DPP v Rian

(a) Three Ziploc bags containing a white crystal substance in each, which were hidden inside an air purifier on your bedside table. The substance was later identified to be a total of 137.4 grams of methylamphetamine;

(b) Two Ziploc bags containing a white crystal substance were found in a small lock box in your bedroom cupboard. This substance was later identified to be a total of 0.7 grams of methylamphetamine;

(c) Two Ziploc bags containing a white crystal substance were found inside a safe in your bedroom cupboard. This substance was later identified to be 61.4 grams of methylamphetamine.

1. The total weight of methylamphetamine located was 199.5 grams, with a purity of between 79 and 82 per cent. The total weight of pure methylamphetamine was 162 grams. The weight of a Commercial Quantity is 50 grams of pure methylamphetamine.
2. Messages sent and received by you on the Signal messaging platform, were located on your mobile phone and provide evidence of your trafficking activities. These include:

(a) Messages with an unknown person, relating to them delivering a total of 4,000 owed to you between 9 and 10 April 2024;

(b) Messages with an unknown person between 22 and 23 April 2024, where that person confirmed that you had received 125 grams of methylamphetamine in exchange for $12,000 and that you now owed $20,000;

(c) Messages with an unknown person on 7 July 2024, where you provided the price of $800 for a 'farmer's daughter', believed to be 7 grams;

(d) Deleted messages on the Signal platform from an unknown date where you discussed the distribution of methylamphetamine, and amounts owed by unknown parties.

1. At the time of your arrest, you were subject to a Firearm Prohibition Order, this had been served on you by police on 19 September 2020. As a result of your prior convictions, you are also a Prohibited Person under the Firearms Act. [3]
2. Further items located in the safe found in your bedroom cupboard included:

(a) A .22 short calibre, home-made, semi-automatic pistol;

(b) A black sleeve containing 30 x .22 calibre ammunition rounds.

(c) An imitation firearm, being an inoperable gel ball pistol, with the appearance of being a .308 calibre Walther semi-automatic pistol.

1. During the search of your bedroom a total of $6,730 in Australian currency was located, which is suspected of being the proceeds of crime.
2. Further, on 21 August 2024, Police obtained documentation from the ANZ Bank in relation to two accounts which were held by you. The Statements disclosed that between 5 April 2024 and 24 July 2024, you deposited $104,047.34 into one account; the transactions included the following: 32 cash deposits totalling $49,150 and nine Centrelink Jobseeker payments totalling $6,596.40.
3. You were interviewed at the Geelong police station on 24 July 2024 where you made no comment, other than denying knowledge of the methylamphetamine and the firearms that were located.

