Director of Public Prosecutions v Shahin

[2025] VCC 834

IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA

AT MELBOURNE

CRIMINAL DIVISION

Revised

Not Restricted

Suitable for Publication

Case No. CR-25-00514

Indictment No. P12654129.1

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

MOHD SHAHIN

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JUDGE:	HIS HONOUR JUDGE TRAPNELL
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:	20 June 2025
DATE OF SENTENCE:	20 June 2025
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Shahin
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2025] VCC 834

REASONS FOR SENTENCE

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Subject:CRIMINAL LAW - SENTENCE

Catchwords:              Common law assault – Low moral culpability - Guilty plea at earliest forensically reasonable opportunity – No prior criminal history – Good prospects of rehabilitation – Family violence offence – Offending against domestic ex-partner – Lower end example of offending – Good character – Extra curial punishment

Legislation Cited:      Sentencing Act 1991

Cases Cited:Atholwood v The Queen (1999) 109 A Crim 465 – Cameron v The Queen (2002) 209 CLR 339 – R v Cooper (1998) 103 A Crim R 51 – Raptis v The Queen (1988) 36 A Crim R 362 – R v Gillick [2000] VSCA 127 – Barbaro v The Queen (2012) 226 A Crim R 35 - Bonacci v The Queen (2012) 224 A Crim R 194 – CD v The Queen [2013] VSCA 95 - Phillips v The Queen (2012) 37 VR 594 – R v Kilic (2016) 259 CLR 256 – DPP (Vic) v Dalgliesh (a Pseudonym) (2017) 262 CLR 428 – DPP v Zhuang (2015) 250 A Crim R 282 - DPP (Cth) v Thomas (2016) 53 VR 546 – Kalala v The Queen [2017] VSCA 233 – Felicite v The Queen (2011) 37 CR 329 – DPP (Vic) v Evans [2019] VSCA 239 – DPP (Vic) v Smith [2019] VSCA 266 – Baker (a pseudonym) v The Queen [2021] VSCA 158

Sentence:                  Adjourned undertaking, without conviction, for a period of 12 months with the following two conditions:

·     Mr Shahin must comply with any interim or final family violence intervention orders arising out of this offending conduct; and

·     Mr Shahin must make a donation in the sum of $5000.00 to Berry Street within 3 months’ time from the sentence date.

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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the DPP	Ms Edwina Dane	Ms Sharman Gronow, Solicitor for the Office of Public Prosecutions
For the Accused	Ms Ruth Shann SC (18 June 2025) Ms Hannah Canham (18 June 2025 and 20 June 2025)	Mr Alex King, Principal of King & Collins

HIS HONOUR:

Introduction

1Mohd Shahin, you have pleaded guilty to an indictment containing one charge of common law assault (Charge 1).[1]

[1]     Contrary to common law.

2The maximum penalty for this offence is 5 years’ imprisonment.[2]

[2]     As prescribed by Crimes Act 1958 s 320.

The facts

Background

3The prosecution filed a Summary of Prosecution Opening for Plea, dated 27 May 2025, which it is agreed I can accept as a statement of agreed facts.[3]

[3]     Exhibit (‘Ex’)  P1.

4At the time of the alleged offending, you resided at an address in Caulfield. The victim in this matter, Ms Ayesha Dejesus resided at an address in Armadale.[4]

[4]   A pseudonym has been used to protect the victim’s identity.

5You and the victim are ex-partners, having separated two years prior to the offence. Together you share a 3-year-old child by the name of Logan Sharp,[5] of whom the victim has full time care.

[5]   A pseudonym has been used to protect the child’s identity.

Circumstances of the offending

6On 17 December 2024, at around 1:30am, police attended your address in Caulfield after receiving three 000 calls relating to a family violence incident occurring at the apartment complex.

7On 16 December 2023, at around 1:30pm, the victim attended your address with the child, along with a group of friends for a barbecue event you were hosting. The last guests left your address around midnight. At this time, the victim went to sleep in the spare room where the child was asleep in his cot.

