Director of Public Prosecutions v Veera
[2024] VCC 958
•25 June 2024
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA AT MELBOURNE CRIMINAL DIVISION | Revised Not Restricted Suitable for Publication |
Case No. CR-22-02324
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| v |
| VIKRAM VEERA |
---
JUDGE: | HIS HONOUR JUDGE WRAIGHT | |
WHERE HELD: | Melbourne | |
DATE OF HEARING: | 14 June 2024 | |
DATE OF SENTENCE: | 25 June 2024 | |
CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | DPP v Veera | |
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2024] VCC 958 | |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
---
Subject:CRIMINAL LAW – Sentencing.
Catchwords: Plea of guilty – Kidnapping – Causing injury intentionally – Robbery – Make threat to inflict serious injury – Theft – Negligently deal with proceeds of crime – Relevant criminal history – Drug related offending – Good prospects of rehabilitation.
Legislation Cited: Crimes Act 1958 ss 18, 21, 74, 75, 194; Sentencing Act 1991 ss 6AAA, 18, 48CA.
Cases Cited:R v Renzella (1977) 2 VR 88.
Sentence: Imprisonment for a period of 350 days with a Community Correction Order for a period of 2 years.
---
APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the DPP | Ms U Ramachandran | Office of Public Prosecutions |
| For the Accused | Mr J Mortley | SLKQ Lawyers |
HIS HONOUR:
Introduction
1Vikram Veera, you have pleaded guilty to the following charges:
(a) one charge of kidnapping contrary to Common Law, which carries a maximum penalty of 25 years imprisonment (Charge 1);
(b) one charge of causing injury intentionally contrary to s 18 of the Crimes Act 1958 (‘Crimes Act’), which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment (Charge 2);
(c) one charge of robbery contrary to s 75 of the Crimes Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years imprisonment (Charge 3);
(d) one charge of make threat to inflict serious injury contrary to s 21 of the Crimes Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 5 years imprisonment (Charge 4);
(e) one charge of theft contrary to s 74 of the Crimes Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment (Charge 5); and
(f) one charge of negligently dealing with proceeds of crime contrary to s 194 of the Crimes Act which carries a maximum penalty of 5 years imprisonment (Charge 6).
2You have also admitted your Criminal Record.
Circumstances of the offending
3A prosecution opening was tendered on the plea and may be summarised as follows:
4You were born in 1978 and were 43 years old at the time of the offences. You were previously known as Ashok Alahananthan.
5The victim in this matter, Dhamseth Niroshan Thalakada, was 48 years old. The offending took place from 27 to 28 February 2022.
6You and the victim are known to each other, having been friends since 1998 after initially meeting through the victim’s ex-wife.
7You and the victim are both former intimate partners of Sokham Throung (also referred to as ‘Sok’).
8The relationship between you and Ms Throung broke down after she commenced a relationship with the victim. Their relationship then broke down in 2017, and Ms Throung recommenced her relationship with you. Contact between you and the victim became infrequent save for times when you and Ms Throung had relationship difficulties. You would text and call the victim and say ‘is the bitch with you?’, or ‘I’m gonna find u one day’, and ‘I’ll get to the bottom of this’.
9The victim moved to Shepparton in September 2020 and returned to Melbourne in early February 2022 and commenced employment as a floor polisher.
10On Saturday 26 February 2022, you hired a white Hyundai van from carnextdoor.com.au, for a period of two days, from 26 to 28 February 2022. You provided a copy of your driver licence and a current photograph to the car hire company. You made the booking under the name ‘Vikram’ and recorded your contact details, including your mobile number and email address.
11At approximately 7.15pm on 26 February 2022, you collected the White Hyundai vehicle from an address in Heathmont. The vehicle is fitted with GPS and shows the location of the vehicle, the time at that location and when the ignition is turned on and off.