1. The offence of trafficking methylamphetamine in a commercial quantity is an inherently serious offence. Not only is it punishable by a maximum term of imprisonment of 25 years, but Parliament has designated it a category 2 offence. Section 5(2H) of the Sentencing Act 1991 provides that the court must impose a custodial sentence (other than a term of imprisonment in combination with a Community Correction Order), unless at least one of the circumstances set out in subsections (a) to (e) can be established.[4] The consequence of this categorisation does not interrupt your eligibility for a DATO. However, it does reflect Parliament's very real concern that people who trade in commercial quantities of drugs should receive condign punishment usually involving significant terms of imprisonment.
2. The Prosecutor, Ms Kambouropoulos submitted you were in possession of 199.5 grams of methylamphetamine. Furthermore, the total weight of pure methylamphetamine was 162 grams, which is 3.24 times the threshold for a commercial quantity of that drug in pure form. Your offending was not confined to a single date; as such, this was not an isolated incident or an aberration of character. Your offending was not spontaneous or unplanned. However, Ms Kambouropoulos conceded that your offending was not particularly sophisticated.
3. Ms Kambouropoulos submitted the Court of Appeal has taken judicial notice of the prevalence of 'ice', stating that the '[p]revalence of the offence of trafficking in methylamphetamine is a matter proper for a sentencing court to take into account when assessing the weight to be given to general deterrence.'[5]
4. With respect to the firearms, Ms Kambouropoulos submitted that you fall to be sentenced for possessing firearms in circumstances where you are both a prohibited person and subject of a firearms prohibition order. Additionally, Police located ammunition in your apartment. She acknowledged the imitation firearm was inoperable, and the semi-automatic pistol was not capable of discharge due to a fault with the firing mechanism (despite having been discharged previously). Ms Kambouropoulos submitted that as with drug trafficking, the unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition is a matter of ongoing community concern. The possession of illicit firearms threatens public safety. As a sole offender, she submitted your moral culpability was high.
5. Your counsel, Ms Howson conceded that the primary charge, trafficking a commercial quantity of a drug of dependence is an inherently serious offence. She noted the total weight of pure Methylamphetamine trafficked by you was 162 grams; three times the applicable commercial quantity. The trafficking is put across approximately three-and-a-half months due to the messages found on your devices.
6. Ms Howson submitted your enrichment was moderate, and your motivation to engage in trafficking was to pay a debt owed to a drug associate. In the circumstances she submitted the context of the trafficking was that of a user/trafficker and lacks sophistication compared to other examples of this offence.
7. In relation to the firearms, Ms Howson emphasised that the imitation firearm was inoperable, and the semi-automatic pistol was not capable of discharge. She submitted you had always had them and you were tinkering around with them. Ms Howson contended there was no evidence that these items were used for protection or some other criminal purpose.
8. You are to be sentenced for trafficking over a three-and-half-month period in circumstances where you had three times the commercial quantity of a drug of dependence, Methylamphetamine, in your possession for sale. Although there is no evidence of your involvement in any sophisticated drug syndicate, there is evidence of sales or trafficking activity from the phone messages recovered from your devices. However, in all the circumstances I accept that your reasons for trafficking were to repay a drug debt and to essentially feed your own addiction. I do not consider these factors amount to a motive of greed or an attempt to profit that would increase your moral culpability.
9. In circumstances where you have at least one prior conviction for firearm offending, I am not persuaded the firearms located at your home were possessed for curiosity or tinkering purposes only. Importantly, though there is no evidence that either the firearm or imitation firearm and other items were used or possessed for a criminal purpose. Your possession of these items is concerning and I consider it to be serious offending.

1. You were born and raised in Geelong and grew up with two sisters. Your older sister, whom you regard as a major but fragile support, and a younger sister. Your parents remain married; your mother is a midwife, and your father is a retired furniture salesman. You are somewhat estranged from your parents and your younger sister in the context of your behaviour, criminal offending and drug use.
2. You have a limited education and experienced significant learning difficulties and behavioural problems. You struggled academically, and except for a few friendships, you were socially isolated. You were expelled in Year 8 due to cannabis use and behavioural issues related to ADHD. You also report being extensively bullied throughout childhood and adolescence. Because of your behavioural issues, your experience in the family home was affected. Your relationship with your parents deteriorated and you were corporally punished by your father.
3. After leaving school early, you completed a six-month bricklaying pre‑apprenticeship and worked for about 18 months before being made redundant. You later worked full time for about a year in demolition, were unemployed for several years, and then secured concreting work between ages 24 and 25. This employment ended following a serious motor vehicle accident.
4. This accident occurred in 2019 when you were aged 25. You suffered major injuries to your dominant arm and your pelvis. You underwent extensive surgery and spent eight weeks in hospital. You continue to experience ongoing neuropathic pain and cannot bear weight on your right arm. These injuries ended your capacity to work as a concreter, contributing to unemployment, chronic pain, and deteriorating mental health.
5. You remain supported by your partner, with whom you have kept daily contact while on remand. This relationship is vulnerable, and you acknowledge that your behaviour, drug use and poor mental health have all taken a toll. Preservation of this relationship is a major source of motivation.

