DPP v Aiktins [2025] VCC 1338

1. At about 3.30 am a nearby resident observed you on their front porch with no top on. You said you were running away from police. You appeared to be substance affected and mumbling. You said you were cold, so the Good Samaritan gave you their jumper. Their housemate called Triple 0 and police arrived and arrested you, taking you to Frankston police station.
2. At about 4.30 am you arrived at the station and were directed to the fingerprint station and were uncuffed. Senior Constable Wilson asked you to remove the jumper so that it could be returned to the neighbour. You replied, 'So you want me to be cold'. After Senior Constable Wilson informed you that that was not his problem, you suddenly punched his left temple, about 2 centimetres from his eye, with a closed fist. This caused his safety glasses to fly back and land on the ground.
3. Senior Constable Wilson attempted to restrain you, but you managed to get on top of him. Senior Constable Ballantyne and other officers, including Acting Sargeant Jacobsen, tried to remove you from Senior Constable Wilson. Acting Sergeant Jacobsen tried to control you by holding your right arm but was unable to as you continued to resist. During the wrestle, Senior Constable Wilson's head hit the wall hard and he felt pain.
4. You then let go of him and grabbed Senior Constable Ballantyne's hands. In the process of trying to stop you from hitting her she was thrown to the ground, hitting her head hard against the fingerprints machine. Those facts are reflected in Charge 8, assault emergency worker on duty, being Senior Constable Wilson, and Charge 9, resisting emergency worker on duty, being Senior Constable Ballantyne and Acting Sergeant Jacobsen.
5. Eventually the officers brought you under control and you were handcuffed. You were moved to the holding cells and remained in handcuffs for some time due to your aggression.
6. Following the assault Senior Constable Wilson experienced dizziness, momentary loss of balance and headaches. He was also unable to think clearly and had difficulty sleeping.
7. Later that morning, at about 8.15 am, you appeared to still be substance affected and erratic. You were assessed as unfit for interview and were remanded.

1. The third episode of offending followed your remand.
2. On 15 September, after being remanded, an intervention order was made at Frankston Magistrates' Court in which Ms Hamilton was the protected person. This was served upon you on 25 September 2024 and the conditions were explained.
3. After you were remanded, your mother used an application called 3CX. That application not only helps prison inmates call landline numbers at a cheaper rate than using a mobile but more critically it allows a phone user to add other numbers, thereby creating a conference call.
4. Whilst on remand you used your prisoner account to pass messages to Ms Hamilton, including asking your mother to send messages using her work phone and mobile asking Ms Hamilton for various things like money. You also invited her to use a friend's ID who looks like her to come and see you in prison.
5. You also asked her to participate in a Zoom meeting that was set up by your mother. You asked your mother to pick up Ms Hamilton from her unit at Frankston and bring her to Endeavour Hills so you could talk on the video link without getting detected. During one of the calls when Ms Hamilton was not able to come to Endeavour Hills you asked your mother to drive to Frankston and do the Zoom meeting in her car so you could talk to her that way. Conversation included conversation about this offending.
6. You were at Fulham Correction Centre at the time of these phone calls. When prisoners are using the telephone database there is a pre-recorded message before every phone call which states:

'This call was originated from an inmate at Fulham Correction Centre. It is subject to monitoring and recording. It is unlawful for this call to be redirected or be part of a conference call. If you do not wish to accept this, then hang up now. If you understand the conditions of this call, please continue'.

1. Police obtained the call recordings from the prison intel units. There were numerous calls from you to your mother and she opened conference calls with Ms Hamilton where you discussed your offending and other matters. That conduct is Charge 10 (Persistent contravention of an intervention order).

