DPP v Sandores [2025] VCC 397

(a) Common assault - 5 years' imprisonment.

(b) Threatening to assault an emergency worker on duty - 5 years' imprisonment.

(c) Causing injury intentionally - 10 years' imprisonment.

(d) Assaulting an emergency worker on duty - 5 years' imprisonment.

1. The first indictment relates to offending between 16 July and 28 October 2022.
2. You, with others, were involved in the trafficking of illicit drugs, including methylamphetamine, ketamine, 1,4-butanediol, MDMA, cocaine, lysergic acid diethylamide, pentylone, and cannabis.
3. Communicating through the encrypted phone application Signal, you used several aliases and employed code names for the different drugs and quantities that you were trafficking. You participated in 20 drug trafficking transactions during which you sold, agreed to sell, or possessed for sale drugs of dependence.
4. On 5 October 2022, a search warrant was executed at an apartment in Exhibition Street. The apartment was leased by a co-offender who lived there with you and another co-offender. Police found a large quantity of drugs, drug paraphernalia and money.
5. The relevant quantum for each of the charges is:

• Charge 1 - Traffick methylamphetamine between 16 June 2022 and 28 September 2022 (133.25 grams)
  • Charge 2 - Traffick ketamine between 08/7/22 - 21/9/22 (32.85 grams)
  • Charge 3 - Traffick 1,4-butanediol on 17 July 2022 (20 grams)
  • Charge 4 - Traffick MDMA on 12 August 2022 (2 grams)
  • Charge 5 - Traffick methylamphetamine on 5 October 2022 (192.2 grams)
  • Charge 6 - Traffick 1,4-butanediol on 5 October 2022 (1,736.8 grams)
  • Charge 7 - Traffick drugs of dependence on 5 October 2022 (rolled up charge)

(i) MDMA - 48.9 grams > > (ii) Cocaine - 73.4 grams > > (iii) Ketamine - 29.6 grams > > (iv) LSD - 130 milligrams > > (v) Pentylone - 26.5 grams > > (vi) Cannabis - 103 grams

• Charge 8 - Knowingly deal with proceeds of crime on 5 October 2022 ($11,661.70 cash)

Summary of offending - Indictment Q11633438.1

1. The second indictment relates to offending on 3 August 2024. At that time, you were living in an East Melbourne apartment with Mr Colin Barry. Mr Barry was 74 years old, and you had been flatmates for approximately 12 months. That morning, Mr Barry awoke to a text message from his building manager checking on his welfare after he spotted a damaged window at Mr Barry's apartment.
2. Mr Barry entered your bedroom and, upon observing the broken window, asked you what had happened. You told him someone had tried to come in and kill you. Concerned for your welfare, Mr Barry contacted a friend, Mukando Takudzwa.
3. Later that afternoon, a neighbour spoke to Mr Barry, informing him that there were loud noises coming from his apartment. Mr Barry returned with Mr Takudzwa and found a smashed glass door and furniture in disarray.
4. Mr Takudzwa left the room, and Mr Barry observed you holding a large silver kitchen knife in your hand. You advanced and held the knife in a stabbing motion. You thew an ornament at Mr Barry. It hit his mouth, splitting his lip and knocking him over. This offending is the subject of Charge 1 - Common Assault.
5. Mr Takudzwa re-entered the room and observed Mr Barry lying on a coffee table. You were standing over him saying 'fuck off, I'm gonna end this game, I'm gonna end it'.
6. Mr Barry contacted his neighbour, who phoned Triple 0, requesting police assistance. Mr Barry and Mr Takudzwa remained in the room with you. You still had the knife. You were agitated and lunged at Mr Barry whenever he moved.
7. Later that evening, four police officers attended the flat. First Constable Seymour directed you to drop the knife. You did not comply. You tried to enter the bedroom occupied by Mr Barry. The police deployed OC foam. You then ran towards First Constable Seymour and Senior Constable Kelly. You held the knife in a stabbing motion towards First Constable Seymour. This offending is the subject of |

Charge 2 - Threaten to assault emergency worker on duty. 8. The officers were forced to intervene and disarm you. You continued to resist. First Constable Seymour grabbed the blade of the knife, pinning it to the ground. You bit his arm, breaking the skin and causing a minor laceration. This offending is the subject of Charge 3 - Assault emergency worker on duty. 9. Constable Tabbitt attempted to stop you from biting Officer Seymour's arm, but you bit his finger down to the bone. This offending is the subject of Charge 4 - Intentionally cause injury. 10. Paramedics attended and sedated you due to your aggressive behaviour. You were transported to St Vincent's Hospital. 11. Constable Tabbitt required intravenous antibiotics and surgery under local anaesthesia for the wound to his finger. He was not medically cleared of having contracted infectious diseases until December 2024.