12You, together with an associate named Jahe Bennett, travelled to the victim’s last address in Shepparton. You and Mr Bennett worked together as furniture removalists. You did not contact the victim prior to your attendance. Mr Bennett stated you appeared nervous and that you had told him you were visiting an old friend. Mr Bennett did not ask you for further details about why you were driving to Shepparton.
13Vehicle GPS data shows the vehicle leaving Melbourne at approximately 9.50pm and arriving at the address in Shepparton at approximately 12.47am on 27 February 2022. The vehicle GPS shows the vehicle was stationary at that address until approximately 1.29am and then returned to your address in Ringwood East on 27 February 2022.
14At approximately 5.00am on 27 February 2022, you telephoned the victim, who was at work polishing a floor at Kmart Fountain Gate. You asked the victim to meet at you to talk about what had happened. The victim believed you to be referring to Ms Throung and agreed to attend at your unit at Ringwood East that morning.
15The victim’s shift finished approximately at 6.00am and he was due to return to work at 12.30pm that day to travel to Albury for further work. He drove his co-worker Mr Foliau to his home and gave him your name and number. The victim told him that if he didn’t attend for work at 12.30pm that day as planned, to give your name and number to the victim’s mother and to police and to call 000.
16At approximately 7.00am, the victim drove his Blue Ford Fiesta to your unit and parked in the street opposite.
17You were in the garage of the unit with a male introduced to the victim as ‘Yuri’ (this was Mr Bennett) and a white Hyundai vehicle with yellow writing on the sides was parked outside the garage.
18You and the victim went into the unit and sat in the loungeroom and conversed in English and in Singhalese. The victim observed ice pipes on the coffee table. You asked the victim, ‘How’s Sok?’ to which the victim responded that he didn’t know. You then requested the victim assist you with loading some items into the white van which included a shovel and a crowbar after which you both returned inside the unit.
19At about 9.30am, your demeanour changed and you said to the victim, ‘how is Sok – and I don’t like the answer I don’t know,’ and accused the victim of lying to you. You said, ‘you have got the demon out of me now,’ followed by, ‘before this day ends I need you and Sok in this house.’ You said to the victim ‘until you bring Sok to me you won’t be leaving’. The victim became fearful and believed he was in trouble and had made a mistake in attending your house. He said, ‘my cigarettes are in my car, can I go get it,’ to which you responded, ‘sit down, you are not going to move.’
20Mr Bennett came inside the unit and told you that the two of you had to go, and that he and you had to be there between 10.00am and 10.30am, referring to a job moving furniture in Oakleigh. You and Mr Bennett smoked ice and drank clear liquid from a small bottle. You offered some to the victim, who refused.
21You said to the victim, ‘you have two choices – you can stay here or come with us.’ The victim observed your face to change and become ‘evil and angry looking’, and he became fearful of you and agreed to go with you. He was fearful of remaining inside the house and only agreed to go because he thought if he didn’t go, something worse might happen and that there may be someone to help him at the other location that they were travelling to.
Charge 1 – Kidnapping
22The victim left the house with you. You opened the back of the van and told the victim to get in the van, lie down and not look through the back window until you had reached your destination.
23The victim entered the rear of the van and you drove the van with Mr Bennett in the passenger seat travelling to an address in Oakleigh. The van stopped and you and Mr Bennett opened the side door of the van and removed items. You then opened the back of the van and told the victim to work with you and not be a ‘drama queen’. The victim then moved items into a granny flat at the Oakleigh address. When alone behind the granny flat, you told the victim, ‘I’ve got you now, you’re not going anywhere until you and Sok come clean.’ You called him a ‘fucking idiot’ and pushed, shoved and punched him.
24The owner of the property provided you, Mr Bennett and the victim with lunch, during which you sat next to the victim. The victim realised he was in Oakleigh when the owner asked him where he was from. He told her he was from Berwick and the owner said, ‘That’s a long way from Oakleigh.’
25At approximately 4.30pm you told the owner that you would see her tomorrow and took the victim, to the van parked on the street. You opened the back door of the van, and shoved the victim in, telling him to stay down.
