R v Mynott

[2020] ACTSC 3

SUPREME COURT OF THE AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY

Case Title:

R v Mynott

Citation:

[2020] ACTSC 3

Hearing Dates:

1 November 2019; 28 January 2020

DecisionDate:

28 January 2020

Before:

Elkaim J

Decision:

See [25]

Catchwords:

CRIMINAL LAW – JURISDICTION, PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – Judgment and Punishment – sentence – obtain financial advantage by deception – unlawful possession of stolen property – credit card transactions

Legislation Cited:

Crimes (Sentence Administration) Act 2005 (ACT) s 42
Criminal Code 2002 (ACT) ss 324(1), 332

Parties:

The Queen (Crown)

Kristian Mynott (Offender)

Representation:

Counsel

L Sutton (Crown)

B Morrisroe (Offender)

Solicitors

ACT Director of Public Prosecutions (Crown)

Legal Aid ACT (Offender)

File Numbers:

SCC 21 of 2019; SCC 22 of 2019

ELKAIM J:

1. On 5 February 2019 the offender was committed to the Supreme Court of the ACT for sentencing on seven charges. Six of those charges relate to the offence of obtaining a financial advantage by deception, contrary to s 332 of the Criminal Code 2002 (ACT), which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment, a fine of $150,000 or both.

1. The seventh charge is one of unlawful possession of stolen property, contrary to s 324(1) of the Criminal Code. This offence carries a maximum penalty of 6 months’ imprisonment, a fine of $7,500 or both.

1. The offences are somewhat dated, having occurred in June, August and November 2017. The offender entered an early plea of guilty to the unlawful possession of stolen property charge in December 2017. After initially pleading not guilty to the obtaining financial advantage by deception charges, the offender eventually entered a plea of guilty to all remaining charges on 5 February 2019. The charges have been ‘rolled up’ to reflect a series of purchases using different credit cards.

1. In June 2017 the offender was working at Canberra Firewood Supplies. He had access to customer credit card details. The following are some of the details of the purchases on customer credit cards: The first was to book an airfare to Sydney for $338.00. He then booked a limousine for $132.00. Later that day the credit card was used for another flight, back to Canberra, costing $309.00. On the same day $13.25 was charged to the card for a service provided by the ‘Grindr’ smart phone application.

1. The next day an airfare costing $1,291.70 for a flight from Canberra to Adelaide was charged to the card. The total amount charged to the same card was $2,083.95.

1. On 7 June 2017 the offender, using a different credit card, booked an airfare for $418.50.

1. The next day the offender purchased another airfare for $301.88 with a different credit card. Later the same day another flight was booked on the same credit card, costing $589.62. The offender then gave the credit card details to another person who bought a fur rug for $125.00 using the card.

1. On 9 June 2017 the other person again used the card, spending $590.00, $198.00, $199.00, $578.00 and $399.23 on separate purchases.

1. The offender also kept…