In the Matter Of An Application For Bail BY Matthew Millard
[2011] ACTSC 82
IN THE MATTER OF AN APPLICATION FOR BAIL BY MATTHEW MILLARD
[2011] ACTSC 82 (20 April 2011)
EX TEMPORE JUDGMENT
No. SCC 141 of 2011
Judge: Refshauge J
Supreme Court of the ACT
Date: 20 April 2011
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE )
) No. SCC 141 of 2011
AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY )
IN THE MATTER OF AN APPLICATION FOR BAIL BY MATTHEW MILLARD
ORDER
Judge: Refshauge J
Date: 20 April 2011
Place: Canberra
THE COURT ORDERS THAT:
Matthew Millard be granted bail to appear at the ACT Magistrates Court on 12 May 2011 at 10.30 am in accordance with this order.
Mr Millard be released from the Alexander Maconochie Centre no earlier than 9.00 am on 21 April 2011 into the company of Ms Laura Barker.
The bail be granted to Mr Millard on the following conditions:
(a) except for one stop at 2 Best Place Charnwood, Mr Millard is to travel on release directly to The Pepper’s Illicit Drug Rehabilitation Service, Kooringal, NSW, with a view to admitting himself to that facility for the purpose of treatment;
(b) if for any reason Mr Millard is not admitted to that facility or he is terminated from the program, he must report as soon as possible and, in any case within 36 hours, to the Registrar of the ACT Supreme Court for the purpose of his bail being reconsidered;
(c) he is to remain in the program and accept any reasonable directions of the program officer and not absent himself or terminate the program without the prior permission of the ACT Supreme Court;
(d) he is to accept supervision of the Chief Executive or her delegate through ACT Corrective Services and accept all reasonable directions;
(e) he is not to consume illicit drugs or alcohol;
(f) he is to submit to breath analysis and urinalysis when required; and
(g) he is to attend any meeting of the Sentence Administration Board which he is directed to attend.
Matthew Millard comes before me applying for bail in circumstances where, on an objective and dispassionate view, there is little basis for granting him bail. He has been sentenced in 2004 to a lengthy term of imprisonment of four years and six months for a range of offences, obviously related to his acknowledged drug addiction, but including attempting to pervert the course of justice and breaches of recognisance. He was released on parole on 10 March 2011, one of the conditions of that parole being that he travel on the day of release to the Peppers Illicit Drug Rehabilitation Service and undertake the program. He failed to do so.
He said to the ACT Corrective Services Officer supervising him, whom he contacted four days later, that he had missed the scheduled bus, although the circumstances of that are unclear. He was released at the time when it was agreed he should be released and a taxi was available to take him to the Jolimont Centre for the bus. He was given a direction to make his way to The Peppers Illicit Drug Rehabilitation Service and he failed to do so. He said that he failed to do so because he was unable to obtain a ticket. He apparently made no further attempts.
He has now been arrested and charged with further offences which occurred on 24 March 2011, although I am told that he has entered pleas of not guilty. A hearing of the Sentence Administration Board has been listed for 3 May 2011 to consider two recommendations for revocation of his parole, one based upon the breaches of his failure to attend at the Peppers Illicit Drug Rehabilitation Service and one based on the presence of prohibited substances in his body, which was detected by urinalysis on 17 March 2011.
He has a lengthy history, including mostly what appear to be drug related offences and dishonesty offences of various kinds dating back to 2006. He has come before me now with an opportunity to be admitted to The Peppers Illicit Drug Rehabilitation Service and he has a friend who appears to have no criminal record and to be in employment who has agreed to accompany him to The Peppers Illicit Drug Rehabilitation Service and make sure that he has transport and access to that facility. He has written me a letter in which he expresses his view that he has come to a point in his life where he needs to start addressing what he describes as “the big hills” that he needs to climb ahead and, at 28 years of age, to be able to have a real life, a family, a normal life are things that are worth having.
As I have said, all those factors show that bail would be a major risk for Mr Millard. The biggest risk, so far as I am concerned, is that if I give him bail, he will abscond and not be able to be brought before the Sentence Administration Board and the Magistrates Court, when he is required to attend, where there is every possibility that his parole will be revoked or he will be convicted and sentenced to a period of imprisonment. And that will cause the community expense and further delay.
Nevertheless, my experience is that, on occasion, people who have a genuine commitment to rehabilitation need to be encouraged to take that step when the commitment is expressed and when it is at its most fruitful. Not without considerable hesitation, because everything that Mrs Jowitt has said is persuasive and appropriate, I am prepared to grant Mr Millard bail on condition that he travels to The Peppers Illicit Drug Rehabilitation Service and admits himself to the program tomorrow.
I will make it a condition of his bail that he attends any meeting of the Sentence Administration Board that the Board requires him to attend and that he attends at the ACT Magistrates Court on the next date he is due to appear in that Court.
I certify that the preceding seven (7) numbered paragraphs are a true copy of the Reasons for Judgment herein of his Honour, Justice Refshauge.
Associate:
Date: 20 April 2011
Counsel for the Applicant: Dr B Boss
Solicitor for the Applicant: Darryl Perkins Solicitors
Counsel for the Respondent: Mrs S Jowitt
Solicitor for the Respondent: ACT Director of Public Prosecutions
Date of hearing: 20 April 2011
Date of judgment: 20 April 2011
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