TAC successfully prosecuted the accused in the Magistrates’ Court.

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

The accused was involved in a transport on 25 May 2020 as a backseat passenger of a vehicle that was hit from behind.  The accused sustained lower back and neck injuries as a consequence.

The TAC investigation resulted in evidence being obtained which indicated the accused returned to work as a painter and cleaner working on a subcontractor basis.  This return to employment was not disclosed to TAC.

The accused plead guilty to one rolled up charge under section 116 – fraudulently obtaining benefits and was represented at the hearing.

After hearing a summary of the offending, the court heard submissions from the accused’s legal representative, those submissions included centered predominantly on the psychiatrists reports and letters prepared for the plea which explained the accused’s PTSD as a result of the accused being the victim of physical and torture while being held in custody in his country of origin.

The prosecution was then afforded the opportunity to provide submissions on sentence, these submissions centred on the need for there to be general deterrence and denunciation of the offending and that in the current circumstances there needed to be a conviction recorded while accepting that a community corrections order was within range.

HH Magistrate then handed down their sentence =

Without Conviction - a 24 month Community Corrections Order with one condition that he perform 100 hours of unpaid Community Work.  The accused was also ordered to pay TAC Compensation of $36,627.20 and TAC costs of $2,715.00.

In their sentencing remarks, HH provided the following, while general deterrence and specific deterrence are applicable – general deterrence is higher with no further specific deterrence required.  They took into the accused personal circumstances as provided for in the Psychiatric Reports and found the accused was not a vehicle for more onerous general deterrence.  But for the accused’s personal circumstances the outcome would have been very different.

Restitution:	$36,627.20
Total Fines:	$
Disbursements:	$
Statutory Costs:	$
Professional Costs:	$2,715

Stay: