R v Mooney

[2017] ACTSC 358

SUPREME COURT OF THE AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY

Case Title:

R v Mooney

Citation:

[2017] ACTSC 358

Hearing Date:

1 November 2017

DecisionDate:

3 November 2017

Before:

Murrell CJ

Decision:

Sentenced to total period of three years’ imprisonment with an 18 month nonparole period.

Reparation order made in the sum of $157,609.

Catchwords:

CRIMINAL LAW – JURISDICTION, PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – Judgment and Punishment – Sentence –  property offences – obtain property by deception – use false document – obtain financial advantage by deception – pleas of guilty – breach of employer’s trust – sustained course of conduct – victim impact statements – where offender has post-traumatic stress disorder – no causal connection between post-traumatic stress disorder and offence – white collar crime – general and specific deterrence – full-time imprisonment – reparation order

Legislation Cited:

Crimes (Sentencing) Act 2005 (ACT) ss 7, 19, 33, 109

Criminal Code 2002 (ACT) ss 326, 332, 347

Cases Cited:

Bugmy v The Queen [2013] HCA 37

R v Kilic [2016] HCA 48; 259 CLR 256
R v NQ [2017] ACTSC 317
R v Ok [2016] ACTSC 132
R v Reid [2016] ACTSC 24
R v Riordan [2015] ACTSC 26

R v West [2015] ACTSC 134

Parties:

The Queen (Crown)

Trisha Lee Mooney (Offender)

Representation:

Counsel

Mr T Hickey (Crown)

Mr J McCarthy (Offender)

Solicitors

ACT Director of Public Prosecutions (Crown)

Slater and Gordon Lawyers (Offender)

File Number:

SCC 210 of 2016

MURRELL CJ:

1. The offender is to be sentenced on three counts of obtaining property by deception contrary to s 326 of the Criminal Code 2002 (ACT) (Criminal Code) (Counts 1–3), one count of using a false document contrary to s 347 of the Criminal Code (Count 4) and one count of obtaining financial advantage by deception contrary to s 332 of the Criminal Code (Count 5).

1. For each offence, the maximum penalty is 10 years’ imprisonment and/or a fine (the fines vary, but in each case they are substantial).

1. Over a four-year period between November 2010 and December 2014, the offender used her position as the finance officer in a not-for-profit organisation (the organisation) to make unauthorised payments to herself (Counts 1–3) and to make unauthorised personal purchases on the organisation’s credit card (Count 4).  She did this on hundreds of occasions, gaining a total benefit of $157,609.06.  In addition, in July 2014 the offender forged a loan agreement between herself and the organisation in order to cover up an unauthorised “loan” for the offender to purchase a new car (Count 5).

Pleas of guilty

1. The offender was committed for trial on 71 charges.

1. In November 2016, the Crown filed an indictment containing nine counts.  Four of the counts were abandoned when the offender pleaded guilty.  Of the four counts, two concerned the background to Count 4, and two concerned allegations that were later withdrawn.  However, the course of criminal conduct upon which the Crown relied in support of the five counts that proceeded did not differ greatly from…