Director of Public Prosecutions v Ritter (a pseudonym)
[2025] VCC 1014
•17 July 2025
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA AT MELBOURNE CRIMINAL DIVISION | Revised Not Restricted Suitable for Publication |
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| v |
| BRADLEY RITTER (A PSEUDONYM) |
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JUDGE: | Karapanagiotidis | |
WHERE HELD: | Melbourne | |
DATE OF HEARING: | 19 June 2025 | |
DATE OF SENTENCE: | 17 July 2025 | |
CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | DPP v Ritter (a pseudonym) | |
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2025] VCC 1014 | |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject:CRIMINAL LAW - Sentencing
Catchwords: recklessly causing injury – false imprisonment – rape – possession of a drug of dependence – possess prohibited weapon – possess schedule 4 poison
Legislation Cited: ss 5(1), 6AAA Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic)
Cases Cited:Jurj v The Queen [2016] VSCA 57; DPP v Conos [2021] VSCA 367; Skeates (a pseudonym) v the King [2023] VSCA 226; Lerardo v The King [2024] VSCA 181.
Sentence: Total effective sentence of 8 years and 2 months imprisonment, non-parole period 5 years and 2 months.
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APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the DPP | Mx C. Rattray | Office of Public Prosecutions |
| For the Accused | Mr S. Thomas | James Dowsley & Associates |
HER HONOUR:
1Bradley Ritter,[1] you have pleaded guilty to one charge of recklessly causing injury, one charge of intentionally causing injury, one charge of false imprisonment, one charge of rape and one charge of possession of a drug of dependence.
[1] A pseudonym.
2You have also agreed to this Court hearing, and have pleaded guilty to, three summary charges of possess prohibited weapon (a sword (9); a laser pointer (10); a taser (18)) and one summary charge of possess a schedule 4 poison, (19).
3The full circumstances of your offending are outlined in the prosecution opening of 5 June 2025, marked as Exhibit A. This constitutes the factual basis upon which I sentence you.
Circumstances of the offending
4You were aged between 31 years and 35 years at the time of the offending.
5The victim in this matter is Emilia Crane,[2] was aged between 24 years and 28 years at the time of the offending.
[2] A pseudonym.
6At all material times throughout the periods of offending, you and Ms Crane were married and resided together at addresses in Glenthorne Drive and then Lymington Street, Keysborough. You met in 2019/2020, commenced a relationship and married on 20 August 2020. Ms Crane had migrated to Australia from Taiwan. During your relationship you would speak English with Ms Crane to assist her in learning the language and the two of you would sometimes also use a translation application to assist in your communications.
7The relationship was good until the COVID-19 lockdowns commenced in 2020. During the lockdowns, you both started arguing, causing tension in your relationship. You began drinking more heavily. Ms Crane told you that she did not like you drinking as your behaviour changed. You talked more aggressively and used threatening body gestures. At times your behaviour caused Ms Crane to leave the house to get away from you as she feared that if she stayed you would become increasingly angrier and may hurt her.
8At some point during your relationship, Ms Crane fell unconscious due to severe pain and was taken to the Dandenong Hospital emergency department where she received emergency surgery for an ectopic pregnancy resulting in the removal of one fallopian tube. Following this, you and Ms Crane fought about the use of contraception during sexual intercourse. She wanted you to wear condoms during intercourse, but you refused.
28 December 2020 – charge 1 (causing injury recklessly)
9At some time on 28 December 2020, while you and Ms Crane were living at the Glenthorne Drive address you had been drinking alcohol when you and Ms Crane began arguing in the kitchen about your drinking.
10Ms Crane and you were standing face-to-face in close proximity during the argument when suddenly you headbutted Ms Crane’s nose (Charge 1 – Causing Injury Recklessly).
11Ms Crane experienced immediate pain, and her nose began to bleed. She walked away from you to stop and clean the blood coming from her nose. She was shocked and saddened by the assault and felt fearful that you would hurt her again. You and Ms Crane avoided each other, and did not speak to one another, for the remainder of the day.
12Over the next two days, Ms Crane attended work and continued to experience pain in her nose, with bruising and swelling.
13On 30 December 2020, Ms Crane returned home from work and told you that she wanted to see a doctor due to the pain. You apologised to her for hurting her saying, “I’m sorry I was drunk. You were too close to me. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” She did not believe that your apology was sincere.
14Ms Crane attended the Modern Medical Dandenong clinic with you. She saw a doctor while you waited in the clinic’s waiting room. She gave an account of being accidentally hit by you. She was referred for an x-ray of her nose and advised to take paracetamol for the pain. A subsequent x-ray identified that she had suffered a tiny undisplaced axial fracture of the distal third of the nasal bone (Charge 1 – Causing Injury Recklessly). Ms Crane returned to the Dandenong clinic on 7 January 2021 and was told that the fracture would heal on its own over time and did not need surgery. Following the appointment, Ms Crane told you that she had suffered a broken nose and you apologised to her.