8You entered the spare room where the victim was sleeping and woke her up. You began talking in a heightened and erratic manner. You asked the victim to talk and tried to get into bed with her and cuddle her.

9The victim pleaded for you to leave her alone. The victim stated, ‘You’re scaring me. I’m asking you to leave’. Due to the noise, the child woke up crying. The victim picked him up from the cot and took him into bed with her. You continued walking in and out of the bedroom talking to the victim and she continued pleading with you to leave them alone.

10Shortly afterwards, the victim attempted to gather her belongings to leave. You took the child from the bed and began pacing in the kitchen, and yelling at the victim, telling her that she was not taking the child. The victim was crying and felt scared. She pleaded for you to give the child over to her, to which you refused.

11At around 1:18am, the victim called 000 as she felt fearful for her safety and the safety of her child. As the child was crying and reaching out for the victim, she took him away from you and ran out the front door of the apartment into the hallway. You followed her and began to grab her from behind with both arms, hugging her body, and pulling her back towards the apartment door in an attempt to stop her from leaving with the child. The victim who was still holding the child, continued to plead with you to let them go.

12The victim, believing she did not have time to wait for the lift, began to run down two flights of stairs. During this time, you were grabbing the victim’s body pulling her towards you on the stairs and causing her to trip. You attempted to stop her from leaving and exerted physical force by grabbing at her, while telling her she was not leaving (Charge 1). You followed the victim and the child through the apartment foyer and outside to the driveway.

13At around 1:16am, police received a 000 call from a resident at the apartment complex, with details of a potential family violence incident occurring. The resident reported to police that she heard a male yelling at a female and a baby crying. This could be heard through the apartment intercom.

14Once outside, the victim was standing on the driveway holding the child. You were grabbing hold of her trying to pull the child from her arms. She yelled at you to leave them alone. In response, you yelled at her to not take the child.

15You proceeded to pull the child from the victim’s arms and attempted to run back inside the apartment with the child. The victim chased you and stood in front of the pedestrian gate to stop you while you pushed her to try to get past.

16At around 1:30am, the victim made her second call to 000 while she was standing in front of the gate.

Arrest

17Police arrived at the scene at 1:39am. At this time, you were holding the child and refused to hand him to the police or the victim. You were restrained by two police officers following an application of force, and you were placed into handcuffs. You were placed under arrest. The child was then returned to the victim.

18Ambulance Victoria attended the scene and assessed the child. The child appeared well and uninjured and did not require hospitalisation.

19A digitally recorded evidence statement was taken from the complainant by police at the scene.

20Ambulance Victoria assessed you and deemed it appropriate that you be taken to hospital to be seen by doctors. At around 6:30am, you were discharged from the Alfred Hospital. You had sustained a broken nose while being placed under arrest.

Record of interview

21Following your discharge from hospital, you were conveyed to the Moorabbin Police Station where you were interviewed by police. Amongst other things, you provided the following answers to questioning by police:

·    You advised there was drunk banter between the complainant and you.

·    You stated the complainant was intoxicated, and that you were sitting on the floor in the spare room talking to her.

·    You recalled the complainant saying she was scared and asking you to leave her alone but stated you did not believe you would be scaring her as you are not a violent man.

·    You stated you were trying to stop the complainant leaving due to her having had alcohol and not being able to drive home, and you did not want her getting in an Uber with Logan without a baby seat.

·    You denied grabbing the complainant, and stated you only took Logan from her to try and go back inside.

·     You further denied any physical altercation.

22At the conclusion of the interview, an interim family violence intervention order was applied for, and you were released on bail.

Victim impact

23The victim has prepared a victim impact statement (‘VIS’) which has been tendered.[6] I have had regard to the contents of that statement which are relevant to your offending conduct.