26You then got in the driver’s seat with Mr Bennett seated in the front passenger seat. You drove to two locations where you and Mr Bennett remained in the van and the victim remained in the back of the van. You told the victim, ‘Your next stop is my place and your day is going to begin.’ The victim heard you mention Blackburn to Mr Bennett. You dropped Mr Bennett off at his home in Blackburn. Mr Bennett later made his way back to your home by train.
27You drove the van back to your home. You took the victim from the back of the van by the arm through the front door of your home into the loungeroom and told him to sit down. Mr Bennett sat next to him in the other armchair and you sat opposite in the third armchair.
Charge 2 – Intentionally cause injury
28As a result of the ongoing assaults on the victim by you, the victim sustained facial bone fractures and a fractured rib.
29You then approached the victim and punched him in in the face twice. They were strong punches and the victim felt pain. You were sparring and doing push-ups, behaving in a strange and aggressive manner. The victim knew you to have been a kickboxer and believed your behaviour to look like a sparring routine. You said you had been waiting for this moment and that you had planned what you were going to do to the victim.
Charge 4 – Threat to inflict serious injury
30You pulled out a knife with a long blade from under the chair and said you were going to cut off the victim’s penis with the knife.
31You told the victim to stand and said ‘this is Mike Tyson’s uppercut’, and then hit the victim in the ribs.
Charge 3 – Robbery
32You asked for the victim’s Telstra phone. The victim gave it to you and you said ‘you’re not going to get this back’.
33You requested the victim’s passcode. The victim gave you the passcode and you looked through the phone saying, ‘you’ve called an 875 number 25 times’. You punched the victim. The victim believed he was knocked unconscious for a few minutes.
Charge 5 – Theft
34You asked the victim questions and when the victim answered and you did not like the answer or did not believe him, you would punch the victim in the face. You requested the victim’s mother’s residential address and then found a photo of the house on Google maps, showed the photo to the victim and requested confirmation that this was his mother’s home. You took the victim’s driver licence.
35At 8.37pm, Dicle Erkan, a friend of the victim, received a phone call from the victim who asked her for Ms Thruong’s phone number. Ms Erkan said to the victim, ‘Why would I have Sok’s number? The last time I saw her she was with Ash – ask him.’ The victim replied, ‘Okay, thanks,’ and hung up. At 11.26pm on 27 February 2022, Ms Erkan received a text message from the victim’s phone, which showed a photo of the victim seated and holding a towel or similar to his ribs with blood spots on the white T-shirt he was wearing. Ms Ercan texted ‘what happened?’ in reply but did not receive a response.
36The victim received numerous messages and missed calls from his mother to his mobile phone. None of the calls or messages were answered. At 10.31pm on 27 February 2022, the victim’s mother received a text message from the victim’s phone number as follows: ‘Mum please give me some space to fix this. I am ok. This had been put off for a long time. U may not understand right now but I have done many betrayals and we are working through it’.
37The victim’s mother was unsure whether this was from her son as he calls her ‘Amma’ in Singhalese, not ‘Mum’. The victim denied sending such a message.
38You then told the victim that the two of you would be going to Hampton Park to an address you had retrieved from the victim’s phone. You said to the victim, ‘Give me your keys, I’m driving,’ and picked up a black plastic pole and put on a fingerless glove on your left hand which had a hard surface on the back of it. You gave Mr Bennett an ice pipe and the three of you left your unit. As the three of you walked to the victim’s car, you were poking and hitting the victim with the pole and called him a dog and a ‘piece of shit’.
39Once you got to the victim’s car, you unlocked it and took the victim to the front passenger side, poked his chest with the black plastic pole and said, ‘Make sure we come back with Sok.’ You pushed the victim’s head into the car and dropped the pole on the grass on the side of the road.
