TAC successfully prosecuted the accused in the Magistrates’ Court.

The accused was charged with fraudulently obtaining benefits and providing TAC with false and misleading information as a result of a TAC investigation.

The accused was involved in a transport on 23 May 2021 where the client was driving through an intersection and was struck by the offending vehicle who disobeyed a traffic control signal. The client sustained neck and knee injuries as well as traumatic shock as a result.

The TAC investigation resulted in evidence being obtained which indicated that the accused had returned to work as a consol operator at a service station commencing November 2022.  This evidence included witness statements, surveillance and banking records.

The accused plead guilty after several adjournments of the matter and was represented at the plea hearing.

After hearing a summary of the offending, the court heard submissions from the accused’s legal representative, those submissions included the accused’s background and the accused’s ongoing injuries as a result of the transport accident.  They also advised the court that the accused was now employed.

The prosecution was then afforded the opportunity to provide submissions on sentence; these submissions centered on the need for general deterrence and denunciation but also highlighted that the offending was relatively prolonged and essentially a breach of trust of the community. The Prosecution also submitted that a conviction was warranted in the circumstances.

HH Magistrate then handed down their sentence =

Without Conviction the client was fined $2,500.00 as an aggregate order.  The accused was also ordered to pay compensation of $10,795.20 and professional costs of $1,713.00.  (Both compensation and costs orders were made for TAC to arrange collection.)

In their sentencing remarks HH provided the following, they noted the seriousness of the offending and the breach of trust as noted by the Prosecution, but also noted the accused had no criminal priors had pleaded guilty and was remorseful providing relevant character references. On the issue of whether or not to record a conviction as they noted with a conviction the client was unlikely to be able to continue working in the current employment.  They then noted this would be counterproductive for TAC being able to enforce the compensation order and for that reason they chose not to record a conviction in this case.

Restitution:	$10,795.20
Total Fines:	$2,500
Disbursements:	$
Statutory Costs:	$
Professional Costs:	$1,713

Stay: