Director of Public Prosecutions v Rezaee
[2021] VCC 2000
•2 December 2021
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA AT MELBOURNE CRIMINAL DIVISION | Revised Not Restricted Suitable for Publication |
CR-20-01517
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| v |
| ASSAF REZAEE |
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JUDGE: | HER HONOUR JUDGE GWYNN | |
WHERE HELD: | Melbourne | |
DATE OF HEARING: | 25 October 2021 | |
DATE OF SENTENCE: | 2 December 2021 | |
CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | DPP v Rezaee | |
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2021] VCC 2000 | |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject:Criminal law
Catchwords: Attempt to pervert the course of justice; contravene personal safety intervention order
Legislation Cited: Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic)
Cases Cited:R v Buscema [2011] VSC 206; R v Healy (Unreported, Victorian Supreme Court of Victoria Court of Appeal, 4 August 1997); Rossi v The Queen [2021] VSCA 296; Worboyes v The Queen [2021] VSCA 169
Sentence:CCO of 4 years (150 hours community work, treatment conditions, judicial monitoring; Fine of $3,000.
APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the Director of Public Prosecutions | Ms K. Farrell | Office of Public Prosecutions |
| For the Offender | Mr P. Bloemen | Tony Hannebery Lawyers |
HER HONOUR:
1.Assaf Rezaee, you pleaded guilty on indictment to a charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice.
2.You had a co-accused, Samme Kharal, who pleaded guilty on indictment to attempting to pervert the course of justice and three charges of using a carriage service to harass.
3.You each also entered a guilty plea to a related summary offence of contravening a personal safety intervention order. That was a rolled-up charge in each case.
4.Mr Kharal was sentenced by me on 8 November 2021 and it was intended that you be sentenced on the same occasion, but you failed to appear and a warrant was issued. I understand that that warrant was executed on 1 December of 2021 and as a direct consequence you have now spent a day in custody.
5.In now being in a position to sentence you for your crimes, I am obliged to have record to the maximum penalties for the offences which you have committed. The maximum penalty for attempting to pervert the course of justice is 25 years' imprisonment. The maximum penalty for the related summary offence of contravening a personal safety intervention order is two years' imprisonment. These maximum penalties reflect the seriousness with which Parliament regards your offences.
6.As indicated, Mr Kharal was dealt with for charges of using a carriage service to harass. In pleading guilty to that charge, a maximum penalty of three years' imprisonment attached.
7.The circumstances of your offending were set out in a document entitled 'Summary of prosecution opening', dated 4 October 2021. This is an agreed document. It represented your acceptance of the elements of the offences to which you had pleaded guilty, as well as the factual basis on which I am to sentence. I have had had recourse to the full document.
8.I turn now to the offending.
9.In short compass, at the time of the offending, Simmone Palmer was a 53-year-old female struggling with alcohol addiction. She met Mr Kharal on an online dating site and later introduced you. He called himself Jake and he introduced you as Osmani.
10.Initially each of you and the victim would occasionally speak to each other on the phone.
11.By about November 2017 you each began threatening Simmone Palmer, telling her you would slit her son's throat, rape her, would kill police and kill her son. You told her you would chop her up and bury her in the forest. You threatened to kill a policeman.
12.You also began calling her ex-husband, Robert Palmer, and her son Nathan Palmer.
13.One night in November 2017 Robert Palmer started receiving calls from a private number. When he answered the first call no one was there. The next day he received another call from a private number and when he answered a male voice said 'Hi, Rob. How you going? Hope you're having a nice day.' He hung up.
14.From that point he received persistent calls from private numbers, sometimes a dozen in a row. He would not answer. Sometimes messages would be left on his phone. The messages were usually of his ex-wife and a male arguing or the male provoking Simmone Palmer.
15.One message included 'Hi, Rob. Simmone is really sorry for all she's ever done. She still loves you and wants you back.' To Robert Palmer, Simmone Palmer sounded upset in the calls. He found them disruptive and harassing.
