Director of Public Prosecutions v Stephens
[2018] VCC 1246
•10 August 2018
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA AT MELBOURNE CRIMINAL DIVISION | Revised (Not) Restricted Suitable for Publication |
Case No. CR-17-02069
CR-17-02081
CR-18-00062
Indictment No. E13414436
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| v |
| DAMEN STUART STEPHENS |
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JUDGE: | HER HONOUR JUDGE HANNAN | |
WHERE HELD: | Melbourne | |
DATE OF PLEA HEARING: | 30 July 2018 | |
DATE OF SENTENCE: | 10 August 2018 | |
CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | DPP v Stephens | |
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2018] VCC 1246 | |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject: CRIMINAL LAW
Catchwords:
Legislation Cited: Sentencing Act 1991
Cases Cited:
Sentence:
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APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the DPP | Mr A. Grant | Solicitor for the Office of Public Prosecutions |
| For the Offender | Mr C. Mandy | Dribbin and Brown Criminal Law |
HER HONOUR:
1 Damen Stephens, you have pleaded guilty to three charges of stalking. The maximum penalty for each offence is 10 years’ imprisonment. You have further pleaded guilty to one charge of possession of child pornography. The maximum penalty for that offence is 5 years’ imprisonment. You have further pleaded guilty to three charges of intentionally causing injury. The maximum penalty for each offence is 10 years’ imprisonment. And finally, as regards the indicted charges, you have pleaded guilty to one charge of arson. The maximum penalty for that offence is 15 years’ imprisonment.
2 Through your counsel, you have entered pleas of guilty to a number of summary offences. On County Court reference CR-18-02069, you have pleaded guilty to Charge 2, contravening a Personal Safety Intervention Order, the maximum penalty for that offence is 2 years’ imprisonment, and Charge 6, failing to answer bail. The maximum penalty for that offence is 2 years’ imprisonment. On County Court reference CR-17-02081, you have pleaded guilty to Charge 6, committing an indictable offence whilst on bail, the maximum penalty for that offence is 3 months’ imprisonment, and Charge 7, a charge of failing to answer bail. The maximum penalty for that offence is 2 years’ imprisonment. Finally, on County Court reference CR-18-00062, you have pleaded guilty to Charge 17, as amended upon your plea, contravening a Personal Safety Intervention Order. The maximum penalty for that offence is 2 years’ imprisonment.
3
The facts which found your plea are set out in the prosecution opening which was tendered upon the plea. That document runs to some 14 pages, which
I do not propose to recite in full now.
4 In essence, you were at all relevant times aged between 39 and 43. There are four victims in relation to your offending. The victim of each of the stalking charges is a now 23 year old female. Your mother was the victim of both the arson and the first intentionally cause injury charge, and two strangers were the victims of the other two intentionally cause injury charges.
5 By way of background, in January 2012 you were enrolled to study psychology at the University of Melbourne, as was the victim of the stalking offences. You approached her and addressed her by name, although she had never met you. You later that day sent her a message on Facebook and she did not reply until June 2012, asking you who you were and how you found her Facebook account. You replied some months later, in December 2012, with a series of messages that are set out in the opening. The victim largely tried to ignore you, but on 31 May 2013 you contacted her asking for feedback on the messages. She responded in June, indicating that she was confused as to why you were continuing to message her and asked you if you intended to upset or scare her. You eventually agreed not to make any contact with her in tutorials and to sit far from her in lectures. The victim reported your concerning conduct to police but opted not to pursue criminal proceedings at that time.
6 Charge 1, stalking, occurred in the period between 16 June 2013 to 24 June 2014. A message you sent to yourself in September 2013 clearly indicates that you were aware that the victim did not want any contact with you. You continued to send messages, and messages sent on 25 May made it clear to the victim that you were continuing to follow her social media accounts despite her experience of discomfort and your awareness of her disinterest in you. On 8 June 2014, she sent you a message that said “Please stop contacting me”. You responded with a series of messages over a period of hours, which included the following: “… you don’t understand me at all. This may last forever. If I’m paying a price, I’ll make sure you pay it greater.”