40You drove the victim’s vehicle with Mr Bennett in the rear passenger seat behind the victim. You drove along Eastlink and exited the Monash Freeway onto the South Gippsland Highway. You said to the victim that when they arrived, he had to ‘bring Sok out and then it will be your time – both of you’. You repeatedly told the victim that it was his time.
41You drove through McDonald’s and ordered food. You asked the victim if he wanted anything. He was in pain and could not open his jaw at this time.
42You then drove to a street in Hampton Park to an address not known the victim, using Google maps on your phone. You parked approximately 25 metres from the premises. Mr Bennett left the vehicle to check the address, then returned to the vehicle and sat in the rear of the car behind you.
43You told the victim to go to the door of the house and bring Ms Thruong to the car. The victim walked to the house, knocked on the door and rang the doorbell. There was no answer. He returned to the vehicle and sat in the front passenger seat.
44You told the victim, ‘There was a car there so the bitch is home,’ and, ‘We are going to wait here until she comes out.’ You told the victim not to try any monkey business and threatened to hit him. The victim was very fearful of his safety and started praying.
45A police car driving past stopped and parked behind the victim’s car. First Constable Jack Wills and Constable Guner approached you in the driver’s seat. You told police that you were visiting the victim’s girlfriend, that you had just been to McDonald’s and were eating. The victim told police that the vehicle belonged to him and gave them his licence. You were not able to produce your driver’s licence but recited the number from memory and a conversation took place between you and Constable Wills regarding your current and former names. All three males remained in the car and you primarily spoke to police. The victim can be seen on body worn camera footage with visible injuries to his eyes. Police did not enquire of the victim as to how he came to be injured or attend to his side of the car. The victim anticipated the police would ask about his welfare however they did not. The police then left.
46After police drove away, you said to the victim ‘because of you we were stopped by the police’ and you punched him to the face with your gloved hand. The victim’s head hit the window. You then hit the victim several times. His denture came out of his mouth from the blows and he picked it off the floor and threw it in the back of the car.
47You then drove back to your unit in Ringwood East. You turned into Dublin Road and while driving punched the victim in the jaw again. The victim felt pain.
48You parked the victim’s vehicle in the same position he had parked the vehicle earlier on Dublin Road. You took the victim’s car keys and mobile phone and exited the vehicle.
49Mr Bennet exited the car and you both crossed the road and walked towards your unit. The victim saw you and Mr Bennett reach the driveway of your unit, got out of the car slowly and ran to an intersection and towards a house with lights on.
50The victim requested assistance from a male who then called 000. The victim was worried about his family’s welfare and asked that police attend his mother’s home to check on her. Police and ambulance attended and took the victim to hospital. The victim told Dr Rowena Hare that he was kidnapped and hit multiple times in the head, possibly punched, he couldn’t always recall.
51The victim’s injuries comprised of the following:
(a) complex facial bone injury;
(b) comminuted fracture of right nasal bone;
(c) bilateral orbital emphysema;
(d) comminuted fractures through floor of bilateral orbits/roof of bilateral
maxillary sinuses;
(e) comminuted fracture of lateral wall of the right orbit;
(f) comminuted fracture of the inferior recti on either side;
(g) deviated nasal septum to the right;
(h) absent dentition from upper jaw except impacted 3rd molar; and
(i) acute undisplaced right 5th thoracic rib fracture along the lateral costal margin.
52Police attended the hospital and spoke to the victim and took a statement from him.
53At 7.55am on 28 February 2022 police observed you leave your address in the van and another male leave in a vehicle registered to you. Police attended at Dublin Street where they observed the victim’s vehicle parked opposite. Police observed a plastic pole on the grass next to the vehicle.
54On 1 March 2022 police executed a search warrant at your address. No person was present at the address at the time and police left a copy of the search warrant and a card identifying the informant and the police. The victim’s drivers licence was located in the lounge room.
Charge 6 – Negligently dealing with proceeds of crime
55Police also seized a healthcare card in the name of Sarah Chang-Time and a Chinese passport in the name of Li Jianhan, believed to be the proceeds of crime.
