Director of Public Prosecutions v Verrina

[2019] VCC 1398

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

AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

CR-18-02384

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

ANDREA VERRINA

---

JUDGE:	HER HONOUR JUDGE COHEN
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:	13 – 17 May, 27 June, 11 – 12 July 2019
DATE OF SENTENCE:	22 August 2019
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Verrina
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2019] VCC 1398

REASONS FOR SENTENCE
---

Subject:  Sentencing

Catchwords:  Plea of guilty; trafficking 1,4-Butanediol; prohibited person possess firearm; dealing in property suspected of being proceeds of crime; possess prohibited weapon; offering drug but supplying other chemical; wife particularly emotionally dependent; young child also dependent; wife refugee; own visa status a concern

Legislation Cited:     Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic) ss 6AAA, 40(1); Migration Act 1958 (Cth) s 200

Cases Cited:R v Pierce (1996) 2 VR 215; Berichon v R (2013) 40 VR 419; Markovic v R [2010] VSCA 105; DPP v Basic [2016] VSCA 99; Allouch v R [2018] VSCA 244

Sentence:                  9 months’ imprisonment, followed by 18 month CCO

---

APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the Director of Public Prosecutions	Mr J. Saunders	Vanessa Mellios, Solicitor for the Office of Public prosecutions
For the Accused	Mr P. Dunn QC	Dean Cole & Associates

HER HONOUR: 

1Andrea Verrina, you have pleaded guilty to one charge of trafficking a drug of dependence (1,4-Butanediol) between 20 March and 28 April 2018, and one charge of being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm.  Those are the two charges on the indictment against you.  You have also agreed to have heard in this court and have pleaded guilty to one summary charge of dealing in property suspected of being proceeds of crime, and one summary charge of possessing a prohibited weapon, namely an extendable baton. 

2You have also admitted a prior criminal history to which I shall refer later.

3The maximum penalty for trafficking in a drug of dependence is 15 years' imprisonment.  For being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm, it is 10 years' imprisonment.  For each summary charge, it is two years' imprisonment. 

4Your involvement with the trafficking of the drug 1,4-Butanediol (which I will abbreviate to “1,4-BD”), is different from all of your co-offenders in this case.  You were present last month, when I sentenced four of them and I shall not repeat my summary of the overall circumstances.  You were not part of any drug trafficking syndicate or group, as each of them were. 

5You knew Mr Aysar Fatho, apparently having originally met when you were both doing community work as conditions of your Community Correction Orders.  You met up again incidentally, and after that you took the opportunity to try to make some money by selling him something that might not have been genuine. Then in early 2018, you became aware that he was looking for a source of the substance 1,4-BD, for the purpose of trafficking it as a drug.  You discussed with Aysar Fatho that you had a contact who could provide a supply of 1,4-BD and you entered an agreement to facilitate that.  Your purpose was to obtain money.  You entered this arrangement without intending to actually supply
1,4-BD but intended to deceive Mr Fatho into paying for what he thought would be the genuine product. Apparently you had an Albanian friend who could supply product in a similar looking barrel.

6The first plans to do this failed, and are not strictly part of the period of the charge brought against you.  Ultimately, between 20 March and 28 April 2018, you facilitated the supply of quantities of liquid substance to Mr Fatho, holding out to him that it was in fact 1,4- BD.  The first of the product was delivered about 20 March to Mr Van and his group of associates, but soon led to complaints from customers of Mr Van and Mr Nguyen which were passed back to Mr Fatho, as to it not being of proper quality.

7From the time that Mr Fatho tried to contact you to pass on these complaints and try to solve the problem with customers, you tried to avoid him.  A very large number of telephone messages were not answered or responded to.  In early April you agreed to meet him on two consecutive days but did not attend, making various excuses.  A little later in April you did meet up with him.  You then suggested that mixing further chemicals with the product already delivered would solve the problem and turn it into what was required, but it did not, and the complaints continued.

