Heidelberg Magistrates’ Court 2022 guilty pleas: how defendants explained their crimes
From having a bad day to doing a good deed — northern suburbs offenders almost always have an explanation after being busted breaking the law.
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Every offender who pleads guilty at Heidelberg Magistrates’ Court accepts the written summary of their crimes presented by police.
But that doesn’t stop them having their say on why they did what they did, often in hopes of getting a lesser sentence.
The colourful excuses offered up on a daily basis at times beggar belief.
Here, we’ve rounded up some of the standouts from the year to date — in alphabetical order — and whether or not they convinced the magistrate.
Fixing his smile
Convicted thief Ali Ali, 51, fraudulently claimed more than $4000 in Medicare benefits to “get money to fix his teeth”.
The court heard Ali claimed $4376 in benefits for anaesthetic services he never received from a Burwood East dental clinic after he was approached by an individual who provided him with a false computer-generated invoice.
An investigation found multiple people made more than 100 fraudulent claims relating to the same Melbourne anaesthetist, using similar invoices.
Ali’s lawyer confirmed his client was “naive enough” to take up the staff member’s alleged offer, but added his limited English-speaking abilities “definitely formed a part of his understanding of what was going on at the time”.
The lawyer said Ali had been “going through a tremendous amount of difficulty” around the time of the offending, including using illicit substances and committing other offences that led to a “significant” term of imprisonment with a non-parole period.
The magistrate sentenced Ali to a $500 three-month good behaviour bond with conviction and ordered he pay $4376 restitution.
“The scheme or the scam that appears to have been perpetrated by a staff member at the (clinic) wouldn't work if there weren’t people willing to make the claims and get the money into their accounts,” Ms Poulter said.
Chasing opportunity
“That’s not a normal speed to be going on the roads of Melbourne, or anywhere.”
‘Experimenting’ with meds
Mother-of-two Tasha Berthelot was banned from her local Kmart and Target stores after a midweek shopping spree in which she stole more than $500 worth of items including food and baby clothes.
The court heard Berthelot, 32, visited four stores at Northland Shopping Centre, loading trolleys with clothing, toiletries, drinks and food items, then passing through the check-outs having only paid for a small selection of the goods.
The former Craigieburn Secondary College student used the same method involving trolley dividers to conceal stolen items as she exited each store.
At Coles and Woolworths, she stole more than $200 worth of meat.
At Kmart, she stole eight clothing items with a combined value of $98.
At Target, she paid for two gift bags, but walked out with $256 in stolen clothing including pyjamas and Disney-themed baby onesies.
Her lawyer argued her behaviour was out of character and the result of “experimenting” with prescribed medication.
He explained Berthelot had “bad mental health struggles” and “pain issues” for which she saw a doctor weekly, and that doctor had in the lead up to the offending changed the dose of a prescribed antipsychotic.
“The problem was on the day, she had been prescribed Seroquel and they were experimenting with the doses,” the lawyer said.
“It was the playing with the medication — she wasn’t quite ‘there’.”
The magistrate acknowledged Berthelot was “on quite a large cocktail of medications” at the time of the offending.
The sentence was a 12-month good behaviour bond with a requirement to continue medical treatment.
No convictions were recorded.
Sharing the blame
A British expat who admitted to assaulting an Indigenous woman multiple times and calling her a ‘Black s--t’ tried to argue wasn’t the only one to blame for his crimes.
James Connors, 29, faced court charged with multiple offences against a woman including pushing her, spitting in her face, and smashing her iPhone.
Representing himself in court, the landscape gardener attempted to argue the woman and “the stuff that her family was doing every time they got a drop of drink into them” had played a role in his offending.
He said all the allegations against him had been “very over exaggerated”.
“It wasn’t about me being racist or being abusive — I never have been in my life,” Connors said.
“The reason why this has happened is because of their behaviour towards me.
“I was getting nothing but abuse from that family.