19 October 2024 – charges 2 (causing injury intentionally), 3 (false imprisonment) and 4 (rape)
15At the time of the offending on 19 October 2024, you and Ms Crane had moved to the Lymington Street address.
16You had commenced a job which required you to wake up at 4:00am, and accordingly you and Ms Crane began sleeping in separate rooms so you would not wake her. You continued to have sexual intercourse with each other, though infrequently, because you continued to refuse to wear condoms.
17Approximately one month prior to the offending, you began drinking more heavily on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. You would also stay-up late playing computer games, playing loud music, or taking calls on speaker phone whilst in the office next door to Ms Crane’s bedroom, preventing her from being able to sleep or waking her from sleep.
18On 18 October 2024, you returned home from work and had been drinking alcohol while playing computer games in the office. At approximately 10:00pm, Ms Crane went to bed while you continued to play on your computer with friends.
19Ms Crane was awoken by you speaking loudly to your friends and playing your computer game. She entered the office and asked you to be quieter.
20She returned to bed and was awoken by you again. She entered the office and again asked you to stop being loud. She again returned to bed.
21At approximately 12:42am on 19 October 2024, you sent text messages to Ms Crane saying, “U shut the fuck up I built this life” and “Don’t you ever disrespect me piece of shit”.
22At approximately 2:00am, Ms Crane was awoken by you. She returned to the office and again asked you to keep your voice down. You became angry toward her and yelled at her to “fuck off”. You continued to speak loudly while playing your game.
23Ms Crane went downstairs into the garage through the laundry and turned off all the circuit breakers in the electricity box before returning to her bedroom, shutting the door and laying down in bed.
24She heard you yelling, “What’s going on? What did you do to the power?”. You then opened Ms Crane’s bedroom door and yelled angrily, “What did you do?”. She ignored you and you then walked out of the room and made your way downstairs. Ms Crane got up, closed the door and returned to bed.
25You turned the power back on and then made your way back into the office, before opening Ms Crane’s bedroom door and entering the room. You flipped over the blankets that Ms Crane, who had her eyes shut, was under, then pressed a conducted electrical device in the shape of knuckle dusters (‘the Taser’) against the inner thigh of her left leg. Ms Crane felt an immediate severe stinging pain like an electric shock.
26After the shock, you grabbed Ms Crane by her ankles and pulled her off of the bed onto the floor. You then pulled her pants down to her knees and attempted to tear her underwear off, but were unsuccessful, despite causing a rip to the underwear. At this time, Ms Crane was also wearing a t-shirt over a black singlet with a built-in bra. You then tasered her repeatedly on the left side of her body and her head.
27Ms Crane was scared, crying, and shaking, and had her arms covering her head in an attempt to protect herself from the assault.
28At some point you then left the bedroom. When you did, Ms Crane pulled her pants up, grabbed her phone, went downstairs and picked up her car keys with the intention of leaving the house. Before leaving the house, and worried that you were watching what she was doing, she moved quietly back upstairs to check if you were in the office. She saw that the office door was closed, and could hear music which she considered was loud enough that you would not hear her open the garage roller door.
29Ms Crane went back downstairs and opened the door of the laundry, and when she was about to open the door leading to the garage, she heard you walking downstairs calling out to her, “Where are you? What are you doing?”. She felt very scared and stopped what she was doing, walking out of the laundry and closing the laundry door gently.
30Ms Crane turned around and saw you in the hallway and you asked her, “Did you call the police?”. Feeling very nervous, she replied, “I didn’t do anything, I didn’t call the police.” You took her phone from her, then grabbed her by her clothes and dragged her very fast into a corner of the kitchen in front of the fridge next to the kitchen sink. Ms Crane attempted to resist you dragging her, but you were stronger than she was.
31While on the floor in the corner, Ms Crane curled up into a ball with her hands over her head to protect herself from you. You began to taser her more than 20 times to her hands (which were attempting to protect her head), neck, back, and legs. Ms Crane describes hearing the loud buzzing of the electricity from the Taser and feeling very painful electric shocks.
32During this assault, she begged for you to stop, saying multiple times, “Please stop doing that, it is very painful.” Ms Crane also observed the Taser around your hand, emitting ‘blue electrical sparks’. You would place the Taser against her skin and move it around causing her to feel very scared and feel pain. She repeatedly said “sorry” to you.
33You stopped tasering Ms Crane and, leaving her on the floor with her hands still covering her face and head, you walked away and retrieved a white extension cord. You then returned to Ms Crane and used the extension cord to tie her hands in front of her body, wrapping the cord around her hands in a figure eight. Ms Crane was attempting to resist you tying her hands together, as such the cord was not wrapped very tightly. Ms Crane was scared and crying, and kept saying to you, “Can you stop doing this? I am very sorry.”