16.Also in November 2017, Nathan Palmer answered a call from a private number on his phone. You could hear his mother yelling 'Nathan, don't answer private numbers, just hang up, hang up.' After that, he began receiving three calls a day from private numbers. These would occur both day and night. Every second call had a message left with it. Most of the messages had his mother speaking to someone else. To Nathan Palmer, they sounded like recordings and his mother sounded both unhappy and 'riled up'.
17.It was in early of 2018 that you and Mr Kharal visited Simmone Palmer's house. This was the first time you met her in person. On that occasion you offered her to buy her wine, cigarettes and McDonald's. She did ask you why you were making threats and you told her it was because it was funny. You would each order pizzas and taxis and have them sent to Simmone Palmer's house without her knowledge. This occurred on so many occasions that the local taxi company refused to let her book a taxi.
18.In February 2018 Simmone Palmer went to Telstra and changed her phone number so that you would no longer be able to call her. Somehow you managed to get her new number and the calls continued.
19.Since March 2018 you would persistently call her. If she did not answer, messages would be left such as 'Pick up, you dirty dog.'
20.Between 30 March 2018 and 16 April 2018, Mr Kharal called Simmone Palmer some 795 times. That was the subject of his Charge 3, using a carriage service to harass Simmone Palmer.
21.As a result of these phone calls and threats she became very frightened for her own safety and was concerned for her ex-husband and son.
22.Being so concerned, on 9 April 2018 Simmone Palmer attended at the Wonthaggi police station to report the offending. Police subsequently took a statement from her.
23.Between 26 November 2017 and 28 January 2018, Mr Kharal's phone records show that he made 18 calls to Nathan Palmer and 40 phone calls to Robert Palmer, and that was the subject of his Charge 1, use a carriage service to harass Robert Palmer, and his Charge 2, using a carriage service to harass Nathan Palmer.
24.When interviewed by police in June 2018, Mr Kharal denied any offending.
25.On 3 May 2018 interim personal safety intervention orders were made against each of you to protect Simmone Palmer. Final personal safety intervention orders were made on 8 June 2018, and these orders were served personally on you on 17 June 2018. They included a prohibition on communicating or contacting Simmone Palmer, approaching or remaining within 5 metres of her, and going to or remaining within 200 metres of her address. Apparently these orders were not taken seriously by you or Mr Kharal.
26.Between 15 November 2018 and 28 November 2018, you, Mr Rezaee, called Simmone Palmer on 101 occasions in breach of the personal safety order protecting her from you. Mr Kharal called her on some 64 occasions between 15 November 2018 and 27 November 2018.
27.It was on 19 November 2018 that Mr Kharal attended at the Werribee Magistrates' Court in relation to a charge of using a carriage service to harass Simmone Palmer, Robert and Nathan Palmer, and stalking Simmone Palmer. He was bailed on that date to appear on 21 November 2018.
28.That same day, one of you contacted Simmone Palmer. You both wanted her to write a letter to police saying that she wanted to drop the charges of stalking and harassment. You told Ms Palmer that if she did, you would bring her McDonald's, cigarettes and wine.
29.This contact was obviously in breach of the personal safety intervention orders in place with which each of you are charged, and, for Mr Kharal, also represented a breach of bail.
30.In furtherance of your intention at that time you attended at Ms Palmer's home later that same evening. With the knowledge of what Mr Kharal was going to ask Ms Palmer to do, you, Mr Rezaee, went out onto the balcony and smoked a cigarette. Whilst there, Mr Kharal asked Ms Palmer to write a letter saying that she wanted to drop the charges as otherwise you, Mr Rezaee, were going to get into more trouble with the police. She agreed to do it because she felt sorry for you.
31.It was Mr Kharal who told her what to write. Once she finished the letter, you both asked her to drop the personal safety intervention orders. You both then drove her to the police station in Wonthaggi to drop off the letter, which stated:
'Attention: Constable Cadman.
I would like to withdraw my statement of harassment and stalking charges against:
Samme Kharal
Assaf Rezaee.
Please forward a copy of this to court. Regards, Simmone Palmer.'
32.You both stayed in the car while Ms Palmer attended the Wonthaggi police station and handed a letter to police at about 11.30 pm on 19 November 2018. You then all attended at a petrol station and bought Ms Palmer a packet of cigarettes before driving her home.
