It will just be the Corrections officer and yourself.  So we will make it 9.30 that morning.  Would that be all right?

48OFFENDER:  Yes, Your Honour.  Yes, Your Honour.

49HER HONOUR:  That goes onto the order which will be printed in a moment, Mr Barker.  Take a seat please, Ms Reith.

50OFFENDER:  Thank you, Your Honour.

51MR BARKER:  May I approach the dock, Your Honour?

52HER HONOUR:  Certainly.  Are there any other matters?

53MR BARKER:  No, Your Honour.

54MS HOLLINGWORTH:  No, Your Honour.

‑ ‑ ‑