34After tying her hands, you used the same cord to tie her feet together. While you were tying Ms Crane’s feet, she managed to untie her hands. You pointed the Taser in her direction and activated it causing it to spark. You demanded Ms Crane tell you the passcode to her phone or else you would taser her again. You were angry at Ms Crane because you had seen a picture of a male person on her phone background. She told you that the male was an actor, but you didn’t believe her and accused her of cheating with the male.
35Ms Crane told you the passcode to her phone and you proceeded to examine the contents of her phone for approximately 3-5 minutes while you stood in front of her, she sitting on the floor in the corner.
36You then picked Ms Crane up off the floor by the front of her clothes and carried her to the couch in the living room. You activated the Taser again, pointing it in her direction as she was curled up into a ball on the couch. You removed your pants and stood in front of her with an erect penis and told her to, “suck it”.
37At some point, you removed all of Ms Crane’s clothing.
38You grabbed Ms Crane and positioned her on all fours with her head down on the couch. You were standing behind her when you inserted an unknown number of fingers into her vagina (Charge 4 – Rape – digital penetration). Due to how she was positioned, she was unable to see the number of fingers used by you to penetrate her, but she told you that it was very painful and tried to move away from you. She felt too scared to tell you to stop or say no as you were still holding the Taser and activating it near her. As she was trying to move forward away from you, you kept your fingers in her vagina moving your hand forward as she moved. Ms Crane describes this penetrative act as lasting approximately 3-5 minutes.
39You then pulled your fingers out of Ms Crane’s vagina and physically turned her around so that she was kneeling on the couch in front of you. You were standing in front of Ms Crane, and while pointing the Taser in her direction, you activated it while holding your penis with your other hand shaking it in Ms Crane’s face saying, “suck it”.
40Ms Crane refused. You grabbed a cup of water that had been on the coffee table behind you, and poured the water over her head. You then tasered her a few times. Ms Crane described the pain of the Taser being greater than previous. Ms Crane then complied and put your penis into her mouth (Charge 4 – Rape – first oral penetration). She describes this penetrative act as lasting only a short time.
41You then removed your penis from Ms Crane’s mouth, before you grabbed her, turning her so she was facing the back of the couch while she remained on all fours. You remained standing behind her and you inserted your penis into her vagina moving your penis back and forth inside her vagina. Ms Crane repeatedly told you that the penetration was painful, and she moved around trying to get away from you. As she was moving, your penis slipped out of her vagina a few times, but each time you would put it back into her vagina. Ms Crane describes this penetrative act as lasting approximately 4-5 minutes (Charge 4 – Rape – vaginal penetration).
42You removed your penis from Ms Crane’s vagina and then pulled her to the opposite end of the couch, onto the floor on her knees. You again held the Taser in her direction, activating it, with your other hand on your penis shaking it in Ms Crane’s face saying, “suck it.”
43At first Ms Crane didn’t do anything as she did not want to suck on your penis. You then again activated the Taser, and as such she placed your penis in her mouth (Charge 4 – Rape – second oral penetration). At some point Ms Crane wrapped a blanket that was on the couch around herself as she was cold. On multiple occasions you would push Ms Crane’s head hard toward yourself, causing your penis to go deeper into her throat which made her choke and cough. Ms Crane describes this penetrative act as lasting a long time.
44After quite some time, you removed your penis from Ms Crane’s mouth and told her she could go back to sleep.
Post offence movement and complaint evidence
45Ms Crane went straight upstairs to the ensuite in her bedroom, went to the toilet, then hopped in the shower and rinsed her lower body. She looked at her body before putting on clothes, observing that she had cuts to her nose and hands, and scratches or marks on her back.
46Ms Crane observed blood on her sheets where you had dragged her off the bed, and believed the blood to have come from the cuts sustained in the course of defending herself from your assault.
47Ms Crane got dressed and wrapped herself tightly with a blanket and tried to sleep but was unable to due to fear. At this time you still had her phone.
48At approximately midday on 19 October 2024, Ms Crane woke and saw that you had come into her room and left her phone on her bed. You had sent her multiple text messages stating, as outlined in the prosecution opening, including:
“When u wake up I want to know who that China boy is in your photo album the new pictures” – sent at approximately 9:01am.
“Are you a cheating whore that why u treat me so bad right” – sent at approximately 9:04am.
49And further, and this is not a complete list:
“If you don’t answer why u are bitch all the time why you don’t have sex or anything why u are a fucking asshole to me everyday and who is that guy in your photo you need to behave like a real wife otherwise u will be treated how you act” – sent at approximately 11:05am.
50Ms Crane sent you text back saying, “Bro will only I need to sleep I wake up early do ot I’m very tired u stay night told loud in the room next me how I sleep (sic)”
51Ms Crane spent most of the day in her room avoiding you out of fear, but you continued to text about your relationship and money, as outlined in the prosecution opening.
