R v Ribbons
[2011] VCC 2030
•14 November 2011
| IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA | Revised Not Restricted Suitable for Publication |
AT BENDIGO
CRIMINAL DIVISION
CR-11-00222
| DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS |
| v |
| DAVID RIBBONS |
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JUDGE: | HER HONOUR JUDGE COTTERELL | |
WHERE HELD: | Bendigo | |
DATE OF HEARING: | 14 November 2011 | |
DATE OF SENTENCE: | 14 November 2011 | |
CASE MAY BE CITED AS: | R v Ribbons | |
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION: | [2011] VCC 2030 | |
REASONS FOR SENTENCE
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Catchwords:
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APPEARANCES: | Counsel | Solicitors |
| For the Crown | Mr P Jones | Office of Public Prosecutions |
| For the Accused | Mr C Nikakis | Haines & Polites |
HER HONOUR:
1 David John Ribbons, you have pleaded guilty to the following:
- one charge of possession of substances and material; documents and equipment for the trafficking in a drug of dependence, the maximum penalty for that offence is ten years’ imprisonment;
- one charge of possession of precursor chemicals, the maximum penalty for that offence is five years’ imprisonment;
- one charge of possession of a drug of dependence being amphetamine, and the maximum penalty for that offence is five years’ imprisonment and;
- one charge of possess a drug of dependence, being Cannabis L, and the maximum penalty for that in these circumstances is five penalty units.
2 You further pleaded guilty to two summary matters, which were transferred to this court. Charge 5 is possessing cartridge ammunition without a license, for which the maximum penalty is 40 penalty units, and Charge 6, possession of a prohibited weapon, being a taser gun, without exemption and the maximum penalty for that offence is 120 penalty units or one year imprisonment.
3 The facts of the matter were opened by the prosecutor, and a summary of the opening was tendered as Exhibit A on the plea.
4 In brief, a search warrant was executed at your premises on 5 September 2009, and the items referred to in the opening were found. Those related to Charges 1 and 2 were located mainly in the rooms at the rear of the premises. Also located were the prohibited weapon, the taser gun, and the eight categories of cartridged ammunition which is listed in the opening.
5 Your co-accused and partner Trudi Truss, pleaded guilty to cultivating and possessing cannabis at the Magistrates' Court on 11 February 2011, and received a community-based order. You indicated your own intention to plead to these charges at your committal hearing on 11 February of this year. That was the first opportunity that you had had to properly consider the evidence against you, and you pleaded at what I would say is the earliest opportunity.
6 I now turn to matters personal to you. You are 48 years old and live with your partner and co-accused on a property owned by your nephew, on the understanding that you improve the building on the land as I understand it. You and your siblings have been involved with your parents in the carnival industry. You have been involved in it all your life and it is the only work you know. You are the fifth generation of your family to follow that path. This has meant your following wherever the carnival may have been, and as you grew up and the family took up permanent residence in Fawkner, you were either alone at weekends or as you got older, you were dragged along.
7 You were exposed to amphetamine use at the age of 17, and you have incurred a criminal history which spans the years from 1980 up to these current matters. Those matters include dishonesty, driving offences, burglaries, and use and possession of amphetamine. You have been dealt with mainly by suspended sentence, although ironically you spent six months on remand for violent offending which was then terminated by the Director of Public Prosecutions entering a nolle prosequi. You also served a period of six months in prison in 1998, for burglaries, thefts and theft of motor vehicle among other things. However, you failed to learn a lesson from those experiences.
8 You are the father of three adult children and one 12 year old, and you also have grandchildren, and here you are about to be sentenced to a term of imprisonment. One can only hope that you will find this experience sufficiently negative to rethink your life, and to eliminate that thread of criminal activity which has been part of it really from the time you were very young.
