DPP v Krishna [2026] VCC 245

(a) Hasan Rashid who the time of the offending was 40 years old with no fixed place of abode; and

(b) Abdifatah Aden who at the time of this offending was 38 years old and residing in temporary housing in Footscray.

1. The victim in this matter is Assim Mohamed who at the time of the incident was 30 years old. You were known to the victim through your recent contact and communication via social media. Mr Aden and Mr Rashid were not known to the victim.
2. On 4 October 2024 you and the victim started communicating on Facebook and via SMS messages where you were known to him as 'Trish'.
3. On 17 October 2024 at approximately 6:24 pm, you deleted the initial messages with the victim, but these were later recovered by the police.
4. On 10 October 2024, you informed the victim that you would be flying down to Melbourne from Queensland in a week's time and discussed meeting in person.
5. You initially asked the victim to pay $300 for your flight stating that you would return the money to him the next day. The victim did not agree to this arrangement but agreed to pay for your return flight to Queensland at the end of the trip.
6. On 16 October 2024 at 1:29pm, you messaged two images of the victim and one image of his car to Mr Aden. You then sent another message to him asking him to call you.
7. It is alleged that the planning for the offending between you and Mr Aden is likely to have occurred at this time.
8. On 17 October 2024 at around 2:30pm, you messaged Mr Aden stating:

1. On 17 October 2024, you messaged the victim informing him that you had landed in Melbourne.
2. On 18 October 2024 in the evening, you messaged the victim telling him to meet your at the Golden Nugget on Lonsdale Street, Melbourne to play the pokies and meet one of your friends.
3. The victim protested the idea resulting in an argument however he eventually agreed to come and meet your friends.
4. At 8:34pm, the victim informed you that he estimated that it would take approximately 36 minutes to travel there.
5. One of the victim's friends named Mohammed drove the victim in a red 2017 Kia Sportage. The victim and his friend Mohammed arrived in the city and parked the car on Exhibition Street. Mohammed made other arrangements to return leaving the keys to the car with the victim. A photo of Mohamed's car was displayed on his Facebook profile.
6. When the victim arrived, you asked him to meet you at Punthill Apartments. At about 9:53pm the victim arrived at Punthill Apartments and was met in the lobby by Mr Aden, who the victim understood to be a friend of yours.
7. Mr Aden took the victim up in the lift to room 107 which was booked under your name.
8. Upon entering room 107 the victim was met by Mr Rashid standing in the loungeroom holding a black metal baseball bat. Mr Rashid aggressively told the victim to sit down, not move and not touch anything.
9. Mr Aden and Mr Rashid told the victim that they had seen his messages to you which the victim believed were referring to an argument he and you had over text some days prior.
10. Mr Aden and Mr Rashid then told the victim to empty his pockets and take off his watch. They both then took his Samsung Note mobile phone, his keychain which had a green coloured house key, other keys and his Kia car fob and a bronze-coloured Matador brand watch.
11. Mr Aden and Mr Rashid continued to assault the victim, punching him whilst he was giving Mr Aden the items and demanded that he provide the password to his mobile phone, which he initially refused to do. Mr Rashid struck him with the baseball bat, after which he relented and provided the password.
12. Mr Aden then grabbed the victim by the throat using both of his hands and attempted to suffocate him. He then put him in a headlock for approximately 15 seconds.
13. Mr Aden and Mr Rashid told the victim that they knew he had a red car and that all his belongings were now theirs. They then told him 'you have to stay here until we say you can leave.'
14. The victim estimated he was in the apartment for approximately two hours; however, can be seen entering the building at approximately 9:53pm and departing at around 10:15pm after Mr Aden and Mr Rashid walked him to the elevator and allowed him to leave.
15. At 10:05pm on 18 October 2024, you sent Mr Aden a message saying 'he owes me $125' which would relevantly be during the period the victim was in the apartment with each of your co offenders.
16. As Mr Aden and Mr Rashid were walking the victim to the elevator, Mr Aden told him not to go to the police or that he would come for him and go to his house.
17. At around 10:30pm the victim attended Melbourne East Police Station and reported the incident to Constable Jack Bowden and First Constable Tessa Elmey.
18. Constable Bowden photographed red welts located on the victim's left upper leg and swelling on his face.
19. At around 10:34pm you, Mr Rashid and Mr Aden are depicted leaving the Punthill Apartments together. Mr Aden was wearing a khaki backpack and Mr Rashid was wearing a black sports bag.
20. At around 10:50pm, Mr Rashid is seen walking south bound on Exhibition Street carrying both the khaki backpack and the black sports bag.
21. At around 11:15pm Senior Constable Stevens and Senior Constable McConchie attended Melbourne East Police Station and spoke with the victim.
22. At around 11:30pm they patrolled the western side of Exhibition Street where the victim stated his car was parked and were unable to locate the vehicle.
23. At 11:50pm, you, Mr Rashid and Mr Aden are depicted on CCTV parking a car in a loading bay in Bennetts Lane.
24. Mr Rashid exited the driver's seat, Mr Aden exited the front passenger seat, and you exited the rear driver's side seat.
25. The three of you are then depicted opening the boot of the vehicle and searching through the belongings. Mr Aden takes an e-Scooter belonging to the victim which was in the car before locking the vehicle and leaving on foot.
26. At 11:55pm Senior Constable Stevens and Senior Constable McConchie attended Punthill Apartments where at the time of their arrival the hotel was unstaffed. At around 12:45am Manager Chloe Jackson arrived and assisted in reviewing CCTV from the lobby.
27. Senior Constable Stevens and Senior Constable McConchie reviewed the CCTV and identified the victim. They also identified the three of you as the alleged offenders. Ms Jackson confirmed that you were a guest of the hotel staying in room 107.
28. At around 1:26am whilst police were reviewing the CCTV in the security office, you and Mr Aden returned to Punthill Apartments and entered the lift. At around 1:28am, Mr Rashid returned pushing an e-Scooter and entered the lift.
29. Senior Constable Stevens and Senior Constable McConchie called for additional police units to attend Punthill Apartments to assist in a planned arrest of the three of you.
30. At approximately 1:45am, Mr Aden returned to the lobby and was arrested by the police.
31. Senior Constable Stevens conducted a pat down search of Mr Aden, during which he located the victim's bronze Matador watch and a Samsung Note 9 mobile phone.
32. At around 1:50am Senior Constable Stevens and Senior Constable McConchie gained entry to room 107 with assistance from the Public Order Response Team. You and Mr Rashid were located within the apartment and placed under arrest.
33. Senior Constable Stevens photographed the scene and observed items as noted in the prosecution opening including a black metal bat wrapped in pink material under the dining room table and an apple iPhone registered to Mr Aden.
34. The three of you were then transported to Prahran Police Station.
35. On 21 October 2024 Mr Mohamed's vehicle was located and recovered by police in Bennetts Lane, Melbourne. The vehicle was towed to a secured storage site.
36. On 29 October 2024, Crime Scene Officers Leading Senior Constable Racheal Wright and Leading Senior Constable Mark Dalton conducted a forensic analysis of the vehicle. Leading Senior Constable Dalton photographed the vehicle.
37. Senior Constable McConchie seized a khaki backpack and a black sports bag from the vehicle, matching the descriptions of those carried by Mr Aden and Mr Rashid in CCTV footage from Punthill Apartments.
38. Senior Constable McConchie conducted a search of the bags and inside a waist bag located inside the Khaki backpack she located paperwork in the name of Mr Aden and Mr Rashid.
39. During a further analysis of your mobile phone, Senior Constable McConchie located photographs of Mr Mohamed and his car that you sent to Mr Aden on 16 October 2024 and a message sent at 10:05pm on the 18 October 2024 where you said, 'He owes me $125'.