52On 20 October 2024, you asked Ms Crane if she wanted to go out to the shops, which she declined but indicated that she wanted a drink. You said that you should go out together to get a drink and have dinner. Ms Crane was scared so she tried to pretend that everything was ok so she didn’t make you angry and agreed to go out.
53On 21 October 2024, Ms Crane got up in the morning and went to work like normal. When she was alone with her supervisor at work she told him partly what had happened. He ended up driving Ms Crane to the Dandenong Police Station where she formally disclosed what you did to her.
Investigation
54At approximately 9:30am on 21 October 2024, Ms Crane spoke to SOCIT detectives. She was then conveyed to the hospital, seen by a doctor and then returned to the police centre for a forensic medical examination.
55The forensic medical examination documented and photographed multiple abrasions and burns on Ms Crane’s head, neck, chest and abdomen, as well as both left and right upper and lower limbs.
56Examination of Ms Crane’s vagina showed no injury or bleeding, however, the medical assessor noted that genital injuries are not commonly detected following either consensual or non-consensual sexual penetration.
57A number of DNA swabs were taken from Ms Crane’s vulva, vagina and cervix.
58On 25 October 2024, the Informant took a formal statement from Ms Crane with the assistance of a Mandarin interpreter who was present in person.
59Subsequent DNA analysis of the samples taken from Ms Crane confirmed that you were not excluded as a contributor to the sperm samples.
60At approximately 5:50pm on 21 October 2024, investigators attended the Lymington Street where you were placed under arrest and a search warrant of the address was executed with the following items located, photographed and seized:
(a) The taser (related summary charge 18 – possess prohibited weapon)
(b) 1x black sunglasses case containing 3.05g of cannabis (Charge 5 – Possess drug of dependence), and 5 and ½ x Sildenafil Citrate 50mg tablets (Related Summary Charge 19 – Possess Sch 4 Poison);
(c) 1x samurai sword with a blue handle (Related Summary Charge 9 – Possess Prohibited Weapon);
(d) 1 x laser pointer (Related Summary Charge 10 – possess prohibited weapon);
(e) 1x white extension cord alleged by the Prosecution to be the cord used in the offending; and
(f) 1x black Apple iPhone belonging to you.
61You were conveyed to the Dandenong Police Station where you gave a no comment interview. You were remanded with no application for bail being made. You also consented to a full no contact interim intervention order in favour of Ms Crane without admissions.
Cybercrime analysis of your mobile phone
62The analysis of your mobile phone is detailed in the prosecution opening. Analysis located various Facebook messages sent between you and two of your friends, B Russell[3] and R Reeves,[4] on 19 October 2024. Both Mr Russell and Mr Reeves declined to make statements to police. The messages are extracted in the prosecution opening and I will not refer to them in detail here, but they include to Mr Russell at 12.18am ‘my wife is sooking’; at 2.08am, ‘I just knocked my wife out with the Taser dusters’; at 4.01am ‘yeah and just raped her lol, probably be behind bars tomorrow’. And in relation to Mr Reeves, at 9.07am, in response to ‘what’s up?’ you answer, ‘not much, beat and raped my wife on Goon last night, that’s about it, lol.’
[3] A pseudonym.
[4] A pseudonym.
63Since your arrest and remand you have remained in custody. Up to but not including 19 June 2025, you have available to you 269 days of pre-sentence.
Victim Impact
64No victim impact statement has been filed with the Court. By agreement, the prosecution read out portions of Ms Crane’s statement that canvasses the impact that your offending has had on her (statement of 25 October 2024, paragraphs [51] to [54]). She refers to the emotional impact of your offending and to being scared and concerned for her safety.
65The general impact she describes is entirely consistent with the nature and gravity of your offending and I take it into account.
Gravity of offending
66The charges you have pleaded guilty to are serious, as indicated by the maximum penalties that apply. In particular, the offence of rape has a maximum sentence of 25 years imprisonment. It is also a category 1 offence (Sentencing Act1991, s3) and in sentencing you the Court must make an order under Division 2 of Part 3 of the Sentencing Act1991 other than a combination sentence.
67The offence of rape is also a standard sentence offence and ss 5A and 5B of the Sentencing Act1991 apply. The standard sentence for rape is 10 years.
68Your offending against Ms Crane involved a serious breach of trust and occurred in her home, where she was entitled to feel safe.[5] I take into account, as aggravating, the family violence context of your offending. The higher courts have emphasised that such conduct will not be tolerated by our community[6] and that ‘an unequivocal message to would-be perpetrators of domestic violence’ needs to be sent that ‘if they offend, they will be sentenced to a lengthy period of imprisonment’.[7]Acts of violence in a domestic setting, and in particular by men towards women, are utterly abhorrent and unacceptable.[8] Turning to the individual charges themselves, they are encompassed and reflected in the prosecution opening.
