46 Mr Leary considered that not long after these offences took place the Respondent had come to an acute realisation that he had "really screwed up" and that he had the capacity to lose a great deal and, in particular, his relationship with Ms Mooney. Mr Leary was aware that the Respondent had expressed similar sentiments in the past. However, he considered that the Respondent had shown tangible signs of change. In the course of his evidence Mr Leary observed that it was not accurate to paint a picture that "everything was rosy". He described it as being a constant struggle to keep the Respondent thinking positively of himself as a person who belongs within the community. However, the fact that the Respondent had obtained the cleaning job and was persisting with it was some evidence of a change in attitude.
47 In his report dated 5 June 2003 Dr Lennings stated:
"Mr Di Gregorio's response style on the test appeared open and frank and the resulting profile is likely to be a good indicator of his underlying personality. Mr Di Gregorio's personality is dominated by significant problems in controlling risk-taking and sensation seeking behaviours. As a consequence he reports engaging in impulsive and drug abusing behaviours that he identifies as having produced significant impairment in his life to date. Although on interview Mr Di Gregorio expressed hope in his capacity to remain drug free, his responses on the PAI (Personality Assessment Inventory) indicated a significant concern with the impacts of his drug use and fear of a return to substance abuse.
Mr Di Gregorio endorsed a number of items indicating anti-social behaviours and egocentricity. The majority of these items concern past behaviours, and Mr Di Gregorio does not appear to be trying to hide or obfuscate his very unfortunate criminal history. Mr Di Gregorio endorsed some items suggesting a transitory depressive state occurs from time to time. He described his interpersonal world as relatively empty and cold and presents as a socially isolated young man. He reports low self-esteem and a negative self-concept, although such a perception is understandable given the apparent harsh honesty with which he had evaluated his past anti-social behaviours and bleak interpersonal world.
Mr Di Gregorio reveals a personality pattern marked by impulsivity and tendency to volatility in relationships, but indicated he retained some effective control over frank aggressiveness. Rather unexpectedly given the historical picture, Mr Di Gregorio endorsed a number of items suggestive of a willingness to change and preparedness for treatment.
Overall the assessment indicates that Mr Di Gregorio is maturing out of what has been a long period of conduct disorder and anti-social behaviour dominated by persistent drug abuse and criminality. It is highly likely that an assessment of Mr Di Gregrorio even a few years earlier would have led to a dire formulation however, it seems that he is now genuinely seeking a way out of his prior self-defeating behaviour. Despite the profile of impulsivity, risk taking and anti-social behaviour, his behaviour over the last six to nine months mitigates against a diagnosis of personality disorder. It is probably too early yet to know whether the positive changes revealed in Mr Di Gregorio can be maintained, but it is the case that such changes are observable.
Formulation . Mr Di Gregorio presents as a young man who has an entrenched anti-social lifestyle and is of low cognitive ability. Nonetheless he appears to have begun a late maturation process and is currently strongly motivated to alter and change his behaviour. He has some insight into the most significant risk factors for him, which are boredom and drug use, and he sees as underlying this his lack of any regular routine or activity. However, Mr Di Gregorio also remains vulnerable to future criminal behaviour as a result of peer associations. Mr Di Gregorio seems to be unaware of the extent to which he can be fairly easily led back into crime through those associations. It would be very important for Mr Di Gregorio to be placed into fulltime employment as soon as possible, so that he is able to achieve his goal of obtaining a pro-social lifestyle."