And:
“I’m not a rapist, yet, I don’t want to be. Having said that, well…there are options, and why would I say more? …This will be a 10 year or 20 year thing.”
The victim pleaded with you, saying:
“… I wish you to please stop. It’s scary, it’s inappropriate, and I don’t know what else to do but to ask you to stop. If you don’t respect that I will have to take things further.”
7 Your response was to invite the victim to take things further, calling her ‘psychotically narcissistic’. She blocked you from Facebook and less than an hour later you sent another series of Facebook messages from a false account in the name of “Charlie Fly”. These messages were particularly concerning and included the following:
“… You are worth me spending the rest of my life in prison – just to teach you a lesson about how to treat people. …I’m going to laugh at your end – and I WILL be there.”
You said further: “You shall become the hunted. I never realised how much
I had to hate…”. You also said: “… I can no longer guarantee your safety…”.
As regards the charge of Contravening an Interim Personal Safety Intervention Order
8 On 13 June 2014, the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court made an Interim Personal Safety Intervention Order which was personally served upon you on 23 June 2014. Later that very day, in contravention of the Order, you sent the victim a number of messages from an anonymous Tumblr account. You said, among other things: “…please DON’T think the police have the answer” and “… just a red rag to a bull…They will give me a warning and a slap on the wrist whilst I destroy the lives, hopes and dreams of 30 people.”. You went on to say: “… breaking a restraining order would add what? A month to a 20 year sentence. I’d take that – so would anyone”. This was in the context of saying that if you wanted to kill her you would do so.
9 You were first interviewed by police in August 2014. You admitted sending numerous messages, including under the pseudonym, Charlie Fly. You told police that you were really drunk. You described the messages as “awful”, “horrible”, "nasty”. You told police that your recent conduct had been “appalling”.
10
Charge 6 is a charge of failing to answer bail, and relates to a listing on
9 February 2015 at the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court when you failed to answer your undertaking.
11
Charge 2 on the indictment is a charge of possession of child pornography. On the date you were interviewed, 25 August 2014, a search warrant was executed at your home. A computer was seized, which revealed 519 child exploitation images. The details of the categorisation of those images is set out at page 6 of the prosecution opening. I have seen a sample of that material. You were arrested and interviewed in relation to the child pornography images on
7 January 2016 and you largely exercised your rights.
12 Summary Charge 7 is a further charge of failing to answer bail, which occurred on 18 February 2016, when you failed to attend in accordance with your undertaking at the Magistrates’ Court at Melbourne.
13 Charge 3, stalking, and Summary Charge 6, committing an indictable offence whilst on bail, both relate to the period 28 August 2016 to 16 September 2016.
14 On 28 August 2016, you resumed sending messages to the victim of stalking. You referred to her home address and the registration of a car parked outside. You mentioned seeing her mother. You said, amongst other things: “This Friday I have to go to court to answer the charge of stalking you. I am more ‘on edge’ than I have EVER been in my entire life…”. “You want a cardboard
cut-out monster. You can’t see beyond that. Then I’m happy to oblige …”. “My entire life is dedicated to destroying yours.” You also sent the victim a video of yourself singing “Wish You Were Somehow Here Again”.
15
You were arrested when you attended Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on
16 September 2016 and remanded in custody.
16 You were again interviewed by police and you essentially exercised your rights.
17 On 31 August 2017, the Magistrates’ Court granted an indefinite extension to the Interim Personal Safety Intervention Order. This order was personally served upon you on 12 September 2017.
18 Charge 4 is a charge of stalking between 1 October 2017 and 7 October 2017, during which time you sent the victim numerous messages via an anonymous Tumblr account. The initial messages were apologetic, but by 4 October they had, again, become aggressive. On 6 October you sent a series of messages, including the following:
“… You have no idea who I am or how far I will go. I have no fucking choice. THANKYOU!!!”.
