Director of Public Prosecutions v Trindall

[2016] VCC 1302

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

AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

CR 15-01930

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

NEVILLE TRINDALL

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JUDGE:	HER HONOUR JUDGE WILMOTH
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:	18 August 2016
DATE OF SENTENCE:	18 August 2016
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Trindall
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2016] VCC 1302

REASONS FOR SENTENCE

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Subject: Criminal Law - sentence          

Catchwords: plea of guilty to one charge of causing serious injury recklessly – 51 year old transient man – victim was female friend    aged 53 – assault in boarding house following argument – punches to face and attack with a wrench – fractures to mandible requiring surgery – offender an indigenous man with disadvantaged background – member of “Stolen Generation”  - attack provoked by verbal racial abuse.      

Sentence:      15 months’ imprisonment with a 12 month CCO.    

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APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the DPP	Ms K Churchill	OPP
For the Accused	Mr G Thomas	Greg Thomas Barrister & Solicitor

HER HONOUR: 

1Mr Trindall, you can remain seated.  I will ask you to stand later on.

2Neville Trindall, you have pleaded guilty to one charge of causing serious injury recklessly.  This occurred on 19 May 2015 at the Gatwick Hotel in St Kilda.  You had left some personal belongings at the hotel with your friend, Vera Grozdanovski, the complainant in this matter, who resided at the hotel. 

3On 19 May you went to the room of another resident, Ms Baker, and had an argument with her.  The complainant was also present and she defended Ms Baker.  The argument became heated and the complainant called you a “dog” and then called you a “black dog”.  You and the complainant then went to her room to get your belongings.  Shane Guest was also in the room asleep.  The argument continued there between you and the complainant.  You punched her to her face with your fist connecting with her cheek.  You again punched her to the face and hit her jaw.  You then picked up a wrench and struck her with it twice on the head and once across the face. 

4Mr Guest had awoken in time to see you hit the complainant on the face with a tool in your hand and asked you to stop.  You told him, "I'm going to hurt her, man". When Mr Guest again asked you to stop you said, "I'm really going to hurt her".

5Ms Kelly the hotel proprietor heard someone yelling, "He's hitting her.  He's hitting her". She ran to the room hearing the complainant screaming and found you standing over the complainant yelling at her to shut up, with a yellow handled multi gripped tool in your hand.  Ms Kelly told you to leave and you did so carrying a bag with tools in it.  An image of you was captured on CCTV leaving the room carrying a bag.

6An ambulance took the complainant to the hospital and she was found to have acute fractures of the mandible in two places.  She underwent surgery and had screws and plates inserted. 

7On 13 May you were arrested and interviewed.  You admitted being at the hotel at the relevant time and that you knew the complainant but denied any assault. 

8You pleaded guilty on 29 July 2016.  For that plea you are entitled to a discount on your sentence because it has avoided a trial and saved the complainant and other witnesses from having to give evidence and be cross‑examined.

9This is a serious charge because of the degree of violence used and the injury caused to the complainant.  Even after pleading guilty you took issue with the evidence that you had told Mr Guest you were going to hurt her and you also did not concede that you had used the wrench, but both matters remained part of the prosecution summary and you decided to proceed regardless.

10You are an indigenous man from Wee Waa in New South Wales.  Your childhood was marked by the fact that you were taken from your family at the age of seven and became a ward of the State.  You were separated from two of your three siblings, growing up in an orphanage and attending boarding school until Year 10.  You were abused and mistreated by Catholic priests when in State care and your life evolved as one dominated by poverty, institutionalisation and homelessness. 

11After leaving school you worked in the construction business and later in a family business drilling bores on properties.  However while still a teenager you had a bad fall from scaffolding and severely injured your shoulder so that you are now on a disability pension.

12You have four children but had lost contact with them all until recently when you located your son Harley who is married with a child and living in Colac.  You are planning to live with him on your release.  You are still trying to locate the other three children whose ages range from 12 to 18.

13You have a long criminal history, mostly in New South Wales.  The offending includes assaults and breaches of apprehended violence orders, the assaults being of males and the breaches involving your partners at the relevant times.  From the mid-1980s onwards you served many prison sentences, with the frequency and seriousness of offending tapering off in the last five or six years.  You last served a term of imprisonment in February 2014 when you were sentenced to a four-month aggregate sentence for dishonesty and drug offences, three months of which were suspended. 

14Two sets of charges from 2012 and 2014 are now pending, listed for mention on 19 December.  The history of illicit drug use is apparent from your criminal record but you were apparently not drug-affected at the time of the assault.  You had been living with your partner in Reservoir for about two years.  Since this offence you have remained in custody for a period of 436 days not including today.  Initially at Melbourne Remand Centre you worked as a cleaner and head billet and although you were not involved in the riots which occurred halfway through 2015 you were in lockdown as other prisoners were for several weeks. 

15You are now at Port Phillip Prison and have undertaken courses and have been painting.  As a self‑taught and obviously talented artist you produce work which is sold and you intend to continue this when you are released.  You have previously done voluntary work with organisations such as the Sacred Heart Mission and you try to help young people who are at risk of being in trouble.

16As I said before this is a serious assault and deserves severe punishment.  I accept that it was not planned but resulted from an argument, with an element of provocation causing you to be very angry, and you regret the harm that you did to your friend.  You pleaded guilty early taking responsibility for your behaviour and you have no prior convictions for assaulting women.

17General deterrence is an important part of any sentence for an assault such as this and specific deterrence is also relevant.  Your remorse and also your positive plans for the future suggests that you have some prospects for successful rehabilitation with the hope that the correction order will assist you. 

18A term of imprisonment resulting in your early release followed by a correction order is the most appropriate disposition and you have been assessed as suitable for that order. 

19Would you stand now please, Mr Trindall? 

20Accordingly I sentence you to 15 months imprisonment of which you have served more than 14 months.  The community correction order will begin immediately upon your release and will last for twelve months.  You will have to report to the Geelong Corrections Office within two working days of your release.

21You will be under supervision and you must perform 60 hours of unpaid community work over six months.  You must be assessed as to your mental health to see if any treatment is necessary and you must have counselling and any other treatment for drug use. 

22I understand from the information provided by the officer who assessed you that you may be referred to the Wulgunggo Ngalu Learning Place, a program which takes account of a person's experiences as a member of the Stolen Generation.  Offence related programs may be available through that service.

23(Discussion ensued re pre-sentence detention)

24I declare that the pre‑sentence detention of 444 days is to be reckoned as already served and I shall cause that to be noted on the court record.

25Mr Trindall, if you had pleaded not guilty to this charge, I would have sentenced you to 20 months imprisonment and a correction order of 18 months.

26The Community Correction Order is ready for signature.  Did you want to have a look at it first, Mr Thomas? 

27MR THOMAS:  Can I approach the dock, Your Honour? 

28HER HONOUR:  Yes certainly.  I didn't tell Mr Trindall the address of the Geelong Community Corrections Office or tell him that that's the one that he must attend, but it's on the paper.

29MR THOMAS:  It's on the back, yes, Your Honour. 

30HER HONOUR:  Yes so he'll know.

31MR THOMAS:  I will explain that to him.

32HIS HONOUR:  All right thank you.

33MR THOMAS:  Thank you.

34HER HONOUR:  Anything further.

35MR THOMAS:  No, Your Honour.

36MS PICONE:  Nothing further, Your Honour.

37HIS HONOUR:  Thank you.

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