56At 5.39pm on 1 March 2022, your friend, Ms Theofanidou, received the following WhatsApp message from you:
‘Did something about my shooting etc. As expected I am expecting to hear from authorities. Might be gone for a while. Send me your address and date of birth. If u ever wanna visit they’ll already need to have it’
57At 5.40am on 1 March 2022 Ms Theofanidou received a second WhatsApp message from you:
‘Take care. Going to Ringwood Police Station’
58On 3 March 2022 you surrendered yourself at Ringwood Police Station. You made a no comment record of interview, were charged and remanded into custody.
59On 4 March 2022, the victim’s vehicle was forensically examined and his top dentures were located in the back pocket of the driver’s seat. A glass pipe was also located in the inside door pocket behind the front passenger seat.
60On 28 April 2022 police reviewed telephone calls made by you whilst in custody where you requested Ms Alamajan to collect an item for you, describing it as a treasure hunt. In these calls, you ask Ms Alamajan several times as to whether she has been able to locate the item. Ms Alamajan says she has been unable to do so.
61On that same day police, following directions given by you to Ms Alamajan, attended an address in Ringwood East and located behind the baseboards of the building items described by you to Ms Alamajan, being a grey t-shirt worn by the you in the CCTV footage from McDonalds Hampton Park on 28 February 2022. Wrapped inside the T-shirt were two mobile phones one of which belongs to the victim and a heavy whetstone in a wooden box.
Nature and gravity of the offending
62Kidnapping is a very serious offence reflected in the maximum penalty of 25 years imprisonment. The inherent seriousness of the offence is also evidenced by the fact that Parliament has deemed it a Category 2 offence, requiring the court to impose a custodial order.
63In this instance the two primary matters that inform the nature and gravity of your offending in relation to the kidnapping charge are that there was a degree of pre planning and that the period that the victim was held against his will was approximately 20 hours. It was in the course of the detention of the victim that you inflicted the injuries on the victim, threatened him and ultimately stole from him giving rise to the other charges on the indictment.
64As to Charge 2, causing injury intentionally, the victim’s injuries were sustained during the course of the kidnapping and while I am mindful of the need not to doubly punish you, in assessing the injury charge, in my view, based on the number and nature of the injuries you inflicted on the victim, your conduct represents a relatively serious example of the charge of intentionally causing injury.
65It is not in dispute that the grievance you had with the victim arose in relation to your past relationship with Sokhom Throung. In the months prior to this offending Ms Throung had confessed to you that she had cheated on you with your brother and ultimately that she had provided your brother with a gun which he used to kill himself. She also revealed to you that she was involved in the shooting incident in 2014 where you were the victim, by providing the offenders with your movements. One of those offenders was ultimately sentenced in the Supreme Court having pleaded guilty to a charge of intentionally causing serious injury.
66The victim of your conduct in this matter, while not directly involved in the acts of Ms Throung, nonetheless was, according to what Ms Throung told you, supportive of her actions. Armed with this knowledge you decided to confront the victim to discuss what Ms Throung had confessed to you. I was told at the plea that when you initially confronted the victim he denied any in involvement in the shooting and the extent of his relationship with Ms Throung. In these circumstances, and while under the influence of ice, you committed the offending to which you have now pleaded guilty.
67While it appears there was a complex background that motivated your reason to confront the victim, it in no way excuses your conduct it and in my view, your moral culpability remains relatively high.
Personal circumstances
68You were born in Sri Lanka to Tamil parents in 1978.
69You are part of a sibship of six, of which the three eldest are your half-siblings. You have lost two of your siblings to suicide; your half sister in 1991 and your brother Arnold, in 2004.
70From a young age you were exposed to the Sri Lankan political conflict. Your father sought refuge in Australia before sponsoring you and your family. You cannot recall with certainty meeting your father prior to moving to Australia in 1987.