33.After Ms Palmer wrote the letter you both continued to call her. She wanted you to stop. She had written the letter in the belief that she would then be left alone.
34.Charge 4, attempting to pervert the course of justice between 15 November 2018 and 19 November 2018 is particularised to include:
(a) contacting Ms Palmer by phone, requesting that she withdraw her original statement to police;
(b) attending at her address and convincing her to write a letter to police stating that she no longer wanted the charges of stalking and harassment to proceed against either of you; and
(c) that you drove Simmone Palmer to the Wonthaggi police station on 19 November 2019 to deliver the letter to police.
35.On 21 November 2018, Mr Kharal appeared at the Werribee Magistrates' Court in relation to those charges of using a carriage service to harass. On that occasion his solicitor provided the police prosecutor with a photocopy of the letter Simmone Palmer had written and his case was then adjourned. That continued use of the letter and the role he played in persuading Ms Palmer's compliance elevated his offending for this charge above that of yours.
36.On 22 January 2019 you were arrested, Mr Rezaee, and interviewed in relation to this matter. Mr Kharal was arrested and interviewed on 13 February 2019. He was on bail from 19 November 2018, and therefore during the time of committing the charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice, which therefore represented an aggravating feature to his offending. He, as a consequence, spent some 71 days in custody before being granted bail. I saw that fact as capable of acting as a sanction for his offending and deterrent into the future to some extent. Neither of you admitted your offending behaviour in your interviews with police.
37.I turn now to offence gravity and victim impact statement.
38.The purpose of a victim impact statement is to give those affected by your crime the opportunity to participate in the criminal justice process by informing the court about the effects of the crime upon them.
39.In her victim impact statement dated 6 December 2018, Ms Palmer speaks of living in fear and experiencing anxiety each time a no caller ID came up on her phone. Her sleep was affected and she remained housebound.
40.In her more recent victim impact statement, dated 9 November 2021, she speaks of her continuing fear and her experience of panic attacks and anxiety related to the offending against her. She has had to repair relationships with family members also impacted by the offending. Indeed, the effects of the offending on Ms Palmer have been enduring and exist now some three years post-the conduct ceasing.
41.I have had regard to the relevant portions of each of Ms Palmer's victim impact statements.
42.I have struggled to understand this offending. On the one hand, it is juvenile and immature. On the other hand, it is extremely serious and has had a profound and significant impact on your victim. Your behaviour was cruel and demeaning. You were well aware of Ms Palmer's vulnerability and you sought to exploit that for what appears to be your own amusement. You had no regard for her distress, which, in my view, would have been obvious to both you and Mr Kharal.
43.The calls to Ms Palmer particularly, as well as those to her other family members, were persistent and, as you have been charged, in contravention of court orders. You had multiple opportunities to rethink your actions, yet you did not. The history of offending against Ms Palmer and her family then set the foundation for the charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice. She was even more vulnerable to you by this time in her understandable desire to get you out of her life. This is, of course, the most serious charge.
44.The offence of attempting to pervert the course of justice embraces a wide spectrum of criminal conduct. It is an offence that strikes at the heart of the administration of justice and normally does require a term of imprisonment to be imposed.
45.Justice of Appeal Charles in the Victorian Court of Appeal quoted with approval a sentencing judge in the case of Healy (unreported, Victorian Court of Appeal, 4 August 1997), who observed:
'The administration of justice depends on the system operating so that people who commit crimes are pursued, are brought to court and are punished, and those who take part in trying to interfere with that system commit a grave injustice insofar as the community is concerned.'
46.In the decision of Buscema [2011] VSC 206, Nettle J referred to a number of circumstances which assist to inform the gravity of the offending. These include:
1)the consequence which the offending was calculated to avoid;
2)the time for which the deception was maintained and whether it was actively repeated or persisted in or merely allowed to continue;
3)whether the deception involved some other person, either as an accomplice or as a victim;
4)whether there was any threat of violence involved;
5)whether the offence was spontaneous or premeditated; and
6)whether the deception resulted in the deception of the court or the creation of false public records and, if so, the extent and consequence of that.
