Director of Public Prosecutions v Rubinic

[2016] VCC 1037

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

AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

CR-15-01430

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

BLAKE SAMUEL RUBINIC

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JUDGE:	HIS HONOUR JUDGE DEAN
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:	13 July 2016
DATE OF SENTENCE:	20 July 2016
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Rubinic
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2016] VCC 1037

REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject:
Catchwords:
Legislation Cited:
Cases Cited:
Sentence:

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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the Director of Public Prosecutions	Mr S. Devlin	Office of Public Prosecutions
For the Offender	Mr M. Gumbleton	Stary Norton Halphen

Pages 1 - 6

 

 

HIS HONOUR:

1Blake Samuel Rubinic, you pleaded guilty to the following offences: 

2Trafficking a large commercial quantity of a drug of dependence, contrary to s.71 of the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Act 1981. The maximum penalty for that offence is life imprisonment;

3Possession of a tablet press, contrary to s.71C of the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Act 1981. The maximum penalty for that offence is five years imprisonment; and

4Possession of an unregistered general category handgun, contrary to s.7B(1) of the Firearms Act 1996. The maximum penalty for that offence is a fine of 600 penalty units or seven years imprisonment or both.

5Committal proceedings were conducted on 19 August 2015, following which you pleaded not guilty and were committed to stand trial.  You pleaded guilty after an Initial Directions and Final Directions Hearing in this court.  Whilst your plea of guilty was not at an early stage in the proceedings, it was timely and the result of negotiations between your legal representatives and the prosecution.  Your plea has spared the community the expense of a criminal trial and I accept that it evidences a degree of remorse in your case and I have taken your plea into account in your favour in mitigation of sentence.

6You have no prior convictions, subsequent convictions or outstanding charges.

7A Prosecution Opening was read to the court and tendered in evidence and your offending may be summarised as follows -

8On 7 January 2015, police were conducting surveillance of Leonard Coulson and at approximately 7 pm observed him travel by taxi to your premises in Pascoe Vale.  He remained in the premises until approximately 7.35 pm and shortly afterwards was apprehended by the police.  Located in a backpack, he was carrying 1000 ecstasy tablets and four bags containing 124 g of methylamphetamine.  Following this, at approximately 1.30 am on 8 January 2015, police executed a search warrant at the premises.  You were present in the garage when the warrant was executed.  During the search, police located, in the garage, the following -

9(i) 7.5 kg of MDMA in powder and tablet form, varying from two to 14 per cent purity.  In excess of 9000 ecstasy tables were located;

10(ii) 940 g of methylamphetamine, between 75 and 80 per cent purity;

11(iii) Two tablet press machines;

12(iv) A loaded semi-automatic 9 mm handgun and a sawn off .22 rifle;

13(v) $1500 cash on your person and $69,995 cash in a bag which also contained the handgun;

14(vi) Other equipment for use in the trafficking and use of illegal drugs of dependence.

15Following the search, you were arrested and interviewed.  During the course of that interview, you admitted knowledge of the presence of drugs, weapons and equipment but otherwise did not answer the questions that were put to you.  You were charged and remanded in custody.

16On 6 February 2015, you were granted bail by the Magistrates' Court. 

17It is clear from this summary that your offending is of the utmost seriousness.  You were concerned in the commercial distribution of illegal drugs of dependence at a very significant level.  A large quantity of cash was located as was a loaded handgun available for use by you to protect your criminal activities.  Two machines for the manufacture of ecstasy tablets were also available to you.

18This was an organised criminal enterprise being undertaken in the privacy of your mother's home.  Whilst it is not possible to precisely identify your role in the criminal organisation that you were a member of, in my opinion, you were performing a trusted executive role at a senior level.

19As has been repeatedly stated by the Court of Appeal in this state, persons such as you, who traffick large commercial quantities of illegal drugs of dependence for profit, must expect the imposition of significant terms of imprisonment on conviction.  So much is also clear from the maximum penalty of Life Imprisonment for the charge of Trafficking a Large Commercial Quantity of a drug of dependence to which you pleaded guilty. 

20The sentence that I impose must be calculated to deter you and others from offending in this way.  Illegal drugs of dependence cause incalculable damage to our community and it is the fundamental function of this court to protect the community from people like you. 