And “…, my life IS dedicated to slicing your face off on your own blog. …30 years is NOTHING to me. I will plan this so none of you have any choice.”
And “I actually HAVE made a decision: my life for yours. It’s a shitty bargain, given what I have to offer, but I realise that…you ARE going to destroy a great many people’s lives …”
And “you wish to know who I am…do you REALLY??? My name is NOT important, but you may call me ‘Odin’ for now, and ‘Master’ as I slice and pull your face off…I’m not sure if your eyes will come off then, but it won’t matter – you WILL have seen my face…and you will know…”
19 Charge 5 is a charge of intentionally causing injury and relates to your mother. On 6 October, you were residing with your mother as part of your bail conditions. You began swearing at her and punched a hole in the bedroom door. She commenced calling 000 on her mobile phone to gain assistance. You took the phone from her and threw it. You then punched her to the face, causing her to fall to the floor. She asked for her phone back, promising not to call the police until after you had left. You punched her to the side of the head several times. Your mother then stood up and tried to get away. You placed a forearm around her neck and began to choke her. She was trying to hit you with a dog bowl and to gouge at your eyes in an attempt to make you stop. It was at that time that you bit her thumb. She was on the ground, struggling to breathe. You eventually let go, saying you would not kill her. You took her glasses and stomped on them several times. Your mother then fled to a neighbour’s house. Police and ambulance were called. Your mother sustained bruising to both of her arms, her buttocks, shoulders and back. She required surgery to repair her thumb, which was broken and partially amputated. Police ultimately attended at the house and made observation of several broken windows, but you were not located.
20 Throughout this time, you were sending messages to the victim of stalking, including the following:
“I just belted the shit out of my mother because of your lies. …I will see you in court bitch. And then I WILL kill you…I will get revenge. You treated this and me as a joke. You will fucking see what you’ve done. You created this – remember that. [victim’s address] …Your face POUNDED!!”
You said further, “Dammit ….. I even kind of started to eye gouge my own mother – I stopped that straight away and said ‘no’ to myself, but FUCK IT – she was saying ‘thank you’ for not killing her.”
21 You also said: “I am sick of being a joke to you. I will make you pay for your insolence. You will see that I’m not a joke and it will be too late for you then.” You further referred to the victims' address and said, "I’m not going straight there…too obvious. I am going homeless again…I will see you soon – can’t risk being caught before I finish the job.” You told her she had: “… just killed herself and her parents’ and asked ‘Was it worth it?” You went on to say: “… I WILL GET YOU – it is the only thing in my life which matters anymore…". You said further, “…This life time is not enough for the pain I will inflict – you ASKED for this…I will deliver.”
22 Charge 6 is a charge of arson and relates to you returning to your mother’s home and setting fire to the house. The house was destroyed, along with all of your mother’s possessions. The damage was estimated at some $420,000. Fire investigation indicated that the fire had commenced in the kitchen and meals area which had sustained most of the damage. There was no evidence to suggest flammable liquid had been used. You sent the victim of stalking images of the fire from within the house, writing: “Here’s my mother’s house and my dead nephew’s photos. I’m doing things PROPERLY NOW. You are playing a game and making fun of me. I am razing it all to the ground.” You then exited the house leaving it to burn.
23
Charges 7 and 8 are charges of intentionally causing injury. On
7 October 2017, two victims were seated outside St Kilda Cellars Bottle Shop. Three males, including you, joined the two victims, who were unknown to you. At one point, one of the victims went inside to use the bathroom and you stood watching him. He said something to the effect of “Stop looking at me and my dick!” He walked away. The victim then returned to the table which was located outside. You had by that stage left. On your evidence, you left because you thought that there was indeed a problem. You apparently continued to obsess over a comment you assert the victim made about you being a paedophile. You assert that you returned in order to speak to the victim and ask him what he meant. Video recordings indicate you sat across from him at about 8.58 pm. Soon after sitting down you said to the victim, “You’re a fuckwit”. Fifty seconds after sitting down you lunged at the victim with a knife approximately
30 centimetres long. You thrust at his torso several times. His friend grabbed your arms from behind, trying to restrain you, and you thrust the knife at his friend's torso twice. You then walked away. The incident occurred in front of numerous witnesses, including several people who were seated at an adjacent table. The first victim was transported to hospital by ambulance. He required 22 stitches to his left arm and part of his tricep was removed. He also suffered two cuts to his stomach and one to his back. The second victim required five stitches to his tricep and missed two weeks of work. I have seen the video of this incident, which is Exhibit 2, and clearly depicts what I have just described.