8As I understand it, your main ongoing involvement from mid-April, was fending off telephone enquiries and complaints from Mr Fatho and those associated with him.  Although he took matters into his own hands and carried out a burglary of a commercial premises where genuine 1,4-BD was stored, you seem to have had some ongoing contact, and one further meeting at a hotel with him, where there was discussion of resolution and who was out of pocket and whether refunds were to be made.

9I am not able to determine how much you received in payment for any of the product that was supplied, but there were quantities of cash found at your home, which at first I was told were part of your life savings, but are now conceded to be or to include what you were paid for this deal.  The total cash found at your home a month later was $26,950, that is the subject of one of the summary charges and will be the subject of a forfeiture order.

10On the evening of 28 April 2018, police moved in and arrested those loading a trailer for the exchange of 1,4- BD, and that evening they also arrested Aysar Fatho.  You were not arrested until a month later.  Police attended your residence on 28 May last year with a search warrant.  You were arrested at that stage on the drug trafficking charge.

11Police also found at your home a handgun, which was wrapped in rubber gloves and other materials, inside a dishwashing machine in the garage. 

12[Excuse me, I am missing pages. I am sorry for this.  This is my arrangements, this morning.  I am sorry about that.  Let me just go back to where I was.]

13On 28 May last year, executing a search warrant at your house, police found a handgun which was wrapped in rubber gloves and other materials, inside a washing machine in the garage.  They also found an “ASP” extendable baton on a top shelf in the kitchen. In jacket pockets in wardrobes and elsewhere in the house, they found several quantities of cash including one of $4,675, one of $21,400, as well as some foreign currency in Euros and US dollars.  They also found a Jaguar animal ring. 

14The cash found and ring are the subject of the summary charge of dealing with property suspected of being the proceeds of crime.  The baton is the subject of the summary charge of possessing a prohibited weapon, and the handgun found in the dishwasher is the subject of the second charge on the indictment, as you were a prohibited person having relevant prior convictions, and were found in possession of that firearm.

15In assessing the seriousness of your offending, I accept that it should be viewed in a somewhat different light from that of the other accused.  I am talking here about the most serious charge of trafficking a drug of dependence.  As I said when I sentenced four of your co- accused in July, objectively the trafficking in a drug of dependence is a serious offence, as reflected in the 15 -year maximum penalty.  The sentencing purposes of general deterrence, community denunciation and community protection must be prominent, to convey that the trafficking of drugs is very harmful to the community at large, as well as to individuals, and will attract serious punishment.

16The charge is put on the basis that you offered to sell a drug of dependence, namely 1,4-BD, and that fell within the definition of trafficking.  As the prosecution has brought to my attention when I queried this, the meaning of “offering to sell” within that definition has been held to require that the alleged offender made an offer to sell a drug of dependence, intending to make that offer, and intending the offeree – that is the person to whom the offer was made – would believe it was a genuine offer to sell the drug.[1]  It was held that to satisfy that part of the definition of trafficking, it is not necessary for the prosecution to prove that at the time of making the offer, the alleged offender intended to actually sell the drug of dependence, nor that he was even capable of fulfilling the offer.  You have pleaded guilty to this charge on this basis.

[1]R v Pierce (1996) 2 VR 215 at 218-219

17I take into account that the prosecution concedes that it cannot prove that you intended to sell actual 1,4-BD, and that you deny that you had that intention.  However, it is clear that you made the offer to Aysar Fatho to do so, that is to sell a drug of dependence, 1,4-BD, intending that he would believe that you could supply such drug, which of course we know he did.

18Your counsel submit that I should view the objective circumstances as being of less of the usual nature of drug trafficking, and more of you intending to deceive drug traffickers, by supplying them with a product that you did not intend to actually be a drug of dependence, and certainly not the one you were purporting to supply.  I accept that your offending can be likened in nature to dishonesty and deception cases.  However, I do not accept that that means I should exclude all of the usually applicable principles to sentencing for drug trafficking.  You were facilitating an illegal trade, that of supplying drugs of dependence to ultimate consumers. 