21Furthermore, by operation of part 2A of the Sentencing Act 1991, you are to be sentenced as a serious drug offender and accordingly, the protection of the community is the principal purpose for which this sentence is to be imposed. The prosecution do not submit that I should impose a disproportionate sentence to achieve that purpose and I will not do so.

22You must also be punished for your offending and your planned and organised criminal conduct is to be denounced by this court. 

23As I have said, illegal drugs of dependence cause incalculable damage to our community and in my opinion, it is somewhat ironic that an offender convicted of drug trafficking on this scale, calls in a drug addiction in mitigation of sentence.

24I now turn to your personal circumstances. 

25You were born in Melbourne on 6 August 1990 and are now aged 25.  Your offending occurred when you were 24.  You are not a young offender for the purposes of the Sentencing Act 1991, but a youthful first offender and this is an important consideration in your case.

26You are the youngest of your parents three children although they separated shortly after your birth.  Despite this, you enjoyed a stable and supportive family life and you are close to your mother and aunt.  You left school during year 11 and it appears that you did not respond well to formal education. 

27Upon leaving school, you commenced employment at Cash Convertors and completed a real estate representatives course in 2008.  Following this, you worked at Holland and Price in Coburg as a rental agent for four years until the age of 23.  Your work history is therefore a good one and you held a position of responsibility at Holland and Price. 

28However, it has been submitted on your behalf that since the age of 20, you have used cocaine, ecstasy and methylamphetamine on a daily basis and in ever increasing quantities.  It was submitted that your drug addiction led you into the criminal underworld and your offending. 

29Instead of seeking treatment for your addiction, you turned to trafficking a substance you were addicted to, at a very significant level, far beyond what was necessary to support your addiction.  You were, in my opinion, motivated by the vast profits available from this criminal activity. 

30I heard evidence from two drug counsellors, Amanda Brown and John Campbell and I have received in evidence a report from ArrowHealth, a rehabilitation service that you have attended.  I accept that you have engaged well with these services and are now drug free.  I also accept that you have gained a degree of insight into your drug addiction and its deleterious effect on your judgment. 

31I have also received in evidence a report of Mr Patrick Newton, a clinical and forensic psychologist, in respect of your psychological profile.  You are of average intelligence and do not suffer from any psychological illnesses with the exception of your drug addiction.  I have also received, in evidence, a number of character and work-related references.  You have the support of your long-term partner with whom you have a four year old child. 

32In my opinion, your prospects of rehabilitation are good and by reason of your relative youth, the sentence I impose must provide for that rehabilitation.  You will require ongoing treatment and counselling to ensure you do not relapse into drug use. 

33However, as I have said, your offending is of the utmost seriousness and your rehabilitation, whilst important, must be considered in conjunction with the other sentencing principles applicable in this case.  In balancing those principles, I have concluded that the purpose for which this sentence is to be imposed may, in part, be achieved by your supervision on parole for an extended period of time, as was submitted by your counsel.

34Stand up please, Mr Rubinic.  In the result, the sentence of the court is as follows - 

35On the charge of Trafficking a Large Commercial Quantity of a drug of dependence, you are convicted and sentenced to be imprisoned for six years and nine months. 

36On the charge of Possession of a tablet press, you are convicted and sentenced to be imprisoned for 18 months. 

37On the charge of Possession of an unregistered general category handgun, you are convicted and sentenced to be imprisoned for two years and three months.

38Charge 1 is the base sentence.  I order that six months of the sentence of Charge 2 and six months of the sentence on Charge 3 be served cumulatively on each other and cumulatively on the sentence imposed on Charge 1. 

39This makes for a total effective term of imprisonment of seven years and nine months. 

40I direct that you serve four years and six months before becoming eligible for release on parole. 

41I declare that you have served 37 days by way of pre-sentence detention. 

42But for your plea of guilty, I would have imposed a total effective term of imprisonment of ten years and fixed a non-parole period of seven years. 

43I have made the ancillary orders sought by the prosecution.

44I will formally declare that you are a serious drug offender for the purposes of Part 2A of the Sentencing Act 1991.

45We will adjourn until 10 am.

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