1. In summary then:
   • Your offending on 28 July relates to your damage to the cupboards of Ms Hamilton after you had argued with her;
   • Your offending on 15 September involving the theft of the 2000 Isuzu truck and various criminal damage charges reflecting the damage you caused by your driving along with the summary charges relating to driving unlicensed and failing to stop et cetera;
   • And your behaviour towards the arresting police when you were in the cells on 15 September 2024;
   • Finally, it relates to your persistent breach of the intervention order in place for the protection of Ms Hamilton between November and December 2024 conducted from Fulham Prison.
2. The repetitive and unpredictable nature of your offending is disturbing. It calls for denunciation, that is disapproval expressed by the court on behalf of the community. The sentence I impose must deter you and others from behaving in a similar way. In that way it should be directed to community protection and just punishment.
3. Your behaviour towards Ms Hamilton was abusive and controlling. Intimate partner violence of any nature and aggression cannot be tolerated. That includes the episode of 28 July and also your attempts to control her by threatening suicide in the lead-up to the events of 15 September. That entire episode of offending was precipitated by her association with another man, something she was quite entitled to do and about which you do not have any say. That context of intimate partner violence as the backdrop for the offending elevates its seriousness.
4. An order was put in place to protect her from any contact by you. Yet, having been remanded on this offending which related to her and was precipitated by your reaction to the breakdown of your relationship, you persisted in contacting her through November and December. And you did so from prison. That is particularly troubling given by then I assume you were sober. It is troubling that you enlisted your mother to help you. She should have known better than to do so.
5. That setting and those features aggravate that offending significantly. Although you are not to be sentenced again for previous offending, the fact that you have not learnt the lesson from your past episodes of breaching similar orders for former partners is concerning. General and specific deterrence are important.
6. Your episode of driving on 15 September was erratic and dangerous to other road users. My sentence must deter other young people, particularly young men, from getting behind the wheel of a car when they are emotionally out of control and especially when they are drug or alcohol affected. It must reinforce the importance of our law enforcement authorities and the need to obey their lawful directions.
7. Your offending against the police officers here, people who are just doing their job, amply demonstrated on the CCTV footage, was entirely unprovoked and senseless. Although I do not have a victim impact statement from the officers involved, I can anticipate that that event must have been disturbing and upsetting.
8. Although some of the offences on their face are less serious, for example, damage to a fence, taken together this spate of offending is reasonably serious.
9. There is no doubt that it calls for a period of imprisonment. The issue raised by the parties is what that sentence should look like. Both agree that you will need supervision and support on your release from custody and back into the community. Specifically, therefore, the question is whether I should release you to a community correction order, as your counsel submitted, or to a period of parole as submitted by the prosecution.

1. You are someone with a criminal history dating to 2018. You received an adjourned undertaking at that time for persistent breach of a family violence intervention order. Undertakings were also imposed in 2019 for armed robbery, in this court, in 2021 for deceptions and other dishonesty and a fine in 2022 for criminal damage and failing to appear.
2. In November 2022 you committed an assault on your then partner and in December 2022 a family violence intervention order was made for her protection. In March 2023 you offended in a similar way against a new partner. In May 2023 in the Magistrates Court those two matters were dealt with as charges of recklessly causing injury, two common law assaults, reckless conduct endangering life and breaching a family violence order. You received a term of 380 days of imprisonment to be followed by an 18-month community correction order directed at supervision, drug and alcohol rehabilitation and treatment, mental health treatment and offending behaviour programs aimed at curbing your violence.
3. You were released to the CCO on 23 January 2024. You were judicially monitored, attending on three occasions in February, May and July of 2024. Despite some positive engagement, it is apparent that by about mid-May 2024 you had descended to drug use again. The offending before me happened within six months of your release. It breaches the CCO.
4. You have already been dealt with for that breach in February of this year in the Magistrates Court where, very fortunately for you in my view, the order was cancelled without further penalty. On new offending of criminal damage and unlawful assault you received a fine.