19Also, I am satisfied that there was a further potentially harmful aspect of what you were doing, that I should take into account.  I was told and provided with some information that your lawyers had obtained, that the actual chemical supplied, which you obtained through an unidentified acquaintance of yours, was a substance used in the production of some plastics and in paints and was unlikely to cause serious harm if imbibed by people, even if they thought it was the chemical which they were taking to gain the effect of GHB. However, there is nothing to indicate that you had that information at the time that you supplied or facilitated the supply of large quantities of this chemical, knowing that it was intended to be distributed to people to swallow.  There is nothing to indicate whether you even considered whether this alternative chemical could be harmful to ultimate consumers, even if it was not a drug of dependence, or a proscribed poison. 

20I accept that you did not intend to supply either the actual drug of dependence which you offered, nor any other drug of dependence, but you were still opportunistically supplying for money a substance that you knew people would treat as a drug and imbibe as if it were the drug they expected, without consideration of the harm its supply could cause and as I have said, you also became part of the chain of supply of what others intended to be the supply of a drug of dependence.  I regard as particularly reckless your approach that any other chemical could be provided, without turning your mind to the possible harm it might do.

21I take into account that the charge covers a period of about five weeks.  As I have said, much of the latter part of which you were trying to avoid further involvement.  However, that was to save yourself from the repercussions of the supply of the first false product, rather than having decided to disengage from the criminal activity.  I accept that what you did was not a sophisticated deception, but it did not have to be to achieve what you intended, which was a quick way or easy way of making money. 

22I do not consider that your role in this offence is fully comparable to that of a person who was engaged in facilitating the supply of what they intended to be a genuine drug of dependence, but as I say, I do regard it as having some serious aspects.

23Finally, I take into account in relation to assessing the seriousness of the offence, that you are not charged on the basis that you supplied not less than a commercial quantity.  That is because the prosecution cannot prove that any amount of what you in fact offered to sell was a proscribed drug of dependence, and therefore the threshold for a commercial quantity of what you offered to sell (and therefore trafficked), cannot be established. I agree with the prosecution that I should take into account that although the charge is simply of trafficking, you were offering large quantities of what you falsely said was this drug of dependence. 

24I assess this offence in this total context as at a lower level of seriousness than had the substance you intended to supply and actually supplied been 1,4-BD, but not as an insignificant level of seriousness.  Indeed, I assess it as quite serious in facilitating the trafficking operations of others in a drug of dependence. I accept that you did not intend to supply what was actually a drug of dependence, but you were still cynically supplying for money, a substance that you intended people treat as a drug, without consideration of the harm that supply could cause, and became part of the chain of supply of what others intended to be a supply of a drug of dependence.  I accept that your motive was to make money, in the context of some desperation to provide for secure housing for your family.  In that, I contrast the purpose of your money-making motive with that of one of pure greed or self- aggrandisement. 

25In relation to the handgun found in the dishwasher, you told police when interviewed, and your counsel has confirmed that it is your instructions, that you had not deliberately obtained that gun.  You say that you had agreed to allow a friend who was going overseas to store furniture, rugs and some other items in your garage, and that when cleaning the garage, you had found this gun amongst those items.  You say that on finding it, you sought to hide it, and in particular from the risk that it might be found by your young daughter, who sometimes played in the garage, and that is why you wrapped it in gloves and other materials and hid it in the dishwasher in the garage. It is clear that you did not consider disposing of it in a legal manner, such as taking it to police.  Nor did you think to dispose of it in any other way.  Having a criminal record, about which I shall say more shortly, you were a prohibited person from being in possession of a firearm such as this, and such offences must be taken seriously.  I repeat that the maximum penalty for that offence is 10 years' imprisonment, reflecting its objective seriousness. 

26I take into account that it was not loaded, there was no ammunition for it found, the photograph of it appears to show some rust, and in particular that it was wrapped up and there is nothing to indicate that you had ever used or intended to use it in any way.  Its positioning and being wrapped up and not loaded, does not indicate likely imminent use. 