“It wasn’t a case of me being violent or super racist or a Nazi whatever.”
The magistrate said Connors did “not appear to be very remorseful” and asked multiple times if he wished to change his plea to dispute the charges.
“I note that you were taking issue with some of the surrounding circumstances, and I was concerned that you weren’t taking responsibility for your actions,” his honour said.
“You seemed to be asking me to attribute responsibility to other people.”
The sentence was a six-month community corrections order with a requirement to undertake a men‘s behaviour change course.
Connors was also ordered to pay the victim $1849 restitution.
No convictions were recorded.
‘Toxic’ relationship
Mechanic Jeremy Gino Daraxoglou claimed a toxic relationship was part of the reason he exceeded the speed limit by more than 70km/h at Yarrambat.
The court heard police clocked Daraxoglou doing 132km/h in a 60km/h zone on Ironbark Rd.
He told officers there was no reason for his speeding, stating at the time: “I just got a bit happy, I guess”.
Pleading guilty as charged in court, he explained he had been nervous when talking to police and had that night actually been “in quite a rush to pick up [his] girlfriend from a bar”.
He said he had since ended the relationship because he realised it was “quite toxic” in the way the woman “asked [him] to do things” and “always go out of [his] way”.
“I just made a really rash decision that night to try and get to her quickly,” he said.
The magistrate said the speed and circumstances of the offending were “pretty serious” and there was no way around the mandatory minimum 12-month licence suspension.
Along with the suspension, Daraxoglou was put on a 12-month good behaviour bond with conditions including that he continue attending counselling.
No convictions were recorded.
Faulty speedo
The sentence was a $700 fine with no convictions recorded.
Something fishy
No convictions were recorded.
‘Parental duties’
Montmorency chef Adam Richard Olsen, 48, was coming to the aid of his distressed teenage daughter when police busted him driving without a licence and with alcohol in his system.
The court heard the father-of-four got a call from his daughter about lunchtime on May 2, 2021 and shortly after borrowed a friend’s car to go and see her at her mother’s house at Point Lonsdale.
A police intercept at an RBT site on the Bellarine Highway at Newcomb about 3.50pm found Olsen’s licence had been disqualified in 2009 as a result of drink-driving and he was subject to a 0.000 BAC limit.
He blew 0.023 in a breath test and admitted to drinking red wine before driving, telling officers he had “parental duties” to complete “down the coast”.
The court heard Olsen’s daughter had been the victim of social media bullying in the lead up to the incident and Olsen was eager to comfort her in person after a long period of separation because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
He had failed to renew his licence after the 2009 disqualification because doing so would require an interlock and he did not own a car to which one could be fitted.
The magistrate noted four previous drink-driving charges on Olsen’s record and said he was “beginning to appear like someone who doesn‘t really want to get his licence at any stage and really just wants to drive whenever he feels like it”.
Olsen’s lawyer said his client intended to see a doctor because “he believes he is suffering ADHD”.
The magistrate sentenced Olsen to pay a $2500 fine and disqualified his licence for 12 months. A conviction was recorded.
“If you want to be able to be there for your [children], you‘re not doing them any favours by coming to court, by driving with alcohol in your system, and driving when you don’t have a licence,” the magistrate said.
Helping handyman
Bundoora concreter Robert Paolacci, 53, was on his way to “help a quadriplegic lady” when police busted him driving with methamphetamine and marijuana in his system.
The court heard Paolacci drank three cans of Wild Turkey and smoked a marijuana joint before getting in his daughter’s boyfriend’s car about 11.45pm to go and help a neighbour fix her washing machine.
A defence lawyer told the court Paolacci initially set off on a pushbike, before realising he needed tools.
“So he goes back to his house, gets in a car, and is almost instantaneously pulled over by the police,” the lawyer said.
“It proves you don’t have to be dead to be stiff.”