1. I recently sentenced your co-offender Mr Aden and, as discussed at your plea hearing, I formed a view when sentencing Mr Aden, that based the evidence, this offending clearly involved a degree of planning, which was initiated by you.
2. As I stated in the sentencing remarks of Mr Aden, I accept the prosecution position that the text message you sent to Mr Aden the day before the offending was referring to the victim and the proposed plan.
3. While your role in the offending is different to that of your co-offenders, the prosecution points to the fact that you played a pivotal role in the plan to rob the victim by initially communicating with him and ultimately luring him to the apartment. Further, as noted in the prosecution opening, while the victim was still at the apartment, the evidence is that you sent a text to Mr Aden telling him that the victim owed you $125 dollars.
4. The way the case is put by the prosecution in relation to the robbery charge is that you were a party to an agreement with the co-offenders to rob the victim at the apartment where you were staying. Your part in the plan was to get the victim to the apartment which you pre arranged by communicating with the victim.
5. Mr Aden pleaded guilty to armed robbery on the basis that he was present when the baseball bat was used and that he was an active participant in the physical assault on the victim. By contrast, you have pleaded guilty only to robbery on the basis that you had no knowledge that the weapon would be used or the extent of violence to be used by your co-offenders. Your understanding of the agreement was that the victim would only be put in fear of force.
6. The theft charge relates to you being present in the victim's car and that you were present when the scooter was taken from the car.
7. Therefore, although your role in the robbery once the victim had entered the apartment was vastly different to that of your co-offenders, in my view given the extent of your part in the planning, your offending remains serious.

