Director of Public Prosecutions v Thompson
[2023] VCC 784
•20 April 2023
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA | Revised Not Restricted Suitable for Publication |
AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION
CR 22-00908
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| v |
| PETER JULIAN THOMPSON |
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JUDGE: | HER HONOUR JUDGE QUIN |
WHERE HELD: | Melbourne |
DATE OF HEARING: | 20 April 2023 |
DATE OF SENTENCE: | 20 April 2023 |
CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | DPP v Thompson |
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2023] VCC 784 |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the Director of Public Prosecutions | Mr S. Davison | Office of Public Prosecutions |
For the Accused | Mr N. Sood | Emma Turnbull Lawyers |
HER HONOUR:
1Peter Julian Thompson, after a sentence indication hearing, you pleaded guilty to arson and assaulting, resisting arrest of an emergency worker. The maximum penalties for these offences are 15 years and five years respectively. You have also agreed to have dealt with by me and pleaded guilty to the relevant summary offence, committing an indictable offence whilst on bail
2The circumstances of your offending are set out in the prosecution summary for sentence indication hearing dated 28 February 2023, (Exhibit A) and can be summarised as follows. On 23 December 2021 at approximately 10.50 am, police were called to a house fire at 2894 Old Melbourne Road, Dunnstown (the property), owned by Joseph Hall. You were residing at the neighbouring property with your parents. Mr Hall had been at the property earlier in the day and regularly went there on a daily basis to tend to animals on the property. No one resided at the house on the property and he left there at about 9.45 am.
3Sometime later, you attended the property and forced entry to the enclosed rear pergola area (or sunroom) by smashing two glass windows with a brick. You used an accelerant, believed to be petrol, to set the home alight; the seat of fire, being a built-in shoe rack alongside the rear wall of the house, was external to the bathroom.
4At approximately 10.45 am, witnesses drove past the property and seeing smoke emanating from it, attempted to extinguish the fire with a garden hose until emergency services arrived. The fire had spread from the point of origin along the rear wall and into the roof of the property, causing extensive damage to the entire roof cavity. Several rooms of the home on the property were damaged by the fire, including the bathroom and bedrooms. The cost of damage sustained to the property was estimated to be approximately $242,374.00.
5Whilst extinguishing the fire, one of the crew observed an iPhone ringing. The phone was located on top of a barbeque inside the crime scene area and was answered. The member had a conversation with you. The phone was seized by police and upon inspection, identified several calls to it from a landline number registered to your parent’s home or the neighbouring property.
6During an examination of the crime scene police located and seized:
(1)a black and white coloured Nike runner and observed a shoe impression on the window matching that runner.
(2)a blue and white ‘Bonds’ sports sock.
7Later when police searched your home, they located a similar kind of sock in the laundry.
8Each of these items were subsequently tested with DNA testing revealing that your DNA was highly likely to be present.
9Further mobile phone records revealed the iPhone found at the scene was registered to you with your address and that the landline at your home had called that iPhone between 11.08 am and 12.59 pm, two hundred and seventy-eight times. bookmark25.
10Police attended your address and initially spoke to your parents. They observed three plastic fuel containers at the entrance to the shed. A short time later, you came out the front door and admitted lighting the fire. (Charge 1 – arson). You were arrested and taken to the Ballarat police station, though you were assessed as being unfit to be interviewed.
11At approximately 8.00 pm, you were moved to an area at the station cells for an online court hearing. You refused to go into the room when directed by police and you swore at the police officer then you charged at her and struck her to the chest area with your forearm, elbow, and hand. With the assistance of others, you were eventually taken to ground and restrained. As a result of the assault during the arrest, the police officer received marks to her chest area and a cut to her right thumb. (Charge 2 – assault emergency worker)
Victim Impact Statement
12As to a victim impact statement from Mr Thompson [sic], he says the crime caused irreparable damage to the home and its contents:
'And we experienced a lengthy and complex dispute with the insurer regarding a fair and reasonable settlement. As a consequence of this situation and the emotional strain of the preceding years, I developed symptoms of anxiety, depression and PTSD and was forced to withdraw from my doctorate and resign my employment. I experienced recurrent sleep disturbing nightmares about the fire'.
Personal Circumstances
13As to your personal circumstances, I received a report from Christine Kennedy, David Ball, psychologists 28 March 2023. You are currently aged 44. You were born in Melbourne and raised by your parents in East Melbourne. You are the youngest of a sibship of seven and your parents are now in their 80s and continue to reside at the Dunnstown property. Your family moved to WA when you were 12 years and you completed Year 12 there. You then commenced an apprenticeship in carpentry. You worked in the construction industry for most of your adult life, working as a civil supervisor before starting your own company.
14You were in a relationship with your former wife for 19 years. You have two daughters from this relationship who are 13 and 14 years. This relationship ended in 2016 in divorce. That result affected you both emotionally and financially. You had to stop trading for a few months and ultimately you shut down your business and moved back to Victoria to be with your family. After moving to Victoria in 2016, you moved to North Melbourne working in construction in the Melbourne central business district.
15Your children continue to reside in WA, though you maintain a strong relationship with them. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, you would routinely travel to Western Australia to visit them and you continue with phone and video calls. After moving to Melbourne in 2016, I was informed that you described yourself as being extremely depressed due to your divorce and separation from your children. You commenced using methylamphetamine, which began as an infrequent way to escape your problems, however, by 2019, had escalated into a full-blown addiction. I was informed that you were using 4-5 grams a day, in addition to Xanax and cocaine. You were no longer able to work and moved in with your parents in Dunnstown.
