Sentence: Imprisonment for a period of 159 days followed by a Community Corrections Order of 2 years duration
[2]
Behzad Molavi, you have pleaded guilty to two charges of common assault, the maximum penalty for which is five years' imprisonment, and one charge of attempted aggravated burglary contrary to s77 and 321M of the Crimes Act,[1] the maximum penalty for which is 20 years' imprisonment. I note that the second charge of common assault is a rolled up charge.
You have also agreed to the transfer of related summary offences to which you have pleaded guilty, namely two charges of unlawful assault contrary to s24(2) of the , which each attract a maximum penalty of six months' imprisonment; and one charge of carry controlled weapon without excuse contrary to of the . This attracts a maximum penalty of one year imprisonment.
The circumstances of your offending were set out in the summary of prosecution opening tendered on the plea as Exhibit A.[4]
At the time of the offending you were aged 23 or 24 years of age.
The victim in this matter is Christina Gibbs[5] who was 19 or 20 at the time.
For approximately seven months between May and December 2024 you and the victim were in a relationship together, during which you were controlling of the victim's other friendships and had forced her to cut ties with many of her male friends.
On 28 August 2024 at approximately 11 pm, you and Ms Gibbs were at your home in Doveton. Ms Gibbs told you that she needed to go home, as her parents did not want her staying the night. You became upset and told her she needed to stay. Ms Gibbs placated you by driving you to a McDonald's. She then drove you home, stopping outside your address.
You got out of the front passenger seat and into the rear passenger seat to collect your jacket. Without warning you assaulted Ms Gibbs by striking her with a closed fist five times to the left-side rib and hip area. You then slapped her to the face several times. This behaviour constitutes Charge 1, the charge of common law assault.
You told the victim to get into the passenger seat and you got into the driver's seat. You then drove her to a nearby reserve. When you stopped the car you produced a black flick knife and said to the victim 'who's going to save you now, Mummy and Daddy? Who's stopping you from being with me'.
Ms Gibbs was afraid of you and told you she would stay the night with you. You then got out of the car and started walking back to your house. Ms Gibbs then drove back to her home in Pakenham.
Ms Gibbs suffered bruising to her left side hip as a result of the assault.
On 22 October 2024 at 8.30 am you took Ms Gibbs to a medical appointment at St John of God in Berwick. The victim required a six-hour infusion in relation to her multiple sclerosis. You stayed with her in a cubicle with the curtains drawn around you.
At approximately 12.30 pm you started abusing the victim. You called her 'a liar and a hoe', suggesting she was seeing other men behind your back. While the victim was sitting connected to an infusion drip machine, you threw a bumbag, striking her in the neck. You then told her to pick up the bumbag from the floor. Ms Gibbs complied out of fear of further assault.
About half an hour later you stepped out to take a phone call. During this time the victim was served food from the hospital. When returning, you got upset that you did not get any food served to you and accused Ms Gibbs of being selfish for not getting you food. A short time later staff returned and served you some food.
After finishing your meal you stood up, approached the victim and slapped her once to the face. This caused her to cry. You complained to Ms Gibbs that 'all you do is cry, I should just leave you here'. This behaviour constitutes summary Charge 10, the charge of unlawful assault.
The victim reminded you of a promise you had previously made that you were not going to hit her again. You replied 'I was just slapping you around, I didn't hit you badly'. You apologised to Ms Gibbs and drove her home at the end of her infusion.
On another occasion being 6 November 2024, Ms Gibbs was shopping with her support worker at Chadstone Shopping Centre. You came to meet them at a café.
After her support worker left you drove Ms Gibbs towards Ringwood. On the way you drove past Kmart Burwood which the victim pointed out, commenting that she used to go there with her dad. You slapped the victim on her exposed thigh and said 'shut up bitch', then you slapped her a further 10 times on the thigh and two times across the face. This constitutes the summary Charge 12 of unlawful assault.
Ms Gibbs asked 'what did I do now?' You then started driving erratically saying you were going to kill her. The victim was crying and told you she was scared and asked you to stop. You parked at a Woolworths in Ringwood. You got out of the car and began yelling and swearing at passersby, whilst holding a flick knife if your hand, until the victim managed to calm you down. After you had calmed down you apologised to Ms Gibbs and drove her home to Pakenham.
