Shepparton councillor jailed for attempting to pervert the course of justice
A REGIONAL councillor who threatened to release embarrassing recordings of and about the acting chief executive has been jailed for attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Law & Order
Don't miss out on the headlines from Law & Order. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A REGIONAL councillor who threatened to release embarrassing secret recordings of and about the acting chief executive, unless she withdrew a misconduct complaint against him, has been jailed for eight months.
Shepparton councillor Milvan Frank Muto, 54, played acting chief executive Julie Salomon a recorded conversation of two councillors making disparaging comments about her in July 2012, a month before she was to give evidence against him in a VCAT hearing.
County Court judge Frank Gucciardo said Muto told her there were many similar recordings, including one of a conversation between Muto and Ms Salomon, she would not want released on “Sheppileaks”.
He told Ms Salomon to withdraw her complaint against him and later contacted her to find out what she had decided.
Muto denied the allegations, but was found guilty by a jury of attempting to pervert the course of justice – a verdict the judge said was correct.
Judge Gucciardo said during Muto told the jury during his “unimpressive” evidence that he played Ms Salomon the recordings and told her to come clean about what he perceived to be misallocated government funds.
The judge said police later seized the secret recordings, which Muto claims he and a number of other residents received in the mail.
Judge Gucciardo said he did not reach any definitive findings on the genesis of the recordings or their legality, which was irrelevant to the charge against Muto.
He said Muto – whose four-year disqualification from his position due to findings of misconduct and gross misconduct is the subject of appeal at the Supreme Court – had a “disarming approach” that had divided the local community since he was first elected to local council in 2008.
“There can be little doubt that your time on the council had been turbulent and divisive,” the judge told Muto.
He queried whether his conduct was the result of being worn down by public castigation, including derisive and punitive stories in the local paper.
Judge Gucciardo said the father of two, being a person holding public office, not only abused his position and breached the trust of his voters, but cast doubt on the integrity of public administration.
He said a prison sentence was “the only answer in this case”.
“Attempting to pervert the course of justice strikes at the heart of its proper administration,” the judge said.
“The public confidence in the justice system will be lost unless it is made clear that such an offence will bring a prison sentence.”
The judge said he took Muto’s personal circumstances – including his anxiety and depression – into account in arriving at the “lenient disposition”.
Judge Gucciardo said Muto’s prior offending, which led to him spending time in prison for a brutal assault, showed he took the law into his own hands.
He said it was a pity for a person who has contributed to the community to have jeopardised his standing and his ability to contribute in the future.
The judge allowed Muto’s family to approach him in the dock to say goodbye before he was led into custody.