1. Turning to your substance use, you have a long and severe history of polysubstance dependence beginning in early adolescence. You commenced using cannabis at age 12 to 13, progressing to daily use, later reducing intake to evenings when you gained full‑time employment. Around this time, you also began using amphetamines. Prior to your arrest, you were prescribed up to 10 grams of medical cannabis daily; this ceased on your remand, and you report no current cravings however note this was of assistance to curb social anxiety.
2. You first used methamphetamine at 16 or 17 in a peer context, initially as a form of self‑medication. Your use escalated to daily consumption following redundancy from bricklaying work and later reducing to weekend use while employed in demolition. You have continued to rely on Methamphetamine at various points as a way of managing negative symptoms and distress.
3. Following a serious motor vehicle accident in 2019, your depressed mood worsened, and you relapsed heavily into substance use. In addition to daily Methamphetamine, you used steroids, Lyrica, heroin, alcohol, cannabis, and GHB.
4. In the period before your arrest, Methamphetamine was your drug of choice, with daily use of up to 1 gram. You were also using heroin regularly and intermittently using cocaine and alcohol. Your methamphetamine use continued while on remand at Port Phillip Prison, during which time you were also prescribed buprenorphine. You have remained abstinent since your transfer to Western Plains Correctional Centre in August 2025.

1. At your Determination Hearing on 20 February 2026, your counsel Ms Howson tendered a psychological report from Luke Armstrong dated 11 June 2025 and a report from Dr Ahmed Zakareia.
2. Mr Armstrong confirmed that you demonstrate many features of severe ADHD, with which you have previously been diagnosed in 2020 and 2024. Your early trauma, learning difficulties, and social isolation have contributed to longstanding psychological vulnerability. The functional consequences that you experienced in your childhood, secondary to your ADHD symptoms, have been profound. Your peer and family relationships were unravelled, causing social rejection and alienation. Mr Armstrong opined that this pushed you towards exposure to a deviant and high-risk peer group that embraced these dysfunctional responses. You gained a sense of belonging in this environment that you had not felt before.
3. Your cognitive development has also been compromised. You had not previously received formal intelligence testing until your assessment with Mr Armstrong. Your testing suggests extremely low to borderline language comprehension and nonverbal problem solving in the borderline to low average. Mr Armstrong further diagnosed you with possible borderline intellectual functioning. Mr Armstrong confirmed that you have a history of polysubstance abuse, specifically stimulant use disorder, cannabis use disorder, anxiolytic use disorder, as well as historical problems with opioids and untreated vulnerability to alcoholism. By early adolescence, you had developed a significant drug dependency with self-medicating aspects. In Mr Armstrong's opinion, you used substances to combat self-loathing, poor self-confidence and an entrenched sense of alienation and failure. Mr Armstrong assessed that you were likely heavily drug dependent in the year before your arrest. I accept the opinions of Mr Armstrong and Dr Zakareia.

1. Your counsel submitted your childhood hardship and experiences of deprivation due to learning difficulties, social isolation, early introduction to drug use enliven the Bugmy principles in your case.[6] The prosecution do not dispute that Bugmy had general application. However, Ms Kambouropoulos contended that any reduction to your moral culpability ought to be very modest in the circumstances of your case.
2. On my assessment, an examination of your personal history reveals that you suffered significant childhood difficulties including deprivation that is very closely connected with your diagnosis of ADHD. As a child, your learning and behavioral problems were unable to be controlled. You experienced learning difficulties, social rejection, corporal punishment, sexual abuse and very early introduction to drug use. In the opinion of Mr Armstrong, this led to a very poorly developed self-esteem, your identification as a failure and to very early drug use as a form of

self-medication. In my view, Bugmy does have general application in your case. I accept that your experiences mitigate the sentence because your moral culpability is likely to be less than the culpability of an offender whose formative years have not been marred in that way.[7]

1. Your counsel, Ms Howson submitted that your plea of guilty entitles you to a plea discount pursuant to s6AAA of the Sentencing Act and that your plea has utilitarian benefit.[8] The prosecution submit that your plea was entered at committal and prior to any evidence being led, thus it can be characterised as a plea made at an early stage of the proceedings.
2. In the circumstances, I consider your early plea has utilitarian value in that you have spared the need for a committal hearing, and you have spared this court the time and cost of a trial. Further your plea is evidence of your desire to facilitate the course of justice. I propose to allow a significant discount for your plea of guilty.
3. I consider that your plea of guilty is also demonstrative of your remorse. I accept the submission of your counsel that you have demonstrated insight into your offending and you have accepted responsibility for what you have done.