1. I was provided with a statement by Constable Tabbitt detailing the impact your offending had on him. He writes of the stress, uncertainty and anger he felt when he was informed that you were HIV positive, having bitten his finger to the bone. He describes thinking his life was ruined. He considered resigning as a police officer. He experienced overwhelming anxiety for three months awaiting his medical all-clear. He was forced to contemplate living the rest of his life with HIV.
2. He endured a harrowing limbo, months of fear and anxiety. He was given the all-clear, but the impact of your offending on him was deep and extremely intense.
3. Mr Barry conveyed to the informant that your assault was confronting and led him to fear for his life. He regarded you almost like a son and holds no malice now. He expressed compassion for you, saying he did not want you to suffer further. He hopes you will receive treatment for your mental health.

1. Your personal circumstances were summarised in a psychological report by

Dr Adam Deacon dated 15 November 2024. You were born in Indonesia and you describe being raised in poverty and being bullied. 2. You moved to Perth in 2015 where you studied cookery and hospitality. You relocated to Melbourne in 2020, working initially as an unqualified masseuse. You were diagnosed with HIV at age 24. You began using methamphetamine in 2019 and used regularly until your arrest in December 2022.

1. Mr McQuillan submitted that a term of imprisonment with a community correction order is within range due to your lack of relevant prior criminal history, your pleas of guilty, the fact that you are now drug free, and the application of Verdins principles. He submitted that your prospects of successfully completing a community correction order are good and that you are a low risk of re-offending as long as you comply with your prescribed medication and remain abstinent from illicit drug use.

1. Ms Caruso on behalf of the Crown conceded that a combined term of imprisonment and a community correction order is within range.

1. Mr McQuillan submitted that your drug offending is in the lower range for offences of this type. The Crown conceded that your role in the hierarchy for the drug matter was the lowest of all four co-offenders but submitted that it is not in the lowest range for the offence of trafficking simpliciter.
2. In my view, your drug offending is in the lower range of the mid-point for trafficking simpliciter, and you are at the bottom of the hierarchy among your co-accused. The prosecution conceded that you were not enriched by your role and it appears you were permitted to stay at the flat, in return for which you assisted your

co-offenders with their operation. You felt indebted to your hosts. It is not contended that the proceeds of crime was money you could use as your own. It was generated by the outfit's activities. It does not represent payment to you or profit you derived personally. 3. Ms Caruso underscored that Mr Barry was assaulted and threatened in his own home when he had given you a place to live. She argued that the police were attempting to aid Mr Barry and emphasised that you did not drop the knife when asked to do so but tried to enter Mr Barry's room. 4. She argued that the gravity of the intentionally cause injury charge is increased due to your health status and the fear that your victim would have experienced over possible transmission of HIV. 5. She conceded that the assaults and threats are not the gravest examples of those types of offending. 6. You were floridly psychotic when you offended against Mr Barry and the officers who attended to assist him. Your moral culpability is reduced heavily for this offending. You were obviously very unwell. Dr Deacon believes that you were also unwell during the period of your drug trafficking. Your moral culpability for this offending is reduced somewhat by the presence of your schizophrenia although there is some evidence that it was not symptomatic throughout the entire four‑month period of your trafficking. Nonetheless, on the strength of Dr Deacon's opinion, I am prepared to accept that your capacity to make lucid, rational choices throughout the time of your offending was compromised. Your moral culpability for the drug offending is further reduced by the minor role you played, the fact that your actions were done at the behest of others to whom you felt indebted, the fact that you did not profit, and you did not exercise any initiative or entrepreneurial nous of your own.