1. Drug use is a common theme throughout your life. You were introduced to substances early and the picture of your mental health is complex. Your personal history is outlined in various materials, some from 2014, along with a psychological reports of Ms Danielle Kocic from May 2023 and a psychological report of Mr Warren Simmons dated August 2025.
2. You grew up in the Cranbourne and Berwick areas in a sibship of three. You have two older half-brothers who you do not have a close relationship with. One brother bullied you.
3. Your childhood was marred by parental substance abuse, with both abusing alcohol. Your parents separated when you were an infant. You lived with your mother until she attempted suicide when you were seven years old, at which point you moved to live with your father.
4. You returned to live with your mother at age 12. You and your mother frequently moved house on account of her relationships. You describe feelings of neglect.
5. At around age 12 you started smoking cannabis, which eventually resulted in symptoms of psychosis and auditory hallucinations. You stopped using for a period of time.
6. You attended several different primary schools. At Woori Yallock Primary School you required a teaching aide and were educated in a separate room to other students. You had significant difficulties getting on with other students and were bullied until Year 7.
7. You attended Berwick Secondary College, where you were placed into what was known as the Blackwood Annexe. That was a facility for students who had behavioural issues and often diagnoses of ADHD or autism spectrum disorder. Your formal education concluded at the end of Year 9. As with primary school, you had difficulty fitting in and you suffered severe anxiety.
8. During your time in secondary school you were sexually assaulted by a teacher.
9. You started work at the age of 15 but at 16 you had turned to harder drugs of dependence, including GHB, methylamphetamine and MDMA. You were evicted from your home and were homeless between the ages of 16 and 18. You resumed cannabis. Living on the streets and couch surfing led to a steep descent to drug use over that period of time.
10. At 18 you were remanded in custody for the first time for the armed robbery offence.
11. You made an attempt on your life in 2020 by throwing yourself in front of a moving car, resulting in hospitalisation and injuries that took nine to 12 months to recover from.
12. Contemporaneous letters written in 2014 when you were a 14-year-old describe your placement in the Blackwood Annexe 'due to behaviour issues over many years'. Paediatrician Dr Nowotny of the West Gippsland Paediatric Group in a referral letter to psychologists with speciality in autism, stated that your behavioural issues in his view were a consequence of an underlying developmental and personality issue [best fitting the autism spectrum]. He said:

'Luke has difficulty with social skills, difficulty interpreting other people and tends to easily take offence resulting in impulsive outbursts and attention‑seeking behaviour. [He described these as] longstanding and have caused him difficulties right through primary school and into early secondary school'.

1. Once at Blackwood Annexe, he says these were appropriately assessed for the first time. He also described you as having 'a significant level of anxiety and a small degree of obsessionality' along with a 'somewhat uncompromising and rigid thinking style'. He further states that you 'frequently misinterpret social situations' and that impulsivity was a feature of your problems.
2. Many of those descriptions of your behavioural presentation are repeated in the two more recent reports and as such I will not repeat them. Ms Kocic refers to those traits and the impact on your ability to maintain healthy relationships and adjust your behaviour to suit various contexts.
3. She also says your early circumstances have contributed to:

'[Your] susceptibility to trauma, depression and anxiety symptoms when faced with stressors, particularly a threat to your stability or sense of safety.'

1. Your early exposure to substance use, violence and criminal activity has resulted in antisocial behaviours. She says this along with your drug use has resulted in a fixed pattern of repetitive, impulsive and unpredictable behaviour.
2. You have attempted detoxification from drugs on four to five occasions, with these attempts often lasting a couple weeks. You reported to Mr Simmonds that you have undergone three community residential drug withdrawal programs. The sentence for the armed robbery matter in 2019 was deferred multiple times to allow your continued involvement with YSAS which, over the course of two years, involved counselling and abstinence.
3. Unfortunately your severe and ongoing drug dependency is now chronic and very difficult to shake. The experts opine that this was likely to have developed as a means of self-medication for your lack of support, routine and structure perpetuated by your affiliation with antisocial peers, severe psychological distress and as a result of your unresolved trauma from your formative years.
4. In addition to noting your early diagnosis of ASD, Ms Kocic diagnoses you with PTSD, major depressive disorder along with various drug and alcohol use disorders which have likely impacted you cognitively. She assessed you as a moderate-to-high risk of reoffending, noting that your risk was increased by untreated mental health issues and noting your substance abuse.
5. Mr Simmons also confirms the diagnosis of PTSD and potential cognitive impairment. He says:

'There is no doubt that this may contribute to [your] time in custody being more onerous as symptoms such as hypervigilance and hyperarousal can be aggravated given that the environment is often quite aggressive and emotionally charged'.

1. Both of the recent assessors make recommendations for treatment of your mental health and drug and alcohol use. Mr Simmons says if those underlying difficulties can be addressed with appropriate intervention which would help you find ways of dealing with life stressors which do not involve drug use your prospects are positive.