27For all of these reasons, although possession by a person with recent relevant prior convictions has the potential to be a serious offence, in this case I find it to be more incidental in that it was in your possession, but no indication that you intended to use it in any harmful way – in particular not in pursuit of any other offending.[2]

[2]Berichon v R (2013) 40 VR 419; DPP v Basic [2016] VSCA 99.

28As to the charge of being in possession of suspected proceeds of crime, insofar as the quantities of cash found at your house were concerned, you told police you were saving them for your daughter, and I was originally told in submissions on your behalf, that they were your life savings and relevant to your hope to be able to purchase the residence in which you and your family were living at the time.  It was eventually conceded that the largest part of this money was from the dealings you had with the chemicals sold to Mr Fatho. By your plea of guilty, you concede that all of these amounts and the ring, which you say was not genuine, were in your possession, suspected of being the proceeds of crime. 

29In relation to the baton, it was found on a top shelf.  I am satisfied that its position was both out of reach of your young daughter and also is not an indicator that you had any immediate intention to use it.  I have no real explanation for your keeping it.  I assume that it is something that you were not prepared to dispose of, having acquired possession of it in some unexplained circumstances.  You seem to have led a life that has included various obstacles and difficulties for you, and I infer you have probably developed patterns of keeping to hand, items that come your way, if you think they might have some future use or value to you.

30You pleaded guilty to all of these charges on second day of the committal hearing, after negotiations through your lawyers, and without requiring any witnesses to be cross-examined.  As with the other accused that I have been dealing with who pleaded guilty, the prosecution concedes that this is to be taken as the first reasonable opportunity to enter pleas of guilty to appropriate charges.  As with them, you receive the benefit of leniency for the utilitarian value in saving the community the time and cost of disputed hearings and the inconvenience to witnesses, and also because the plea of guilty is a reflection of your accepting responsibility for your conduct.

31In your case, I am prepared to infer a degree of remorse as well from the plea.  I certainly am satisfied that you feel deep and genuine regret for the position this has placed you in, but that is something different from actual remorse for becoming involved in the offending. 

32I shall tell you after I have imposed sentence what it would have been, had you not pleaded guilty but been found guilty after a trial.

33I turn now to your personal circumstances. 

34You are now aged 43 and live with your wife and five-year-old daughter.  You were born in Albania in a rural town in the mountainous north.  I am told that your family all worked as farm labourers on a government owned collective farm and that after attending school to age about 13 or 14, you started working on that farm.  I am told that the village life was traditional and also hard, it being subject to a rigid Communist regime.  I am told that after you had a relationship with a local girl who became pregnant, and due to issues of different religious and cultural backgrounds, you were regarded as dishonouring your family, and to avoid those consequences you fled the country. You went to Italy where your sister worked as a cleaner and you obtained some work and supported yourself as a painter.    

35In 2002, you travelled to Australia but were refused entry and returned to Italy.  In 2005, you again arrived in Australia, this time using false documentation under a false name. I am told that after about a month here you went to Immigration authorities and explained your situation, and obtained a bridging visa while your position was investigated.

36You lived and worked in Melbourne, being barely literate in English or indeed in Albanian, and with no specific jobs training, you obtained what work you could, including as a painter.

37In about 2006, you met a woman named Ana Mashaj, excuse me if the pronunciation is not accurate.  She was a refugee also from Albania who had fled an abusive and exploitative man there.  Apparently, her sister initially had bought her a ticket to Australia to escape that life, and she was granted refugee status.  She has continued to suffer mental health problems from her traumatic background, as well as from further emotionally upsetting events in her life.  You and she formed a relationship of mutual support, and I accept that she became dependent on your presence, both physically and emotionally.

38You have admitted a criminal history which brought you first before a court in March 2007.  That was for cultivating cannabis.  It was before a Magistrates' Court and, without conviction, you were placed on a community based order.  I infer that that was not a large cultivation of cannabis, in light of the order imposed.  Next you were prosecuted in respect of the falsified foreign passport on which you had entered Australia, as well as in relation to some other false documentation offences.  For those you were fined and placed on good behaviour bonds.