[6]     Ex P2

24In her VIS, she describes the traumatic impact your offending has had on her mental health. She is living in a constant state of fear and panic and describes how she feels unsafe in her own home and in the community at large. This is understandable, as she notes her family lives in New Zealand and it appears she has a very limited support network in Melbourne.

25The victim expresses fears you will find her address or bump into her in public and take her son away from her. Out of concern for her safety, she has taken measures to install CCTV cameras around her house. The victim expresses a fear you will punish her for pursuing the charge before the court out of anger because your son has been withheld from you. She now finds herself feeling incredibly unsafe in Melbourne.

26Regrettably, these sentiments are all too common in cases of this kind. It is of abiding concern to the courts and the community that victims of domestic violence  should not continue to suffer adverse consequences at the hands of their abusers.

Offence seriousness

27Common law assault is a moderately serious offence, carrying a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment. I consider your offending conduct falls in the less serious category of offences of this type, but it is by no means trifling. It falls into the category of domestic violence offending, which is a blight on our community.

28In DPP v Smeaton[7] Dodds-Streeton JA observed that:

[7] [2007] VSCA 256.

Violence, and in particular violence by men against women as a means of control in current relationships or in relationships which have ended, is a prevalent and even critical social evil. As in the present case, the perpetrator not uncommonly expresses remorse immediately after a violent assault.[8]

[8] Ibid [21].

Her Honour expressed the view that sentences must

sufficiently express the deep abhorrence excited by a violent and brutal physical assault by an adult male on a slight young woman, which is in no degree abated by the fact of a prior relationship between the victim and the perpetrator.[9]

While some of the circumstances her Honour refers to are not applicable in this case, nonetheless, the general tenor of her Honour’s remarks remain apposite.

[9] Ibid [22].

29I find your moral culpability for this offending conduct overall is low to moderate given all of the circumstances. Nonetheless, just punishment, general deterrence and denunciation must be given some weight in sentencing you for this offence.

30Your assault on Ms Dejesus was unrelentless and fear inducing. It continued after she pleaded numerous times for you to leave her alone and after she attempted to leave your premises with the child. General deterrence, denunciation and just punishment must be given primacy in sentencing you. Given you have no prior criminal history and no subsequent or pending matters and you are otherwise of good character, I do not consider specific deterrence or protection of the community need be given any weight in sentencing you.

Personal circumstances

31You were born in May 1989 in Amman, Jordan and are currently 36 years old.

32You grew up in a loving home in Amman with your parents and two brothers. Your father worked in a bank and your mother held a senior role in a Montessori school.

Education and employment history

33You completed high school in Amman and subsequently moved to Melbourne with your brother when you were 21 years old. When you arrived in Australia as a young man you initially worked in a convenience store and later began working in cafes from 2011 to 2018. In 2011, you started your first business, a start-up called I-deliver, a business similar to what Uber Eats is today.

34After you obtained your permanent residency in 2018, you worked in digital marketing for one year. You are currently the founder and director of Lahlah Beauty, which specialises in Korean Halal Cosmetics, and of TGD, which specialises in the distribution of healthcare products, medicines and cosmetics. You are also the co-founder of a cyber security business which you run with your brother Laith.

35For many years, you contributed to your community through your involvement with Project Rozana, a charity which seeks to build bridges between Israelis and Palestinians through healthcare.

Mitigating circumstances

Guilty plea and remorse

36On 7 March 2025, prior to the committal hearing, you made an offer to resolve the proceedings for the conduct which was the subject of the sentence indication application made on 18 June 2025.

37In light of the fact the prosecution has proceeded on a charge for which a plea of guilty was effectively indicated at an early stage in the proceedings, I accept your plea is a forensically early plea of guilty,[10] and I take this into account in your favour.

[10]    See Atholwood v The Queen (1999) 109 A Crim 465, 468 (Ipp J); Cameron v The Queen (2002) 209 CLR 339, 345–6 [20]– [22] (Gaudron, Gummow and Callinan JJ).