1. Your counsel, Ms Howson, conceded that your limited prior criminal history coupled with your longstanding substance abuse issues, means your prospects of rehabilitation are guarded and reliant upon your ability to remain abstinent and compliant with medication. This submission was echoed by the prosecution.
2. Further as to your potential for reformation, Ms Howson submitted that the following factors significantly improve your prospects:
3. One, you are currently and for the first time experiencing the positive effects of successful pharmacological intervention. Your compliance with medication started one week before your arrest and has continued throughout your time on remand. You are aware that sanctioned ADHD medication with the oversight of a psychiatrist and psychologist would aid in curtailing illicit use of stimulants, and you hope this will move you away from illicit drugs and criminality.
4. Two, you have demonstrated willingness to quit substances and adopt strategies for sustaining abstinence. Ms Howson relied upon your previous genuine attempts to engage in AOD counselling. From April to August in 2023, you engaged in AOD treatment with clinician Katherine Pearce, where you engaged well and attended sessions consistently. In Ms Pearce's report, it was noted that you found the nature of therapy to be supportive and beneficial in working towards making lasting change, despite your continued use. Your decision to attend Armstrong Health and subsequently Dr Zakareia, in June 2024 to address your untreated ADHD and your compliance with medication, is further evidence of your willingness to improve your mental health and quit substance use.
5. Three, you have demonstrated insight into the link between negative emotions, your ADHD, substance abuse, and offending. You have expressed motivation, both to Mr Armstrong and to the Drug and Alcohol Treatment clinical team, to change your life and actively seek support.
6. I accept the submissions of Ms Howson and agree that these factors provide evidence of your ability to foster reform. In my view your prospects for rehabilitation are far from extinguished and I note you have been successful on a lengthy County Court CCO in the past.

