Director of Public Prosecutions v Scott

[2012] VCC 716

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

AT MELBOURNE

CRIMINAL DIVISION

Case No. CR-10-01824

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

DAMIEN SCOTT

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JUDGE:	HER HONOUR JUDGE COTTERELL
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:	19-22 March 2012, 21-25 & 28-29 May 2012
DATE OF SENTENCE:	1 June 2012
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Scott
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2019] VCC 716

REASONS FOR SENTENCE

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Catchwords:

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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the Crown	Mr N. Batten	Office of Public Prosecutions
For the Accused	Mr P. Bourke	Victoria Legal Aid

HER HONOUR:

1       Damien Scott, you have been found guilty by jury verdict of two charges of common law assault.  The maximum penalty for that offence is five years imprisonment.  You pleaded guilty to these charges in the course of a trial in relation to more serious matters of which you were acquitted. 

2       The facts in relation to Charge 1 relate to an incident in 2007 when you were living with the victim, Tara Dunbar, in Pakenham and on an occasion when she was about three months pregnant you grabbed her, pushed her up against the wall with your hands around her throat and squeezed for ten seconds.

3       In relation to Charge 9, the facts of that matter arise from an incident in April 2010, a week before you were actually arrested and after an incident at a party.  When Ms Dunbar tried to leave you prevented her from leaving and you went to your own vehicle, got a bottle from the car and hit her on the head twice.  All of this occurred in the context of a very volatile relationship and there had been various assaults and breaches of an intervention order which marked the time you spent together.

4       

I regard it as serious offending and it has had an extremely adverse affect on

Ms Dunbar.  She filed a victim impact statement with the court, tendered as Exhibit A on the plea. It describes her lack of self esteem, the difficulty she had in the relationship of feeling trapped and that relationship still impacts on her to this day.

5       Obviously physical attacks on your partner, firstly, while she was pregnant and then in relation to the other one involving the bottle at a time when you had just been placed on a suspended sentence are serious matters.  However, events have overtaken this offending in that you have served 102 days on remand in relation to this matter in particular and you have also served other sentences of imprisonment. You have been in custody at this time since May 2011 on other matters and you will not be eligible for parole until 13 May 2013.

6       What I have done is taken into account principles of totality in sentencing you in relation to these matters.  Also in mitigation you have written a letter to the court which expresses quite clearly a desire to rehabilitate yourself and an awareness, firstly, of the effects that your inadequate and difficult beginnings have had on you.  I know that you spent time as a ward of state and you had a difficult family life from the time you were very young. You also began using drugs at a young age.

7       Secondly, you have expressed in that letter that it is not too late for you to   change your life.  You have also set out a list of your aims, both while you complete the period while you are in prison and also your ambitions for when you are released to eventually start a business and to have employment.  All of those are very encouraging and give me an indication that you have a sincere aim to rehabilitate yourself and attempt to rebuild a future when you are released.

8       All those documents, including your letter and a number of certificates which show that you have undertaken what courses you can within the prison system, are also further evidence of your attempts to ensure that you have a future.  Those documents were tendered as Exhibit 1 on the plea.  I also notice that you have been drug free since you have been in court.  There were a number of test results tendered as part of that bundle of documents and I note however that you are on methadone in relation to your long term addiction to heroin.

9       I have also taken into account other matters; namely, the fact that you pleaded guilty to these offences and also that there has been a very long delay in relation to Charge 1. I have also taken into account general deterrence; that is, that others in the community must understand that when you assault anybody, but in particular, a partner in a relationship, serious results will flow.  I have also taken into account specific deterrence; that is, that you yourself must be deterred from committing such offences in the future. At this stage when you are still under 30, if you have not been deterred from exhibiting violence towards people who are close to you by now, you would have little hope in the future. However, I am inclined to believe that you will be significantly deterred from the lengthy period of time you have spent in prison over the last year and what you still have to do.

10      I am also required to denounce your behaviour on behalf of the community and I do so.  Domestic violence is a scourge on any community.  Women must be able to feel safe in their homes and where they are involved with their partners and the community has a great interest in protecting people in that position.

11      Finally, I am required to impose just punishment and in doing so I take into account all those matters, including the amount of time you have already spent in prison and the amount of time you will further spend in prison.  I have also listened to the submissions of counsel for the Director of Public Prosecutions and your own counsel and I have reached the conclusion that the only appropriate penalty is a term of imprisonment. 

12      Would you stand for me, please.

13      On Charge 1 you are convicted and sentenced to 60 days imprisonment. 

14      On Charge 9, you are convicted and sentenced to 60 days imprisonment.

15      I direct that 42 days of the sentence imposed on Charge 9 are to be served cumulatively on the sentence imposed in relation to Charge 1.  That on my estimation is total effective sentence of 102 days. 

16      I also declare that the 102 days pre-sentence detention be deemed time served and for that fact be represented in the records of the court.  That means that you will serve no further time in relation to those two assaults for which I have sentenced you today.

17 Pursuant to s.6AAA of the Sentencing Act, I declare that but for your plea of guilty, I would have sentenced you to five months on those two charges. I think that completes the matter.

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