16As a result of this use of drugs, you have been admitted on an involuntary basis into a psychiatric facility four times in (December 2019, January 2020, October 2020 and August 2021). You have had a diagnosis of drug induced psychosis and schizophrenia. Whilst you have been on remand, your mental health has stabilised. You are not prescribed any medication, but have been described as being of low acute risk to yourself or others.
17You have no prior convictions, though you do have an appearance relating to breach of a family violence order. I was informed that related to your ex-wife and her brother and concerned email contact which was prohibited under the relevant order and that you received a non-conviction fine. I understand you also have a relatively minor matter outstanding due in court in May.
Plea of Guilty
18I take into account your plea of guilty. It was after the sentence indication hearing that you indicated an intention to plead, so it could not be said to be at an early stage, though you do receive a discount for pleading. No witnesses were required to give evidence and you have saved the state resources in not going to trial. There is utilitarian benefit to your plea which is enhanced given the court back log in the administration of justice in this state with COVID. Your plea carries with it an acceptance of responsibility for your actions and is also indicative of remorse. I was informed that your counsel went through the victim impact statement with you and that you were conscious of the impact of your offending on your neighbour.
19This is your first time in custody. During some of your time in custody, conditions were and remain more restricted than usual, though the level of departure from normal or pre-COVID times has varied depending on the situation in the community. When taken into custody in December 2021, conditions in custody were still extremely restrictive due to the COVID-19 pandemic. You are now able to have calls with your family, but for most of last year, your ability to remain in contact with your family was limited. You were subject to rolling lockdowns and quarantine conditions when you moved prisons. I accept that custody has been more burdensome for you than for other prisoners in pre-COVID times.
Rehabilitation Prospects
20Your counsel submitted that you had good rehabilitation prospects given:
21Your lack of prior history;
22Support of your family;
23The salutary effect of your first time in custody which has been over a year;
24Your conduct in custody. You have worked in carpentry whilst in prison and have participated in courses for obtaining your certificate in engineering;
25Your plea of guilty;
26Stabilisation of mental health and abstinence from drugs whilst in custody;
27Good work or employment prospects.
28Having regard to those matters I accept that your rehabilitation prospects are good as long as you can steer clear from drugs and accept drug and mental health treatment
Gravity and Objective seriousness Arson
29As to the gravity and objective seriousness of this offending, the fire resulted in extensive damage to the property to the value of over $240,000.
30Your actions have had a significant impact on the victim causing a high degree of stress and anxiety, as well as damage to personal property. He has been required to rebuild the family home.
31I accept that there was no evidence of pre-planning and that the fire did not present risks to other properties or businesses, with it being a fairly isolated property, located in a rural area, with no permanent residents there.
32Additionally it was conceded by the prosecution that your actions were not as a consequence of any dispute or animus towards the victim. This is usually a significant aggravating feature in arson offending and is not present in your case.
33In relation to the assault, I note that it took place only hours after you had been deemed unfit to be interviewed for the arson due to your poor mental health.
Sentencing submissions
34Your counsel submitted the time that you had served or a lesser term of imprisonment was an appropriate sentence. The prosecution submitted that your offending required a further term with a non-parole period, though conceded on inquiry from me, I would not be falling into error in imposing a combined sentence.
35I had you assessed for a community corrections order with drug and mental health conditions and you were deemed suitable.
36Arson is a very serious offence and the impact on others by way of damage to their property, fears for their safety and other psychological impacts can be significant. The use of fire is a dangerous weapon and has the potential for devastating impact to both property, livestock and people. Volunteers put themselves at risk in putting out fires. General deterrence, denunciation and particularly protection of the community are important sentencing considerations. It was my concern in respect of this latter consideration that I requested a CCO assessment.
37I must also take into account matters personal to you and your plea of guilty. I received a favourable report from Corrections and propose to place you on a community corrections order. I will combine that with a term of imprisonment of twelve months. The effect of the order that I make will be that you will be released immediately from custody given the amount of pre-sentence detention that you have.
38In respect of the first offence, arson, I convict and sentence you to a term of imprisonment of twelve months and at the end of that sentence, a community corrections order for a period of twelve months. There will be conditions regarding your mental health, drug treatment and also any offence specific programs that Corrections deem appropriate. There will also be a supervision condition.
39In respect of Charge 2, you are convicted and sentenced to a term of imprisonment of one month. I declare pre-sentence detention of - is it 468 days?
40MR DAVISON: Correct, Your Honour.
41HER HONOUR: Yes. I declare pre-sentence detention of 468 days. Are there any other orders ‑ ‑ ‑
42MR DAVISON: No, Your Honour, my mistake. Your Honour, my mistake, apologies. It's 483 days (indistinct words).
43HER HONOUR: Sorry, I declare pre-sentence detention of 483 days. Pursuant to s6AAA of the Sentencing Act, if you had not pleaded guilty to this matter, I would have imposed a term of imprisonment of three and a half years, with a non-parole period of eighteen months. Are there any other matters?
44MR DAVISON: One further matter, Your Honour, related summary offence Charge 2, commit indictable offence on bail. The offender was on bail at the time of this offending.
45HER HONOUR: Sure.
46MR DAVISON: And he ‑ ‑ ‑
47HER HONOUR: All right, I am sorry I didn't refer to that, I will refer to that in my revised remarks and in respect of the summary offence, you are convicted and sentenced to a term of imprisonment of seven days.
48MR DAVISON: As the court pleases.
49MR SOOD: The court pleases.
50HER HONOUR: All right, thank you.
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