1. You have been in gaol for some time now. This has been your first time in custody. You have one prior appearance in the Magistrates' Court where you were placed on a Good Behaviour bond for possessing amphetamine.
2. Both Mr McQuillan and Ms Caruso submitted that your prospects of rehabilitation are provisionally guarded. It was submitted that there is a low risk that you will reoffend if you abstain from consuming illicit drugs and if you take your depot antipsychotic.
3. Your prospects of rehabilitation are reasonable if you can maintain your regimen of abstinence. Your schizophrenia is well-managed and provided you remain treatment-compliant you should avoid reoffending.
4. I was provided with a report from Community Correctional Services assessing your suitability for a community correction order. They graded you a medium risk of general re-offending and deemed you unsuitable due to your lack of stable accommodation, income and supports.
5. I was also provided with a report from Forensicare's Mental Health Advice and Response Service. The author of this report noted your diagnosis of schizophrenia and your current treatment regime but found that your ability to engage in a community correction order would not be impeded by your condition. To reduce the likelihood of re-offending, the following conditions were recommended:

(a) Ongoing review of your mental state, risks, and the efficacy of your medication;

(b) Dual Diagnosis Counselling for psychoeducation on your mental health vulnerabilities and to support your goal of abstinence from illicit substances; and

(c) Ongoing specialist medical review and support from Melbourne Sexual Health Centre.

1. You pleaded guilty at a relatively early stage in proceedings. The Prosecution accepts that your pleas have considerable utility. Ms Caruso noted that you are the first in your group to negotiate a resolution. Your matters resolved after a sentence indication on 21 March. The credit you get for the utility and administrative saving of foregoing a lengthy trial or two is substantial.

1. As noted, the Prosecution accepts that you are at the bottom of the hierarchy. Your co-offenders have not yet been sentenced and there are factors peculiar to you which have heavily influenced my decision to make you the subject of a combined sentence, principal amongst them your diagnosis of schizophrenia and your vulnerable psychiatric state when committing these offences.

1. Mr McQuillan submitted that your moral culpability ought to be reduced considering Dr Deacon's report. The prosecution submitted it is hard disentangling your drug use from your psychiatric condition. Ms Caruso noted that you were able to effectively conduct sales on behalf of the drug syndicate and limb 1 ought not be enlivened for your drug offending.
2. Dr Deacon believes that you were floridly psychotic in December 2022 and in August 2024. He writes that you are currently prescribed the depot injectable antipsychotic Palperidone. Consequently, the voices and delusional beliefs you had at the time of your offending have abated. The account you gave Dr Deacon of your trafficking is bizarre and disjointed. On the strength of this account, the observations detailed in the Justice Health file and your diagnosis of schizophrenia, I accept that your moral culpability is reduced.
3. I also accept that specific deterrence and general deterrence need to be sensibly moderated.

1. I was provided with transcripts of two recordings in which you gave undertakings to the police to give evidence against your co-offenders. These recordings have been provided to your co-offenders' legal teams. Mr McQuillan submitted that your sentence ought to be mitigated due to your cooperation with police and your offer of assistance. The prosecution submitted that your version to police is irreconcilable with the account you gave to Dr Deacon. Since your moral culpability is reduced based on the version you gave to Dr Deacon, it would be counter-intuitive to further reduce your sentence due to an account which, if accepted, undermines the reduction of your moral culpability.
2. The principles in R v Cartwright are well established.[1] Even where an offer to assist is not taken up, it may nonetheless qualify as a mitigatory feature. The account you gave to police is incapable of being used by the prosecution against your

co-offenders because it is contradicted by the version you gave Dr Deacon. They do not intend to take you up on your offer. That decision is understandable. I accept that your offer is genuine. You will be given a very slight reduction to acknowledge your willingness to assist and facilitate the course of justice, notwithstanding that the version you gave to police is singularly unhelpful.

