Director of Public Prosecutions v Shugg

[2013] VCC 1307

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

AT LATROBE VALLEY

CRIMINAL DIVISION

CR 13-00359

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

DAVID SHUGG

---

JUDGE:	His Honour Judge Montgomery
WHERE HELD:	Latrobe Valley
DATE OF HEARING:	5 September 2013
DATE OF SENTENCE:	5 September 2013
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v. Shugg
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2019] VCC 1307

REASONS FOR SENTENCE

---

Catchwords:

---

APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the Crown	Mr T. Lynch	Director of Public Prosecutions
For the Accused	Mr S. Petrovich	Tyler Tipping & Woods

HIS HONOUR:

1       David Shugg, you were convicted by a jury of a charge of make a threat to inflict serious injury as recounted by the complainant, Lisa Norton.  in her VARE tape and also in her special hearing she said that on 13 October 2012 you had picked her up from Mid Valley at around midday.  Your position was that she had come over the day before.  For my sentencing purposes I am not sure whether it matters on what day it occurred but on the evidence I would be satisfied of the version that she came over to your place the day before mainly on the basis of the hospital records, the Gracedale records, and the evidence of your son.  She says at some stage while she was there a knife appeared, you came into the lounge room, she said "He got the knife out of there and he says 'I'm going to kill you, Lisa'".  In her special hearing she said "So I sat back in the chair, I heard something in the kitchen My Honour and it looked like he had a box of knives and he sat down, My Honour, I've seen the knife in his hand and he got it out and he goes, 'I'm going to kill you, Lisa'".  And that is the charge that the jury have convicted you of.

2       As to the other circumstances surrounding that, the jury acquitted you of those charges, so I am not in a position to make a finding as to when that incident actually occurred.  I suspect, without making a finding, it probably occurred at some stage shortly prior to Lisa Norton leaving.  But I am not really in a position to make a finding about that and I do not consider it vital that I do.

3       The prosecutor submits that an appropriate sentence would be a head sentence of three to two years with a non-parole period of 18 months to 12 months.  You have already served 326 days awaiting trial on these matters.  The prosecutor quite correctly points out to me your criminal history and, in particular, your criminal history in relation to Lisa Norton, which began with an unlawful assault on 19 May 2011.  Therein followed a number of breaches of court orders to finally you being gaoled on 23 July 2012 for two months and within about 14 days of your release this incident occurred.

4 I am also dealing with a summary matter to which you have pleaded guilty, namely a contravention of a Family Violence Intervention Order which concerned the circumstances that was the subject of the evidence at the trial. I consider under s.9(1) of the Sentencing Act that I can deal with both matters in an aggregate fashion as they form part of a series of offences and are founded on the same facts occurring at or around the same time.

5       Your counsel, Mr Petrovich, tells me you are aged 50.  You have been a plant operator and indeed you were up until 2010 when you met Lisa Norton.  You have had two other serious relationships.  You have a child, Danielle, from a lady you had been with for 12 years and then you son, David Shugg junior, who was also a witness in the trial, from a relationship with a person called Kim whom you lived with for five years.  Fortunately your son, David Shugg junior, although living at home by himself whilst you have been in custody, on the material put before me by Mr Petrovich, and I have no reason to doubt it, he seems to be able to lead a normal life despite what can only be described as your very poor parenting.  You have not been a good role model for your son but somehow he has managed to put that to one side and got on with his life.  Clearly he has impressed a number of people like the school teachers and the informant.  I can only suggest that when this matter is finally disposed of that when you go back to live with our son that you actually bear in mind you are a father and that you have responsibilities to provide a good role for him and that does not include drinking a lot of alcohol. 

6       Mr Petrovich tells me you have come from this area.  You left school at Year 10, did three years as an apprentice fitter and turner then went into the plant operating role.  He submitted that I could look at it on the basis of time served for the charge that you were convicted of for the jury and consider a Community Corrections Order in relation to the breaching the Family Violence Order.

7 Looking at all these matters, I have to consider a number of things and I have taken into account all of the matter put to me by both counsel, including the victim impact statements, I have taken into account s.5(1) and (2) of the Sentencing Act.  In this part of the world this sort of offending is all too common unfortunately.  So I have to consider what's called general deterrence, that is impose a penalty that will suggest to other people they should not engage in such behaviour.  I also have to look at specific deterrence, that is to try and get into your mind that this has got to be the end of it.  You have a reasonably lengthy court history and, in particular in relation to Ms Norton, a very unimpressive one.

8       I have to look at what is called the court's denunciation of your conduct, that is my view of it and take it from me I have a very dim view of it.  To be threatening a person with the problems of Ms Norton with a knife and saying you are going to kill her was appalling conduct in my view.  And doing so in the context of you breaching a Family Violence Order, irrespective of whether she turns up or not, you had breached it before, you have got a conviction of stalking her, assaulting her.  The obvious thing would have been, if she turned up at your door, not to let her in.  You had only been out of gaol for 14 days or so.  So specific deterrence still has a role to play.

9       I have to look at your prospects of rehabilitation.  I am really not in a position to make any assessment of that.  I take into account you have pleaded guilty to the summary matter and give it the appropriate discount. 

10      Weighing up all those matters as best I can, I impose an aggregate sentence in relation to each matter of 11 months.  I do not fix a non-parole period, it is a straight sentence. 

11 Under s.6AAA of the Sentencing Act in relation to the summary matter, I declare that but for your plea of guilty, I would have imposed a term of imprisonment of three months. 

12 I declare under s.18 of the Sentencing Act that the period of time of 326 days you have already served be reckoned to be part of the term of imprisonment of 11 months that I have just imposed. 

13      Are there any order I need to make or matters I need to consider.

14      MR LYNCH:  No, Your Honour.

15      HIS HONOUR:  Very well, thank you.  You may remove Mr Shugg.  You are excused, Mr Petrovich.

16      MR PETROVICH:  Thank you, Your Honour.

---