Matters relevant to the Drug and Alcohol Treatment Court Determination Hearing

1. Your counsel Ms Howson submitted that the court should impose a Drug and Alcohol Treatment Order. You have a considerable history of substance use and abuse from your early teens; your drug addiction is connected to your offending; you require intensive support if you are to reform; and a Drug and Alcohol Treatment Order can provide the level of support you need.
2. The prosecution does not oppose the making of a Drug and Alcohol Treatment Order and submit that it is open to the court to impose such a sentence. Ms Kambouropoulos noted that each of the criteria were met and the DATC reports have found you a suitable candidate.
3. The purposes of a Drug and Alcohol Treatment Order are to facilitate your rehabilitation, take account of your drug and alcohol dependency, to reduce the level of criminal activity associated with such dependency, and to reduce your health risks associated with drug or alcohol use.[9] Importantly, if I am considering making such an order, I must regard your rehabilitation and the protection of community from you, achieved through your rehabilitation, as having greater importance than the other sentencing purposes such as denunciation and general deterrence. The principles of general and specific deterrence, denunciation and community protection remain important sentencing considerations.
4. My decision to impose a Drug and Alcohol Treatment Order in your case has been informed by the assessment reports provided from the Drug and Alcohol Treatment Court clinical adviser and case manager. Both have assessed you as suitable for a Drug and Alcohol Treatment Order.
5. Clinical advisor Nicky Luo reported that you have a long-standing history of polysubstance use, with methamphetamine and heroin as primary substances prior to arrest, alongside intermittent alcohol, cannabis, cocaine, and prescription medication misuse. Your DUDIT score indicates severe drug dependence, whereas your AUDIT score suggests no significant alcohol dependence. Your substance use began early in adolescence and escalated over time, influenced by untreated ADHD, social anxiety, emotional dysregulation, and chronic pain resulting from a significant motor vehicle accident. You have prior limited engagement with AOD treatment, though recent participation in counselling and stabilisation on ADHD medication (lisdexamfetamine) has contributed to improved insight, emotional regulation, and treatment readiness.
6. You present with ADHD, anxiety, depressive symptoms, chronic pain, and a history of opioid dependence, but currently deny psychosis, self-harm risk, or active substance use while in custody. You report strong motivation to change your lifestyle, reduce substance‑related harm, and engage meaningfully in treatment, supported by stable family and partner relationships. Ms Luo concluded that you meet the criteria for severe stimulant and opioid use disorders at the time of offending but now appear in remission within a controlled environment. You are considered suitable for a Drug and Alcohol Treatment Order, provided treatment is structured, coordinated, and responsive to your cognitive and emotional needs. Recommended conditions include integrated AOD-mental health care, psychiatric review, psychological therapy for anxiety and emotional regulation, pain‑management support, relapse‑prevention planning, and clear accountability measures to reduce disengagement risk.
7. Case manager, Georgia Blyth, noted that your history reflects persistent offending since age 21, extensive substance dependence beginning in adolescence, ADHD, anxiety, and features of borderline intellectual functioning. You have relapsed repeatedly in the context of stress, unstable housing, unemployment, and limited help‑seeking behaviours. You described longstanding difficulties with emotional regulation, impulsivity, and self‑medication with methamphetamine and other substances. You have a history of community correction orders with mixed compliance, social isolation, strained family relationships, and no fixed address. While you report some pro‑social supports - including your partner and sister - these are fragile, and you experience significant anxiety, low self‑worth, and a tendency to withdraw when overwhelmed. Nevertheless, you engaged openly in the assessment, demonstrated insight into your behaviour, and described the current period of incarceration as a catalyst for genuine reflection and motivation to change.
8. In her report, Ms Blyth carefully and thoroughly identified several risk factors - including homelessness, limited social supports, past non‑compliance with orders, reliance on substances to manage anxiety, and cognitive vulnerabilities - as well as protective factors such as accountability, motivation for treatment, and positive response to recently stabilised ADHD medication. You expressed willingness to comply with the DATO structure, including emergency accommodation, abstinence requirements, transport conditions, and engagement in treatment. Ms Blyth concluded that although your criminogenic history and psychosocial instability elevate relapse risk, incarceration alone is unlikely to address your entrenched substance‑use disorder. With appropriate supports, structured supervision, and tailored interventions targeting impulsivity, coping skills, anxiety, cognitive limitations, and medication adherence, the Drug and Alcohol Treatment Court programme may provide an opportunity for meaningful rehabilitation. Ms Blyth therefore assessed you to be suitable for a Drug and Alcohol Treatment Order from a case‑management risk perspective, with recommended conditions including residential placement as directed and a 9 pm-6 am curfew.
9. The criteria for the making of a Drug and Alcohol Treatment Order are set out in s18Z of the Sentencing Act.[10] As to the criteria, I find on balance that you are drug dependent, and I further find that your drug dependence contributed to your offending. In all the circumstances, I have concluded that I would otherwise impose a sentence not exceeding four years' imprisonment, and I have determined that it is overall appropriate to place you on a Drug and Alcohol Treatment Order.
10. A DATO is a significant order and, in my view, it will provide you with the wraparound support you need. I consider, on the basis of the information presented, that you are motivated to undertake such an order.