39In 2008, however, you were convicted in the County Court for cultivating a commercial quantity of cannabis, and you were sentenced to imprisonment totalling three years nine months with a non-parole period of two years six months.  I was told that that was for your role as what is called a “crop sitter.”  As a refugee with uncertain visa status, you were trying to earn money and unfortunately that makes people in such positions vulnerable to an approach to engage in such operations.  You were apparently found with 36 plants.  The sentence reflects a not insignificant commercial quantity, presumably by weight.

40You served at least two years’ imprisonment, and after release on parole in late 2010, you were taken into Immigration detention pending decision about your visa.  Meanwhile, Ana had been diagnosed with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder and was undergoing psychological treatment.  You and she married in March 2011, which made you eligible for a spousal visa, and also when that was granted, permitted you limited but legal ability to work.  Notwithstanding permission to work, you did not resist further offending. 

41There was an incident on bringing an item classed as a weapon onto court premises – I am told you were attending to pay a fine – and for that offence you received a further fine.  There were then further charges of dishonesty – theft, burglary, going equipped to steal – and also driving whilst suspended.  You were sentenced, as I read the record, to four months' imprisonment to be followed by a Community Correction Order, but on appeal, it seems that the imprisonment component was overturned.

42You subsequently contravened that order apparently through further driving offences, particularly driving whilst disqualified or suspended, but you had completed the major components of the CCO.  No further action was taken.

43Your criminal history does you no credit, and indeed, you have served a substantial time in prison, being the non-parole period for cultivation of a commercial quantity of cannabis.  I accept that your criminal history has been intermittent, and is not as extensive nor as entrenched as sometimes come before the court.  I am told and accept that there has been no offending since the current matters, despite you having been on bail now for more than a year, and I am also told that there are no other older matters pending.

44I accept that life has not been easy for you or your wife, and that you have tried as best possible to settle in Australia and to work to support yourself, your wife and your now five-year-old daughter.  I am told that your motivation to engage in the arrangements that bring you here were that you were desperate to obtain money to try to secure a home for yourself, your wife and your daughter.  Apparently, your then landlord had offered to sell you the residence in which you were living.  Shortly after your arrest there was an issue about that, and your family was made to vacate the premises. As I understand it, it was those circumstances and with your wife suffering not only increased anxiety as a result of your arrest, but anxiety about what was her then pregnancy, that led to your being granted bail in July last year.

45Since being on bail, you have complied with strict bail conditions, have been working where possible at whatever jobs, including painting jobs, which you could obtain, and I accept that you have not been involved in further offending and that there are no charges pending.

46Unfortunately, your wife's mental health conditions were exacerbated late last year. The pregnancy about which she was so excited, having struggled to have further children for a long period, unfortunately ended with a still birth last November. I have read a report from her treating psychologist, who diagnosed and treated her originally in 2010.  She then resumed consulting him in 2015, at a time when you were charged with burglary, when she was pregnant with your daughter.  I accept that there have been several exacerbations of her mental health conditions, and since the still birth last year, there have been approximately monthly consultations up to the date of that report.   Through that report, it was sought to put to me that she has explained to her psychologist how she is dependent on you, and how she feared the consequences to her and your daughter if you were again imprisoned for the current offences.  I accept that she does have a considerable history of mental health fragility, with good cause, and she does feel heavily dependent on you.  I have this morning been provided with a general practitioner's report about her which still confirms that those are her ongoing conditions and concerns.

47I am told by your counsel that your wife still does not speak much English, which makes her even more dependent on you.  Her psychologist notes that her speech was abnormal, and it took him a while to make sense of what she was trying to explain.  I take this to be put as a sign of her mental health state at that time rather than her English, as she has apparently been able to communicate with that psychologist, Mr Kleynhans for many years.

