Peter Lees
[2015] VCC 2002
•3 December 2015
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA | Revised Not Restricted Suitable for Publication |
AT MELBOURNE
CRIMINAL DIVISION
AP-15-2059
| In the matter of an APPEAL AGAINST SENTENCE PETER LEES Appellant and SHAUN NICHOLAS & OTHERS Respondent | |||
JUDGE: | HER HONOUR JUDGE CANNON | ||
WHERE HELD: | Melbourne | ||
DATE OF HEARING: | 3 December 2015 | ||
DATE OF SENTENCE: | 3 December 2015 | ||
CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | Peter Lees | ||
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2015] VCC 2002 | ||
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
SUBJECT: CRIMINAL LAW
CATCHWORDS: Appeal against sentence – charges include drunk and disorderly in a public place – Use threatening words in a public place – Refuse or fail to state name and address – Resist emergency worker on duty – Contravene family violence final intervention order – Aggregate term of 2 months’ imprisonment – Relevant criminal record – Long history alcohol and drug abuse
RESULT of APPEAL: Orders of the Ringwood Magistrates Court set aside – Appellant convicted and sentenced to Community Corrections Order of 18 months’ duration with mandatory and other conditions including Supervision, Unpaid community work, Treatment and rehabilitation components and alcohol exclusion
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APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the RESPONDENT | Ms T. Saville | Solicitor for Office of Public Prosecutions |
| For the APPELLANT | Ms V. Whitelaw | Macgregor Solicitors |
HER HONOUR:
Mr Lees, your offending on the occasions before me was despicable and your criminal history is most concerning. You have a long term problem with alcohol and have abused drugs in the past, including ‘ice’. I have a great deal of sympathy with the Magistrate who sentenced you to gaol and had it not been for some fairly significant steps that you have taken since this time, I would have taken the same view.
If you return to alcohol or substance abuse in future and commit offences, a sentencing judge may treat your decision to return to alcohol or drugs as an aggravating feature of your offending. If you don’t stop abusing alcohol and drugs for good, then you face the very real prospect of an early death or spending a good deal of your life in gaol.
However, you have managed to take some positive steps toward rehabilitation and it is better for the community in the long term that you continue on this path rather than go to gaol for several months and return to your old ways. I’m sure that you know that these are very early days, and if you fail to maintain the changes that you have put in place, it is more than likely that you will be going to gaol. So, the rest is up to you.
The terms of the CCO that I propose are as follows:
The period for which the order will operate is 18 months
The mandatory terms that apply to all Community Correction Orders are:
You must not commit another offence for which you could be imprisoned during the time that the order is in force;
You must comply with any obligation or requirement prescribed by regulation 17 of the Sentencing Regulations 2011;
You must report to, and receive visits from, the Secretary (or delegate);
You must report to the Frankston Community Correctional Services before 4 pm within two clear working days of today-therefore by Monday at 4pm.
You must let a community corrections officer know within two clear working days of you changing your address or job;
You must not leave Victoria without first obtaining permission to do so from the Secretary (or delegate);
You must obey all lawful instructions from and directions of the Secretary (or delegate).
5. The conditions that apply in addition to the mandatory terms listed are:-
Community Work
You must undergo 200 hours unpaid community work within 18 months. If you fail to comply with this order then the Secretary to the Department of Justice or his/her delegate may direct you to perform additional hours.
Supervision
You must be under the supervision of a Community Corrections Officer for a period of 18 months.
Treatment and Rehabilitation
You must undergo assessment and treatment (including testing) for alcohol abuse or dependency and drug abuse or dependency as directed by the Regional Manager. In this regard, I note that you are attending Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous, and it is most desirable that you continue to do so.
You must undergo mental health assessment and treatment including (but not limited to) mental health,
psychological, neuropsychological and psychiatric treatment in a hospital or residential facility, as directed by the Regional Manager.
You must undergo programs or courses aimed at addressing factors relating to the offending as directed by the Regional Manager, including any program aimed at anger management and maintaining change.
You are not to attend any premises which are licensed to serve alcohol, including BYO alcohol restaurants or cafes etc, or any bar of a venue which serves alcohol for a period of 18 months, unless, in respect of a particular event, you first obtain written permission to do so from the Regional Manager.
6. Do you consent to the terms and conditions of the order?
7. I should tell you that if you do not comply with all of the requirements of this CCO then you will face breach proceedings before me. You will be sentenced in relation to the breach and you will be re-sentenced in relation to the charges-in which case you may well be sentenced to gaol. I would regard a breach of the CCO as a most serious matter, whether it be because of further offending or because of non-compliance with any of the other conditions of the order.
8. Do you understand this? Do you maintain your consent to the order?
9. Therefore in relation to the charges, you are convicted and sentenced to a CCO in the terms and conditions that I have just set out.
10. You can come out of the dock and I will ask your Counsel to assist you with the signing of the CCO.
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