[5] Shau v The Queen [2020] VSCA 252.
[6] R v Cotham [1998] VSCA 111.
[7] Pasinis v The Queen [2014] VSCA 97.
[8] Skeates (a pseudonym) v the King [2023] VSCA 226, [59].
69Charge 1 (Causing Injury Recklessly) is constituted by you headbutting Ms Crane’s face resulting in a tiny undisplaced fracture of the nasal bone. Injury, pain and discomfort were clearly caused but appeared to resolve over time, on their own. While not excusing your conduct, the offending occurred during an argument, was spontaneous and not protracted. I also take into account that you apologised for your behaviour some two days after, though this expression was not accepted by Ms Crane as a genuine one.
70Charge 2 (Causing Injury Intentionally) encompasses the collective abrasions and significant pain that you caused to Ms Crane by tasering her as described from paragraphs [34] to [52] of the opening. Your Counsel makes the point that there’s no evidence to indicate that the device was capable of delivering an impact or shock of high voltage and that you originally had it in your possession, along with the laser pointer and sword, as a display item.
71In my assessment of the charge, I take into account the nature of the injuries and note that the Prosecution have made clear that they do not allege that the burns to Ms Crane were a result of the tasering.
72As discussed at the plea hearing, it is difficult to ascribe a precise period of time to the overall offending. It is clear however that your offending on this charge was protracted and that you tasered Ms Crane multiple times. Your conduct was intentional, callous and brazen. While it may have commenced impulsively or reactively, you persistently and repeatedly tasered her, or threatened to taser her in her bedroom, the kitchen and loungeroom, while she was vulnerable, trying to protect herself and asking you to stop.
73The prosecution originally submitted that your act of pouring water on Ms Crane, while perhaps opportunistic, was intended to increase the conductivity of the taser on her through the application of water. I consider the act to be a further gratuitous and humiliating one but I accept your Counsel’s submission that it is not open to find, to the requisite standard, that you acted with such intent.
74Charge 3 (False Imprisonment) encompasses the period from you grabbing Ms Crane in the hallway, up to you telling her (after the fourth act of penetration) that she could go to bed as described from [39] to [53] of the opening. You effectively detained her and prevented her from leaving the house. In the course of this incident, you bound her hands and feet with the cord, albeit loosely and I note she managed to untie her hands. During this period, you also demanded the passcode for her phone. The prosecution submit that at its highest this was to prevent her from calling 000 and at the very least it was to see if she had been unfaithful. I take into account your controlling actions but I accept your Counsel’s submission that it cannot confidently be concluded that your intention at that time was to prevent Ms Crane from contacting the police.
75Charge 4 (Rape) is a rolled-up charge. It encompasses one instance of digital/vaginal penetration as described at paragraphs [47] to [48] of the opening; two instances of penile/oral penetration as described at [48] to [50], and [51] to [53]; and one instance of penile/vaginal penetration as described at [50] to [51].
76Having regard to the many ‘descriptive, rather than prescriptive’ features set out in Jurj v The Queen [2016] VSCA 57 your Counsel concedes the seriousness of the offending. Rape, and other offences which violate a person’s bodily integrity and personal dignity by means of sexual intrusion, must always be regarded as a very serious offence, though the crime ‘covers a very wide spectrum of different activities carried out in wide variety of circumstances of differing degrees of objective gravity’ (at [28], Smith).
77I accept your Counsel’s submission that with respect to the sexual offending the evidence does not sufficiently establish planning or premeditation from the outset. This is not a case where the evidence clearly supports that your initial use of violence or demands was to facilitate the sexual offending. However, even if the sexual offending can properly be characterised as unpremeditated, it was clearly repeated and protracted. You had opportunities to withdraw or desist from your offending at any point. Instead, you removed Ms Crane’s clothing and you persisted and continued to penetrate her, in multiple ways, when she was obviously distressed and pleading for you to stop due to the pain. You completely disregarded her dignity and welfare. When she didn’t immediately do as you demanded you tasered or threatened to taser her. During the act of oral penetration you pushed her head towards your body forcing your penis deeper into her throat causing her to cough and choke.
78I also take into account that you did not use a condom during the offending thereby exposing Ms Crane to pregnancy and risk of a sexually transmitted infection.
79I take into account the full circumstances of your offending on this charge. A rolled-up charge is a single charge and carries the maximum penalty that attaches to the offence. However, other things being equal, a rolled-up charge is more serious than a single charge of that offence.[9] The charge comprises 4 separate acts of penetration, as described by Ms Crane. In my assessment I take into account as a very relevant consideration that they were part of an overall single sequence of events but the separate acts served to prolong the offending and added to the degradation of Ms Crane, in all the circumstances.