24 On 8 October, police attended premises where they believed you would be located, but you were not. What they did locate was a laptop which belonged to your mother. On that laptop was a 824-page journal. Two hundred and eighteen pages of that journal relate to the victim of the stalking, with entries from 26 February 2016 to 6 October 2017. These included numerous photographs of the victim taken from social media, extracts from her blog. There was also some commentary from you, and there were copies of messages sent anonymously by you to the victim. It also revealed that you had searched and recorded her residential address.
25 On 9 October, you were arrested in Cheltenham. You were interviewed after having been examined, and found fit. You, again, essentially exercised your rights.
Seriousness
26 As regards these matters, the stalking offences are, in my view, at the upper end of the range of offences of this type. Your offending was calculated, prolonged and verbally violent. You persisted in the face of requests to stop. You persisted in the face of intervention orders and bail orders and being arrested and remanded. You showed no regard for the victim, no regard for the law and the circumstances of your offending would have been nothing short of terrifying from the victim's perspective, as is demonstrated by the fact that I am told she ultimately left the country. It was put upon your plea that the stalking behaviour occurred on some 30 days of the 5 year period, but as I said to your counsel during the course of the plea, from the victim’s perspective this was ongoing and you knew that. You even verbalised insight into the damaging nature of your behaviour and just kept going. Your threats were extreme and included threats to kill her and her family and graphic descriptions of torture.
27 The possession of child pornography is, by its very nature, a serious offence. This type of offending seriously damages the lives of children and you play a part in a trade which relies upon an ultimate user. I do not accept that this was some kind of inadvertence from long ago; you transferred the material from computer to computer and, in my view, you knew full well it was there and you intentionally possessed it. I have had regard to the factors as set out in DPP v Smith as per the judgment of Nettle JA in assessing the gravity of the instant offending. There were a total of 546 images of which 357 were category one and thus at the lower end of the scale. This was not a case of possession for sale or profit and I have sentenced you on that basis, noting that general deterrence is properly given significant weight as regards this type of offending.
28 In relation to the charge of arson, it has been put upon your plea that you only meant to destroy the shrine which your mother had created to her deceased nephew. The reality is that you stayed at the house, filming it. The fire was out of control, you did nothing. You were sending threatening messages to the victim of stalking about your assault on your mother and you told her as regards the arson that you were ‘razing it all to the ground’. This is a case of arson for some kind of vengeance towards your mother. It is a serious example of this offence. Your consumption of half a bottle of wine and evidence that you were intoxicated is not mitigatory. It is however relevant to context and what is required to achieve rehabilitation and ultimately to protect our community.
29 As regards the charges of intentionally causing injury, firstly, as it relates to your mother, your conduct cannot be described other than as disgraceful. It was an attack on a defenceless woman in her own home. It included you punching her to the head and biting her finger, partly severing it. The victim was trying to call for help. You threw the phone, broke her glasses, rendering her even more helpless. It mattered not to you that the victim was your mother who was simply trying to assist you while you were on bail.