38Your counsel submitted your plea of guilty should be seen as reflecting genuine contrition and remorse.

39I accept you are undoubtedly regretful for the situation in which you find yourself and the effect this has had on you and your access to your son. However, I must decide whether you demonstrate true contrition and remorse for your offending conduct. As Winneke P observed in R v Cooper:[11]

[a] distinction must always be carefully drawn between true regret for wrongdoing and regret engendered by concern for the position in which the offender finds [himself].[12]

[11] (1998) 103 A Crim R 51 (‘Cooper’).

[12]    Cooper 55 (Tadgell JA agreeing). See also Raptis v The Queen (1988) 36 A Crim R 362, 366 (Young CJ , O'Bryan & Tadgell JJ).

40True remorse is a question of fact and is determined on the balance of probabilities.[13] An offender must satisfy the court that there is ‘genuine penitence and contrition and a desire to atone’.[14] In many cases the most compelling evidence of remorse comes from the offender’s testimony.[15]

[13]    Cooper 55; R v Gillick [2000] VSCA 127 [20] (Callaway JA, Chernov JA agreeing) .

[14]    Barbaro v The Queen (2012) 226 A Crim R 354, 365 [38] (Maxwell P, Harper JA and T Forrest AJA) (‘Barbaro’).

[15]    Barbaro 365–66 [38], [40]; Bonacci v The Queen (2012) 224 A Crim R 194, 202 [44] (Neave, Mandie and Harper JJA).

41In CD v The Queen,[16] Harper JA, with whom Buchanan JA agreed, quoted his earlier observations in Phillips v The Queen,[17] where his Honour said:

[Genuine remorse] indicates realistic prospects of rehabilitation and a reduced need for specific deterrence. An offender who pleads guilty because he or she has an accurate appreciation of the wrongfulness of his or her offending, and of its impact upon its victim or victims, and who desires to do what reasonably can be done to repair the damage and to clear his or her conscience, is someone to whom mercy – in the form of a very substantial reduction in what would otherwise be an appropriate sentence – is very likely due.[18]

[16] [2013] VSCA 95 [36].

[17] (2012) 37 VR 594.

[18] Ibid [101].

42While you have expressed some regret to family members, friends and associates, on the evidence as it currently stands I cannot make a determination that you are genuinely remorseful for your actions on the night in question and the effect your offending has had on the victim.

Prior good character

43I accept you have no prior criminal history and there are no subsequent or pending matters. Accordingly, I accept you are otherwise of good character and I consider specific deterrence and the protection of the community need be given no weight in sentencing you.

44I further accept the testimonials received from your four character witnesses.[19] As a result of this material, I accept you are a hard-working individual with a good work history, a person of otherwise good character, and that your offending on this occasion was out of character. It is also much to your credit you have successfully completed a men’s behaviour change program.[20]

[19]    Exs D2 to D5.

[20]    Ex D6.

Extra curial punishment

45Your counsel made submissions on extra curial punishment. Ms Shann S.C. noted that you were hospitalised as a result of injuries sustained during your arrest on the night of the offence. You suffered a broken nose, bruising and lacerations to your eye, and bruising to your legs and buttocks. I do not accept this strictly constitutes extra curial punishment in the accepted sense. Rather, I consider it is part of the general circumstances of what occurred on the night in question and informs the weight I give to specific deterrence and protection of the community, in the sense you have learned a salutary lesson from the experience of being arrested in the manner you were.

46Your counsel informed me the events the subject of this sentence resulted in the commencement of proceedings in the Family Court. The proceedings as I understand it are ongoing. The effect of these proceedings for the past 18 months has been to deny you contact and any relationship with your son. I accept this constitutes extra curial punishment and I take this factor into account in your favour.

