Director of Public Prosecutions v Smith
[2025] VCC 1105
•6 August 2025
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA AT MILDURA KOORI COURT DIVISION | Revised Not Restricted Suitable for Publication |
Case No. CR-24-00517
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| V |
| PAUL SMITH |
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| JUDGE: | HIS HONOUR JUDGE CAHILL | |||
| WHERE HELD: | Melbourne | |||
| DATE OF HEARING: | 8 August 2024 | |||
| DATE OF SENTENCE: | 6 August 2025 | |||
CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | DPP v Smith | |||
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2025] VCC 1105 | |||
SENTENCE
Subject:Home Invasion
Catchwords: Guilty plea – causing injury intentionally – two charges of theft – in company with three co-offenders – genuine participation in sentencing conversation with elders – background of extreme trauma and disadvantage – violent break-in with intention to steal
Legislation Cited: Sentencing Act1991
Cases Cited:DPP v. O’Brien [2019] VSCA 254; Boulton v. R. (2014) 46 VR 308; Akoka v. The Queen [2017] VSCA 214; Mill v. The Queen (1988) 166 CLR 59; DPP v. Mitchell [2023] VCC 2019; DPP v. Taylor [2024] VCC 452; R. v. Piacentino (2007) 15 VR 501
Sentence:
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APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the Prosecution | Mx J Van Dyke | Office of Public Prosecutions Victoria |
| For the Accused | Mr D Pica (plea) Mr N Rolfe (sentence) | Rolfe Criminal Law |
HIS HONOUR:
1Paul Smith you have pleaded guilty to:
(a) one charge of home invasion;
(b) one charge of causing injury intentionally; and
(c) two charges of theft
Alleged circumstances of offending[1]
[1] the circumstances set out in the summary of prosecution opening (Exhibit A). They are agreed facts.
2On 4 July 2022, in company with Luke Healey, Todd Mitchell and Adam Taylor, you broke into the Mildura home of Aaron Hunt (Charge one – home invasion) [2].
[2] Healey, Mitchell and Taylor were masked; you admit you entered as a trespasser, with intent to steal, in company with Healey, Taylor and Mitchell, when Hunt was present.
3Healey, Mitchell and Taylor were masked to disguise themselves. You were not.
4You knew Hunt. He disputed he owed you money in relation to the restoration of a motorcar which you had purchased together two years earlier.
5When you got into the house, Mitchell, Taylor and you punched Hunt to the head and face and demanded his car keys, his money and his phone (Charge two – intentionally cause injury)
6One of you grabbed a baseball bat from near the front door and hit Hunt over the head several times (Charge two – intentionally cause injury). Mitchell grabbed a fishing knife, Healey picked up a “cap” gun and you picked up a claw hammer. Mitchell demanded money; you demanded anything of value.
7During the attack Hunt’s mobile phone and wallet, which contained about $900 in cash with his key card and driver’s license, were taken from him.
8Healey filled the suitcase with household items including a desktop computer, a tablet, a can filled with approximately $400 in coins and a hunting knife.
9Clothes, a Bluetooth speaker, an old printer, a candle, wedding rings and four sets of car keys were also taken.
10Hunt’s blue Holden statesman was parked in the driveway. You drove off in it (Charge three – theft). Healey and Mitchell drove off in a second car which Hunt owned (Charge four – theft)
Objective seriousness
11Home invasion is a ‘very nasty’ crime.[3]
[3] DPP v O’Brien [2019] VSCA 254, [5], [37]
12With three others, you violently broke into the house of your cousin, while he was at home, intending to steal from him.
13Inside his house, you assaulted him, with others, who stole belongings from him, and you left in his car.
14Your cousin was your friend. You had grown up together.[4]
[4] as you told the court in a sentencing conversation with your elders.
15In the attack on him, he suffered a bloodied nose, cuts to his eyes, significant facial bruising and substantial pain[5].
[5] he declined to make a victim impact statement.
16It will have been a terrifying ordeal for him.
17Your offending is very serious.
18Your drug addiction, your homelessness and your belief he owed you money are no excuse.
Criminal record
19You have admitted a criminal record.
20Relevantly,
(a) On 6 March 2009, a magistrate, at Shepparton, sentenced you to 4 months’ imprisonment, to be served by way of an intensive correction order for attempted robbery, intentionally cause injury and other offences;
(b) on 26 October 2009 you were directed to serve the unexpired portion of the sentence, namely 81 days, for a breach of the order by further offending, that is, driving offences and theft; and
(c) on 30 April 2010 a magistrate, at Melbourne, sentenced you to 14 days’ imprisonment, wholly suspended, for theft
Chronology of proceedings
21On the day after you invaded your cousin’s home, police arrested you near Murray Bridge, South Australia, when you were driving the stolen Statesman.
