Ashley Marmara, Edmund Nelson, Joshua Forrest and Karnaljeet Kaur Brar: the faces of Melbourne crime
Unlicensed driving while drunk, assault and possessing drug paraphernalia — these are the many faces of crime in Melbourne.
South East
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A nurse who went into an aged care facility while knowingly Covid positive during the height of the pandemic, a man caught with an ice pipe and a bag of GHB, a man who assaulted his ex girlfriend’s new partner and a woman who caused a major accident while drunk driving have all stared at courts across the south east.
Ashley Marmara
St Albans woman Ashley Marmara, 30, pleaded guilty in Moorabbin Magistrates’ Court after being caught driving unlicensed and under the influence twice in one night.
Fronting court on January 25, the court heard Marmara was caught by police speeding and drifting at 3am on a morning in June, 2022.
The court heard during the interaction with officers, Marmara admitted to being on drugs and having a suspended licence.
Despite this interaction, the court heard Marmara was behind the wheel again just three hours later, after which she caused a major accident.
The court heard she “ploughed into the back of another person’s car”, leaving herself will serious injuries and had to be hospitalised.
Marmara told the court the accident had been a “huge wake up call”.
“It was a realisation for me, it’s been a huge wake up call for me your honour,” she said.
“I’ve never really had the support or guidance from my family. I’ve grown up very quickly, I’ve had to learn things on my own.
“I’ve finally had the opportunity now, and the realisation that it’s never too late to fix things. I’m confident that I can do it. I do sincerely apologise and I’m glad nobody was hurt severely.”
The court heard Marmara, a factory worker, had been couch-surfing and paying upwards of $500 a week for Ubers due to her licence suspension.
“I travel from St Albans to Laverton. On public transport it would take up to two and a half hours, rather than the 25-minute drive,” she said.
Magistrate Stephen Lee said Marmara’s circumstances were “compelling”.
“You’ve pleaded guilty at the earliest possible stage and you’re clearly remorseful,” he said.
“You are trying to improve yourself at the age of 30, which I’m taking into account.”
Magistrate Lee said Marmara’s sentencing would be focused on rehabilitation.
“Try and address all those things that went wrong that morning. If those circumstances happen again, you need to make better decisions,” he said.
“Let’s hope this is a wake up call for you.”
Marmara was sentenced to a corrections order lasting 18 months, 100 hours of unpaid community work and a nine-month licence cancellation.
Edmund Nelson
Sandringham man Edmund Nelson pleaded guilty to possession of a prohibited substance and drug paraphernalia on March 1.
The court heard officers found Nelson in his black Subaru parked diagonally outside his home in October 2022.
The court was told Nelson had music blaring when the officers approached. The officers saw Nelson behaving erratically in the driver’s seat and because of this, officers decided to undertake a search of his car.
The court was told that officers found a black bag in the back seat of the Subaru, which, after further investigation, was found to contain an ice pipe and a small bottle of GHB inside.
The court heard Nelson told police he “didn’t know it was GHB”, and that he “didn’t want to incriminate himself.”
The court heard Nelson was on a waitlist for a drug treatment and psychology program.
Magistrate Raleigh fined Nelson $500 without a conviction.
“I can see you’re trying Mr Nelson,” he said.
“I hope you get off it, because if you don’t, you’ll be back here and onto a CCO or behind bars.”
Karnaljeet Kaur Brar
Clyde North woman Karnaljeet Kaur Brar, pleaded guilty to failing to take reasonable care for the health and safety of persons at her workplace, after attending her workplace at an aged care facility while knowingly Covid positive in the height of the pandemic in 2020.
Brar appeared in Moorabbin Magistrates’ Court in October 2022 to face the consequences of her actions.
The court heard Brar had attended her local GP in July 2020, presenting with a fever.
Advised to get a Covid test, Brar did that, but attended work the same night, before receiving her result.
Brar tested positive to Covid following her test, and claimed she had not been to work in the previous five days.
Duncan Chisholm, prosecuting for the WorkCover Authority, told the court this was a “clear disregard to community safety”.
“Ultimately, this is a very serious matter, where Ms Brar was a qualified and registered nurse, working in an aged care facility with vulnerable members of the community,” he said.
“It was her duty to care for the residents. She attended work and falsely claimed she didn’t have symptoms on three occasions.”
Brar’s defence asked the court to consider a non-conviction, as while Brar was an Australian citizen, her new husband was not, and therefore would be ineligible to apply for a partner visa to remain in the country.
Magistrate David Starvaggi said Brar required a “complete denunciation of her actions”.
“As we all know, tragically, many people passed away as a result of Covid outbreaks in other aged-care places. Fortunately that didn’t occur in this instance,” he said.
“This is a demonstrable example of a flagrant and persistent degree of disregard. It was deceitful, and was intended for Ms Brar to continue attending work.”
Magistrate Starvaggi said he found it “astounding” that the only sentencing option available to the court for Brar’s offending was monetary.
“Ms Brar has pleaded guilty at the very first opportunity, and I am taking into account the character reference from her sister,” he said.
“I am taking that as a demonstration of her contrition. But, a loud and strong message must be sent to people in positions of trust, such as health care workers and anyone else in charge of caring for vulnerable members of the community.”
Magistrate Starvaggi fined Brar $25,000 without conviction, and said he was giving her “the benefit of the doubt, given that there are no prior convictions”.
Joshua Forrest
Elwood man Joshua Forrest, 22, pleaded guilty to assault, after fighting with his ex-girlfriend’s new partner in October 2022.
Appearing in Moorabbin Magistrates’ Court, Forrest said his actions were caused by a combination of a toxic relationship and an ADHD diagnosis.
The court heard Forrest saw his ex-girlfriend and her new partner while he was driving, and subsequently pulled over to verbally harass the couple.
After beeping his car horn multiple times and yelling out the window, the court heard Forrest got out of the car and pushed the victim against a brick wall.
The court heard the two men tussled, before Forrest got back into his car and drove away along Nepean Highway.
Multiple calls to police were made when Forrest doubled back to continue harassing the couple.
The court heard Forrest continued to try to fight his ex-girlfriend’s new partner, punching him multiple times to the head, before police attended to separate the pair.
According to Forrest, the victim “started it” and he had only assaulted his victim due to “frustration” at his ex girlfriend, the court was told.
The court heard Forrest had been diagnosed with ADHD and oppositional defiance disorder, as well as being on the autism spectrum.
Magistrate Raleigh said despite there being no prior offending, there was no way to know this hadn’t happened before.
“This is a man who has continued to punch a person with no reason to do so,” he said.
“I don’t know if he hasn’t assaulted someone else before, he’s attacked this bloke twice, for absolutely no reason.”
The court heard Forrest had been undertaking anger management sessions and was seeing his GP and a psychologist to help regulate his emotions.
“Continue your anger management program and seeing your doctor,” Magistrate Raleigh said.
“I’m putting you on an adjourned undertaking, it’s basically a good behaviour bond. If you breach this, you’ll be back here and on a CCO with a conviction.”
gemma.scerri@news.com.au
