DPP v Tansey

[2016] VCC 1051

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

AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION

CR-16-00811

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

MATTHEW JOHN TANSEY

---

JUDGE:	HER HONOUR JUDGE CANNON
WHERE HELD:	Melbourne
DATE OF HEARING:	14 July 2016
DATE OF SENTENCE:	21 July 2016
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v TANSEY
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2016] VCC 1051

REASONS FOR SENTENCE
---

Subject:  CRIMINAL LAW

Catchwords:             Sentence – plea of guilty – Attempt to pervert the course of justice – Production of false medical certificates to Drug Court – Extensive criminal history largely drug related – Long history of drug abuse – Need for intensive residential drug treatment post gaol release

Sentence:Convicted and sentence to 5 months’ imprisonment – s.6 AAA Sentencing Act 1991 declaration made – No declaration made as to pre-sentence detention

---

APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the Director of Public Prosecutions	Ms M. Stylianou	Solicitor for Public Prosecutions
For the Offender	Ms S. Keogh-Barnes	Emma Turnbull Lawyers

HER HONOUR: 

1Matthew John Tansey, you have pleaded guilty to a rolled-up charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice which has a maximum penalty of
25 years' imprisonment.

2The maximum penalty reflects the seriousness with which this offence is regarded by Parliament.  Your offending involved sending six false medical certificates on three separate occasions over a seven day period to the drug court in a bid to avoid the consequences of failing to comply with various obligations required by a drug treatment order in the Magistrates' Court.  The false medical certificates appeared to be authentic and had appropriate letterhead on them and these were faxed to the case manager at the Magistrates' Court in relation to this particular aspect of its jurisdiction.

3Apparently the certificates were not prepared by you but you must have involved another person to produce these for you.  I was not told who this individual was or whether this was done for payment or otherwise.  It is most concerning that such documents can be generated.

4You were interviewed by police on 7 January 2016 and exercised your right to silence but said that your signature was not on any false documents provided to the drug court.  Your conduct involved some planning and was deliberative;  it had the potential to undermine the interests of justice.  It may be that you did not wish to go to gaol, which would have been the likely consequence of your non-compliance with the drug treatment order, but that is no excuse.  The fact of the matter is that the order was put in place to help you and unfortunately you chose to attempt to mislead the people who were trying to help you with your drug addiction which has plagued you for a long time.

5Your conduct must be justly punished in all the circumstances and must also be denounced.  In sentencing you I factor in that your deceit was uncovered by the authorities in a most timely fashion after they made enquiries of the medical centres which were said to have provided the certificates.

6I have reviewed your criminal history, which is a lengthy one, and as I was told by your counsel is largely drug-related.

7While you have no prior convictions for the offence for which I now sentence you, you have numerous prior matters including prior convictions for violence, firearm offences and also dishonesty and driving offences.  Your prior matters date back from 2007 and you have been before the courts every year since, save for 2013 and 2014.  Along the way you have received some dispositions which were designed to help rehabilitate you but you have not been able to take advantage of those opportunities.

8I was told that on 10 July 2015 you were remanded in custody on unrelated criminal charges.  On 10 September 2015 the drug treatment order was cancelled because of non-compliance and further offending and you were sentenced to six months' imprisonment with 62 days reckoned as served for the new charges.

9In relation to the matters for which you had received the drug treatment order, you were re-sentenced to 20 months' imprisonment with a non-parole period of eight months’ imprisonment.  That non-parole period has now expired so I was told you are now two months into serving the head sentence.  However, I must not, and I do not, speculate about what the Parole Board might have done or might do in relation to this aspect.

10When re-sentencing you in respect of the matters which have been the subject of the drug treatment order, Mr Parsons, Magistrate, took into account the extent of your compliance with the drug treatment order which included the provision of the false medical certificates.  I factor this in when sentencing you, although clearly Mr Parsons was not dealing with you for the offending before me.  However, the other aspect of this is that it would appear that the police ought to have been in a position to charge you with the offence which is now before me, as at that time if not before.  I was told that there was a delay caused by police obtaining advice from the Office of Public Prosecutions as to the appropriate charge or charges to lay.

11You were charged with the matter before me on 7 January 2016 and there were ongoing discussions with the Crown in respect to the resolution of the matter, which resolved in May this year.  It is unfortunate that this matter could not be married up with the other matters in September, if that were feasible, or to have been dealt with at about that time.