Around 14 December 2024 Ms Gibbs told you she wanted a break from the relationship, due to your previous behaviours.
On 24 December the victim attended at her workplace at a car dealership in Pakenham. You messaged Ms Gibbs asking about her day and asked if she was at work and when you would next see each other. She replied she was not sure as you were on a break from the relationship.
During her lunch break she received a Facetime call from you. You told her you were outside her work and said to come and meet you. Ms Gibbs was worried that if she refused you would come inside, so she met you across the road. When the victim met with you, you were wearing a balaclava and a hood held tight around your face, exposing only your eyes. Ms Gibbs asked you to leave, telling you it was unprofessional and embarrassing for you to come to the workplace.
You were threatening to go inside to intimidate her male co-workers. You said you were going to go inside to slash all the tables and that you wanted blood. You told the victim to give you her phone, as you believed she was talking to other men. She refused. Ms Gibbs continued to tell you not to go inside. You pushed her to the ground with two hands, and this constitutes Charge 2, common law assault.
You told the victim you were going to kill her. You told Ms Gibbs that if she did not hand over her phone, you were going to go inside. You then pulled out your black flick knife and started waving it around, and this constitutes summary Charge 5, carry controlled weapon without excuse.
Ms Gibbs told you that her lunch break was over and she had to go back. She returned to work and immediately told her manager, Josh Hunt,[6] that you were outside and armed with a knife. At this stage you were pacing around a grass area outside the car dealership.
At 2.13 you approached the sliding door of the dealership. Staff member, Campbell Brown,[7] went to the door to lock it to stop you from entering however, before he could do so the door automatically opened, allowing you to walk inside. You entered the dealership and were met by Mr Hunt, Mr Brown and another staff member, Phil Buttegeig.[8] They told you to talk with them outside. You stepped outside and after doing so the sliding door closed and locked behind you. You turned back and motioned to staff members to come outside. You then proceeded to pace the car park and sat by a window for 25 minutes.
At 2.39 pm you stood up and punched the window twice. You walked back to the sliding entrance door, waving at the persons inside. There were several staff and customers inside at the time. You charged at the door with your right shoulder on two successive occasions, attempting to force your way through the door whilst armed with the knife.
You then yelled at the people inside saying 'stop laughing at me, I'll fucken' kill ya, I've got a knife'. You continued motioning at people inside with the knife in your hand. After another two minutes you walked to the rear service entry.
At 2.54 pm police arrived finding you at the front door of the dealership wearing the balaclava and holding the knife. You complied with police directions and were arrested and transported to Dandenong police station where you participated in a record of interview.
You were remanded on the same day and later bailed on 1 May 2025 with the assistance of CISP.
The matter proceeded to a contested committal in which the victim was cross-examined but ultimately resolved following a sentence indication hearing in October of this year. No victim impact statement has been prepared. It is not hard to imagine however that your assaults and behaviour towards the complainant must have been very upsetting and frightening, likewise your behaviour at the car dealership would have been very disturbing for both Ms Gibbs, staff onsite and also the customers present.
You have a limited unrelated criminal history of driving offences.
[3]
I turn now to the nature and gravity of the offending here.
The prosecution submits that the offending is serious as it constitutes family violence committed by a controlling jealous man against a vulnerable partner.[9] Charge 1 involved you using a closed fist to hit the victim five times in the hip, resulting in significant bruising, and slapping her in the face a number of times. You also produced a knife and made threats to her, resulting in her trying to appease you by saying she would stay the night with you.
Furthermore, the prosecution submits that Charges 2 and 3 are particularly serious given that you attended the victim's workplace after you had broken up, that your behaviour was premeditated, given that you had brought and worn a balaclava for the purposes of committing the incident.
You were upset with the victim when you saw a video on social media of her with male colleagues and you had produced a knife demanding to see her phone. The attempted aggravated burglary, as I have said, would have been very frightening for her, staff of the dealership, and the customers present who had to hide upstairs while waiting for police to arrive.