47.In this case your actions were borne out of your own self-interest and desire for self-protection. It was designed to avoid court proceedings, although there is no evidence that it did so. Whilst relatively short-lived and apparently prompted by Mr Kharal's appearance in the Magistrates' Court that same day, the offending remains serious.
48.Whilst I took the view Mr Kharal was more active than you, Mr Rezaee, you were still a willing participant.
49.In terms of the plea of guilty, each of you entered your pleas of guilty after sentence indication, a process which permits a judicial officer to give a defendant a general indication of the sentence that would likely be imposed if that person pleaded guilty at that stage of the proceedings. A sentence indication process can resolve some concerns about the likely sentence that may be causing a defendant to defer entering a guilty plea or electing to proceed to trial.
50.The sentence indication given by me on 22 September 2021 was that I would not impose a sentence of imprisonment that commences immediately from the time of any sentence occurring. This was taking into account a large range of matters that had been raised in both oral and written submissions at that time, including the nature of plea material that would be available.
51.The Sentencing Act obliges me to take into account the stage at which you entered your plea. A chronology of this matter would indicate that your plea was not at an early stage. Ms Palmer, her ex-husband and son were all required to give evidence at contested committal proceedings.
52.Nevertheless, your pleas do have utilitarian value. They did save this court the time and expense of contested proceedings and the need for the witnesses to again re-live events, which clearly Ms Palmer found traumatic and are now somewhat aged.
53.In the recent decision of Worboyes & the Queen [2021] VSCA 169 at [39], the Court of Appeal said:
'A plea of guilty entered during the currency of the COVID-19 pandemic is worthy of greater weight in mitigation than a similar plea entered at a time when the community and the courts are not afflicted by the pandemic’s effects. A plea of guilty during the pandemic ordinarily should attract a more pronounced amelioration of sentence than at another time…'
54.This was recently reinforced in the decision of Rossi v The Queen [2021] VSCA 296.
55.Your respective level of remorse may be a little harder to identify. Nevertheless, I take into account there is some remorse, and that the benefits of your pleas of guilty should be taken into account as I have just outlined.
56.In terms of chronology in delay, you seek to rely on the delay between being charged with your offending and being sentenced for it some three years later.
57.You and Mr Kharal were interviewed by police in June 2018 for making harassing phone calls and charged with such on 17 August 2018. The offending constituting the attempt to pervert the course of justice charge and summary offence of contravene personal safety intervention order occurred in November of that year.
58.You were each arrested and interviewed by police early in 2019, with a filing hearing held on 15 February 2019. Applications for summary jurisdiction were made by each of you and refused in late 2019.
59.A committal hearing in April 2020 had to be vacated due to COVID-19, but did finally take place in November 2020. At that time you were committed for trial.
60.Case management commenced in the County Court in April 2021, with a sentence indication as outlined in September 2021 and your plea hearings commencing on 25 October 2021.
61.I do accept that this has been a stressor for you, associated with the court hearings and possible outcome. That period since you were charged and sentencing also represents a period in which to assess your prospects for rehabilitation. Part of that assessment does require recourse to your prior criminal history.
62.In terms of Mr Kharal's personal circumstances, they were extensively outlined by me in his sentence of 8 November 2021, and that sentence is available.
63.In terms of your personal circumstances, Mr Rezaee, you had an admitted prior criminal history.
64.On 19 May 2020, you appeared at the Werribee Magistrates' Court in relation to charges of driving whilst suspended and driving whilst disqualified. You received a sentence of one month's imprisonment, which was then wholly suspended for a period of six months.
65.On 5 August of that year, you appeared at the Geelong Magistrates' Court, again in relation to a charge of driving whilst disqualified, as well as a charge of exceeding the prescribed concentration of alcohol. You were again sentenced to one month's imprisonment, which was also wholly suspended; this time for a period of 12 months.
66.On 19 September 2014, you were fined $500 by the Werribee Magistrates' Court for charges of possess cannabis and being drunk in a public place. This order was made without recording a conviction. You were fined $500 with conviction by the same court on 29 August 2016 for a single charge of recklessly cause injury. This would all appear to be relatively low-level offending and unrelated to the charges the subject of the indictment and the related summary offences of contravening a personal safety intervention order. It would appear that at that time, you at least some problem with alcohol.