48Your wife has also told him that she feels that if you are imprisoned, it will reflect on her inability to keep you out of prison.  At best, that may be interpreted as her feeling guilty for the financial and other pressures that led you to commit the offences. It could not be mitigatory.

49I accept that if you are sentenced to further imprisonment, it will place great strain on your wife and inevitably your daughter.  I accept that there is a greater than usual level of dependence by your wife on your support, both physical and emotional as well as through her lack of fulsome English.  However, it is an unfortunate reality that when offenders are sentenced to imprisonment, in the vast majority of cases, there are adverse consequences and hardships resulting to their families.  Whilst there is a discretion for any sentencing judge to exercise mercy in the face of adverse consequences to other persons, that discretion should only be exercised in cases of exceptional hardship.[3]

[3]Markovic v R [2010] VSCA 105

50In the current case, I am not satisfied that the consequences to your wife and daughter, if you were imprisoned further, fall into a category that would fairly be called “exceptional” or justify overriding all other sentencing principles.  What I do take into account is that due to your wife's condition and circumstances, you are likely to be particularly worried about her and your daughter, and that that is likely to make the experience of imprisonment more burdensome for you.  On that basis only I take your family circumstances into account as requiring some moderation of your sentence.

51It has also been put to me that I should take into account potential adverse consequences in relation to your visa status.  As I understand it, you currently have a spousal visa and that is subject to general discretion under the Migration Act 1958 (Cth).[4]  You are not in a category where the sentence will almost inevitably activate a cancellation.  In such circumstances, I must not speculate about what administrative action might be taken in relation to your immigration status, whatever sentence I impose.

[4] Section 200, Migration Act 1958 (Cth).

52What I do take into account, again similarly to your wife's hardship and similarly as mitigatory, is that you have genuine concern that if you were required to leave this country, the situation of your wife and daughter would be particularly difficult and leave them particularly vulnerable because your wife cannot safely return to Albania, and has no family or network here to support her and is so heavily dependent on you.  I accept that you are likely to feel more concern about those possible repercussions, that is of potential visa cancellation during any time you spend in prison, and that that concern is likely to make the serving of any time in prison more onerous for you.[5]

[5]Allouch v R [2018] VSCA 244

53As I have said, the seriousness of a charge of trafficking in a drug of dependence requires that the sentencing principle of general deterrence, that is to discourage others from similar offending by showing that such offending attracts stern punishment, remains the most important sentencing purpose. That is notwithstanding that the manner in which you committed this offence was somewhat different in that it was focused on deception and was not an intention to actually supply the promised drug.

54Community condemnation also has a role.  In your case, there is also a role for specific deterrence, that is to deter you from any further offending as you have undergone previous punishment, for different types of offending but the most serious as a part of a chain of supply of drugs, and not learnt a salutary enough lesson to avoid placing yourself in similar jeopardy again.

55You do not get the benefit of leniency for youth that your co-offenders largely did, as you are at an age that you ought to have learnt to avoid illegal conduct. Nevertheless, I regard you as having not unreasonable prospects of reform and of re-establishing yourself with your wife and daughter in a more responsible approach to life in the future (if you can remain in Australia).

56I have taken into account your plea of guilty and the other mitigatory considerations I have already outlined.  It was submitted on your behalf that I should impose a sentence that requires you to serve no more time in prison than the 57 days you served before being granted bail, and that I should further punish you by a Community Correction Order.  I had you assessed for such an order and you were assessed as suitable. It was noted in that report that you displayed insight into your offending behaviour, and expressed considerable remorse for it, and I accept that those are matters that confirm my assessment that your prospects of reform, and with the assistance of a community correction order, are not unreasonable.    

57As I have said, you did serve 57 days in custody after your arrest before being granted bail.  I am sure that that was a salutary reminder to you, as you had previously served some two years in prison, 10 years earlier. 

58Taking into account all the matters I have mentioned, I have decided that to adequately reflect the seriousness of this offending, and to satisfy all sentencing factors, your sentence must involve some further imprisonment. 

