DPP v WEHRLE, Jordan
[2015] VCC 547
•4 May 2015
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA | Revised (Not) Restricted Suitable for Publication |
AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL DIVISION
Case No. CR-14-01121
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| V |
| JORDAN WEHRLE |
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JUDGE: | Her Honour Judge Wilmoth | |
WHERE HELD: | MELBOURNE | |
DATE OF HEARING: | 4 May 2015 | |
DATE OF SENTENCE: | 4 May 2015 | |
CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | ||
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2015] VCC 547 | |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Subject: Criminal law - sentence
Catchwords: Pleas of guilty to one charge of attempted armed robbery, one charge shortening the barrel of a firearm and one charge of possessing a firearm whilst a prohibited person – victims were tourists in a public area – accused suffering mild to moderate depression and influenced by alcohol and drugs – Verdins applicable -
Sentence: 2 months imprisonment, 2 year Community Corrections Order
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APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the Director | Mr S. Ballek | OPP |
| For the Accused | Ms N. Karapanagiotidis | Barrese & Associates |
HER HONOUR:
1 Jordan Michael Wehrle, you have pleaded guilty to one charge of attempted armed robbery, one charge of shortening the barrel of a long arm, and one charge of possessing a firearm whilst prohibited. You have also pleaded guilty to two summary charges, failing to answer bail and possessing ammunition.
2 During the night of 24 to 25 February 2014 you entered a house in Dromana and took two firearms from an unlocked gun safe as well as a quantity of ammunition for both firearms. These firearms were a Herstal Field Category A 12 gauge shotgun and a Browning .22 Rimfire Category A rifle, both registered to the owner. You were charged and pleaded guilty in the Magistrates' Court to aggravated burglary and theft of the firearms on 27 October 2014.
3 You appealed against the sentence imposed and I heard the appeal in regard to these and other charges which had been a part of the consolidation before the learned magistrate.
4 I sentenced you to prison for 10 months, which sentence you had already served by that time but for about three weeks. I also imposed a community corrections order to commence upon your release. I was told that you were facing trial over offences which were said to have involved the stolen firearms.
5 Since then you entered pleas of guilty and you come before me today having remained in custody after having been refused bail on 6 February this year.
6 Having stolen the firearms you shortened the barrel of the shotgun and on 27 February you drove to a car park at one of the Sorrento back beaches taking one of the firearms in a bag. You went to the lookout above the beach where two Japanese tourists were taking photos. One of these women noticed that you had a large black mark on your shinbone, which appeared to have been done with a marker pen. While you lent on the railing each of the women took a photo of you.
7 As they walked past you, you asked if they had a pen, and after that you followed them as they began to walk down a track from the lookout. When one of the women turned around you pointed to her Samsung tablet which she was carrying and said, "I want that". When she said "No" you demanded they give you their bag and their money. You were told "No" again, whereupon you took your bag from your back and opened the drawstring at the top holding it open to reveal the gun.
8 One of the women noticed its colour and shape and her description of the 15 centimetres of the gun which was visible to her suggest it was likely to have been the sawn-off shotgun. You continued to ask for the bag and the money and said, directing yourself to both women, "I'm not going to hurt you if you give me your bag and money." The women refused again and ran away into the bush where they hid. You did not follow them and they did not see you again, but reported the matter to the police and showed police the photograph one of them had taken of you on her digital camera.
9 The following day police executed a search warrant at your home and arrested you. When asked about the presence of firearms you told police where they were and they were located together with ammunition and the bag and clothing you had worn. Two black marker pens were found in your car, and the black mark on your leg was visible and was photographed. You were not the holder of a firearm's licence, nor were you authorised to possess cartridge ammunition. The firearms were those registered to the person from whom you had stolen them from the house in Dromana.
10 You were prohibited from possessing any firearms as you had been the subject of a final intervention order less than five years ago. When interviewed you made certain admissions, but said you could not remember if it had been you who approached the two tourists with a gun which was visible to them and did not know whether you had had the gun with you at the lookout. You said you had gone to the lookout contemplating suicide.
11 You were bailed to appear in the Magistrates' Court and to reside in New South Wales, but you failed to appear on 29 May 2014 for a committal mention. You were charged with failing to answer bail. One of the victims was cross-examined at the committal hearing which was eventually held. You pleaded guilty to these charges at a final directions hearing on 4 March 2015.
12 At the time of your offending you were living in Blairgowrie having separated from your wife. You had engaged in a spate of offending committing theft and driving charges, the subject of the recent appeal before me. In my sentencing remarks I set out your personal background and the context for your offending. The offences for which I sentence you today form part of that history, and so I will repeat that background today as they remain matters that I have taken into account.
13 You are a 32 year old man with a limited criminal history, mainly relating to an assault charge and an injury charge from about eight years ago as a result of a pub fight. As a young man you belonged for a time to a hard drinking culture associated with your work as a chef, notwithstanding that you had come from a good family and had had a good upbringing. You had grown up at Mt Hotham and had become a professional skier, gaining experience as a chef as well, and later becoming a highly skilled steel fabricator in the steel manufacturing industry.