1. Mr Bell on your behalf submitted that the principles enunciated by the Court of Appeal in R v Verdins[1] are applicable to your case, specifically limbs 2 and 5. That is, given your mental health profile, a penalty which is different to that which might otherwise apply is appropriate. Furthermore, taking into account your mental health, the burden of imprisonment will be more significant for you than for a person without your profile. That was not disputed by the prosecution.
2. Your counsel further submitted that, whilst not a mitigating factor in a strict Verdins[2] sense, I can take into account generally your difficulties with emotions and relationships with others in relation to your potential ASD diagnosis and that these traits do make you a more vulnerable person in custody generally.
3. I accept that those principles apply and should result in some moderation of sentence.
4. Further, although not specifically relied upon, given the disadvantage in your formative years both in terms of your exposure to trauma through substance abuse of your parents and the near death of your mother, along with the abuse suffered while in secondary school, in my view the principles of Bugmy v The Queen[3] are broadly applicable. That is, as an aspect of equal justice, you cannot be treated the same as a person who had a stable background and committed the same offences. Your formative years have left a mark on you and lead to some reduction of your overall moral culpability.
5. Of course, those same considerations of Verdins and Bugmy tend also to indicate that community protection should be given appropriate weight in sentencing.
6. This offending was entirely motivated by your reaction to your perception of the breakdown of your relationship. Given your pattern of offending in violent ways against female partners, and in this case a male who you thought was involved with your former partner, what is clear to me is that you must undergo treatment for your mental health and your drug use along with dealing with your aggression and violence. Unless you get those aspects of your life under control, Mr Aitkens, you are at serious risk of doing more harm to another person, likely a woman.
7. In my view, however, you are capable of receiving treatment and engaging with it. Your past attempts at detoxification and treatment demonstrate that. Your two‑year abstinence when engaged with YSAS demonstrates that. Your capacity for employment demonstrates that. And in particular the fact you obtained a bobcat licence in March 2023 is a real positive.
8. The engagement you did have with your CCO before descending back into drug use in 2024 is also a positive. I have read the breach report, which confirms you undertook six sessions of counselling through Anglicare, which you reported to be beneficial. You engaged in weekly phone sessions through the Brief Intervention Service working towards a program called Change About, for which you were wait‑listed. You maintained contact with the Forensic Mental Health in the Community health service, importantly talking to them when you were struggling.
9. In custody you are adhering to your prescribed daily oral antidepressant medication mirtazapine.
10. You have ongoing support of your mother and can reside with her on release.
11. I understand there is an intervention order in place in relation to Ms Hamilton, which you must and should abide by.
12. In all of those circumstances I accept that despite this serious offending and your prior offending you do have reasonable prospects of rehabilitation. The key will be engaging with mental health treatment and addressing your serious drug addiction.

1. I also take into account that you pleaded guilty to this offending and that you indicated your intention to plead guilty at a relatively early stage. The two charges which were sticking points have not proceeded. You receive the benefit of that plea. A plea of guilty has a utilitarian benefit in that it saves the court and the community the cost and time of a jury trial. Importantly here it saves various victims, particularly Ms Hamilton, from giving evidence.

1. Your counsel submitted in an eloquent plea that having regard to the matters in mitigation that a combination sentence comprising a term of imprisonment in combination with a therapeutic community correction order would meet all sentencing purposes.

1. I have had regard to current sentencing practices, although this has not been straightforward. The charges to which you ultimately pleaded guilty could ordinarily have been dealt with in the Magistrates' Court. Two more serious indictable offences have not proceeded.[4]
2. The highest maximum penalties for the offences before me are 10 years for theft and criminal damage. The other indictable offences each carry a maximum penalty of five years.
3. As always there are similarities and differences between both offending and offender in looking at other cases. Ultimately I must impose a just sentence in all the circumstances and that is what I have endeavoured to do.
4. I have also taken into account the principle of totality. That principle means I must determine the appropriate sentence for each charge and the appropriate amount of cumulation required before standing back and determining whether the overall sentence is appropriate and not disproportionate. I have been conscious of the fact the driving offending on 15 September reflects a single episode of offending and offences close in time. In reflection of that and of totality generally I have made modest orders for cumulation intended to reflect each incident rather than each separate offence.
5. If you could stand up. Sorry, I just want to add one other thing.
6. In light of those matters I had you assessed for a community correction order. The assessment confirmed your suitability. In all of the circumstances I have determined that the appropriate sentence is one of imprisonment followed by a community correction order on your release. That will achieve a number of things. One is you will have a set release date; secondly, you will be able to work through a transition to that community correction order with the Office of Corrections; and a third is that I can dictate the conditions of that order to ensure that the therapeutic aspects of it are conducted in accordance with the various reports I have received. The fourth benefit is that I can bring you back to me for judicial monitoring in order to ensure that you are staying on the course of that correction order.
7. I have determined that the time you have served is not sufficient and that you will remain in custody for some time before being released to that order.