Application of sentencing principles

47I have had regard to current sentencing practice in relation to this offence as informed by the decisions of the High Court of Australia in R v Kilic[21] and DPP (Vic) v Dalgliesh (a Pseudonym)[22] and the Victorian Court of Appeal decisions in DPP v Zhuang[23] and DPP (Cth) v Thomas.[24]

[21] (2016) 259 CLR 256, 266–268 [21]– [25] (Bell, Gageler, Keane, Nettle and Gordon JJ).

[22] (2017) 262 CLR 428, 444–447 [47]– [58] (Kiefel CJ, Bell and Keane JJ), 452–455 [78]– [85] (Gageler and Gordon JJ).

[23] (2015) 250 A Crim R 282, 292 [30]– [31] (Redlich, Priest and Beach JJA).

[24] (2016) 53 VR 546, 606–609 [173]– [183] (Redlich, Santamaria and McLeish JJA). See also Williams (a pseudonym) v The Queen [2021] VSCA 35 [21]– [25] (Priest and Kyrou JJA); Russo v The Queen [2021] VSCA 244 [53]– [56] (Emerton JA, Priest JA agreeing).

48While current sentencing practice is relevant to the sentence I impose on you, it is only one of a number of sentencing considerations I must take into account in imposing a just sentence in your case.[25]

[25]    See DPP (Vic) v Dalgliesh (a Pseudonym) (2017) 262 CLR 428.

49Moreover, it is difficult to gauge more than a general yardstick from so-called ‘comparable cases’, given the wide range of offending conduct that can constitute these offences and the myriad of personal circumstances pertaining to individual offenders. Nonetheless, to the extent I have been able to gain assistance from comparable cases, I have sought to do so in your case.

50The basic purposes for which a court may impose a sentence are just punishment, denunciation, deterrence, both specific and general, protection of the community and rehabilitation. In sentencing you, I must have regard to a range of factors, such as the seriousness of the offence, your culpability for it, the effect of your offence on the victim and your personal circumstances.

51In sentencing you for this crime I am required to balance the interests of the community in denouncing your criminal conduct with the interests of the community in seeking to ensure that, so far as possible, you are rehabilitated and reintegrated into society.

52As I earlier observed, your offence was committed in the context of domestic violence. Sentencing law has long recognised the prevalence of violence by men against women in domestic relationships.[26] The community abhors such conduct and is completely unwilling to tolerate it.[27] Family violence ‘undermines the foundations of personal relationships and family trust upon which our society rests’,[28] and so requires that denunciation, just punishment and general deterrence be given primacy in sentencing you for this offence.[29]

[26]   Kalala v The Queen [2017] VSCA 233, [63] (Maxwell P and Redlich JJA).

[27] Ibid.

[28]   Felicite v The Queen (2011) 37 CR 329, 333 [20] (Redlich JA. Harper JA agreeing at 338 [44], Robson AJA agreeing at 339 [46]).

[29]   Ibid; DPP (Vic) v Evans [2019] VSCA 239, [83]-[85] (Maxwell P, T Forrest and Weinberg JJA); DPP (Vic) v Smith [2019] VSCA 266, [35] (Kyrou, Kaye and T Forrest JJA); Baker (a pseudonym) v The Queen [2021] VSCA 158, [30], [32] (McLeish and Osborn JJA).

53As I have previously observed, since you have no prior criminal history and no subsequent or pending matters, I do not consider weight needs to be given to specific deterrence and the protection of the community. Overall, I assess your prospects of rehabilitation as being very good.

54The present charge is not part of the standard sentencing scheme and is not a category 1 or category 2 offence as defined by the Sentencing Act 1991.

55After balancing all relevant sentencing considerations in your case, I consider an appropriate sentence to impose upon you is an adjourned undertaking, without conviction, for a period of 12 months with the following two conditions:

(a)   You must comply with any interim or final family violence intervention orders arising out of this offending conduct; and

(b)   You must make a donation in the sum of $5000.00 to Berry Street of Botanicca Building 9, Level 3, 588 Swan Street, Richmond, Victoria,  3121 within 3 months’ time from today.

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