67.On 7 August 2019, you were sentenced by the Werribee Magistrates' Court in relation to charges of using a carriage service to harass. One between dates charged of contravening a personal safety intervention order. And one charge of committing an indictable offence on bail. That offending related to Simmone Palmer, Nathan Palmer, and Robert Palmer. You were placed on two Community Corrections Orders for a period of some 15 months in total, which required you to complete 180 hours of community work. You are now in breach of each of those orders by way of non-compliance and contravention proceedings are listed later today. The contravention, of course, represents further offending, as does your failure to appear for sentencing on 8 November 2021.
68.In terms of your personal circumstances, you were born and raised in Afghanistan, your family residing in Kabul. You left after your father was killed by occupying forces. You have horrific memories of events witnessed in that context.
69.Your family fled to Pakistan when you were five years of age and resided there for a further nine years. In 2003, you came to Australia as a refugee when you were 14 years of age. Your transition to an Australian way of life would have been challenging, given that background and context.
70.You were educated to a Year 10 level. You managed to complete a Diploma of Information Technology. You also obtained a security license in 2011.
71.You have done your best to maintain a relatively consistent work history, initially working in sales for Harris Scarfe, Myer, and then Kmart. You then worked in a café and a factory before obtaining work as a crowd controller. Your work in the security industry came to an end in 2014 when you lost your security license. Since then, you have had jobs in pizza delivery and fruit picking.
72.Whilst a user of alcohol and cannabis in the past, I am told that neither are part of your life any longer. You are currently prescribed Valium for anxiety and depression.
73.Presently you are a carer for your mother and stepfather. Whilst no material has been tendered, I accept that they are both in poor health and that you play a daily role in assisting them, whilst at the same time trying to run your online business.
74.Your two brothers and sisters also reside in Melbourne and you enjoy a close relationship with your siblings. I accept that your family provides you with a solid support base. You cannot do the same for them unless you remain part of the community and offence-free.
75.Tendered on your behalf was a reference authored by Kathambha Maheswaran. She has known you for some 15 years and describes you as one of her closest friends. She says that you found your move to Australia challenging and that you have done your best to work hard to support yourself and your family. She describes you as kind-hearted and that you now appreciate the extent of your wrongdoing.
76.I have also had recourse to a reference authored by Ms Tracey Hellston. In difficult circumstances of her own, she has found you a reliable shoulder to lean on and describes you as both caring and compassionate.
77.Mutlu Bajramovski runs a construction company and describes you as a good friend. He also describes you as loving, caring, and honest.
78.Whilst each of your referees have known you in a different capacity, they all comment on your caring nature and reflect on a person vastly different to the man involved in the offending behaviour, where little care was shown for your victim. I do take your references into account.
79.In terms of your prospects for rehabilitation, Mr Rezaee, I am more concerned about your future prospects than I was for Mr Kharal. You have a recent history of failing to comply with court orders and have had some difficulty engaging in court or court-ordered proceedings. This has been made more apparent by your failure to appear for sentencing on 8 November 2021. The one day in custody at least might give you some idea about what might happen if there be future non-compliance.
80.I do accept that you face a number of personal difficulties in your life circumstances more recently, with the loss of a number of family members in Afghanistan, the need to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic when you do have parents in poor health, which may well have distracted you from court-ordered obligations. After today's proceedings, your court-ordered obligations will need to become a priority.
81.I now turn to the principle of parity. As referred to earlier, on 7 August 2019 you pleaded guilty to three charges of using a carriage service to harass Robert, Nathan, and Simmone Palmer, and were placed on a community-based order. Mr Kharal faced the same charges on indictment, which was reflected in Charges 1, 2, and 3.
82.The parity principle does demand that any sentence imposed reflects the differences in culpability and personal circumstances of co-offenders and avoids unjustifiable differences in co-offender sentences. You each appear to have played similar roles in relation to the charges of using a carriage service to harass and in breaching the personal safety intervention orders designed to protect Ms Palmer from both of you.
83.I have already commented on the elevated role Mr Kharal played in the charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice whilst subject to a bail order. Your criminal histories do not play a role in differentiating between the two of you. As I have said, I am slightly more concerned about your future prospects than I was for Mr Kharal's.