1. The sentences I impose are as follows.
2. On Charge 1 of theft of motor vehicle you are convicted and sentenced to 10 months' imprisonment.
3. On Charge 2 of criminal damage to the gate at JLW you are convicted and sentenced to four months' imprisonment.
4. On Charge 3 of criminal damage, being the Nissan X-Trail valued at $10,000, you are convicted and sentenced to 10 months' imprisonment.
5. On Charge 4 of criminal damage, being a black Mazda sedan valued at $5,000, you are convicted and sentenced to eight months' imprisonment.
6. On Charge 5 of criminal damage to the fence you are convicted and sentenced to four months' imprisonment.
7. On Charge 6 of criminal damage to the property of Ms Hamilton you are convicted and sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment.
8. On Charge 7 of common law assault of Mr Charalambous you are convicted and sentenced to 10 months' imprisonment.
9. On Charge 8 of assault emergency worker, being Senior Constable Wilson, you are convicted and sentenced to 10 months' imprisonment.
10. On Charge 9 of resist emergency worker you are convicted and sentenced to eight months' imprisonment.
11. On Charge 10 of the persistent breach of the intervention order you are convicted and sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment and that is the base sentence.
12. On Summary Charge 2, driving in a manner dangerous, you are convicted and sentenced to five months' imprisonment. Your driver's licence is cancelled and you are disqualified for a period of 12 months from the date of that offending.
13. On Summary Charge 3 of unlicensed driving you are convicted and sentenced to seven days' imprisonment.
14. On Summary Charge 4 of failing to stop at police direction you are convicted and sentenced to one month imprisonment.
15. On Summary Charge 5, failing to stop after an accident, you are convicted and sentenced to seven days' imprisonment.
16. I make the following orders for cumulation: on Charge 1 of theft, one month; on Charge 3 of criminal damage, one month; on Charge 6 of criminal damage to the property of Ms Hamilton, two months; on Charge 7 of the assault of Mr Charalambous, one month; on Charge 8, assaulting police, one month; and on the drive manner dangerous, Summary Charge 2, one month. Each of those sentences are to be served cumulatively upon each other and upon the base sentence. That results in a total effective sentence of 19 months' imprisonment.
17. In relation to Charges 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9 and 10, in addition to the term of imprisonment you are convicted and sentenced to a community correction order of 18 months' duration. That order will start on your release from custody. I cannot impose that order, Mr Aitkens, without your consent that you will agree to undertake that order, so I ask you to listen to the conditions of that order that I will impose.
18. In addition to the mandatory conditions, you will be under supervision. You are to undertake drug and alcohol testing and treatment as directed by Corrections Victoria. You are to undertake assessment and treatment for your mental health as directed by Corrections Victoria. In particular, and this is for the benefit of Corrections, I note the recommendations in all reports that you be assessed to determine the appropriate diagnosis for your mental health and my expectation is that that should be arranged as part of the community correction order.