14 You married in 2010 after a relationship of several years during which two children were born. You settled with your family in Rosebud and you both worked very hard, with your wife managing a restaurant, requiring you to be the regular primary carer of the children. Your neighbour, Ms Anstee, previously provided a reference describing your hard work and your good qualities as a neighbour and also her opinion as to your devotion to your daughters and your distress when your marriage broke down and when your wife left with the children.
15 She confirmed your remorse for the offending, which you admitted to her, and that this behaviour was quite out of character for you. She considers you are a worthy chance for rehabilitation, to use her words, and that you will be able to rebuild your life.
16 Similar things were said by Mr Matthews in his email written last October. His view is that drugs and alcohol have wrecked your life. You have been equally honest with him as you were with Ms Anstee.
17 As to your state of mind at the time of the offending you were assessed last October by a forensic psychologist, Ms Swan, whose opinion it is that you were suffering from mild to moderate depression at the time she saw you, and at the time of the breakdown of your marriage you experienced a major depressive episode. This together with substance abuse impaired your decision making abilities and resulted in a lack of consequential thinking. She said a lengthy custodial sentence would likely worsen your depression symptoms.
18 This was the situation as I described it in February, and since then you have completed the prison sentence but have not commenced the community corrections order owing to remaining on remand for these charges. The pre sentence detention period is therefore 63 days from 6 February to 4 May, today's date, and I declare that time is already served. I shall cause that to be noted on the court record.
19 I was satisfied in February that two limbs of the decision in the case of Verdins arose from Ms Swan's opinion, meaning that the sentence was slightly moderated to reflect the fact that your case is not a good vehicle for general deterrence. Ms Swan set out a number of recommendations as to treatment from which you could benefit, including extensive psychological treatment, and drug and alcohol treatment from which you have been excluded in prison. I noted in February that there seemed to be no prospect of this being available to you as I was told the lists were full without even a waiting list.
20 Clearly it is still in your best interests and those of the community that you receive such treatment and I was told then that your wife was prepared to engage in mediation with you in order to manage the relationship between you and your daughters, and I now understand that that has not changed and you have remained in contact with the children and with your estranged wife.
21 You have continued to have the support of your parents who are here in court today and that of your partner, Ms McKnight. All indications are that your prospects for rehabilitation are good. For the reasons I have set out there is little I need to change in terms of disposition. The principle of totality requires that I weigh the circumstances of the period of offending, which included these matters, and modify the sentence accordingly.
22 Your plea of guilty to these further charges is also a matter I take into account as deserving of the discount on your sentence, having avoided the need for a trial. The two victims have been spared the need to be here and to be cross-examined at a trial. I also accept your plea as an indication of your remorse, and that was indicated already by your cooperation with police and your frankness in your interview.
23 Overall there are strong extenuating circumstances attached to your offending, but clearly the fundamental causes need addressing, and that is not being attended to in prison. Would you stand now, please?
24 For Charge 1, I sentence you to two months' imprisonment and for each of the other indictable charges and summary charge 9, one month's imprisonment to be served concurrently. That results in a total effective sentence of two months which has already been served. I also impose a further community corrections order consisting of work hours only for all the charges before me today. This order begins today and will last for two years, the same period as the previous CCO. It requires you to perform 50 hours of unpaid community work over six months. So that is in addition to the 100 hours of the previous order. So in total it is 150 hours taking into account the two orders.
25 You must attend the Rosebud Corrections Office within two days, that is by 4 pm on Wednesday, assuming you are released today.
26 The prosecution has sought orders for the forfeiture and disposal of items on the schedule. That is consented to through your counsel and I make those orders.
27 Are there any other matters I have neglected, Mr Ballek?
28 MR BALLEK: No, Your Honour.
29 MS KARAPANAGIOTIDIS: No, Your Honour.
30 HER HONOUR: I have just neglected 6AAA, I will just give that - - -
31 MR BALLEK: It is not required, Your Honour.
32 HER HONOUR: Pardon?
33 MR BALLEK: It is not required for a community correction order today.
34 HER HONOUR: Not required?
35 MR BALLEK: It doesn't come under a division.
36 HER HONOUR: Thank you. All right. Good. The order is ready for signature. Do you want to have a look at first, Ms Karapanagiotidis?
37 MS KARAPANAGIOTIDIS: Yes, please. Perhaps if I could approach Mr Wehrle while he is reading through it, Your Honour.
38 HER HONOUR: Thank you. I just want to check with both counsel the wording of the CCO in case there is some ambiguity. I have said that the order begins today and lasts for two years. As you know everything is produced by computer and the computer has produced this wording which I just want to check. "The order will last for two years and commences upon completion of imprisonment or detention term." Because I have declared the 63 days as already served, he has completed his sentence with a three day spillover so to speak, so I can't see that there is any problem with that wording.
39 The alternative would be to replace that wording with "and commences today". First of all, Ms Karapanagiotidis, do you have any problem with that?
40 MS KARAPANAGIOTIDIS: No, Your Honour. I thank Your Honour for raising it, but I don't think it should cause a problem as currently worded.
41 HER HONOUR: All right. Thank you.
42 MR BALLEK: I agree with that, Your Honour.
43 HER HONOUR: Thank you.
44 MS KARAPANAGIOTIDIS: If I may approach Mr Wehrle. Thank you.
45 HER HONOUR: Yes, you may.
46 (Community Corrections Order signed and acknowledged.)
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