Your behaviour on this occasion could only be described as erratic and highly troubling.
Similarly, the summary offences are also troubling. They constitute further instances of you displaying disturbing bouts of violence and unwarranted aggression towards Ms Gibbs, including as she was receiving medical treatment. I consider this to be serious examples of what could only be described as family violence offending.
You were born in November 2000 in Melbourne and have no siblings. Your parents immigrated from Iran and separated shortly after your birth however, they remained living together for several years.
You instructed psychologist, Mr Armstrong, that you never witnessed them in a harmonious relationship and that your childhood was fraught with emotional manipulation from both parents. You report that both of your parents were chronically jealous and possessive towards you and would regularly confide and vent about each other to you. You were unable to raise any issue either positive or negative about your parents because it would immediately destabilise them, resulting in a verbal tirade directed at you, guilting you for siding with the other parent. You state that as a result of this dynamic, your childhood was rarely a relaxing or positive experience.
You self-report that you showed early emergent behavioural disturbance from when you were a very young child, e.g., engaging in self-harming behaviour if you were to accidentally hurt a peer by accident. You also state that you engaged in disturbing behaviour such as pretending to hang yourself if you were sanctioned at school. You did not however experience any chronic bullying or alienation in primary school.
As you progressed to high school your mental state significantly deteriorated and you state that you began to be regarded as 'odd' by your classmates. You have told Mr Armstrong that your unpredictable responses meant that girls became scared of you. You report that you often experienced disproportionate anger arising from any perceived rejection, which sometimes resulted in blackouts, and you would act violently or aggressively towards other males.
You attempted to deal with these difficulties by obsessively exercising. You believe that you stopped learning after primary school due to your dysregulated emotional state. You moved schools in early high school after being threatened with expulsion.
You moved in with your father from the age of 13 years after a difficult falling out with your mother, which you attribute to her emotional abuse. You did not speak with her for three years. You then suffered emotional abuse at the hands of your father while living with him, with him telling you that your mother never wanted you, and that she had taken an abortion pill.
You completed VCE with a relatively low ATAR and since 2019 have engaged in on and off again employment in both hospitality, and also retail, factory work, and construction. These jobs were largely transient and often ended after very short periods, with you claiming that various jobs were overworking or mistreating you.
You have also undergone a number of periods of unemployment, with you stating that one such period in 2019 was due to your father requiring you to stay home and look after the family dog full time.
Your counsel has provided the court with a recent payslip dated 12 October 2025, demonstrating that prior to your recent remand you had obtained employment on a casual basis as a forklift driver.[11] This document was not available at the time of your sentence indication hearing and was only provided subsequent to you indicating that you accepted that sentence indication. The fact that you have been able to be engaged in recent employment bodes well for your prospects of rehabilitation.
Your first relationship was for a period of three months when you were aged about 16 and you told Mr Armstrong that it unravelled you emotionally.[12]
You then engaged in a long-distance relationship at the age of 17 with a 24-year-old woman overseas, but you learned that she was using you to come to Australia - your words. The ending of this relationship destabilised you to the point that you engaged in self-harm behaviour.
Your relationship with the victim commenced in early 2024 and you concede that you became infatuated with her very quickly, idealising her. You acknowledge now that you placed very distorted and unfair expectations upon her, which were partially due to your own fractured, immature and damaged outlook on intimate relationships.
In the lead up to the offending you had been living in your car by your own choice, despite having the option to live with either of your parents. You told Mr Armstrong that this was due to a desire to be independent and also to escape your parents' behaviour.
You began carrying a knife ostensibly for protection in July 2023, after you had allegedly witnessed an attempted stabbing of your friend.
Mr Armstrong assesses that your early experiences of family instability has led you to have an incomplete, immature and fractured identity. He believes it would be appropriate to diagnose you with severe borderline personality disorder due to a combination of your severe emotional regulation issues, your history of self‑harm, paranoia and disassociation, and your school, work, and relationship issues.[13]
While he believes that much of your deteriorating mental health over the past few years can be attributed to your personality disorder, he is concerned that your capacity has deteriorated to an extent often demonstrated in patients exhibiting early signs of schizophrenia. Mr Armstrong states that ongoing regular reviews with a psychiatrist will be required to ensure that this condition does not emerge untreated or undetected.