19. You are to undertake offending behaviour programs at the discretion of Corrections Victoria, but my intention is a program related to violence or, more particularly, violence against women should be undertaken. You are to return to me for judicial monitoring and I will get a date in a moment.
20. Do you understand those conditions?
21. OFFENDER: Yes, Your Honour.
22. HER HONOUR: All right. Do you agree to undertake that correction order upon your release from custody?
23. OFFENDER: Yes, Your Honour.
24. HER HONOUR: Do you understand that if you breach that order you'll come back to me and be liable to be resentenced on those offences?
25. OFFENDER: Yes, Your Honour.
26. HER HONOUR: All right. And you understand a breach can be either by reoffending or by not doing the conditions?
27. OFFENDER: Yes, Your Honour.
28. HER HONOUR: All right, thanks very much.
29. But for your plea of guilty, the sentence I would have imposed, so if you had not pleaded guilty, would have been one of three years and three months' imprisonment with a non‑parole period of two years and three months' imprisonment.
30. I declare that you have already served 361 days of pre‑sentence detention and that that period should be reckoned as having been served under this sentence.
31. I think there are ancillary orders.
32. MR MOSCHONAS: No, there are not.
33. HER HONOUR: Or I'm wrong. All right, there are no ancillary orders. Have a seat there, please, Mr Aitkens. I'll just ask counsel to check the figures and I'll have the community correction order printed out.
34. MR BELL: Your Honour - - -
35. HER HONOUR: Mr Bell.
36. MR BELL: - - - the figures are all fine.
37. HER HONOUR: Thanks very much.
38. MR BELL: I don't know the answer to this. I'm not sure whether it's possible to backdate a licence cancellation to the date of the offence under the Road Safety Act. I'm not - - -
39. HER HONOUR: I think it, but please - - -
40. MR BELL: If it is then I'll defer to Your Honour's wisdom on that.
41. HER HONOUR: Well, I'm happy for you to check. It only comes up or tends to come up here when we deal with appeal matters from the Magistrates' Court, but perhaps what I'm thinking of is backdating it to when the magistrate - to the date of the Magistrates' Court hearing and not the offence. Can I ask counsel to check that?
42. MR BELL: I can check it now, Your Honour.
43. HER HONOUR: Yes, that would be good. Because my intention is that Mr Aitkens be eligible to get his licence as soon as possible so that we don't have any driving matters. Because as counsel know, it's a real risk that they will put a person back into custody.
44. MR BELL: Yes.
45. HER HONOUR: Even if there's no bad driving, just driving without a licence or being disqualified. Thanks, Patrick.
46. Mr Aitkens, that order is coming for you to sign. The date I'll bring you back, which will be not that long after you're released because I want to check in with you early - because as you probably know, coming out of custody is a real time of transition and it can be a time of temptation, so I'm going to bring you back on 1 June of next year to check in regarding how you are progressing, all right? So I'll just add that date to the order so that you've got it there. All right, have a seat.
47. MR BELL: So my understanding of the Act, Your Honour - - -
48. HER HONOUR: Yes.
49. MR BELL: It's a bit complicated.
50. HER HONOUR: Yes, it is.
51. MR BELL: Section 28 involves the power of a court to cancel, suspend or vary licences and permits. Now, that section talks about speed offences.
52. HER HONOUR: Yes.
53. MR BELL: However, it does say this, and this is sub-s(1A):