30
As regards the two victims seated outside the bottle shop in St Kilda, this was a premeditated attack, at least to the extent of you arming yourself and returning to the scene. It is an example of significant violence in a public setting and the type of offending that the community cannot and will not tolerate. This incident would have been terrifying, not only for the victims, but for those people who were seated in the area adjacent. You again say that you were intoxicated and again that is not mitigatory . Your actions bespeak rage over what you obsessed as a slight. You say that you came back to speak to the victims but the video speaks otherwise. There was no attempt at conversation. Even if you had been provoked or upset by some prior conversation, you had left the scene, reflected, armed yourself and proceeded back with a knife. Your intention is I think demonstrated by your actions as I have described. You did not intend to talk, you intended to attack defenceless victims with neither warning nor reason.
I have already noted the injuries. In my view, you are a danger to the community and that risk must be carefully managed upon your eventual release.
Victim Impact Statements
31 Two Victim Impact Statements were tendered upon your plea and read to the Court by the prosecutor. The first was from the victim of stalking. What is clear is that you seriously compromised her life as your disgraceful conduct pervaded every aspect of it. I do not propose to recite the contents of her victim impact statement, but such results would, or should, have been apparent to you at the time of your offending.
32 The second Victim Impact Statement is from your mother. She lost everything in the fire, as she details in her statement. There was a physical and emotional sequalae to your offending which I think will be enduring, as your mother struggles to deal with the fact that her son was the perpetrator.
Personal circumstances
33 You are now aged 43. You were raised in Malvern until the age of 15, when you went to live with your father in St Kilda. Your mother is aged 67 and worked as a secretary before engaging in a range of other activities. Your father was an actor and had, in addition, a number of other forms of employment.
34 Your parents separated when you were six. You have a younger sister, who is now aged 41. You described your childhood to Mr Simmons as “not a good one”. You described your mother as drinking a great deal, physically aggressive and your father as largely absent.
35 It appears that the family struggled somewhat financially. You said you would spend most of your spare time reading. You had a number of part-time jobs, including in a camera store.
36 You told Mr Simmons that you were always closer to your mother than your father, explaining that your father was not physically present in your lives, but at the same time you described your mother as a ‘screaming Banshee’. You reported a poor relationship with your sister, saying you fought constantly.
37 You attended Malvern Primary School. You then attended University High School before obtaining a scholarship to Caulfield Grammar. You completed Year 12 and enrolled in an Arts Degree at Monash, but you dropped out, having completed two years. You told Mr Simmons that this was a result of financial issues. At this time, you commenced more fulsome employment at the camera store, where you remained until you were 22.
38 You spent three years working in a bank in customer service, eventually moving to full-time, and then you worked for five years with Centrelink, before leaving and returning to the camera store for a year. You then sold subscriptions to a gymnasium and you sold cameras on an eBay store. You also dealt in the share market, eventually losing all your money trading in Apple Options.
39 It was at this time that you decided to return to university to study psychology and creative writing, as it was your view that your employment under-utilised your intellect. You had completed two years prior to your arrest in 2014, when the charges were laid.
40
As regards your history of alcohol, at age 19 you report that you were consuming alcohol to excess. You said it has varied over the years, but at its peak you would consume a cask of wine each night. You said you did this for several years before attending the Liver Clinic at the Alfred Hospital for signs of cirrhosis. You told Mr Simmons that you had ceased consuming alcohol after you were referred to the Alfred and that you did not begin consuming it again until 2012, although at that stage you were no longer drinking on a daily basis. You have, however, put upon your plea that you were still drinking to excess.
I note that it was put upon your plea that you ceased again in 2014, and last consumed alcohol in September 2017.
41 As regards Cannabis, you said that you began using Cannabis in your early twenties and that this had been consistent over the years, peaking at 2 grams a day, but there had been periods when you had not smoked at all. You told Mr Simmons that you had tried Heroin on some ten occasions, as well as methamphetamines a few times. You, indeed, told him that you had tried most drugs over the years. You have never been involved in alcohol or drug treatment programs in the past. You gave evidence that you had smoked ice and synthetic cannabis prior to the St Kilda bottle shop attending, but it is not clear what, if any, impact this had in relation to your offending.