1. You were granted a bridging visa by the Department of Home Affairs on

22 September 2023 pending their consideration of your protection visa application. Section 501(3A) of the Migration Act 1958 mandates visa cancellation where an offender is sentenced to more than 12 months' imprisonment and where they fail the character test. The Minister has the power to revoke cancellation.[2] That can be done where an offender passes the character test or where there is another reason why the decision to cancel should be revoked. 2. Mr McQuillan submits that the risk of deportation is a form of extra-curial punishment. You receive appropriate treatment and medication for your HIV in Australia. That care would not be available to you in Indonesia. If deported, you would need to live with your mother and sister in a small rural village with no clinic or hospital. 3. I accept that the risk of losing access to medical treatment constitutes extra-curial punishment. It is an unanticipated potential consequence of your offending. Whilst it might be argued that you are the author of your own misfortune in generating that risk, I have found that your capacity to make sound choices in the period of your offending was compromised. 4. It was also submitted that your risk of deportation imposes a greater burden on you in custody due to the heightened anxiety you have experienced. I am satisfied that custody has been more onerous for you because of this uncertainty. I have reduced your sentence a little to acknowledge that fact. 5. The prosecution referred me to the case of Loftus v The Queen in which the Court of Appeal summarised the relevant application of the risk of deportation to mitigation in sentencing:

The potential for an offender to be deported at the completion of a sentence is relevant to sentencing in two ways. First, the prospect of deportation renders the imprisonment more onerous because the prisoner will face the prospect of deportation. This, in turn, may render the incarceration more difficult.

Secondly, the deportation, should it occur, would constitute an additional punishment because it destroys the opportunity to settle permanently in this country.

In assessing, for the purposes of sentencing, the chance of deportation, it will be relevant to consider whether the sentence imposed would trigger a discretion, or alternatively a duty, to cancel the visa held by the offender.

Although the potential that an offender may be deported following sentence is a relevant consideration in sentencing in the way explained above, that potential cannot control or dictate the sentencing outcome. It would be an error for the sentencing judge to impose a sentence, that would otherwise not be appropriate, for the purpose of avoiding the operation of the Migration Act.[3]

1. I have had regard to these principles in arriving at my sentence.

Custodial sentence for offences against emergency workers

1. Section 10AA(2) of the Sentencing Act states that I must not impose a term of imprisonment of less than six months for certain offences against emergency workers unless I find that a special reason exists.
2. Mr McQuillan submitted that a special reason exists pursuant to s10A(2)(c)(i), in that you had impaired mental functioning causally connected to the commission of the offence. He submitted that this was not substantially caused by self-induced intoxication and relied on Dr Deacon's report. Dr Deacon observed that you were also floridly psychotic at the time of the August 2024 offence. He writes:

He falsely believed that this housemate was someone else. He heard voices that reinforced this delusional belief. He falsely believed he was being kidnapped. He thought he was in Perth. He appears to have been very confused.[4]

1. Dr Deacon added that you 'provided a rather odd account of the matters leading to the offence that is commensurate with psychosis'.[5]
2. Ms Caruso accepted that based on the report, special reasons apply. I accept that special reasons have been demonstrated on the balance of probabilities.
3. The prosecution referred me to the case of Karam v The Queen where the Court of Appeal warned against engaging in two-stage sentencing post-sentence indication.[6] The sentence indication should not be treated as an opening bid for future negotiation or as a benchmark for additional deductions. I have had regard to this in arriving at my sentence.

1. Pursuant to s5 of the Sentencing Act 1991, the purposes for which you are to be sentenced are:

(a) To punish you in a manner and to an extent which is just in all of the circumstances;  

(b) To deter you or others from committing similar offences in future;  

(c) To facilitate rehabilitation;  

(d) To manifest the denunciation of your conduct;  

(e) To protect the community; or  

(f) A combination of two or more of these purposes.

1. Any drug trafficking is inherently serious because of the damage it does. It is disheartening to discover that you are reliant on government-funded medical care to manage your HIV but resorted to trafficking to support yourself. That said, you were unwell when you trafficked and you were unwell when you offended against Mr Barry, Constables Seymour and Tabbitt. I accept that general and specific deterrence will need to be sensibly moderated in your case. Your use as an example to others is therefore blunted. Because of your psychiatric condition and your absence of relevant prior convictions, I have elevated the role of rehabilitation in your sentence. In doing so, I have not lost sight of the objective gravity of your offending.