'Subsection (1) does not affect the obligation of a court to cancel a driver licence or learner permit and disqualify the offender in any case in which cancellation and disqualification are mandatory under this Act'.

1. Under s28 the court can specify the period of disqualification, which is sometimes what's relied upon to backdate it.
2. Section 64, which is the dangerous driving charge which is I think the charge that Your Honour attached the licence cancellation to - - -
3. HER HONOUR: It is.
4. MR BELL: Subsection (2) says:

'A person who contravenes sub-s(1) is guilty of an offence and is liable to a fine of not more than 240 penalty units. [It goes on to say] the court must, if the offender holds a driver licence or learner permit, cancel that licence or permit and must, whether or not the offender holds a driver licence or learner permit, disqualify the offender from obtaining one for such time (not being less than six months or, if the vehicle was driven at a speed of 45 kilometres per hour or more ... 12 months) as the court thinks fit'.

1. But I'm not quite sure whether there's any power to backdate it under that provision.
2. HER HONOUR: Very well. I think out of - - -
3. MR BELL: That's the answer that I've sort arrived at just having a quick glance over the legislation, Your Honour.
4. HER HONOUR: Yes. I think out of an abundance of caution I'm going to - unless there's any objection and counsel say, having announced it, I'm now functus - - -
5. MR BELL: My friend's also helpfully provided me with 89B of the Sentencing Act, which also - it looks like there's no actual power to backdate it.
6. HER HONOUR: All right. I may have conflated, as I said, the backdating to the date of a Magistrates' Court when it's an appeal matter I think.
7. MR BELL: Yes, it's often that those matters come before this court on appeal, Your Honour.
8. HER HONOUR: Yes, that's true.
9. MR BELL: I have no other submissions to make other than - - -
10. HER HONOUR: No.
11. MR BELL: Other than to make the submission that if Your Honour's intention was that he's able to get - - -
12. HER HONOUR: Yes.
13. MR BELL: My client's able to get his licence back - - -
14. HER HONOUR: Yes, on release effectively.
15. MR BELL: - - - on release, then the nine months from today would effectively achieve that disqualification period.
16. HER HONOUR: Yes. Well, seven months.
17. MR BELL: Seven? Seven months, Your Honour.
18. HER HONOUR: Seven months.
19. MR BELL: Yes.
20. HER HONOUR: Yes. Is there any difficulty with me making that change, Mr Moschonas?
21. MR MOSCHONAS: No, Your Honour.
22. HER HONOUR: All right, that's what I'm going to do.
23. MR BELL: There was just one other matter in the sentence, Your Honour.
24. HER HONOUR: Yes.
25. MR BELL: Just before I forget.
26. HER HONOUR: Yes.
27. MR BELL: This is a very selfish matter, but Your Honour - and I believe I'm quoting more or less what Your Honour said, that Your Honour said the phrase, 'Even though it was not specifically relied upon', and then my client's background raising the Bugmy[5] matters. It was specifically relied upon in the oral submissions but not in the written.
28. HER HONOUR: I see, all right.
29. MR BELL: Just the way that Your Honour read it, it sounded like I never raised it.
30. HER HONOUR: Yes. That was me going back to the written submissions.
31. MR BELL: Yes.
32. HER HONOUR: So I'll make that revision certainly.
33. MR BELL: Thank you, Your Honour.
34. HER HONOUR: I don't know, Mr Bell, how much you do in this court because of comments you made during the plea, but I think you should do more.
35. MR BELL: Well, this was my first County Court plea since joining the Bar, Your Honour, so I'm grateful.
36. HER HONOUR: When did you join the Bar?
37. MR BELL: Last October.
38. HER HONOUR: Yes. Well, it was a very well-considered plea, so I encourage you to do more.
39. MR BELL: Thank you very much, Your Honour.
40. HER HONOUR: Thanks. Mr Bell, you're welcome to take that to Mr Aitkens and just go through that with him before he signs it.
41. MR BELL: Thank you, Your Honour.
42. HER HONOUR: My associate Mr Cahill helpfully points out to me that there's mandatory disqualification on Summary Charge 4, the fail to stop at police direction.
43. MR BELL: That's also six months, Your Honour.
44. HER HONOUR: It's six months. So I'll make that order for six months, so that will run alongside the other cancellation.
45. MR BELL: Yes, it's concurrent.
46. HER HONOUR: All right. Thanks very much.
47. MR BELL: My client's signed that community correction order, Your Honour. I might have missed it. Was there a date for judicial monitoring that was - - -
48. HER HONOUR: 1 June.
49. MR BELL: 1 June.
50. HER HONOUR: Thanks. Mr Aitkens, you understand that your signature on the community correction order is your promise that you will undertake that order?
51. OFFENDER: Yes, Your Honour.
52. HER HONOUR: Very well. Now, I appreciate you may have had hopes of getting out a little earlier. My view is that there's that combination of features here which mean you need to do some more time in custody, but I hope in that time, now that you won't be on remand, you'll be a sentenced prisoner, that might open some programs for you in custody. As I said, and I meant it, I think you have real potential to rehabilitate yourself because you've made some good steps towards that in the past.
53. Drugs are an absolute curse. They get their talons into someone and it's hard to get them out, but for you with other, you know, mental health issues - and that's just like having diabetes or asthma, there's no fault about it, it's just what it is. But for you that means you've really got to take your drug rehabilitation very seriously to reduce your risk of reoffending so you can have positive relationships in the future, all right? So I hope that you use this time to work towards that period of coming out and starting this community correction order and I'll look forward to hearing good things when I see you again next year.
54. All right, thanks very much, counsel, for your assistance. We'll now stand down.

[1] R v Verdins [2007] VSCA 106

[2] R v Verdins [2007] VSCA 106

[3] Bugmy v The Queen [2014] HCA 37

[4] A charge of aggravated burglary on 15 September 2024 was discharged at committal. A charge of threat to kill was withdrawn by the prosecution on resolution of the indictment.

[5] Bugmy v The Queen [2014] HCA 37