12In sentencing you I have factored in that you have lost the chance of some concurrency because of the delay in charging you for this matter and that your time in custody has been more onerous because of your anxiety as to the outcome of these proceedings. 

13I also take into account that you have been in gaol for over a year now, which is relevant to the application of the principle of totality.  It is also relevant that while you have been in gaol you have been able to abstain from drugs, which was evidenced by some drug screens which were tendered at the plea hearing, and you have also completed a number of courses, including a 24 hour drug and alcohol treatment program and a release-related harm reduction program.

14These are positive steps but I am sure you know that you have a long way to go in order to remain drug free when back in the community.  You know that that will be the real challenge for you.

15You have a three-year old child and a one-year old child, as well as a partner, although I was told that the relationship with your partner is somewhat unstable.  When you relapsed into drug use you disconnected with her.  She is caring for both of your children.  You plan to obtain honest work and be a devoted father when you are released from gaol.  Your children need a father who will be a role model to them and who will be there for them.  If you are to achieve this you must overcome your addiction and criminal behaviour once and for all.  You have the support of your mother who has been in regular contact with you since your incarceration.

16I take into account your background, which is a sad one.  Your father left your mother when you were born.  Subsequently, your mother re-married.  Your step-father was violent, emotionally abusive and your home life was most difficult.  You moved from school to school in your primary years and you left secondary school in Year 8.  You have an older sibling from your mother's first marriage and three siblings from her second marriage.

17After leaving school you trained as a concreter.  You have had sporadic work in that area over the years but your ability to work has been marred by your drug addiction and criminal offending.

18You were 24 when you committed the offence that is now before me and you are now 25.  I was told that you are now maturing and realising that the decision is yours as to the path you wish to take in life.  For your own sake and that of your children's I do hope that you stick to your resolve to take the right path.  If you do not you face the prospect of ever-increasing terms of imprisonment, if indeed you are able to stay alive.

19In your favour I take into account your plea of guilty and the stage it was entered, in the context of your preparedness to plead guilty to appropriate charges at an early stage.  I allow for a significant discount in a sentence that you would otherwise receive, as you have saved the witnesses the time and trouble of giving evidence and you have saved the community the time and expense of contested proceedings at committal and at trial.

20In view of your offending on this occasion, as well as your criminal history and subsequent matters which have been finalised as opposed to matters which are yet to be dealt with, but also factoring in your ability to work and abstinence from drugs over the past 12 months, I find that your prospects of rehabilitation are most guarded.  I place fairly strong weight on specific deterrence and strong weight on general deterrence, the second factor relating to a bid to deter others from behaving as you have.

21Mr Tansey, it would be in your interests and in the community's interests if you undertook a lengthy residential drug rehabilitation program when you are released from gaol.  It would not be beneficial to you, or the community, if you were released back into the community without the benefit of some supervision or intensive drug treatment which would be best managed in a residential facility, in my view.  Do you understand that?

22However, in your case I do not believe that it is open to me to impose a term of imprisonment, in combination with a community corrections order, in order to achieve this, as there are too many uncertainties.  I do hope the Parole Board takes my views on board in respect to the need for supervision and treatment once you are released into the community.

23I have considered the various cases that I have been referred to by counsel.  There is no case akin to yours exactly and I have received a level of guidance as to current sentencing practice but bearing in mind that totality is a real and important factor in your situation.  In the end, given your situation, I have decided to impose a sentence without a non-parole period.  Having served this it will then be a matter for the Parole Board, as I understand the position, as to what happens next.  As I say, I do hope they bear in mind my sentencing remarks when deciding what should occur.  Of course I understand that there are other matters that they must take into account and in no way do I wish to influence them in their ultimate decision but I will ensure that they have a copy of my sentencing remarks.

24Would you please stand up, Mr Tansey.

25In relation to the offence before me, you are convicted and sentenced to five months' imprisonment.  As I say, as I understand the position, that means that the five months begins today and the parole period that you had been serving, or the head sentence you had been serving, will not operate again until the expiry of my sentence.

26There is no pre-sentence detention to be declared in respect of this sentence.

27I indicate that if it were not for your plea of guilty I would have sentenced you to a total effective sentence of 18 months' imprisonment, with a non-parole period of 12 months’ imprisonment.

28Thank you, if you could remove Mr Tansey.

‑ ‑ ‑