84.Given the sentencing indication previously given by me, each of your counsel did submit that the penalty imposed should not involve the imposition of an immediate term of imprisonment. It was submitted that you each be assessed for your suitability for a Community Corrections Order and I sought such assessments. Mr Kharal was assessed as being unsuitable for a Community Corrections Order.
85.You, Mr Rezaee, were also assessed and found unsuitable based on your compliance with court orders and lack of remorse. The assessor found that you showed minimal insight for your offending behaviour. She was concerned that you had poor compliance with corrections orders, including currently. You did not attend for the requested mental health assessment.
86.Section 37 of the Sentencing Act obliges me to seek an assessment when considering the imposition of such an order. The making of any order also requires the consent of the offender. I do not see the recommendations made in the assessment undertaken as a basis to form the view that you should not be subjected to such an order.
87.For you, Mr Rezaee, as indicated, I have greater concerns about your ability to comply with an order given your recent history and non-attendance. I do not form the view that that would prohibit me from placing you on a corrections order, especially in circumstances where, on my assessment of all relevant sentencing factors, it is where your punishment should lie. I say that, taking into account the context of your non-appearance and the subsequent charge of failing to appear.
88.In terms of sentencing, the basic purposes for which a court may impose a sentence are punishment, general and specific deterrence, rehabilitation, denunciation, and protection of the community. In sentencing you, I must have regard to a range of matters such as the seriousness of the offending, your culpability for it, your personal circumstances, and those of your victim.
89.In so doing, I need to balance the interests of the community in denouncing criminal conduct with the interest the community clearly has in seeking, where possible, to rehabilitate offenders and reintegrate them into society.
90.In terms of your history between this offending and now, I note that your reoffending involves breaches of court orders. I am not told there has been additional criminal offending besides those contraventions.
91.I have taken into account the relevant sentencing guidelines in s.5 of the Sentencing Act. I have taken into account current sentencing practices for the offences to which you have pleaded guilty and, importantly, the principles of totality, proportionality, and parsimony.
92.Courts do have more discretion in terms of choosing a sentencing disposition, which does enable all the purposes of punishment to be served simultaneously in a coherent and balanced way, in preference to the option of imprisonment, which is naturally skewed towards both retribution and deterrence.
93.I am of the view that a community corrections order can be punitive and hangs over an offender's head for an extensive period of time. It can achieve deterrence and can be suitable, even in cases of relatively serious offence, such as these, which might previously have attracted a medium term of imprisonment.
94.In terms of Mr Kharal's sentencing, in relation to Charges 1, 2, and 3 on the indictment, he was sentenced to a community corrections order of 15 months' duration, which was an aggregate sentence. He was required to complete 100 hours of community work. Given my assessment as to his prospects and the need for totality, the work hours imposed upon him were less than those that are imposed on you by the Magistrates' Court, which I was told was the same offending.
95.In relation to attempting to pervert the course of justice, Mr Kharal was convicted and sentenced to a community corrections order of two years and four months duration. He was also required to complete 175 hours of community work. For the summary rolled-up charge of contravening a personal safety intervention order, he was convicted and fined the amount of $3,000. His sentencing also took into account the fact that he had spent 71 days on remand.
96.In terms of your sentencing, I do take into account the wakeup call that you have had in a day's imprisonment. However, on Charge 4, attempting to pervert the course of justice, you are convicted and placed on a community corrections order of two years' duration, with a requirement that you complete 150 hours of community work. You are to be assessed for your need for mental health treatment and you are to submit for any recommended treatment. You are to be supervised by the Office of Corrections. 50 hours of treatment will be offset against the community work. For you, Mr Rezaee, I am minded to have judicial monitoring. I want to see how you go at the start of this order. I want to make sure that the Office of Corrections put in the help you need. If you are doing well with this order, the judicial monitoring will fall away. But I want to see you in late February next year. I will just have my associates obtain a date, because I think I have caught them by surprise.