[9] DPP v Conos [2021] VSCA 367, [75].
80To conclude, your offending conduct towards Ms Crane on 19 October 2024 was brutal. As already canvassed, the overall circumstances are grave and I assess your moral culpability as high.
81Given the interwoven nature of some of this offending, both Counsel have referred to the need for the Court to avoid double punishment. The intentionally cause injury charge, is constituted by acts that precede, and are separate to the rape, but also conduct that continues during the sexual offending. Your conduct on this charge also contributes to the gravity of the offending on the rape and to an assessment of its impact. The deprivation of Ms Crane’s liberty, charged as false imprisonment, commences after the intentionally cause injury charge ‘starts’ and before the sexual offending. It then covers the entire period of the rape, which I have taken into account as an aggravating circumstance.
82Care will therefore be taken to avoid double punishment and also to reflect totality, which is important in this case, given the temporal connection between the offending.[10] There is still however a need to mark the separate criminality involved in each offence on the indictment and to appropriately denounce your offending.
[10] DPP v Drake [2019] VSCA 293; Salvaggio v The Queen [2022] VSCA 88.
83Both Counsel have referred me to cases which I have taken into account, though with respect to the rape charge I have confined myself to standard sentencing cases.[11] The cases have offered useful guidance but as always, each case turns on its own facts and circumstances.
[11] Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic) s5B(2)(b).
Plea of guilty
84You entered an early plea of guilty to the charges which entitles you to a significant sentencing discount. No witnesses were cross examined and importantly Ms Crane has been spared the ordeal of reliving the trauma of these events in Court. Your plea has substantial utilitarian value and indicates your willingness to facilitate the course of justice and accept responsibility for your offending.
85A point of contention between the parties was whether there is evidence of remorse in your case. The prosecution submit that your plea of guilty is not demonstrative of genuine remorse and that your undated letter of apology was only provided the day before the plea hearing[12]. It’s content must be weighed against the seriousness of the offending, your brazen comments to your friends and Ms Crane soon after the offending and the lack of independent and objective evidence to support any of your assertions.
[12] See Exhibit 2.
86Your Counsel relied upon your plea of guilty, along with your letter of apology. He submits that your letter evidences some insight into your offending and the gross violation of trust. In your letter you do not minimise your offending and take full and frank responsibility. The text messages were sent in extremely close proximity to the offending, within minutes, and the messages to Ms Crane the following day. Your state of mind then was markedly different to how you have later presented.
87In all the circumstances, I accept that there is evidence of remorse. While it did not immediately follow your offending, which is clear from the surrounding messages, which betray a vile and entitled attitude, I accept that you have since demonstrated some insight and remorse into your offending. As noted, your plea of guilty is an early one. In your letter of apology, arguably belated, you express remorse and shame for your offending, which I accept. As to whether you are truly ‘committed to therapy, self-education and … rehabilitation’ as you assert, the future will best tell but your representations are consistent with the recent efforts you have made and the programs and certificates that you have completed to date in custody[13].
[13] See Exhibit 5.
Personal circumstances
88Your Counsel canvassed your personal circumstances and background. Further insights into your history are offered in the letter of your mother, Leona Knapp[14] dated 16 July 2025.
[14] A pseudonym; Exhibit 3.
89You are presently 36 years old. You were 31 years old at the time of the first incident and 35 years old at the time of the second.
90You were born and raised in Western Australia, growing up in Mandurah on the Western coast South of Perth. Your mother is from Thailand and your father is of German heritage. You have three older half siblings and two younger half-siblings.
91Your father worked on an oil rig and consumed alcohol heavily when at home. He was physically abusive towards you and you were frightened of him. This abuse included punching and kicking you. Your mother refers to your unstable childhood and states that you received little affection or support from your father and were exposed to verbal and physical violence.
92Your parents separated when you were approximately 12 years old and you remained living with your mother, until the age of 18. You were upset about your parents breakup and you saw your father less often as he moved overseas with his new family.
93As a child, you experienced sexual abuse, including sexual abuse by an uncle on multiple occasions over several years. This abuse included being forced to perform oral sex on your uncle, in the company of a female cousin. Your mother refers to your uncle in her letter. He was recently convicted and spent time in prison for ‘interfering with his niece’. She states, ‘it was only very recently that I became aware that [Bradley] may have also been affected.’
94You instruct further that you were sexually abused by a schoolteacher when you were 11 years old, involving acts of oral sex and other penetrative sex.
95Your Counsel did not rely upon your history of abuse as causally related to your offending. He relied upon it in a general way and submitted that it was open to the Court to accept it as generally relevant to your circumstances, even if unverified. It’s difficult to evidence these experiences in any objective manner as you only disclosed this abuse at a relatively advanced age. You mentioned it to friends when you were 19 years of age and then, in the context of a drunk discussion, to your father when you were in your mid-twenties. He responded in an unsympathetic manner and you have not sought any counselling or treatment or reported it to the police. As I indicated to Counsel, given the well-known barriers faced by young people in reporting such matters, I am prepared to accept this aspect of your history.
