Director of Public Prosecutions v Spiropoulos
[2017] VCC 885
•29 June 2017
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA AT MELBOURNE CRIMINAL DIVISION | Revised (Not) Restricted Suitable for Publication |
CR 17-00103
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| v |
| MICHAEL SPIROPOULOS |
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JUDGE: | HER HONOUR JUDGE LAWSON | |
WHERE HELD: | Melbourne | |
DATE OF HEARING: | 8 May 2017 | |
DATE OF SENTENCE: | 29 June 2017 | |
CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | DPP v Spiropoulos | |
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2017 VCC 885 | |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject:Criminal law – sentencing – theft, armed robbery and obtain property by deception – immediate term of imprisonment imposed.
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APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the DPP | Ms H. Bate | John Cain, Solicitor for the Public Prosecutions |
| For the Accused | Mr N. Goodenough | Doogue O’Brien George |
HER HONOUR:
1 Michael Spiropoulos, you have pleaded guilty before me to two charges of theft, one charged of armed robbery and two charges of obtain property by deception.
2 Each of those charges is serious and that is reflected in the maximum penalty that is prescribed by Parliament and that is, ten years’ imprisonment in respect to all the charges except for armed robbery; the maximum term for that charge being 25 years' imprisonment.
3 I will now proceed to sentence on the basis of the prosecution opening that was read at the plea hearing and is marked as an exhibit.
4
The offending took place between 11 October and 15 October 2016.
Charge 1 – theft – involved you stealing a car belonging to Travis Grinham on
11 October 2016. You then attended the Coles Express, Bunker Hill where you obtained petrol and drove off without paying for it. A total of $67.51 is the amount – the value of the stolen petrol. And that is Charge 2 – theft.
5 Charge 3 – the armed robbery occurred when you were with another unknown male driving in Doncaster. A woman, Tamara Seneviratne, saw your vehicle and thought it looked suspicious so she took a photograph of the vehicle using her mobile phone. Upon seeing her taking the photograph, you alighted from the vehicle carrying a knife – that was a jagged hunter’s knife, approximately ten centimetres in length – the blade that is.
6 You were very angry, shouting and pointing the knife at her when she was less than a metre away. You demanded that she provide her phone to you. She asked you not to take her phone because she needed it and when she tried to assure you that she had not taken any photographs of your face, you put the knife closer to her, at which time she surrendered her phone. You grabbed the phone and returned to the stolen car and drove away – Charge 3 – armed robbery.
7 On 15 October 2016, you attended the Caltex store, South Yarra, and the Woolworths store, Prahran, and obtained petrol and food utilising a stolen credit card. And that is Charges 4 and 5 – obtain property by deception.
8
You were arrested on 28 October 2016 and have been held in custody since that time. You have admitted your prior criminal history. There are four court appearances spanning the period from 25 February 2011 until
29 October 2015. Your prior criminal history relates predominantly to driving offences with some dishonesty offending.
9 In 2011, you were dealt with in the Supreme Court, Melbourne, in respect to a charge of assisting an offender to a murder and cultivating a narcotic plant, namely cannabis. You were placed on a wholly suspended sentence for three years and in addition, placed on a Community-Based Order for two years with special conditions that you perform 400 hours unpaid community work, undergo treatment in respect to alcohol and drug dependency and any psychiatric conditions, and also other programs to reduce reoffending.
10 In respect to that appearance at court, you undertook to give evidence against the person who was accused of the murder and you received a substantial discount on your sentence accordingly.
11 On your behalf, it was conceded that this current offending is serious, in particular, the armed robbery. The objective features of the armed robbery are particularly worrying. This was a gratuitous act of violence inflicted upon an innocent woman who is entitled to feel safe and protected whilst walking along the street in daylight.
12 You did not physically harm the victim. There is no victim impact statement filed. However, given the circumstances, I am satisfied that your menacing and threatening actions would have caused her considerable upset and distress.
13 I accept that there is context for the offending, namely that you were abusing heavily the drug ice and whilst this explains this appalling behaviour, it in no way excuses your behaviour.
14 In sentencing you, there is a need to emphasise both general and specific deterrence, denunciation and also a need to provide for the protection of the community.
15 You have further matters outstanding. There is a consolidation to be dealt with at the Broadmeadows Magistrates' Court on 20 July 2017 involving 27 charges from six informants including charges of theft, theft of a motor vehicle, burglary, fail to appear on bail, threat to inflict serious injury, breach of a Community Correction Order and I am informed that that offending occurred around about the same time as the offending the subject of these charges.
16 I have been told something of your history and background. I note that you are now 26 and you are a qualified boilermaker by trade. You are one of four children. In the past, you attended a number of primary schools and high schools but moved because of bullying. You left school in Year 10 and undertook successfully your apprenticeship as a boilermaker.
17 You have spent your present time in custody on remand in protection. You are in protection because of the assistance that you provided to the authorities relating to the Supreme Court matter. I accept that your time spent in custody is more onerous. You do not have the same freedom of movement as an ordinary prisoner and therefore your time in custody has been difficult and I have taken that into account.
18 Notwithstanding your status, you have utilised your time well in custody. You have completed a number of certificates including managing loss, managing sleep, Certificate II Engineering, Certificate I Access to Vocational Pathways and Certificate II in Business. You have also been able to have some work as a laundry billet.
19 Drug screens have been provided to the court and they are all reported as being negative.
20 I have had regard to the report from Dr Aaron Cunningham, consultant psychologist. His report of 28 April 2016 confirms that you do continue to have real, very real difficulties in terms of your role relating to the Supreme Court matter. He says that you engaged in the current offending because there was a period where you were having instability in your life – you were having difficulties with your girlfriend; you were living with friends who were abusing drugs; and you too were using heavily.