1. You are now 35 years of age and were born and raised in Fiji until the age of 10 when your family migrated to Queensland. You are the middle child in a sibship of three with an older sister now aged 39 who works as a nurse and a younger brother aged 30 who is a pharmacist. You remain close with your siblings however report that throughout your life you have struggled and been ridiculed for not being as intelligent or as successful as them.
2. You were raised by both of your parents who are still together. Your mother now aged 60 worked as a midwife whilst your father, now 67 was an orthopaedic surgeon. Your father is now in end stage renal failure and undergoes dialysis daily and your mother had shoulder surgery last year and requires daily assistance. Both of your parents are no longer medically fit to work and rely on you for daily care and support.
3. Whilst you grew up in a family that had a degree of privilege, you describe your father as a 'functioning alcoholic' with a history of perpetrating physical and verbal abuse towards your mother. You were also a victim of physical discipline from your father particularly when he was intoxicated with alcohol. You and your siblings would rely on each other when your father was intoxicated, resulting in a strong bond between the three of you.
4. You further disclose a history of past sexual abuse by an older family member which occurred over a period of approximately six months. Your father learnt about this abuse which was a significant factor that ultimately prompted the family to relocate to Australia.
5. You completed your primary schooling in Fiji and subsequently commenced high school in Hervey Bay. You were an average student in school and admit that you were not focused on your studies. You found friendships with more rebellious girls and followed them to fit in. This led to some detentions and a suspension in your later years of school.
6. Upon completing year 12 you undertook 18 months of a Bachelor of Psychology degree in Queensland before deciding you wanted to pursue a Diploma of Nursing. You relocated to Melbourne where you undertook your nursing qualification at the Institute of Nursing and Health Australia.
7. Whilst completing your diploma you met and married your first husband whom you remained married to for three years. Together you have a 12 year old son who resides in Melbourne with his father. You have a good relationship with both your ex-husband and son who you spend time with on school holidays.
8. You worked as an aged care nurse since obtaining your diploma however ceased working in 2024 due to the breakdown of your second marriage. You were married to your second husband from 2016 to 2024, though a deterioration in your mental state ultimately led to your second divorce.
9. You disclose that you struggled to cope with the large stigma around divorce in your culture and that this second marriage breakdown left you completely overwhelmed. You suffered a severe mental breakdown and attempted to take your own life whilst intoxicated on GHB. As a result, you spent four days in the ICU and were hospitalised at Mercy Werribee Psychiatric Hospital for several weeks.
10. You became heavily involved with gambling leading up to the ending of your second marriage and met you co-offender Mr Aden playing pokies at the Golden Nugget in Melbourne. Your spiral into drug use also commenced during this time and it was against the background of your drug use that you were further hospitalised with psychotic symptoms.
11. A psychological report prepared by forensic psychologist Jeffrey Cummins, dated 19 January 2026 was tendered on the plea in which Mr Cummins confirms you suffer from a major depressive disorder which is moderate in severity. He also states that it is very probable you suffer from complex PTSD however, at interview, you were not able to provide sufficient indicia to conclusively make a diagnosis.
12. Whilst admitted to the psychiatric ward you were provisionally diagnosed with schizophrenia and thereafter with a schizoaffective disorder for which you received antipsychotic medication Aripiprazole and Seroquel. You remain medicated on these prescriptions and have regular contact with your general practitioner Dr Michael Honore in Hervey Bay who has provided a referral for you to see a psychiatrist.
13. You have not used any illicit substances or consumed alcohol for the past 12 months. Mr Cummins asserts that upon assessment there was no evidence to suggest you were experiencing active symptoms of psychosis.
14. Regarding your offending behaviour, Mr Cummins opines that if you remain abstinent from illicit substances and harmful alcohol consumption while continuing to receive your mental health treatment, your prospects for long term rehabilitation are favourable. Nonetheless he confirms you remain a psychologically vulnerable person by virtue of your major depressive disorder with features of anxiety and traumatisation.
15. Your parents and siblings are aware of your legal proceedings and have remained supportive throughout. Your father provided a character reference in which he states that you continuing to live with him and your mother is not only helpful but vital to their wellbeing and stability. He states that without your assistance he and your mother would face severe challenges in managing even the most basic aspects of everyday life.