97.For the summary rolled-up charge of contravening a personal safety intervention order, you are convicted and fined the amount of $3,000. Now, you should know, Mr Rezaee, but just in case, given your compliance with corrections orders, in addition to the requirements that I have just outlined, there are standard conditions. You cannot commit any other offences during the period that the Corrections Order is in place that could be punished by imprisonment; you need to report within two working days to your nearest Corrections office; you have to let your Corrections officer know of any change of address of where you are living or working and must do so within two clear working days; and it is also a requirement that you submit to visits as directed and obey all of the instructions of your Corrections officer. You cannot leave Victoria without their permission.
98.Now, the order can be breached if you do not do it. It can be breached if you reoffend whilst it is in place. If you do, you will come back before me for breaking the order. I will have to resentence you potentially on the charges and I will have to sentence you for breaking the order. I cannot place you on that order unless you agree to be placed to that order. Do you want to speak to Mr Bloemen for a moment to discuss that?
99.ACCUSED: Sure, Your Honour.
100.HER HONOUR: Okay. Well, just before, - I will take that break, Mr Bloemen, so that you can discuss it. In terms of s.6AAA of the Sentencing Act, that's a section that requires me to state the sentence that I would have imposed if you had not pleaded guilty to the charges. You, Mr Rezaee, would have been sentenced to 14 months' imprisonment, with a requirement that you serve eight months' imprisonment before you are eligible for parole.
101.So what I am going to do now is step out, let Mr Bloemen discuss the sentencing orders I intend to make and come back and hear whether or not you consent. Before I disappear, I will just check that there are not any matters arising that I will need to think about once I step outside. Ms Farrell?
102.MS FARRELL: No, Your Honour.
103.HER HONOUR: Mr Bloemen?
104.MR BLOEMEN: No, Your Honour.
105.HER HONOUR: All right. Well, I will stand down temporarily. Thank you.
(Short adjournment.)
106.HER HONOUR: Thank you, Mr Bloemen.
107.MR BLOEMEN: Thank you.
108.HER HONOUR: Have you had the opportunity to explain that order to Mr Rezaee?
109.MR BLOEMEN: I have, and Mr Rezaee has indicated his consent to Your Honour making such an order.
110.HER HONOUR: Well, he can indicate that to me, Mr Bloemen and Mr Rezaee?
111.ACCUSED: Yes, I do, Your Honour.
112.HER HONOUR: You are going to have to do this one, okay?
113.OFFENDER: Yes, I will, Your Honour.
114.HER HONOUR: Apart from worrying about the Magistrates' Court, you really do not want to come back here again.
115.OFFENDER: Yes, Your Honour.
116.HER HONOUR: And can I tell you, I do not want to sentence you again.
117.OFFENDER: Yes, Your Honour. I will do everything I can.
118.HER HONOUR: Complying with court orders, believe it or not, will end up making life a little bit easier than not complying.
119.OFFENDER: Yes, Your Honour.
120.HER HONOUR: And if the mental health component actually ends up helping you, that is a good thing for you and a good thing for your family.
121.OFFENDER: Yes, Your Honour.
122.HER HONOUR: I will just get that date for the judicial monitoring. 28 February at 10 o'clock. It is a Monday. Is that going to be okay?
123.OFFENDER: Yes, Your Honour.
124.HER HONOUR: You can connect in remotely for judicial monitoring at this stage. Once upon a time, I think it was two years ago now, people used to physically come into the court room and we would have a conversation, but that has changed during COVID and I will probably keep it that way so that you can connect in from wherever you are to make it easier than having to come in here.
125.OFFENDER: Yes, Your Honour.
126.HER HONOUR: But let me assure you, Mr Rezaee, I expect you connecting in at 10 o'clock on 28 February, and I expect to be reading a report from the Office of Corrections that tells me how good you have been.
127.OFFENDER: Yes, sure.
128.HER HONOUR: Understood?
129.OFFENDER: Understood, Your Honour. Thank you very much.
130.HER HONOUR: Well, I hope to see you then, and not before. Ms Farrell, can I thank you once again for your assistance, particularly being called upon at short notice?
131.MS FARRELL: Thank you, Your Honour.
132.HER HONOUR: And, Mr Bloemen, I offer you the same. Thank you for your attendance and attending at short notice. Otherwise, I am closing the court till what time tomorrow? 10 o'clock, thank you.
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