59I note that the prosecution's submission was that your sentence should take the form of a head sentence with a non-parole period set.  I take that submission to mean that a sentence of no more than 12 months or indeed 12 months plus the pre-sentence detention would not be adequate.  I have given consideration to that submission. 

60Ultimately, I have decided that in all of your circumstances, a further term of imprisonment not exceeding 12 months, to be followed by a CCO, would meet sentencing requirements in this case. I should of course, impose no more severe sentence that the minimum necessary to meet such sentencing requirements. 

61Would you stand now, please?

62Andrea Verrina, I sentence you as follows:

63On Charge 1 of the indictment, of trafficking a drug of dependence, you are convicted and sentenced to nine months' imprisonment, to be followed by a Community Correction Order to last for 18 months, the conditions of which I shall detail shortly;

64On Charge 2 on the indictment, of being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm, you are convicted and sentenced to two months' imprisonment. I make no order for cumulation on that sentence. 

65I declare 57 days of pre-sentence detention reckoned served and direct that that be noted in court records.  It will be deducted administratively, and on my calculation that means that you have a little over, but approximately seven months to serve further in prison.

66On summary Charge 6, of dealing with property suspected of being proceeds of crime, you are convicted and placed on the same Community Correction Order as is imposed on Charge 1 on the indictment. I make that order pursuant to s.40(1) of the Sentencing Act, as the two charges relate to different stages of the same series of events.  That is on the basis that the proceeds of crime were from, or largely from, the trafficking offence.

67On summary Charge 7, of possessing the baton, you are sentenced to one-week imprisonment, to be served wholly concurrently with other sentences imposed today.

68Now I return to the Community Correction Order which will commence on your release from prison.  The conditions will be that you perform unpaid community work totalling 150 hours; that you undergo supervision; and that you attend for judicial monitoring which I fix for Friday 19 June 2020 at 10 am.  That will be confirmed to you, that timing.  On my calculation that will be about three months after you are released from prison, and your progress on the CCO will be able to be assessed. 

69You will need to attend the Court, this court building on that day, and look up which court I am sitting in.  You do not need to be legally represented but you are entitled to be on that day.  I will have a report of how you are going on the CCO and there will be a brief, usually no more than 10 to 15-minute discussion, about your progress, at that stage. If, either through unchangeable work commitments, or some other problem, you are unlikely to be able to attend on that date and time and particularly because I am fixing it so far in advance, the time and date can be changed but you will need to give adequate notice to the Court of that, and to your Community Corrections officers supervising you, in advance so that can be arranged.

70Now, in addition to the three conditions I have imposed, that is the unpaid community work, supervision and to attend for judicial monitoring, all usual terms of a CCO apply.  I know they have been explained to you previously and indeed, you have served a previous or more than one previous community correction order, but I summarise them again briefly.  You are firstly to report within two working days of release from prison to the nearest Community Correction Office, to where you will be living.  That will be confirmed before you leave prison. 

71You are to report during the whole of the order to your Community Corrections supervisor, any change of address of where you are living or where you are working within two working days of such a change of address.  You are to submit to visits and obey all lawful directions of Community Corrections officers.  You are not to leave the State of Victoria without prior permission, and above all, you are not to commit any further offences which could lead to a term of imprisonment.  You must by now be well aware that all offences of dishonesty, dealing with drugs, and a number of driving offences, as well as possession of weapons, carry potential sentences of imprisonment and would breach the CCO. 

72If you do breach the CCO by non- compliance or by further offending, you can expect to be brought back to the Court on what are called contravention proceedings.  I know you have experienced that previously.  Depending on all the circumstances, including the nature of the contravention and how much of the order has been satisfactorily completed by then, and your personal circumstances then, the Court could confirm the order, vary its terms including extending its time or conditions, or could cancel the order and resentence you on the offences for which it was imposed.  Now, do you understand the terms and conditions of that CCO?

73ACCUSED:  [Yes].

74HER HONOUR:  Do you agree to comply?

75ACCUSED:  [Yes].