71You describe your parents as ‘good people but terrible parents’. Your mother was a violent disciplinarian and would punish you with whips, rub poison ivy on your skin and rub chilli powder in your eyes. Your father was frequently abusive and violent towards you.
72You attended St Joseph’s Primary School in Hawthorn and later received an academic scholarship to St Leo’s College in Box Hill for your secondary education until it closed when you were in Year 10. You then attended St Kevin’s College, also on an academic scholarship. You report that you experienced racial bullying at school. You report that you were asked to leave school at the end of Year 11 due to you having physical fights with other students. You then enrolled in a Hospitality Management course at TAFE and worked 20 to 30 hours per week at your father’s 7/11 franchise.
73At age 16, your older brother Nathan took custody of you. In Nathan’s care, you were subjected to further physical and emotional abuse and after nine months, you moved back in with your parents. You continued to experience abuse from your father once you returned home. Your relationship with your parents was further strained as a result of you no longer attending school. Your parents asked you to leave home and you experienced periods of homelessness. It was at this time you were first introduced to drugs and had contact with the criminal justice system.
74You report that your parents remain in a relationship, despite your father’s adultery, and that they relocated to India 10 years ago. You are no longer in contact with your parents or siblings.
75Mr Mortley, who appeared on your behalf, submits that the loss of your older brother Arnold, should not be underscored. Following the conflict you experienced with your parents and brother Nathan, you attached yourself to your older brother Arnold and saw him as a role model. Despite your idolisation of your brother, you state that he introduced you to ice and became intimately involved with Ms Throung while you were also in an intimate relationship with her. Arnold committed suicide in June 2004. You state that you did not cope and your ice use intensified.
76You have made many attempts to overcome your drug addiction. In 2000, you travelled to Malaysia with your family. In Malaysia, you managed a period of abstinence and some reconciliation with your parents. Whilst you have managed to maintain a steady work history, you have continued to be stuck in the thrall of drugs. Your previous offending relates largely to drug, assault and weapons offences, resulting in either fines or short periods in custody.
77In 2014 you found yourself torn between rival motorcycle gangs which resulted in you being shot in the arm. You changed your name from Ashok Alahananthan to Vikram Veera and were diagnosed at that time with anxiety and depression.
78A Neuropsychological Assessment Report prepared by Alison Schokman dated 7 July 2023 was tendered on the plea. Ms Schokman states that you have a history of depressive and anxious symptoms in conjunction with passive suicidal ideation. You reported that you have engaged with several psychologists in the past who you have found to be helpful. Ms Schokman opined that you would benefit from ongoing long-term psychological intervention to assist in developing strategies and managing challenging feelings. She notes that you do not suffer from any significant or consistent cognitive impairment on testing and that your cognitive deficits can be attributed to your longstanding symptoms of trauma and poor mental health.
79Since your release on bail in February 2023, you have been subject to the Court Integrated Services Program (CISP) for which you have responded exceptionally. You have remained abstinent from illicit substances and have continued to engage in part time work. A bundle of CISP reports including the Finalisation Report, dated 14 December 2023 were tendered on the plea. The reports detail your excellent commitment to the program in relation to all services that were provided. Since completing the CISP program, you have also reflected positively on your participation with the program and report feeling better able to manage daily stressors, describing yourself as more productive.
80A number of character references were tendered on the plea, each of which attest to your otherwise generous character. Many also convey what they have observed in terms of the positive changes you have made since being released on bail and your determination to build positive relationships and actively embrace the services that have been offered to you.
81Since your completion of the CISP program in December 2023, you report that you are not currently prescribed any anti-depressant medication due to your perception that your symptoms have resolved. You state that these symptoms are best managed through exercise, diet, sobriety and structured routine. You report that you do not currently experience any mood or anxiety symptoms that impact your functional or quality of life and confirm that you continue to remain abstinent from drugs.
82You are currently working two days a week as a courier driver. You have enrolled in an archery club and have joined a gym. You undergo hydrotherapy a number of times a week and maintain a strict Keto diet. Once this matter is concluded you plan to actively look for full time employment.
