5 Year Maximum Penalty, Sentenced to Community Corrections Order

HH faced charges of ‘Destroy / damage property’, contrary to s 195(1)(A) Crimes Act 1900, and ‘Stalk / intimidate’, contrary to s 13 Crimes Act 1900. James Castillo acted for HH in the matter. The maximum Sentence for each charge is 5 years imprisonment.  

The matter proceeded to Sentence where James Castillo tendered various materials and made oral submissions on HH’s behalf. Ultimately, His Honour imposed a Community Corrections Order for the duration of 12 months, subject to the conditions that HH is of good behaviour, and must appear before the court if called upon to do so. His Honour made a Compensation Order for damages, and an AVO was finalised for a period of 2 years.

This is a pleasing result for HH.

Conditional Release Order Without Conviction

MR was charged with ‘Destroy / damage property’, contrary to s 195(1)(A) Crimes Act 1900 and ‘Stalk / intimidate intend fear physical etc harm’, contrary to s 13(1) Crimes Act 1900. The alleged victim in the incident was MR’s ex-partner.

Pleas of guilty were entered to both charges and the matter proceeded to Sentence. James Castillo tendered materials and made oral submissions on MR’s behalf at the Downing Centre Local Court.

Ultimately, His Honour sentenced MR to a Conditional Release Order without conviction for a period of 2 years. Under this Order, MR must not commit any offences for the duration of the Order, and he must appear before the Court if called to do so. An Apprehended Domestic Violence Order was finalised for the same period.  

This is a very pleasing result, especially noting that MR’s long-term employment could not continue had he received a criminal conviction.

Released from Custody, Community Corrections Order Granted

GD was charged with two counts of ‘Contravene Prohibition in AVO (Domestic), contrary to Section 14(1) Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Act 2007, two counts of ‘Stalk/intimidate intend fear Physical etc Harm (Domestic), contrary to Section 13(1) Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Act 2007 and one count of ‘Destroy or Damage Property’, contrary to Section 195(1)(A) Crimes Act 1900.

Chris Cole tendered various materials on GD’s behalf which His Honour read and considered.  His Honour released GD from custody immediately and placed him on a Community Corrections Order for a period of 2 years, with a final ADVO concerning the PINOP for the same period. 

This is a very pleasing result for GD.

Multiple Offences, Minimal Sentence

KN was charged for the following offences; ‘Drive conveyance taken without consent of owner’, contrary to section 154a(1)(B) Crimes Act 1900, ‘Drive motor vehicle during disqualification period’, contrary to section 54(1)(A) Road Transport Act 2013, ‘Possess unauthorised pistol’, contrary to section 7(1) Firearms Act 1996,  ‘Possess prohibited drug’, contrary to section 10(1) ‘Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985, ‘Dishonestly obtain property by deception’, contrary to section 192e(1)(A) Crimes Act 1900, two counts of ‘Larceny value <= $2,000, contrary to section 117 Crimes Act 1900 and ‘Destroy or damage property <= $2,000, contrary to section 195(1)(A) Crimes Act 1900. This was a substantial number of charges for KN.

Chris Cole represented KN in these matters at Liverpool Local Court. KN had two sets of charges Listed for Sentence. The first set of charges related to a break and enter and three further offences were taken into account on a Form 1, those being ‘Drive stolen conveyance’ and 2 x ‘Drive while disqualified’. The second set of matters related to the charges of ‘Possess firearm’, ‘Dishonestly obtain financial advantage’, ‘Possess prohibited drug’ and ‘Drive while disqualified’. His Honour sentenced KN to an aggregate sentence of 20 months imprisonment with a non-parole period of 10 months backdated to time already spent in custody. This means KN will be eligible for release before Christmas this year.  

In addition, His Honour quashed all Habitual Traffic Offender Declarations, and imposed 12 months disqualification periods for each of the ‘Drive disqualified’ offences. KN will be eligible to obtain a driver’s licence in 12 months’ time.

This is a very pleasing result for KN, especially given the extensive list of charges and his habitual driving offences.

5 Convictions and a Breach, Aggregate Sentence Imposed

MT pleaded guilty to five charges namely, 2x ‘Stalk/Intimidate with intent to cause fear’ contrary to section 13 Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Act 2007, ‘Destroy/damage property by fire with intent to injure’ contrary to section 196(1)(b) Crimes Act 1900, ‘Escape lawful custody’ contrary to section 310D Crimes Act 1900 and, ‘Contravene AVO’ contrary to section 14 Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Act 2007. On top of that, MT breached a Community Corrections Order for a prior offence.

Chris Cole represented MT in mitigation plea. Her Honour determined that all of the offences fell at the middle range of objective seriousness. She found MT’s prospects of rehabilitation as limited. The matter was not elected to the District Court. Each offence carries the maximum penalty of 2 years imprisonment. The maximum aggregate sentence the Local Court impose is 5 years. Taking early plea into consideration, Her Honour gave MT 25% discount on his sentence. Her Honour imposed indicative sentences for each of the offence and imposed an aggregate sentence for all of them. Ultimately, MT received an aggregate sentence of 3 years and 4 months.

Given all the circumstances and the nature of the charges, MT received a good result.

Charged with numerous serious drug and violence related offences, avoids prison term for Community Corrections Order

R v AC

AC was charged with numerous serious charges, including three counts of ‘stalk/intimidate with intent to cause fear of harm’, ‘use offensive weapon with intent to commit indictable offence’, ‘damage/destroy property’, ‘possess prohibited drug’ as well as ‘driving whilst disqualified’.

To make matters worse AC had also contravened a previous bond to be of Good Behaviour.

Matthew Berrell represented AC and the matter came before Katoomba Local Court. The presiding Magistrate accepted Berrell’s sentencing submissions and chose to impose a Community Corrections Order (CCO) on AC for a period of two years, as well as 200 hours of Community Service work and an order to continue receiving regular counselling sessions.  

This was a fantastic result for AC as he very easily could have been sentenced to a gaol term. Each charge of ‘stalk/intimidate’ carries a maximum sentence of five years, whilst a charge of ‘use offensive weapon’ carries a maximum sentence of seven years. Instead AC was able to remain in the community and receive ongoing mental health treatment.