You began experimenting with cannabis and magic mushrooms between August and November 2024 and you were using cannabis so heavily at one point that you overdosed and were taken by your father to hospital for emergency treatment. It is unclear how regularly you still use substances, noting that you have disclosed occasional recreational cannabis use in your CISP report dated 27 July 2025.
Your counsel has submitted that limbs 1-5 enunciated in the matter of R v Verdins[14] are applicable in your case.[15] The prosecution concedes that limb 1 is relevant.
I note what Mr Armstrong says at p9 of his report where he suggests that your disordered thinking before and during the offending impaired your capacity to exercise appropriate judgement, and your capacity to make calm and rational choices, or to think clearly.[16] He considers this pattern of thinking has defined your decision making through early development, adolescence and young adulthood. This is said to be emblematic of individuals with borderline personality framework. Your personality disorder was very much part of your decision making, he opines.
I take this into account, and I have moderated your sentence accordingly. I note however that your entrenched impairment will make community protection a significant sentencing consideration.
Your counsel submits that limb 2 should also be applied when considering what type of sentence is appropriate in this case, given your mental illness.[17] It is submitted that your mental health issues would be better addressed through a community based therapeutic order.
As I have indicated, I accept this to some degree and intend to place you on a community corrections order once released from custody. You have been assessed as suitable.
Your counsel also submits that your mental health challenges should reduce the weight of specific deterrence and general deterrence with regards to limbs 3 and 4 of Verdins.[18]
In regard to limb 3, the prosecution concedes that whilst a small reduction in weight given to general deterrence may be justified, it should still remain a significant consideration given the seriousness of this family violence related offending, the repeated nature of the offending and your acknowledgement that you were aware that you were breaking the law.[19]
The prosecution argues that with regards to limb 4 of Verdins, the report of Mr Armstrong indicates that you appreciate the wrongfulness of your behaviour and therefore you are not precluded by your mental health impairment from being specifically deterred.[20]
I consider there is a need for specific deterrence in your case, even with your mental health issues.
Your counsel submits that limbs 5 and 6 of Verdins are enlivened, in that your mental health challenges would make custody much more burdensome on you and would significantly worsen if you underwent a lengthy custodial sentence.
The prosecution agrees that limb 5 is enlivened in this case, in that imprisonment will likely weigh more heavily on you than a person without your mental health conditions. I accept this and take it into account.
However, the prosecution submits there is nothing to support the enlivenment of limb 5, being that there is a serious risk of imprisonment having a significant negative effect on your mental health.
I note that Mr Armstrong in his report stated that there is no evidence that prison has been a particularly or exceptionally arduous experience on you.[21] However, he notes that you would be a vulnerable prisoner, particularly given what is described as your odd obsessive exercise-like behaviour. In addition, he considers the legacy of your personality disorder in the volatile prison environment may mean that you, like other prisoners with similar disorders, are more likely to be destabilised mentally in prison. I accept this and I take it into account.
Ultimately, Mr Armstrong has concerns regarding your mental state beyond a personality disorder. He opines you may well have undetected features of prodromal schizophrenia, and he recommended back in January that you be assessed by a Forensicare psychiatrist.[22] It will be important that you undertake psychiatric assessment, and this will be a condition of your community corrections order.
I take into account your plea of guilty. It was not a plea entered at an early stage. As I have said, the matter proceeded with a contested committal and the victim was cross-examined. Nevertheless, your plea of guilty demonstrates a willingness to facilitate the course of justice, and it is of considerable utilitarian value. You have spared the community and witnesses the time and expense of having to give evidence at trial. It is also some level of remorse.
Your counsel submits that you have shown genuine remorse and insight as reflected in your guilty plea, compliance with bail and CISP requirements, and what she states is your recognition of the impact of your conduct on the victim.[23]
The prosecution argues that you have limited insight into the impact your offending has had on Ms Gibbs. You reportedly told Mr Armstrong that your behaviour was a result of disproportionate jealousy and feelings of betrayal, and you accept that your behaviour was unlawful and very serious. However, Mr Casey submits there is no evidence that you have considered just how seriously your behaviour would have affected the victim in this matter.