1. I first take in to account your plea of guilty. Although you conducted a contested committal, it was submitted that at that stage of proceedings you were facing more serious charges to those you have ultimately pleaded guilty to. Your plea has nonetheless saved the court the time and expense of a trial and has spared the victim and other witnesses from having to give evidence.
2. It was submitted that you have demonstrated remorse. While Mr Cummins states that you have displayed a degree of remorse, there is no reference in his report or the materials that were presented as to your insight into the impact of the crime on the victim. I note however that following the plea you stated to the writer of a corrections report that you appreciate that what happened to the victim would have been traumatising. I note also that just prior to the trial of your co-offender you provided a statement and indicated your willingness to give evidence. While the prosecution did not accept that you would be a witness of truth based on the contents of your statement, you nonetheless offered to give evidence and expose yourself to cross examination. In all the circumstances I accept that you have demonstrated a degree of genuine remorse.
3. It was submitted that Bugmy principles have application. The basis of the submission was that while you were raised in a relatively privileged environment, you were exposed to domestic violence directed to your mother by your father, and in some instances towards you, when he was intoxicated. You referred to your father as a 'functional alcoholic'. There is otherwise little detail of these events. In Mr Cummins' report there is reference to abuse you suffered when you were six years of age however there is no mention of this in Mr Simmons' report. You reported to Mr Cummins that this abuse was pivotal in your family's decision to move to Australia. In my view while these matters are not analysed in great detail in the reports, I accept to a very limited degree that Bugmy principles in the general sense can be given some wright.
4. Turning to Verdins principles, I do not accept that the evidence allows for a causal or realistic connection between your mental health conditions and the offending, particularly in circumstances where, on your own admission you were abusing substances at the time of the offending. I accept however that if you were to go into custody, given your reasonably complex mental health profile, you would find prison more burdensome. That said, in my view the evidence does not support the application of Verdins principle 6.
5. Turning to your prospects of rehabilitation you come before the court with no prior criminal history but one subsequent dishonesty matter for which you are undertaking a community correction order imposed in Victoria in November 2024, which has been transferred to Queensland. I have had the benefit of reading two progress reports from Queensland Corrective Services who have been supervising your correction order once you had it transferred. In short, you have completed more than half of your community work hours and you have made significant progress in relation to the mental health treatment condition.
6. You reside with your parents who both suffer medical conditions and you are the primary carer for both. Your father's letter to the court details the practical support you provide to your parents on a daily basis. Self evidently, you also benefit from the stability of living with your parents as you continue your own rehabilitation though the corrections order you are on. In my view if you continue on the pathway you are on, your prospects of rehabilitation can be assessed as very good.
7. General deterrence and denunciation of your conduct are prominent sentencing considerations. While you may have been in the grip of drug addiction and associating with negative peers such as your co-offender, you nonetheless made the choice to rob an innocent person by befriending him and gaining his trust. The sentence I impose must deter others from contemplating such conduct. In my view, specific deterrence must carry some weight in the sentence discretion.
8. I have taken into account the principle of parity however as noted, the role of your co offender together with his personal circumstances and criminal history, is very different to yours. I have also taken into account the comparative cases that were provided on your behalf.
9. I had you assessed for a community correction order and you have been found suitable. While the offending is serious and would ordinarily warrant a term of imprisonment, in all the circumstances in my view an onerous community correction order is able to meet the relevant sentencing considerations in this instance. As the Court of Appeal noted in Boulton v The Queen,[1] a community correction order 'may be suitable even in cases of relatively serious offences which might previously have attracted a medium term of imprisonment.'
10. Further, in Williams v The Queen,[2] Priest and Hargraves JJA said:

As was made clear in Boulton, in an appropriate case a CCO provides a flexible sentencing option, enabling punitive and rehabilitative purposes to be served simultaneously. A CCO can be fashioned to address the particular circumstances of the offender and the causes of the offending, and to minimise the risk of re-offending by promoting the offender's rehabilitation. And although as the order of seriousness of offending conduct increases, the likelihood that such a disposition will be appropriate diminishes, a CCO may remain open, even in cases of very serious offending.[3]

1. Ms Krishna would you please stand.
2. Trishnala Krishna, on Charge 1, robbery and Charge 2, theft, you are convicted and will be placed on a community correction order for a period of 2 years and 6 months.
3. In addition to the standard conditions that apply to all community correction orders, you will be required to complete 250 hours of unpaid community work. Further, you will required to undertake treatment and rehabilitation in relation to your drug and alcohol use, and your mental health. You will also be subject to supervision for the period of the order.
4. Pursuant to s 48CA of the Sentencing Act 1991 (Sentencing Act), I direct that all of the hours that you satisfactorily complete pursuant to the treatment and rehabilitation conditions, may be credited as hours of unpaid community work.
5. Pursuant to s 38(2) of the Sentencing Act I direct that the community correction order commence in three months from today in order to allow for its transfer to Queensland to be managed by Queensland Corrective Services.
6. Pursuant to s 6AAA of the Sentencing Act, I indicate that had you not pleaded guilty, I would have sentenced you to a period of 12 months imprisonment together with a community correction order.
7. In relation to Charge 2, pursuant to s 89(4) of the Sentencing Act any licence you hold is cancelled and you will be disqualified from applying for a further license for a period of 3 months.

[1] Boulton v The Queen [2014] VSCA 342; (2014) 46 VR 308 [131].

[2] Williams v The Queen [2018] VSCA 171.