Director of Public Prosecutions v Rotherram
[2014] VCC 1029
•25 June 2014
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA | Revised Not Restricted Suitable for Publication |
AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL DIVISION
Case No. 14-00385
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| v |
| JOHN HEROD ROTHERRAM |
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JUDGE: | HIS HONOUR JUDGE DEAN | |
WHERE HELD: | Melbourne | |
DATE OF HEARING: | 24 June 2014 | |
DATE OF SENTENCE: | 25 June 2014 | |
CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | DPP v Rotherram | |
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2014] VCC 1029 | |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the DPP | Mr N Goodfellow | O.P.P. |
| For the Accused | Mr M Dempsey | Victoria Legal Aid |
HIS HONOUR:
1 John Herod Rotherram, you have pleaded guilty to three charges of attempting to pervert the course of justice contrary to common law. By operation of s.320 of the Crimes Act 1958, the maximum penalty for that offence is 25 years' imprisonment.
2 You have also pleaded guilty to two charges of the related summary offence of driving whilst disqualified contrary to s.30 of the Road Safety Act 1986. The maximum penalty for that offence in this case is a fine of 240 penalty units or imprisonment for two years.
3 You pleaded guilty at an initial directions hearing and I have treated your plea as an early one. It has spared the community the expense of a trial and I accept it is evidence of your remorse. Accordingly, I have taken your pleas of guilty into account in your favour in mitigation of sentence.
4 You have admitted an extensive criminal history for a range of offences dating to 1989. Your criminal history includes convictions for dishonesty, violence, drug matters and driving whilst disqualified.
5 Whilst a number of dispositions imposed by courts to facilitate your rehabilitation have failed, you have not been required to serve a term of imprisonment. Your offending may properly be described as persistent.
6 A prosecution opening was read to the court and tendered in evidence and your offending may be summarised as follows.
7 On 1 July 2011, you were convicted of exceeding the prescribed alcohol limit and driving whilst disqualified in the Magistrates' Court at Frankston. You were placed on an intensive correction order for six months and disqualified from driving for two years. Permission to drive was granted following the lodgement of a Notice of Appeal.
8 Your appeal against sentence was abandoned on 4 November 2011 and the orders made by the magistrate were then extant.
9 Prior to the abandonment of your appeal, you obtained an extract of the court register recording the orders made by the magistrate. You altered the date of the orders to 2 July 2012 which was intended to show that the magistrate had granted you permission to drive on that date. In fact you were disqualified from driving from 4 November 2011 when your appeal had been abandoned.
10 On 6 July 2012, 1 November 2012 and 27 February 2013, you produced a false extract at the Frankston Magistrates' Court to police officers who intercepted you whilst you were driving a motor vehicle.
11 On the second and third occasion you were driving a prime mover you had purchased in 2012.
12 You have already been prosecuted for driving whilst disqualified on 6 July 2012 and the two charges of driving whilst disqualified before this court concern your driving on 1 November 2012 and 26 February 2013.
13 Your conduct was calculated to defeat the orders made by the magistrate and prevent any charge of driving whilst disqualified being laid against you. In my opinion your conduct is a serious example of offending of this type and your moral culpability might properly be described as high. It is essential that the effect of orders made by courts are not falsified in this manner and the sentence I impose must give full effect to the principle of general deterrence. You must also be deterred from re-offending and specific deterrence is also a significant sentencing issue in this case.
14 I was informed by your counsel that at the time of your offending you were also on a suspended term of imprisonment you were also on a suspended term of imprisonment for other driving offences. The sentence I impose is with that knowledge and whilst it would be a matter for the sentencing magistrate, this sentence is intended to reflect your overall criminality. You must be punished for what you have done and this sentence must also be calculated to protect the administration of justice.
15 You were born on 17 November 1964 and you are now aged 49. You have three children. A fourth child died of SIDS in 2005. I accept that her death was deeply traumatic for you. You were educated to a Year 10 level and had a good work history until 2003 when you were seriously injured in a motor vehicle accident. You have been in poor health since that time and have worked infrequently.
16 I have received in evidence two medical reports detailing your medical history, current condition and the list of the medication you have received and are currently receiving. I accept that imprisonment will be difficult for you by reason of your poor physical health and I have moderated your sentence for that reason.
17 You are now in a stable relationship and your partner will support you while you are incarcerated and on your release.
18 You have not re‑offended for 12 months and whilst this is a positive sign, in my opinion any assessment of your prospects of rehabilitation must be guarded.
19 In the result, the sentence of the court is as follows.
20 On the charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice on 4 September 2012, that is Charge 1, you are convicted and sentenced to be imprisoned for nine months.
21 On Charge 2, the charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice on 1 November 2012, you are convicted and sentenced to be imprisoned for nine months.
22 On Charge 3, the charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice on 27 February 2013, you are convicted and sentenced to be imprisoned for nine months.
23 On the charge of driving whilst disqualified on 1 November 2012, you are convicted and sentenced to be imprisoned for two months.
24 On the charge of driving whilst disqualified on 27 February 2013, you are convicted and sentenced to be imprisoned for two months.
25 I order that three months of the sentence on Charge 2, three months of the sentence on Charge 3, the entire sentence of the driving whilst disqualified charge of the 1 November 2012 and one month of the driving whilst disqualified sentence in respect of the offending on 27 February 2013 be served cumulatively on each other and cumulatively on the sentence imposed on Charge 1.
26 This makes for a total effective term of imprisonment of 18 months.
27 I order that you serve nine months imprisonment before becoming eligible for release upon parole.
28 I declare that but for your plea of guilty, I would have sentenced you to a total effective term of imprisonment of two years and imposed a non‑parole period of 12 months.
29 I further declare that you have served one day by way of pre‑sentence detention, not including today.
30 Anything to be said of Mr Rotherram? Any further orders required?
31 COUNSEL: No, Your Honour.
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