A Supreme Court judge has dismissed a Ballarat man’s appeal against his sentence, adding that the sentence imposed was a “generous one”.
Christopher John Gladigau, 48, pleaded guilty last year to 10 burglary and theft offences in Ballarat, Bendigo and Bacchus Marsh, and was jailed for five years.
At the time of sentencing, County Court Judge Gerard Mullaly said Gladigau’s “regular resort to crime was a consequence of his lifelong addiction to heroin”.
Judge Mullaly said many items of sentimental value had been stolen during March and April 2013, with the monetary value of stolen items just under $100,000.
“This sort of offending has a corrosive effect on our community,” Judge Mullaly said at the time.
“Ordinary people become fearful that their homes, and even themselves, are not safe. The community is heartily sick of house burglaries and the fact that illegal drug use is behind it only makes the impact on the victims all the more frustrating.”
Gladigau’s lawyers, from Victoria Legal Aid, appealed the sentence on the basis that the judge was given the incorrect information.
“There is an error in the aggregate sentence first imposed in that the applicant was sentenced on the basis that the estimated monetary value of the items stolen was $96,914 when, in fact, that estimated monetary value ought to have been $64,744,” the lawyers said.
“The learned sentencing judge erred by imposing a sentence on charge 24 [seven days’ imprisonment], which exceeded the maximum penalty available for that offence [five penalty units].”
Supreme Court judge Simon Whelan dismissed Gladigau’s appeals last week, saying “the sentencing judge’s reasons, if anything, understate the applicant’s criminal history”.
“The number of times upon which the applicant has been before courts and been convicted of offences involving burglary and theft is quite extraordinary,” Judge Whelan said.
“The applicant has at least 40 prior convictions for burglary or like offences.”
Judge Whelan said he did not believe Judge Mullaly treated the value of the property as of significance.
He said the matters which were significant were the 10 home invasions in the space of a month.
“Given the applicant’s history, the view the sentencing judge took as to his remorse and his prospects of rehabilitation seems to me to have been a generous one from the applicant’s point of view,” Judge Whelan said.
Gladigau is serving a five-year sentence, with a non-parole period of three years.