1. What I am proposing to do at this stage on Charges 1 to 8 on Indictment N12694241, is record a conviction and place you on a community correction order for a period of 18 months from today's date.
2. Before I ask if you to consent to such an order being made, I have to tell you a bit about the order, so you know what it means.
3. The following Core conditions apply to all community correction orders:
   • You must not commit, whether in or outside Victoria, during the period of the order, an offence punishable by imprisonment.
   • You must report to and receive visits from the Secretary to the Department of Justice, or his or her nominee, during the period of the Order.
   • You must report to the Community Correction Centre at Sunshine within two clear days following your release from custody.
   • You must notify the Secretary, or his or her nominee, of any change of address or employment within two clear working days after that change.
   • You must not leave Victoria except with the permission of the Secretary to the Department of Justice, or his or her nominee.
   • You must comply with any direction given by the Secretary that is necessary for the Secretary to give to ensure you comply with the Order.
4. There are a number of other conditions attached to this Order, and they apply to you:
   • You have to perform 300 hours of unpaid community work over a period of 18 months as directed by the Regional Manager. 100 hours of treatment and rehabilitation satisfactorily undertaken are to be counted as hours of unpaid community work for the purposes of the unpaid community work condition.
   • You must be under the supervision of a Community Correction Officer for a period of 18 months.
   • You are required to be supervised, monitored and managed as directed by the Secretary, or his or her nominee.
   • You must undergo assessment and treatment (including testing) for drug abuse or dependency as directed by the Regional Manager.
   • You must undergo assessment and treatment (including testing) for alcohol abuse or dependency as directed by the Regional Manager.
   • You must undergo any medical assessment and treatment that may include general or specialist medical treatment or treatment in a hospital or residential facility as directed by the Regional Manager.
   • You must undergo mental health assessment and treatment including (but not limited to) mental health, psychological, neuropsychological and psychiatric treatment in a hospital or residential facility as directed by the Regional Manager.
5. I direct that I be advised by your Corrections Officer of any non-compliance of these conditions and I will then determine if the matter should be brought back before me.
6. I can only impose a community correction order if you agree to such an order being imposed. So I need to tell you just a bit more about that.
7. If you contravene or breach that order by committing further offences you can be charged and a sentence of imprisonment is one of the options that can be imposed for that breach.
8. You can also be re-sentenced for the offences that are before me. One of the options available includes a term of imprisonment.
9. For those reasons you need to be extra careful in the next 18 months. You cannot commit any further offences that might incur a term of imprisonment, otherwise you are back before the Court and you will be re-sentenced on these charges.
10. I also advise that if you fail to comply with any direction of the Secretary to the Department of Justice, that is a Community Corrections worker, a substantial fine can be imposed.
11. Now do you understand all of that?
12. OFFENDER: (No audible response.)
13. HIS HONOUR: Do you consent to being placed on a community correction order?
14. OFFENDER: Yeah. Yes.

1. HIS HONOUR: All right. Stand now.
2. On Indictment N12694241, you are sentenced to an aggregate sentence of

10 months' imprisonment to be followed by a community correction order of

18 months' duration. 3. On Indictment Q11633438.1, you are sentenced to an aggregate sentence of three months' imprisonment. 4. I order that one month of your sentence on Indictment Q11633438.1 be served cumulatively upon the term imposed on Indictment N12694241, producing a period to serve of 11 months before your community correction order commences. 5. You have served 428 days in presentence detention not including today. I have declared 11 months as time served against the sentence I have imposed. 6. Pursuant to s 6AAA of the Sentencing Act, I declare that but for your pleas of guilty, I would have sentenced you to 18 months' imprisonment followed by a two year community corrections order. 7. The prosecution seeks a disposal order. The making of that order is not opposed, and the order will be made in the terms sought. 8. Now you have got to sign your community corrections order. I will remain on the Bench while that happens.

[1] R v Cartwright (1989) 17 NSWLR 243.

[2] Migration Act 1958 (Cth) ('Migration Act').

[3] Loftus v The Queen [2019] VSCA 24 at [79] - [81].

[4] Report of Dr Adam Deacon dated 15 November 2024, 8[10].

[6] Karam v The Queen [2024] VSCA 164 at [42].