Heidelberg Magistrates’ Court sentences, criminal matters, Tuesday May 31

It was an action-packed week at Heidelberg Magistrates’ Court with meth addicts and a ‘fisherman’ with a butterfly knife all taking the stand.

“Bizarre” behaviour, meth-taking truckies, and a fishy story about a knife featured at Heidelberg Magistrates’ Court this week.

Here’s a round up of seven sentences handed down in the criminal division.

Drug-drivers

Jerome Ali Kittikhoun tested positive for methamphetamine and was “unable to converse with police” following a single-vehicle crash on Gower St Preston on Christmas Day, December 25 2019.

The court heard emergency services responded to reports Kittikhoun was “rummaging through the centre console” of a Mazda coupe while “wearing his pants on his head and no underwear” following the crash about 10pm.

Investigations found he had driven over a roundabout at unknown speed and struck a sign post.

An ambulance took him to the Royal Melbourne Hospital for assessment and a blood sample about 12.20am revealed the presence of methamphetamine.

Police prosecutor Senior Constable Jean-Philippe Britt told the court Kittikhoun could not be interviewed at the time and a warrant was issued for his arrest after police “had trouble finding him for a while” after the incident.

Representing himself, Kittikhoun told the court he had been “in and out of the psych ward quite a few times” during 2018 and 2019 and was in a drug-induced psychosis at the time of the crash.

He acknowledged his behaviour “may have sounded a bit bizarre” but said he did not have control over what he was doing.

“It was very scary for me,” he said.

“Hearing voices, what was real, what wasn’t real.

“I was with my family that day but I was really uncontrollable at that point.”

Kittikhoun said he had since moved out of Melbourne to Apollo Bay and found part-time work at a supermarket and “helping out” at a local college.

He said he had not driven since the incident.

“I’ve grown from my old ways,” he told the court, describing regular sessions with a psychiatrist to treat “now permanent schizoaffective disorder”.

Magistrate Timothy Hoare noted Kittikhoun had no prior convictions for drug-driving but told him: “You could’ve killed someone”.

The sentence was a $500 fine, and six-month licence disqualification, with no convictions recorded.

Luciano Grande pleaded guilty to multiple charges including failing an oral fluid test after police caught him driving an unregistered vehicle with methamphetamine in his system in June 2019.

The court heard police intercepted Grande on Edgars Rd at Thomastown about 9pm on June 21 and immediately impounded the car he was driving after finding he had previously had his licence suspended for a period of six months for a drug-related offence.

They also found the car’s registration had expired in 2012.

Police prosecutor Senior Constable Jean-Philippe Britt told the court Grande’s stated reason for driving at the time was “to pick up a friend”.

Grande’s defence lawyer told the court his client had been hanging out with “the wrong people” — or in Grande’s own words, “idiots” — at the time of the offending but had since secured full-time work and committed to caring for his elderly parents.

Magistrate Timothy Hoare agreed Grande “seem[ed] to be on a good path”.

The sentence was a $1000 fine and 12-month licence disqualification, with no convictions recorded.

Nicola Iannetta tested positive for methamphetamine when police pulled him over on Cooper St, Epping for a routine check about 1pm on September 30, 2019.

The court heard the truck driver initially denied he had consumed drugs but later changed his story to say he had taken antibiotics and “Speed, I ‘spose”.

He pleaded guilty to failing an oral fluid test.

Magistrate Timothy Hoare noted: “You’ve got a bit of a drug problem it looks like”.

It was also noted Iannetta was “moving on from a very significant tragedy in [his] life”, was the carer of an 11-year-old daughter, and was likely to lose his job as a result of the latest offence.

The sentence was a $500 fine and 12-month licence disqualification.

A conviction was recorded.

Multiple drivers faced court after testing positive for methamphetamine. File photo

Daniel Ilievski tested positive for methamphetamine and marijuana after being caught speeding at Plenty in November 2020.

The court heard police busted the professional spray painter doing 84km/h in a 70km/h zone on Yan Yean Rd about 8pm on November 18 and he subsequently failed an oral fluid test.

Ilievski pleaded guilty to one charge of speeding and one charge of failing an oral fluid test.

He told the court he had cleaned up his act and secured a job painting horse trailers since the offending.

“I know what I did was wrong and I accept the consequences,” he said.

Magistrate Timothy Hoare imposed a $500 fine and six-month licence disqualification, with no convictions recorded.

A police officer holds a random drug test device. File photo

Mark La Vella pleaded guilty to two charges of failing an oral fluid test after police caught him driving with methamphetamine in his system twice in 2020.

The court heard on the first occasion, about 8.45am on May 10, La Vella denied having taken illicit drugs despite testing positive for methamphetamine while driving a tipper truck on Dalton Rd, Lalor.

The second offence occurred on Plenty Rd, Bundoora, about 3.30am on November 6, when La Vella told police he “didn’t think [he] had any drugs in [his] system”.

Defence lawyer Andrew De Kretser said his client was “devastated” to be back in court, having steered clear of trouble in recent years — apart from a 2013 logbook infringement.

“[2020] was a very low period — he was smoking meth to cope,” Mr De Kretser said.

Magistrate Timothy Hoare acknowledged La Vella had been returning negative drug tests at work in the lead up to his latest court appearance.

Mr Hoare imposed a $500 fine and six-month licence disqualification.

Serial speedster

Milos Dokmanovic blamed a fault with his car for being caught speeding twice in the same week.

The court heard fixed speed cameras detected Dokmanovic driving at 91km/h in an 80km/h zone in the Domain Tunnel about 10.20pm on October 14, 2020.

Two days later, cameras busted him doing 110km/h in a 100km/h zone on the Peninsula Link freeway.

Dokmanovic pleaded guilty to two charges of speeding but told the court: “I didn’t intentionally speed”.

“I had an issue with my speed sensor and I no longer drive that car because I can’t get it fixed,” he said.

He told the court he needed his licence to run a business and work seven days a week.

Magistrate Timothy Hoare noted Dokmanovic had accrued five demerit points as a P-plater and had been subject to a good behaviour bond for other offences.

The sentence was a $700 fine with no convictions recorded.

Speed cameras caught Milos Dokmanovic twice in the same week. File photo

Something fishy

Matthew Fastuca was fined $350 for carrying a weapon without a lawful excuse after police found him in possession of a butterfly knife during a traffic stop on Edwardes St, Reservoir in April 2020.

The court heard Fastuca, 25, was a passenger in a car emitting “a smell of cannabis” at the time of the intercept, about 12.30am on April 10.

Fastuca voluntarily produced the knife from within his jacket and told officers he had bought it on the internet a few years prior.

Fastuca’s defence lawyer told the court the knife had been used the previous night for the purposes of fishing off the rocks at St Kilda.

Magistrate Timothy Hoare told Fastuca “I know a lot of fishermen and they have fishing knives, they don’t have butterfly knives”.

In sentencing, Mr Hoare noted Fastuca was without an income after injuring his back during work as a concreter.

No convictions were recorded.

A butterfly knife is a prohibited weapon in Victoria. File photo