22A South Australian magistrate subsequently jailed you for offences you committed when you tried to evade police apprehension[6].
[6] you were sentenced to a prison term of one year and nine months with a non-parole period of one year and two months for drive under disqualification, assault – worker and drive dangerously to escape police pursuit – aggravated.
23On 9 November 2023, when you were released from prison, in South Australia[7] you were extradited to Melbourne, charged with offences relating to your invasion of Hunt’s home and remanded in custody.
[7] on parole.
24On 5 April 2024, prior to a committal hearing, you agreed to plead guilty to the charges on the indictment before this court.
25On the same day, a Mildura magistrate, sentenced you to 89 days’ imprisonment for unrelated dishonesty offences.
26On 8 August 2024, in County Koori Court, you were arraigned and pleaded guilty to the charges before the court.
27To that time, you had spent 37 months in custody.
28In a sentencing conversation with your elders [8] you said your time in custody gave you time to think about the impact of your crimes on Hunt, who is your cousin, and his family. You acknowledged the harm you had caused. You said when you offended you were homeless, and using ice. You admitted a long-standing drug addiction and said you wanted to go to rehab.
[8] uncle Mark Bland and auntie Sandra Stewart
29Impact Recovery, at Bendigo, had a place in its residential drug rehabilitation program available for you.[9]
[9] the manager, Sandy Lee Burton gave evidence
30I deferred sentence to allow you to participate in the program to address the underlying causes of your offending.[10]
[10] Sentencing Act, s 83A (1A) (c)
31You were in the program from 21 August 2024 until 13 December 2024 when I varied your bail to permit you to return to Shepparton to help your unwell mother and to reconnect with country and culture.
32You have done that. You have been largely drug abstinent and honest about drug relapses[11]. Importantly, you have not reoffended.
[11] Community Correction Order Assessment Outcome Report dated 31 July 2025
Personal circumstances
33You were born in August 1984 at Mildura. You were 37 years old when you offended. You will turn 41 next week.
34You are a first Nations man from the Barkindji and Miyampa people.
35Your childhood was marred by exposure to family violence, drug and alcohol abuse, trauma, abandonment and neglect.
36Your mother, who was an alcoholic and herself exposed to violence, raised you from birth until you were removed from her home and placed in the care of the state, when you were five years old.
37You report, in care, you were raped, multiple times, and beaten, constantly, and often deprived of food and clothing.
38You used drugs to try to escape your chaotic and abusive surroundings.
39At 16, with the help of an aunt and uncle, you ran away to Adelaide.
40Within a year, you returned to Mildura where you couch surfed among cousins.
41You lived with his sister for a time in Bendigo and then at a mission near Warrnambool.
42When you were 20 you met Mary. You were together for five years and had two children, a son, born in 2007, and a daughter, born in 2009. Your relationship ended because you were abusing methamphetamine.
43You said you want to get back on your feet and be a good example before contacting the children.
44You have shown you can do it.
45In March 2016, when you were working at the Pullman hotel as a chef, you won the Accor Hotel indigenous employee of the year award.
46In July 2016 you were to start work at Mungo Lodge, near Mildura, to live closer to family and friends and reconnect with your indigenous culture.
47On 11 July 2016, the manager picked you up to drive to the Lodge. On the way, he lost control of the car which overturned and you suffered shoulder, chest and spinal injuries. You also suffered a blow to your head which caused a mild traumatic brain injury.
48Your general health is not good. You rely on medications to manage sciatica, general pain relief and diabetes.
Psychological opinions
49A psychologist, Gina Cidoni, assessed you on 17 May 2024.
50She found your verbal comprehension and working memory were in the low average range.[12]
[12] Psychological report of Ms Gina Cidoni dated 21 May 2025 (Exhibit 2), [58] – [61]
51You have severe and pervasive PTSD symptoms that have persisted for many years.[13]
[13] ibid, [66] and [79]
52You frequently experience flashbacks, nightmares and intrusive thoughts related to past trauma.
53She diagnosed with PTSD and major depressive disorder which, in her opinion, stem from a deeply traumatic and unstable upbringing.
54In her opinion, the harsh and restrictive prison environment[14] makes your psychological conditions worse.
[14] ibid, [88] – [90] I note, during your time on remand custody, you spent extended periods in the isolation of protection units.