83A report from the Court’s Mental Health Advice and Response Service states that you presented as stable noting that you have benefited from your involvement in the CISP program, psychological counselling and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation which was undertaken as part of the CISP program. As such the view of the writer is that you do not require ongoing assessment or treatment of your mental health in order to promote welling or reduce the likelihood of reoffending.
Sentencing considerations
84I first take into account your pleas of guilty. This matter has had a lengthy history. You were bailed by me on 15 February 2023. You engaged in the CISP bail program and sought a sentencing indication before me on 17 October 2023. You initially rejected the sentence indication however following further negotiation with the prosecution in relation to some of the facts you accepted the indication, pleading guilty on 14 June 2024.
85Your plea, while late, has still saved court time and expense and has thereby facilitated the course of justice. Most importantly your acceptance of responsibility has saved the victim from having to give evidence at trial.
86Turning to your prospects of rehabilitation, it was submitted on your behalf that your rehabilitation since being on bail demonstrates a remarkable change. In terms of your performance on the CISP program it was submitted that it is nothing short of ‘stella’. Having reviewed you a number of times whilst on that program over approximately seven months, I too am of the view that your engagement in the program indicates that you fully embraced the services offered to you. The progress reports from the case managers confirm your positive engagement and progress.
87Nonetheless, you have long term history with drugs that is reflected in your criminal record in terms of drug related and violent offending and while you have shown that you are able to fully engage with programs and services offered to you, your rehabilitation will be ongoing. In my view, if you are able to remain on the path you have commenced since being bailed, your prospects are able to be assessed positively.
88Deterrence, both general and specific together with denunciation of your conduct are prominent sentencing considerations. While your conduct was motived by a specific set of circumstances as outlined above, it was entirely unjustified and resulted in very serious offending. Such conduct is unable to be tolerated in our community and as Parliament has indicated, those who contemplate such conduct will face a custodial disposition.
89It terms of sentence, the indication sought was that a custodial sentence (being time served) should be imposed on Charge 1 while the remaining charges could be dealt with by the imposition of a community correction order. The available days to be declared as time served is 350 days however it was also submitted that the Court is able to take into account 381 days as Renzella[1] time. The 381 days relate to two separate periods of detention in 2015 and 2016. Ms Ramachandran who appeared on behalf of the Director of Public Prosecutions submitted that having regard to all the circumstances, including the time served and the Renzella time, a sentence consisting of time served on Charge 1 and community correction order on the remaining charges is open. I am of the same view.
[1] R v Renzella [1977] 2 VR 88.
90Following your acceptance of the sentence indication, I had you assessed for a community correction order and as I indicated at the sentence indication hearing, any community correction order I impose in relation to Charge 2 to 6 would have both punitive and therapeutic conditions.
Sentence
91Mr Veera, would you please stand.
92Vikram Veera, on Charge1, kidnapping, you are convicted and sentenced to 350 days imprisonment.
93On Charges 2 to 6, you are convicted and will placed on a community correction order for a period of 2 years. While all community corrections orders are punitive, the order I am imposing will have specific punitive and therapeutic components. You will be required to complete 250 hours of unpaid community work, you will be required to undertake treatment and rehabilitation in relation to drug use and be required to undertake programs to reduce reoffending. You will also be subject to supervision.
94Pursuant to s 48CA of the Sentencing Act 1991 (Sentencing Act), I direct that all of the hours that you satisfactorily complete pursuant to the treatment and rehabilitation conditions, may be credited as hours of unpaid community work.
95Pursuant to s 18 of the Sentencing Act, I declare that 350 days be reckoned as the period of imprisonment already served under the sentence I have imposed.
96Pursuant to s 6AAA of the Sentencing Act, I indicate that had you not pleaded guilty, I would have sentenced you to a period of 3 years and 6 months with a non parole period of 2 years and 3 months.
0