42 As regards relationships, you had a relationship with a woman named Jo when you were 21. You were together for some three years. Subsequent to that you report that other relationships had not had the level of commitment or interest that you had with your first partner.
43 You told Mr Simmons that you had attempted self-harm 12 years ago, at which time you cut your arms. You further said you had been prescribed numerous antidepressants over the years and that you had been provided Seroquel and Olanzapine whilst at the Melbourne Assessment Prison. You told Mr Simmons that this was a result of you hearing voices after being remanded in custody, telling you that you were being poisoned and telling you to commit suicide and waking you up at night.
Prior convictions
44 You have one prior matter on 23 January 2007. Without conviction, you were fined $300 on charges of criminal damage, throwing a missile, and failing to answer bail being found proven. I do not regard these matters as properly giving any weight in the sentence I will impose this day.
Psychological evaluation
45 I received a report from Warren Simmons, a psychologist, dated 14 February this year. He describes you as impressing as being a bright man whose speech was normal in rate and rhythm. He says you tended to meet questions with intellectual responses, often demonstrating little emotional content, and he says there was a certain detachment in your presentation. He says there was no evidence of disorders of thought or perception, and despite the fact that you were reporting auditory hallucinations, he did not come to that view. I note that you also report experiencing hallucinations at the time of the offending against your mother and then the bottle shop offending
46 It is Mr Simmons’ view that you had little insight into your behaviour and that you appeared to deflect any responsibility for what had occurred. He says you attempted to minimise your behaviour and essentially denied that you were, in fact, stalking the victim.
47
With regard to the offences involving the assault on your mother, you said you struck her when she threatened to call the police and you did not want anything to do with her. You claimed to have set fire to the shrine to her nephew.
Mr Simmons says you told him you did not intend to burn the house down, but he noted that you did not seem distraught that this had been the outcome.
48 As regards the two charges of intentionally causing injury relating to the St Kilda incident, Mr Simmons notes that you simply could not provide any particular insight.
49 Mr Simmons opines that you appear to have formed an ‘irrational attachment’ to the victim of stalking. He says that you would appear to be an ‘intimacy-seeker’, who desires to establish an intimate relationship which becomes a substitute for real relationships. He says the intimacy-seeker tends to be focused on one individual for long periods of time and is often intractable to legal intervention. He notes that this appears to be the nature of the current offending involving stalking. He says there does not appear to be any clear psychotic phenomena behind this behaviour, noting that your behaviour commenced long before the reported auditory hallucinations.
50 Mr Simmons notes that when you talked about the offences, underlying anger became expressed, and that your explanation was not entirely logical, but not delusional.
51 Mr Simmons opines that you are in need of intervention, such as that provided by the Problem Behaviours Program with Forensicare. He says your personality is one of avoidant and obsessive traits.
52 He said it is clear that a prior period of incarceration had no effect on your behaviour, and it is not clear that treatment will have a significant impact upon your behaviour given the degree to which you intellectualise as a defence and also maintain a degree of denial about your behaviour.
53 Mr Simmons says, given the length of time that your stalking behaviour continued and the fact that you became more hostile towards the victim, it is not clear that further incarceration or treatment will necessarily decrease the likelihood of future offending. However, response to treatment, he indicates, is a better indicator of final prognosis.
Forensicare
54 I was requested by your counsel and, based on the available material, thought it appropriate to order Forensicare to provide a report. I received a report dated 4 June 2018 from Dr Adam Deacon.
55 Dr Deacon notes that you had, in fact, been treated by Dr Klieman, a psychiatrist, upon report, for some 12 years prior to your incarceration. You had been diagnosed with depression and personality features including paranoia and low self-confidence. You have spent periods in the ACU whilst in custody due to ongoing mental health issues.
56 Dr Deacon sets out in significant detail your descriptions as regards your offending.
57 He notes your expressions of remorse as regards your offending but opines that such expression was rather superficial and glib, specifically as regards the stalking.