21 He states that you present with a persistent depressive disorder with chronic low level depressed mood. He says that you do meet the criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder but it appears that that disorder has improved with time. He did not consider that there was any indication of intellectual disability. He thought that you had an average range of non-verbal fluid intelligence.
22 He noted your past history and background and difficulties growing up in a home where your father was a drug addict and your mother experienced difficulties in properly caring for her children.
23 He says that you have experienced significant symptoms of trauma since age 19 when you were involved in the disposal of a body and that you began using and abusing methylamphetamines following this trauma. You were not supported by your family after that matter became public. You became addicted to methylamphetamine and were entrenched in drug-abusing peer associations.
24 Currently, he considers that you do have protective factors that may reduce your risk and improve your prospects for rehabilitation. You now have a supportive partner and you now have your family’s support. You are motivated to abstain from drug use. For the future, you expressed a desire to resume paid employment and to move into accommodation with your partner. Mr Cunningham recommends that you have psychological treatment and counselling in the future and also some support in respect to your drug problems so as to reduce your risks and to enable you to be rehabilitated.
25 I have had regard to what is said by your girlfriend, Ms Elisha Remfrey-Swift, in her letter addressed to the court of 12 April 2017. She is a State-enrolled nurse and is currently undergoing full-time studies at university. Ms Remfrey-Swift has known you for four years and she says that you have expressed great remorse to her in respect to the offending and that you now wish to lead a more pro-social life.
26 You have indicated your desire to marry and your wish to work and support your partner in the future. She confirms that you have cut off your associations with your drug-associated peers and that currently, you are not using any drugs. You now understand the impact that drugs have had on your life. Overall, she says you are a caring and supportive partner.
27 Wendy Jackson provided a letter to the court dated 8 May 2017. She is aware of your charges and says that you are ashamed and embarrassed about them. She treats you like her son. In the past ten years she has known you, you have demonstrated compassion, respect and love towards her. She says that you have made poor choices with your life and that you are currently regretful and remorseful for your actions. She says that you are now in a more positive frame of mind in respect to your future and life in general.
28 I accept that you are now in a stronger position to be able to abstain from drugs having regard to your current expressed attitudes and also commitment to change as evidenced by the programs that you are undertaking and also the negative drug screens and that augurs well for the future.
29 I have had regard to all the matters put in mitigation. I accept you entered a plea of guilty at the earliest opportunity. There is real utility in your plea. You acknowledged through that plea that your actions were wrong and I accept that there is some evidence of remorse. You facilitated justice and I have discounted your sentence accordingly.
30 I consider with the ongoing support of your girlfriend, friends and family, together with your commitment to remain drug free that you do have good prospects for rehabilitation.
31 This is the first time you have been held in an adult prison. You are subject to the protection conditions that involves considerable periods of lockdown each day. You have learnt a lot through your experience whilst in custody and it has underlined to you the seriousness of your situation and enabled you to properly reflect on your offending behaviour.
32 Mr Goodenough, on your behalf, submitted having regard to all the factors highlighted, namely your early plea of guilty, cooperation and full admissions, difficulties with respect to the onerous conditions in protection and optimistic prospects for rehabilitation, that the court ought to consider a disposition that combines jail with a Community Correction Order (“CCO”) with provision for treatment for drug and mental health issues and some community work. Alternatively, he suggested a jail term with a non-parole period that enabled your early release.
33 Counsel for prosecution, Ms Bate, submitted that a combination sentence was outside the appropriate range and the only appropriate disposition was a custodial sentence.
34 In sentencing you, I must impose just punishment. I must have regard to the totality of your offending. You have been assessed as suitable for a CCO. However, having regard to the seriousness of this offending, your antecedents and poor progress on orders in the past, I have determined that a term of imprisonment to be served with a non-parole period is appropriate. I shall allow for some cumulation between the charges to represent the separate offending. I have fixed a non-parole period that is shorter than it would otherwise have been because of your very real efforts towards and/or prospects for rehabilitation. So could you please stand now, Mr Spiropoulos?
35 The formal court orders are as follows.
36 Charge 1, convicted and sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment.
37 Charge 2, convicted and sentenced to one month imprisonment.
38 Charge 3, convicted and sentenced to two years, six months' imprisonment. This is the base sentence.
39 Charge 4, convicted and sentenced to three months’ imprisonment.
40 And Charge 5, convicted and sentenced to three months’ imprisonment.
41 I make the following orders for cumulation. Four months of the sentence imposed on Charge 1 and one month in respect to each of Charges 4 and 5 are cumulative upon each other and upon the sentence imposed in respect to Charge 3, that makes a total effective sentence of three years' imprisonment and I fix a non-parole period of 18 months' imprisonment.
42 I make the following declaration. Pursuant to s.6AAA of the Sentencing Act1991, but for your plea of guilty I would have imposed a term of imprisonment of four years and six months with three years to serve.
43 I make the following declaration of pre‑sentence detention and direct that that be entered into the records of the court. I declare that you have spent 244 days of pre‑sentence detention.
44 I do not believe that there is any ancillary orders sought?
45 MS BATE: No, Your Honour.
46 HER HONOUR: All right. That competes the matter.
47 MR GOODENOUGH: As the court pleases.
48 MS BATE: As Your Honour pleases.
49 HER HONOUR: Thank you. All right, you can take Mr Spiropoulos back downstairs. And Mr Goodenough, will see you downstairs.
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