Furthermore, although you did ultimately plead guilty, the victim was cross-examined at a committal. Further, it is to be noted that your compliance with bail and CISP is a bare minimum required. Further, that you breached CISP requirements by refusing to attend Men's Behaviour Change Group therapy, which I will discuss shortly.
Your counsel submits that your prospects of rehabilitation are good. At 25 years of age you are relatively young. Further, Ms Yan submits that you complied with onerous CISP conditions since your release on bail on 1 May until your most recent remand, demonstrating your ability to respond well to court imposed therapeutic treatments.
Again, I note however that as per your CISP progress report from 29 September 2025, you did not comply with requirements to engage in the Men's Behavioural Change Program, attending one session but removing yourself after being ostensibly triggered by something another participant said.[24] You told the report writer that you viewed the other group members as pathetic and weak men, and you said you did not like hearing other men's stories as you were different from them. You did not proactively seek out one on one family violence counselling after this.
The prosecution submits that your prospects of rehabilitation are considered good, subject to whether you comply with intensive treatment to deal with the underlying factors behind your offending.[25]
Mr Armstrong conducted a spousal assault risk assessment on you and opines that you are in the high risk range for committing future spousal violence. Intensive intervention will be essential in preventing this.[26] He believes that your risk of future offending is relatively high, however this could be mitigated by you engaging in intensive treatment.
Ultimately, I conclude that you have good prospects of rehabilitation, but it is essential that you receive mental health treatment.
I take into account your age at the time of this offending. You were still relatively young, whilst not a young offender pursuant to legislation I take into account your relevant youth and the importance of rehabilitation for somebody your age.
Your counsel has provided the court with character references from your grandmother, Ms Homa Alisanaei, and your mother Ms Mondana Monafred.[27] Your mother, Ms Monafred says you are a considerate and caring person, and believes this behaviour is very much out of character for you. She says that you acknowledge that you have made a big mistake and that you have been very much deterred by your time in gaol. Your grandmother talks of your shame, grief, deep remorse and disappointment in yourself following your first period on remand. She speaks of your desire to feel useful, to have responsibility, and to feel happiness.
I accept from those references that you are remorseful for your offending. Whether you have developed appropriate insight is still unclear.
It is clear however that you have significant support from your family and I hope you are able to make the most of that support as you begin your journey to rehabilitation.
There are a number of basic purposes for which a court may impose sentence, namely just punishment, both specific and general deterrence, rehabilitation, denunciation and protection of the community. I am required to take into account these objectives as well as various other matters, including the gravity of the offending, your culpability, the impact of the offending on your victim, your personal circumstances, and the maximum penalties applicable.
The sentence I pass must balance the interests of the community in denouncing your conduct with the community's interest in ensuring that as far as possible you are rehabilitated. I am to have regard to the principles of parsimony, and I do so.
General deterrence is an important sentencing consideration. Other members of the community must understand that such serious criminal offending will attract significant punishment. Violence against domestic partners, indeed against women, is all too prevalent. Society will no longer tolerate this sort of violent, aggressive outburst of behaviour. It must be denounced, and I do so.
I am of the view that in your case specific deterrence and protection of the community are also required to be give some weight, in light of the repeated and ongoing nature of your offending against the same victim.
Your conduct towards Ms Gibbs was reprehensible. Your offending involved individual assaults on a number of different occasions, and so each offence warrants individual punishment. There is a need for the sentence to reflect the individual charges and the conduct they comprise.
Your conduct on 24 December in effect forms one episode, but the multiple charges reflect the different offences you committed on this occasion. Accordingly, there will be a degree of concurrency with respect to your conduct on this occasion, appropriate to satisfy the principle of totality.
Furthermore, I must ensure that the totality of the sentences imposed for these closely connected, yet separate crimes, is met with a total and proportionate sentence. I have therefore moderated to a degree the length of the individual sentences and the periods of cumulation.
I indicated at the sentence indication hearing that further gaol time would be required in addition to the period that you had already spent on remand, but that I would consider a community corrections order, if found suitable, as being open as part of a combination sentence. You then returned to custody having accepted the indication and without any further application to extend your bail.