The court heard Paolacci had prior convictions for failing drug tests in 2015 and 2017. His licence was disqualified in 2017 and he had failed to renew it despite being eligible to do so.
The magistrate imposed the mandatory minimum 24-month licence cancellation, and a $1000 fine.
Fight with the ‘missus’
P-plater David Thomas Ribeiro was “p---ed off” after a fight with his girlfriend when police caught him exceeding the speed limit by more than 70km/h on a suburban street.
The court heard Ribeiro’s car was clocked doing 128km/h in a 50km/h zone on Waterview Drive at Mernda.
The 21-year-old’s explanation to officers at the time was that he had “just had a fight with (his) missus and was just p---ed off”.
Self-represented in court, he pleaded guilty as charged and reiterated that he was “not in a good mood” at the time of the offence.
“I was just upset,” he said.
“And yeah, it was stupid but it happened.”
The magistrate acknowledged the young man’s lack of prior convictions but explained a one-year licence suspension was the mandatory minimum penalty for speeding that was “so objectively dangerous”.
On top of the one-year licence loss, Ribeiro was ordered to pay a $1000 fine.
No convictions were recorded.
‘Just common sense’
Aspiring engineer Esat Saliu told the court he damaged the front of his local Domino’s Pizza shop because he “loves this country”.
The court heard Saliu kicked the glass entrance door of Domino’s Epping, leaving a significant crack in the facade and the business with a $770 repair bill.
He told police at the time he was upset with the business operator because they’d failed to clean up rubbish including pizza boxes from out the front of the shop.
Saliu argued in court what he did was “just common sense” after the business operator repeatedly ignored his requests to clean up the rubbish.
“I love this country, yeah?” he said.
“If you’re gonna litter, you might as well go back wherever you come from, you know what I’m saying?
“I busted him [the business operator] three or four times — it just kept on occurring; I just got sick of it.
“It’s just common sense, Miss — if you’re gonna run a business, clean your mess up.”
The magistrate expressed concern about Saliu’s apparent lack of remorse, and likelihood of lashing out again.
She told him “You don’t sound like you’re sorry”, and questioned if he had a mental health diagnosis or drug problem.
After being assessed as suitable for a community corrections order, Saliu was sentenced to a 12-month order with conditions including drug testing and community service, and ordered to pay the pizza shop compensation.
Horse in strife
Disability pensioner Deborah Jane Sinclair claimed she was coming to the rescue of a distressed horse when police busted her driving in Northcote while subject to a licence disqualification.
The court heard the 66-year-old was intercepted while driving a white Caprice on Westgarth St, and told police she thought the disqualification period had ended.
Facing court on crutches after a hip-replacement, she said her reason for driving that day was to visit her horses on a property at Wallan.
“I was rather keen to get up there — one of them was stuck in the dam,” she said.
The magistrate noted Sinclair had an “appalling” driving history and “must have been to jail numerous times for driving [offences]”.
The magistrate accepted Sinclair’s offending had decreased “dramatically” in recent years, and taking into account her physical condition, elected to impose a $500 fine instead of sending her to jail.
‘I was hungry’
“I’m fasting, maybe I’m hungry,” was the excuse offered by security officer Ahmad Taha when police caught him driving 27km/h over the speed limit on Burke Rd North, Ivanhoe.
The court heard Taha was clocked doing 87km/h in a 60/km/h zone and elected to have the matter go to court.
Representing himself, he pleaded guilty to speeding and explained: “It was Ramadan, I was fasting.”
“It was my first season fasting — I normally don’t fast and I thought I’d give it a go this year, and I was hungry,” he said.
The court heard Taha had three pages of prior driving and criminal convictions.
The magistrate did not accept that skipping breakfast caused his speeding.
“If it was 4.30 in the afternoon I’d believe you, but it’s only 11.50 in the morning,” her honour said.
The sentence was a $454 fine and the mandatory minimum three-month licence suspension.
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