58 Dr Deacon says that it is difficult to determine whether you have had or continue to have paedophilic interests but he thinks your history is inconsistent with this.
59
As regards the offending against your mother, Dr Deacon opines that this is reflective of a toxic relationship and alcohol-fuelled rage in a man with poor
self-regulatory capacity, heightened sensitivity and low frustration tolerance.
60 Dr Deacon notes that in custody this year Dr Carol confirmed a likely diagnosis of schizophrenia. Dr Deacon says it can be easily assumed that your underlying vulnerable personality combined with cannabis use triggered the onset of schizophrenia. He says you have mixed schizotypal, obsessional, paranoid and narcissistic personality traits. He further notes further that you are isolated.
61 He opines that due to your personality type and mostly resolved psychotic illness you could foreseeably experience prison with a greater degree of difficulty than the average prisoner, and I have acted on that basis in sentencing you.
62 As regards the future, Dr Deacon says that you have many historical and dynamic risk factors that predisposed and perpetuated your offending and elevate your risk of future offending. He says you will require intensive psychological and psychiatric intervention to address these factors and lessen the risk of recidivism. He recommends further psychiatric assessment before consideration of parole and says you will require coordinated intervention upon your release into the community including consideration of the problem behaviours program at Forensicare. Dr Deacon says that you are well capable of active engagement in treatment, but he thought only time would tell whether you have the insight and motivation to so engage.
63 I accept that you have a complex personality matrix and it is against that background that the offending must be viewed. It forms the context which informs what is required to protect the community and achieve rehabilitation to the extent that that is possible. I accept that incarceration will be challenging to a greater degree for the reasons I have already indicated.
Prospects of rehabilitation
64 In relation to your prospects of rehabilitation, it is relevant that your offending spanned a number of years. It involved a number of victims and a variety of criminal acts. That being said, it followed 39 years of living in our community without relevant offending.
65 It is difficult to know whether you have accepted any responsibility for your conduct and I think rehabilitation has significant steps to take. I remain significantly concerned about the risk you pose to our community and your eventual release, in my view, will need to be carefully assessed and managed.
Mitigation factors
66 Your counsel pointed to a number of matters you are entitled to have taken into account in mitigation. Your plea of guilty, which you entered at an early stage which entitles you to the full benefit of an early plea. You have saved the community the time and expense of a trial and saved the victims from giving evidence in relation to these matters, which would have been traumatic. I am prepared to take the view that your plea demonstrates at least some remorse.
67 I have already noted that you have no relevant prior history.
Purposes of sentence
68
As well as matters personal to you, including your prospects of rehabilitation,
I must take into account other relevant sentencing considerations. General deterrence is of considerable importance in matters of this type. That is, I must seek to deter not only you, but others who would engage in like conduct. The Court and the community cannot, and will not, tolerate offending which so seriously damages the lives of victims. Your sentence must manifest the community’s denunciation of your conduct and impose just punishment. In my view, in this matter, community protection must be given weight as the risks are real.
Submissions
69 Your counsel quite properly concedes that the only disposition open is an immediately servable term of imprisonment and the prosecution concur.
Sentence
70 These are, without doubt, serious offences. I have no option but to impose immediately servable terms of imprisonment. I have considered how the sentences should relate to each other and have had regard to, and applied, principles of totality and proportionality in coming to a view as to the appropriate orders in relation to concurrency and cumulation. I have determined that there should be some moderation and some cumulation so that the total effective sentence reflects the totality of your criminality. You are convicted and sentenced as follows.
71 Would you stand, please.
72 Charge 1, stalking – 18 months.
Charge 2, possessing child pornography – 6 months.
Charge 3, stalking – 24 months.
Charge 4, stalking – 42 months.
Charge 5, intentionally causing injury – 36 months.
Charge 6, arson – 42 months.
Charge 7, intentionally causing injury – 36 months.
Charge 8, intentionally causing injury – 36 months.