You have now spent an additional period on remand, 150 days on top of the 128 days already spent. I would hope that this has been a salutary lesson for you that violence against women and partners will not be tolerated. The reality is however that you need some assistance to help with your mental health issues in order to foster your rehabilitation.
Overall, having considered all of the material before me and noting that you have been found suitable for a community corrections order, I have concluded that you have spent sufficient time in custody and I propose to in effect impose a sentence which will see your release back into the community immediately, but to be followed by a community correction order.
Could you stand up please, Mr Molavi..
[5]
On Charge 1, the charge of common assault, you are convicted and sentenced to 120 days' imprisonment.
On Charge 2, you are convicted and sentenced to 60 days' imprisonment.
On Charge 3, you are convicted and sentenced to 120 days' imprisonment. I note that Charge 3 will be the base sentence.
I order that 39 days of the sentence imposed on Charge 1 be cumulated with the sentence imposed on Charge 3. I order that the sentence imposed on Charge 2 be served concurrently with the sentence imposed on Charges 3 and 1. This makes a total effective sentence of 159 days' imprisonment.
I reckon a period of 159 days to be deducted and reckoned as time served. In effect I have given you the period that you have already served in custody as the sentence in relation to Charges 1, 2 and 3. That is my ultimate intention.
In relation to the summary charges, summary Charges 5, 10 and 12, you are convicted and placed on a community corrections order for a period of two years. There will be a number of conditions attached to this order. The order will commence upon your release from custody.
[6]
a) You are to be under the supervision of Corrections for a period of two years.
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> b) You must undergo assessment, treatment and rehabilitation for drug and alcohol use.
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> c) You must undergo assessment, treatment and rehabilitation with respect to your mental health and you must undertake a psychiatric assessment, as directed.
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> d) You must undergo treatment and rehabilitation to address your risk of reoffending.
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> e) I am not making an order that you perform unpaid community work. The reason I have not done so is to ensure that your time spent on the order is focused on your rehabilitation.
[7]
There are also a number of core conditions attached to all community corrections order:
[8]
a) You must not commit any other offence that is punishable by imprisonment during the two year period.
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> b) You must comply with any and all obligations and requirements prescribed.
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> c) You must report to and receive visits from Corrections during the period of the order.
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> d) You must report to the nearest Community Corrections Centre, which I understand is in Ringwood, and you must do so within two clear working days from your release from custody. I strongly recommend that as soon as you are released from custody, you contact Corrections.
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> e) You must let a Community Corrections officer know within two working days of a change of address or employment.
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> f) You must not leave Victoria without first getting permission.
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> g) You must obey all lawful instructions and directions from Corrections.
[9]
Now, as I have said, you have to comply with all of the conditions of the order. If you do not do so, if for example you decide not to attend any of the rehabilitation, or if you were to commit further offences, then you would likely find yourself back before this court on a breach. I would then need to resentence you for this offending, and it is likely that there would also be a penalty for the breach itself. Now if I have to resentence you, it is unlikely I would give you any further community correction order and it is likely that it would be gaol time.
Now in a moment you are going to be asked to sign some paperwork to indicate that you understand the conditions of the order, and that you agree to abide by them, but I will also ask you in court: do you understand those conditions?
OFFENDER: Yes, I understand.
HER HONOUR: Do you agree to abide by those conditions?
OFFENDER: I agree.
HER HONOUR: All right, thank you.
Now I also indicate that but for your plea of guilty,[28] that is had you ran this matter to trial and been found guilty, I would have imposed a total effective sentence of 10 months' imprisonment with a community corrections order.
[10]
[4] Summary of Prosecution Opening dated 9 October 2025 ('Exhibit A').
[11]
[9] Prosecution Outline of Submissions for Sentence Indication Hearing dated 24 October 2025 ('Exhibit B').
[12]
[10] Psychological Report authored by Luke Armstrong dated 23 January 2025 ('Exhibit 2').
[13]
[11] Payslip from Symmetry Human Resources dated 15 October 2025 ('Exhibit 4').