96You experienced some bullying at school, due to your mixed ethnicity. You were involved in fights with other students and outside school hours you socialised with other youths from disadvantaged homes. This appears to be consistent with your early criminal history for graffiti and property damage.
97You left school at the beginning of Year 11 and did not undertake any further education.
98After moving out of your mother’s home you experienced periods of homelessness. This initial homelessness was as a result of your struggle to find work to support yourself financially. You managed to secure work. Your first job was in a chicken factory, and it seems that you have maintained stable employment from that time onwards. Over the years you have also made efforts to improve your life through further education.
99At the age of 28 years you moved to Melbourne for a ‘fresh start.’ This was on your mother’s suggestion, who had already moved here many years earlier.
100You maintained stable employment in Melbourne in the transport and logistics industries up until the time of his arrest. You worked as a forklift operator for some 6 to 7 years and then 6 months prior to the offending you had changed jobs to facilitate evening study online. You were working for another logistics company, spending a lot of time working in the despatch office.
101You maintain a good relationship with your mother and stepfather, who are supportive of him. You only now have sporadic contact with your father.
102Your first relationship was when you were 19 years old. That relationship lasted 3 years and bore one daughter, who is now 15 years old. She lives with her mother in Western Australia. Your relationship with your daughter was described as a good though distant one. You had two subsequent serious relationships before your relationship with Ms Crane, each of which lasted for approximately 2 years.
103At the time of your remand, you were both living together in your home at Lymington Street. Due to a deterioration in your relationship since the COVID-19 lockdowns, you spent most nights sleeping in different bedrooms in the lead up to the offending. You instruct your Counsel that there had been a gross breakdown in every aspect of your interpersonal relationship, characterised by arguments and fights about a range of topics.
104You have a long history of drug abuse, as outlined by your Counsel. From the age of 12 you started smoking cannabis, which escalated and became a daily habit. In your late teens you started using amphetamines, cocaine, MDMA, ketamine and methylamphetamine. During much of your 20s and 30s you describe your methamphetamine as an addiction, with periods of daily use. You also often drank heavily in combination with abusing methylamphetamine.
105You have had periods of abstinence from drugs however you relapsed heavily into methylamphetamine use in the lead-up to the offending. This occurred as the level of conflict in the marriage worsened and your relationship with Ms Crane deteriorated.
106Your Counsel submits that at its worst, your methylamphetamine abuse during the months leading up to the offending resulted in episodes of ‘drug-induced psychosis’. Your Counsel refers to an incident of criminal damage in 2023 where you damaged your neighbours property whilst ‘delusional’ and heavily effected by drugs. You were then abstinent for some 6 to 8 months and relapsed heavily into drug use in the lead up to the current offending.
107Your Counsel did not rely upon your drug use or state as mitigatory but rather as relevant to context. Your state, it was submitted, is also consistent with Ms Crane’s witness statement where she sets out her knowledge of your alcohol abuse in the lead up to the offending. You were also using MDMA at the time and a host of other substances. When messaging your friends, your Counsel submitted, you were still ‘very much in the throes of acute drug and alcohol abuse’. Indeed your memory of the entire incident is ‘somewhat limited’ as a result of a cocktail of substances you were abusing.’ All of your symptoms, it was said, have abated in custody.
108In all the circumstances, I accept that you may have been impacted by drugs and/or alcohol at the time of your offending. I do not however regard this as mitigatory or as impacting an assessment of your moral culpability.
109For completeness I note here that your Counsel did not seek to rely upon any further material or reports and assured the Court that all matters had been explored and canvassed. As he made clear, he did not rely upon any mental health conditions or any attempt to draw a nexus between your offending and any such conditions. The aspects of drug abuse and deprivation of your childhood were relied upon as providing relevant context, forming an important part of your personal circumstances.
110You have a prior criminal history in Victoria and Western Australia mainly for property and driving offences, breaches of bail and community-based court orders. You have never been sentenced to an immediate term of imprisonment and your history does not contain prior convictions for any sexual or violent offending or any family violence offending.
111I take into account your personal circumstances, as advanced by your Counsel, and in particular I have had regard to the challenges and abuse you experienced as a young person.
Prospects of rehabilitation
112The prosecution submit that your prospects of rehabilitation may be viewed as guarded. Your Counsel submits that your prospects, along with your risk of reoffending, is a matter for the Court to assess and highlight your lack of a relevant prior criminal history.
113In the circumstances, it is difficult to make any confident findings as to your prospects of rehabilitation or your risk of future offending. There are no reports before the court as to your psychosocial composition or mental health, or any formal assessment as to your risk.