9 You have continued to work in the carnival industry alongside your partner Trudy and your mother. You are mainly involved in the catering side of carnival activities at this stage, and I understand your partner will continue while you are in prison to assist your mother and keep that business going. As a result of your life, among other things, you have a number of health issues. You had a stent placed following a heart attack in 2007, followed by a bypass operation in 2009 but you have ongoing abnormal heart rhythm over the following years. That has all resulted in you being on a number of different medications. Additionally, you have also developed asthma which also requires treatment either with a nebuliser or Ventolin puffer.
10 Dr Joris Merkel, your cardiologist, provided a letter which was tendered as Exhibit 1 on the plea, which testified to most of those matters and also indicated that you have an element of lung disease which still requires diagnosis. I take all that into account, in as far, it means that any sentence you will serve will be more difficult given your health issues than it would be for someone in good health.
11 I am also required to take into account a number of other matters, and that is specific deterrence, which is important in your case because you have continued to offend throughout your adult life. You yourself must be deterred from offending again. Further, the principle of general deterrence, which means that others must be deterred from involving themselves in clandestine laboratories which are very common, very dangerous and are part of that insidious trade in drugs which is the scourge of our community. I am required also to denounce your activity on behalf of the community, and I do so. Then I am also required to impose just sentence in all the circumstances, that is taking into account those matters and also the matters put before me in mitigation on your behalf.
12 I take into account your plea of guilty. As I say, I consider that to be at an early stage of the proceedings, and you are entitled to a discount for that and you will receive it. Taking all those matters into consideration, including submissions of counsel, I have reached the conclusion that the only appropriate sentence for charges 1, 2, 3 and 6 is a term of imprisonment. However, in your circumstances, I have also reached the conclusion that it is appropriate to partially suspend it. A suspended sentence is not simply an exercise in leniency, it is to give you an opportunity to rebuild your life to a certain extent. I note there have been periods when you have not offended and I am going to give you that opportunity, hoping that this indeed will put an end to your criminality.
13 The purpose of sentencing you to the term of imprisonment is to represent the seriousness of the offending, together with your own prior history. The purpose of suspending it is to give you that opportunity to do something better with your life. So would you stand for me now please?
14 On Charge 1, you are convicted and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment or 24 months.
15 On Charge 2, you are convicted and sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment.
16 On Charge 3, you are convicted and sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment, and on Charge 6, you are convicted and sentenced to six months’ imprisonment.
17 I order that four months of the sentence imposed in Charges 2 and 3 and one month of the sentence imposed in relation to Charge 6 be served cumulatively on the sentence imposed on Charge 1.
18 That is a total effective sentence of 23 months and I order that you serve a minimum of 14 months before being eligible for parole. This is to be served concurrently with the sentence that has just been imposed, which is the Magistrates’ Court sentence.
19 So that means that you will be imprisoned for a period of some 14 months, which will cover all the offending to this date. Pursuant to s.6AAA of the Sentencing Act, I would have ordered that but for your plea of guilty, I would have imposed a sentence of three and a half years and ordered you to serve 22 months.
20 I am also required to make a forfeiture and disposal order. I understand that is not opposed. Is that right Mr Lavery?
21 MR LAVERY: That's so, Your Honour.
22 HER HONOUR: I have not sentenced you in relation to Charges 4 and 5, which were the two that I am going to deal with by way of fine. In relation to Charge 4, you are convicted and fined $250. That was for the cannabis, and in relation to Charge 5, which was for the ammunition, you are convicted and fined $750. That is a total of $1000. I will grant you a stay in relation to that fine - do you want to say anything about that Mr Lavery?
23 MR LAVERY: One month, Your Honour.
24 HER HONOUR: One month? Thank you.
25 MR LAVERY: I think you announced it as two years, Your Honour. It's two years nine months. Total effective sentence.
26 HER HONOUR: I said 33 months. Or maybe I said 23?
27 COUNSEL: Yes, Your Honour.
28 HER HONOUR: I might have said 23, because I'm trying to read my writing. Sorry. It's 33 months total effective sentence with a non parole period of 14 months.
29 MR LAVERY: Yes, Your Honour, thank you.
30 HER HONOUR: Those orders are signed. You can take the prisoner. Thank you.
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