76HER HONOUR: All right. Next, I state pursuant to s.6AAA of the Sentencing Act, that had you not pleaded guilty but been found guilty of these charges after a trial, I would have imposed a total effective sentence of three and a half years' imprisonment with a non-parole period of two years.

77MR SAUNDERS:  As the court please.  Thank you, Your Honour.

78HER HONOUR:  I have to make a forfeiture order, or I will be making a forfeiture order, signing the orders that have been submitted.  They cover the suspected proceeds of crime, the gun and I think there is a disposal order, and I am told the baton has been automatically ‑ ‑ ‑

79MR SAUNDERS:  The baton was automatically ‑ ‑ ‑

80HER HONOUR:  ‑ ‑ ‑ gone.  I am not sure forfeiture, or what, but I will be signing those orders.  I have got copies here.  Have we got some originals and I will sign those?  Take a seat, Mr Verrina.  I will check first whether I have covered what I need to, and whether my calculations or anything like that is incorrect?

81MR DUNN:  No, 57 days we have, and I do not think Your Honour has missed anything.

82HER HONOUR:  All right.  The orders will be produced at this stage, and that will include the CCO to be signed.

83MR DUNN:  Yeah.  That is signed, Your Honour.

84HER HONOUR:  Do you need to be excused, Mr Dunn?

85MR DUNN:  Yeah, I am happy.  Once they are signed, Your Honour, I am happy to go.

86HER HONOUR:  I thought I saw some body language that indicated that.

87MR DUNN:  Thank you, Your Honour.

88MR SAUNDERS:  Thanks.

89HER HONOUR:  The draft of the community correction order I will hand down so counsel can check and then ‑ ‑ ‑

90MR SAUNDERS:  Yes.

91MR DUNN:  Thank you, Your Honour and then I might approach the dock, if I may?

92HER HONOUR:  Yes.  Has Mr Saunders seen that, too?

93MR SAUNDERS:  Yes, we have.

94HER HONOUR:  I will have my associate take it to Mr - or you can go, too, Mr (indistinct), if you wish, but would you take the CCO to - that is this version he has to sign and then I will be signing it.

95MR DUNN:  Thank you, Your Honour. 

96HER HONOUR:  The CCO as printed out has the first attendance on the CCO to be at the Melbourne Justice Centre and the address for that in Franklin Street.

97MR DUNN:  Yes, Your Honour.

98HER HONOUR:  I think that is a central one.

99MR DUNN:  Yes.

100HER HONOUR:  It will depend - my understanding is that he will be contacted before he is released from prison and depending where his residence is going to be ‑ ‑ ‑

101MR DUNN:  Yes.

102HER HONOUR:  ‑ ‑ ‑ he will be given the closest ‑ ‑ ‑

103MR DUNN:  Yes.

104HER HONOUR:  ‑ ‑ ‑ office to report to.

105MR DUNN:  Thank you, Your Honour.

106HER HONOUR:  That is why that is in there.

107MR DUNN:  Yes.  Yes, thank you, Your Honour.

108HER HONOUR:  All right, thank you.

109MR DUNN:  Thank you very much, Your Honour.

110HER HONOUR:  I have signed the orders on that matter, and I am aware I am keeping Mr Fatho waiting but I will - you can be excused, Mr Dunn ‑ ‑ ‑

111MR DUNN:  Thank you very much.

112HER HONOUR:  ‑ ‑ ‑ because I think your role in relation to explaining it to your client would be complete now.  I will be signing what next comes from here.

113(Community-based order signed and acknowledged.)

114Perhaps if Mr Verrina's counsel and solicitor are leaving, I think it would be best that he be taken into custody at this stage.  I was going to call a break and I will give a break before I proceed with Mr Fatho.  I will call a 10 -minute break.  There is a lot of paperwork to be sorted out here, also.  All right, could we stand the court down for 10 minutes please?  Sorry, I should have said that Mr Fatho should be removed first.

115(At this stage the accused left the court.)

‑ ‑ ‑