114In my consideration, I take into account the gravity of the offending. I take into account your early plea of guilty, your age and your limited prior criminal history. Importantly, you have no history for this type of offending. I note that charge 1 occurred in 2020 but it was only prosecuted with the subsequent charges that form part of the current indictment.
115I take into account that this is your first custodial sentence and that its substantial term will likely be salutary.
116I take into account your stable history of employment and that you have undertaken further education and courses in custody. I take into account that your mother and stepfather remain supportive of you. You also have close friends who indicate in their references their ongoing support of you.[15] Many of these factors reflect positively on your prospects for rehabilitation. Given the nature of this offending, your history and your account of your previous substance use, I consider it also likely that, to best enhance your prospects, you will require therapeutic interventions and supports upon your release from custody.
[15] See references – Exhibit 4.
Sentencing purposes
117The purposes for which sentences may be imposed are just punishment, general deterrence, specific deterrence, rehabilitation, denunciation and protection of the community. I have already canvassed the importance in particular of general deterrence and denunciation in offending of this nature.
118I take into account the sentencing guidelines referred to in s5 of the Sentencing Act1991, where relevant in your case. As already noted, I have taken into account the relevant cases that Counsel have referred to. I have also had regard to the available sentencing statistics, noting of course their inherent limitations (paragraph [14] prosecution submissions).
119I take into account the maximum sentences for each charge. I also take into account the principles of parsimony, proportionality and totality. As already noted, the principle of totality is important in this case. It ‘serves as an important safety valve to ensure that the overall sentence does not become disproportionate to the overall offending’.[16]
[16]DPP v Matovic [2020] VCC 371, [55].
120The sentencing task is a particularly complex one in your case, given, as I’ve already stated, the ongoing overlap both of aggravating features and elements of offences. To differing degrees, the intentionally cause injury and the false imprisonment, overlap with an assessment of the gravity of the rape. In particular, the extent of any orders for cumulation have steadily borne in mind the need to avoid double punishment.[17]
[17] Lerardo v The King [2024] VSCA 181, [116]-[118].
121As earlier noted, the standard sentencing regime applies to the charge of rape and the standard sentence is 10 years' imprisonment. The standard sentence for an offence is the sentence that, taking into account only the objective factors affecting the relative seriousness of that offence, is in the middle range of seriousness.
122When sentencing for a standard sentence offence I must take the standard sentence into account as one of the factors relevant to sentencing. This requirement therefore is to be treated as a ‘legislative guidepost’ having the same function as the maximum penalty. I have taken the standard sentence for rape into account as one of the factors to consider in my instinctive synthesis of all of the relevant factors in your case.[18] There was no dispute between Counsel that the appropriate sentence in your case is a term of imprisonment with a non-parole period. I consider that a substantial term of imprisonment is the only just and appropriate sentence.
[18] R v Brown [2019] VSCA 286.
123The sentence I am about to impose in respect of the rape charge is lower than the standard sentence. I have considered all relevant factors in assessing your sentence, including the standard sentence, the objective seriousness of your offending, your criminal history and the matters available to you in mitigation, including, in particular your early plea of guilty, and based on my intuitive synthesis of these factors I have determined that the following sentence is appropriate.
Sentence
124Synthesising all relevant matters you are convicted and sentenced as follows:
125Charge 1, reckless cause injury, five months imprisonment.
126Charge 2, intentionally cause injury, two years imprisonment.
127Charge 3, false imprisonment, 18 months' imprisonment.
128Charge 4, rolled up count of rape, seven years and six months imprisonment.
129Charge 5, possession of cannabis, proven and discharged.
130Summary Offence 9, prohibited weapon, seven days imprisonment.
131Summary Offence 10, the laser pointer, seven days imprisonment.
132Summary Offence 18, the Taser, two months imprisonment.
133Possession of Scheduled 4 poison, Summary Offence 19, convicted and discharged.
134Orders for cumulation are as follows. Charge 1, one month imprisonment. Charge 2, five months imprisonment. Charge 3, two months imprisonment.
135This arrives at a total effective term of 8 years and 2 months imprisonment.
136Pursuant to s.11A(4) of the Sentencing Act I must fix a non-parole period of at least 60 percent of the head sentence if that sentence is less than 20 years imprisonment unless it is in the interests of justice not to do so. Having regard to that section I order that you must serve 5 years and 2 months imprisonment. I consider this to be the minimum period that justice requires you to serve, in all the circumstances, taking into account all the matters that I have canvassed which I will not repeat here.
137Pursuant to S.18 I declare that you have served 269 in pre-sentence detention.
138Pursuant to s6AAA, I indicate that but for your plea of guilty, I would have sentenced you to some nine years and ten months imprisonment, with a
non-parole period of six years and ten months139I make the disposal order in the terms sought, unopposed.
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