55As well, you found it difficult to manage your chronic pain and diabetes within the confines of prison.[15]
[15] ibid: [89]
56In her opinion, you need comprehensive psychological therapy and medical oversight in the community, to achieve any recovery.[16]
[16] ibid, [86] – [87]
Consideration
57Home invasion is a Category 2 offence. A custodial order for imprisonment is the legislated norm[17].
[17] Sentencing Act s 5 (2H)
58I am satisfied, because of your psychological conditions, the burden of imprisonment is substantially and materially greater for you.[18]
[18] Sentencing Act, s 5 (2H) (c)
59I am also satisfied your exposure to extreme childhood trauma, which has caused you severe psychological problems, the consequences of those problems and the enduring physical consequences of the injuries you suffered in the motor car accident, and intergenerational trauma, in combination, constitute substantial and compelling circumstances that are exceptional and rare and justify not making an a custodial order under Division 2 of Part 3 of the Sentencing Act[19]
[19] the prosecution fairly acknowledged this finding is open on the material before the court.
60your offending was very serious. However, a combination sentence, with its punitive prison component and therapeutic CCO component can be appropriate even in cases of very serious offending. [20]
[20] Boulton v. R. (2014) 46 VR 308
61After careful consideration[21], I have decided a combination of a prison term, equivalent to your presentence detention, and community correction order can achieve sentencing purposes in your case.
[21] I have considered the comprehensive and helpful submissions of both prosecution and defence together with the supporting material which is identified in the exhibit list.
62In reaching this conclusion I have taken into account:
(a) the seriousness of your offending and the importance of general deterrence;
(b) the harm you caused to your victim;
(c) your guilty plea;
(d) your remorse;
(e) your participation in the sentencing conversation;
(f) your background of extreme trauma and disadvantage;
(g) your psychological conditions which make prison harder for you and are made worse in prison; and[22]
(h) your positive steps to advance your rehabilitation including the time you spent in residential rehabilitation[23]
[22] again, the prosecution fairly accepted this proposition
[23] Nathan Akoka v The Queen [2017] VSCA 214
63Provided you continue to address your mental health and substance abuse problems, which were the underlying causes of your offending, I view your prospects of rehabilitation is favourable.
64Because you served a sentence of imprisonment, in another state, for offences which occurred after the commission of the index offences, the totality principle has application.[24]
[24] Mill v the Queen (1988) 166 CLR 59
65The parity principle also has application. In that regard I have considered the sentences imposed on two of your co-offenders and deciding the appropriate sentence for you. [25]
[25] DPP v Mitchell [2023] VCC 2019 (Judge Moglia); DPP v Taylor [2024] VCC 452 (Judge Moglia)
66Because you are to be sentenced for several offences, I must ensure your sentence is an appropriate measure of your overall criminality.
67I also have regard to the need to impose the least severe sentence necessary to achieve the purposes of sentencing. [26]
[26] Sentencing Act , section 5(3); R v Piacentino (2007) 15 VR 501, [47].
68Because the offences arose out of a single episode, I will impose an aggregate sentence.
69Mr Smith,
70By the sentence I impose, I must denounce your conduct, punish you, and deter you and others from committing crimes of the same or similar kind. I must also look to your rehabilitation.
71Considering the circumstances of your offending, your personal circumstances and antecedents, and endeavouring to produce a sentence which reflects and promotes the purposes of sentencing in a manner appropriate to you, on:
(a) the charge of home invasion;
(b) the charge of intentionally cause injury; and
(c) the two charges of theft[27]
you are sentenced to 198 days’ imprisonment combined with a two-year Community Correction Order.
[27] I accept the prosecutor's submission licence disqualification is discretionary. To promote your rehabilitation, which I accept is substantially underway, I will not make a disqualification order.
72The standard conditions of a CCO are:
(a) You must not commit any offence that is punishable by imprisonment during the term of your order. If you do, you will be liable to imprisonment for contravention of the order and resentencing for the current offences.
(b) You must report to the community correction service at Shepparton within two working days of today.
(c) You are required to advise your community correction supervisor of any change of address where you are living or working and you must do so within two clear working days.
(d) You must submit to visits as directed and comply with all instructions and directions of a community correction officer. You cannot leave the state of Victoria without their permission.
73I will also impose the following special conditions to your order, namely:
(a) supervision;
(b) drug rehabilitation and treatment;
(c) mental health rehabilitation and treatment; and
(d) judicial monitoring
74Your first monitoring session will occur on 5 November 2025 at 9:30 am.
75I declare you have 198 days’ presentence detention.[28]
[28] this means you have served the prison component of your sentence.
76While there is some artificiality in the process, I declare, but for your guilty plea, I would have sentenced you to three years’ imprisonment and fixed a minimum non-parole period of 21 months.
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