1. In relation to the charges of trafficking in a commercial quantity, possessing a firearm contrary to a Firearm Prohibition Order, possessing a firearm related item contrary to a Firearm Prohibition Order, prohibited person possess an imitation firearm and the summary related offence of deal with property suspected as proceeds of crime, you are convicted and you are placed on a Drug and Alcohol Treatment Order. That order will commence today.
2. Ms Nicky Luo will be your Clinical Advisor and Ms Georgia Blyth will be your case manager. Your AOD counsellor will be Anne Brotherton. Your treatment team is listed on your individual treatment plan that you will be given a copy of shortly. Georgia is actually in court this morning and no doubt she will have a chat with you after we finish here in court.Also in court this morning is Stephanie Corish from VLA. VLA and also the OPP are part of the Drug Court Team and will be in court when we have reviews.Your reviews will be on Thursday You will get to know Steph quite well because if you have got any issues and concerns, then she will be acting on your behalf to raise those concerns with me
3. A Drug and Alcohol Treatment Order has two parts: there is a treatment part and a supervision part and a custodial part. The treatment and supervision part has two parts, and these are as follows:
4. There are core conditions - these are as follows:

(a) You must not commit, whether in or outside of Victoria, another offence punishable by imprisonment during the time of the order;

(b) You must attend Drug Court when required to do so;

(c) You must report to the Melbourne Drug Court House within two clear working days after the order is imposed;

(d) You must report to and accept visits from the members of the Drug Court;

(e) You must undergo treatment for alcohol and drug dependency as specified in the order or by the Drug Court;

(f) You must give notice of any change of address, at least two clear working days before the change, to a specified Drug Court officer;

(g) You are not to leave Victoria without the permission of Drug Court; and

(h) You are to obey all lawful instructions and directions from the Drug Court team.

1. These core conditions will operate for 40 months, so that is three years four months, or until further order.
2. The program conditions are as follows: you must

(a) comply with the individual treatment plan that is dated 27 February 2026 and you will get a copy of that shortly;

(b) submit to drug and alcohol testing as directed;

(c) submit to detoxification or other treatments specified in the order as directed;

(d) attend vocational, educational and employment programs as directed;

(e) submit to medical, psychiatric and psychological treatment as directed;

(f) reside as directed by the Drug Court team;

(g) you are to comply with a curfew that you remain at your address between 9.00 pm and 6.00 am;

(h) you are not to drive a car;

(i) you are not to use a drug of dependence without lawful authorisation;

(j) you are to abstain from alcohol; and

(k) you are to do, or not do, anything else that the Drug Court considers necessary or appropriate concerning

(i) your drug and alcohol dependency, and

(ii) the personal factors that the Drug Court considers contributed to your criminal behaviour.

1. These program conditions will operate for two years or until further order.
2. The custodial part of the DATO is the term of imprisonment that I consider appropriate, and it is as I said three years and four months and it is made up as follows:
3. In relation to Charge 1, trafficking in a commercial quantity, you are sentenced to two years and nine months' imprisonment.
4. In relation to Charge 2, possessing a firearm contrary to a Firearm Prohibition Order you are sentenced to one year and six months' imprisonment.
5. In relation to Charge 3, possessing a firearm related item contrary to a Firearm Prohibition Order you are sentenced to one year imprisonment.
6. In relation to Charge 4 prohibited person possess an imitation firearm you are sentenced to one year and six months' imprisonment
7. In relation to the summary related offence of deal with property suspected as proceeds of crime you are sentenced to two months' imprisonment.
8. The sentence imposed on Charge 1 of two years and nine months is the base sentence, so that is the starting point. I order that three months of the sentence on Charge 2, one month of the sentence on Charge 2 and three months of the sentence on Charge 3 be served cumulatively. The total effective sentence is three years and four months.
9. Further, I declare that you have served 586 days in custody by way of

pre-sentence detention and this will be declared as time served and entered into the records of the court. 10. Pursuant to s6AAA of the Sentencing Act,[11] if you had not pleaded guilty and been found guilty after trial, I would have imposed a total effective sentence of four years and 10 months with a non-parole period of three years and two months. 11. I make the disposal and forfeiture orders as sought by the Crown.

[3] Firearms Act 1996 (Vic).

[4] Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic) s 5(2H).

[5] Haddara v The Queen [2016] VSCA 168, [69].

[6] Bugmy v The Queen [2013] HCA 37.

[8] Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic) s6AAA.

[9] Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic) s18(1).

[10] Ibid s18Z.

[11] Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic) s6AAA.