I direct that 4 months of the sentence upon Charge 1, 1 month of the sentence upon Charge 2, 6 months of the sentence upon Charge 3, 18 months of the sentence upon Charge 5, 24 months of the sentence upon Charge 6, 20 months of the sentence upon Charge 7, 18 months of the sentence upon Charge 8 be served cumulatively with the sentence upon Charge 4 and upon each other, making a total effective sentence of 133 months (11 years and 1 month).
I direct that you serve 8 years before becoming eligible for parole.
I direct that 536 days be reckoned as served.
As regards the summary offences uplifted, you are, on all matters, convicted and fined an aggregate amount of $1600.
73 Pursuant to s.6AAA of the Sentencing Act 1991, I direct it be noted in the records of the Court that were it not for your plea of guilty, I would have sentenced you to 14 years with a minimum of 10.
Forfeiture orders
74 I make the forfeiture order in the terms of the draft to which you have consented. Have a seat, please.
75 Counsel, would you check the cumulations, please.
76 MR MANDY: One hundred and thirty-three is right, your Honour.
77 HER HONOUR: And 133 translates to 11 years and 1 month, yes?
78 MR MANDY: Yes.
79 HER HONOUR: Thank you. I will just wait for the prosecutor to confirm.
80 MR GRANT: I agree, Your Honour.
81 HER HONOUR: Thank you. Counsel, is there anything further?
82 MR GRANT: There was just a matter of the possess child pornography, Your Honour, the Sex Offenders Registration Act.
83 MR MANDY: It wasn't a matter that we raised.
84 HER HONOUR: It hasn't been raised before, so yes, we can deal with that. It is a Schedule 1, is it?
85 MR GRANT: I'll check that, your Honour.
86 HER HONOUR: I haven't checked. Class 1.
87 MR GRANT: So just on the last page of the amended opening, Your Honour, amended summary dated 26 February - - -
88 HER HONOUR: It was never discussed during the course of the plea, it was never raised.
89 MR GRANT: It wasn't.
90 HER HONOUR: Yes.
91 MR GRANT: It's in the opening. Charge 2 is a Class 2 offence under Schedule 2.
92 HER HONOUR: Class 2. All right. So I am just checking - - -
93 MR GRANT: Item 18.
94 HER HONOUR: Item 18. I just want to check the schedule - which makes it mandatory.
95 MR GRANT: Mandatory, Your Honour.
96 HER HONOUR: Yes.
97 MR GRANT: And the reporting period for a single Class 2 is eight - - -
98 HER HONOUR: Seven and half?
99 MR GRANT: Eight years.
100 HER HONOUR: Eight.
101 MR GRANT: It's under s.34(1)(a).
102 HER HONOUR: Just let me check that.
103 MR MANDY: Can I just approach, Mr Stephens, Your Honour?
104 HER HONOUR: Yes, you may. Yes. Yes, I have just checked.
105 MR MANDY: Your Honour, those figures sound right me. I haven't checked he legislation, but - - -
106 HER HONOUR: I have just had a look. Do you want me to hand you the Act?
107 MR MANDY: If you have looked and they agree, Your Honour, it - - -
108 HER HONOUR: It is 18. So when you go to Class 2 - I'll just put some stickers on it - I will just hand it down, Mr Mandy. It has got two stickers.
109 MR MANDY: Thank you, Your Honour. Thank you, Your Honour, I agree.
110 HER HONOUR: Thank you.
111 If you would just stand again for a moment, please, Mr Stephens. You have now been found guilty of a Class 2 offence. Registration is mandatory. In a moment my associate will hand you documentation asking you to acknowledge that you have received that documentation, which is relevant to your compliance with the provisions of the Sex Offender Registration Act. Your counsel can approach and explain those matters to you.
112 MR MANDY: Yes.
113 HER HONOUR: Thank you. The reporting period is 8 years.
114 Counsel, is there anything further?
115 COUNSEL: No, thank you, Your Honour.
116 HER HONOUR: Remove Mr Stephens, please.
117 I thank counsel for their assistance.
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