STATE OF TASMANIA v MARISSA HOWARD 9 OCTOBER 2025
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE BRETT J
Ms Howard, you have pleaded guilty to one count of stealing and one count of fraud.
The crimes were committed when you held the volunteer position of treasurer of the Rosebery RSL sub branch. In that position, you had access to and management of all of the organisation’s finances, including cash received by it from its activities including bar and meal sales and gambling income. Over a period of approximately three months in late 2023, you simply took and used all of the organisation’s income for your own purposes. You also transferred money from a Grants program which had been kept aside for the purpose of renovations and repairs on the organisation’s building, and used it to pay recurring expenses of the organisation. You did this to cover up the fact that you had taken the cash which should have been used for that purpose.
In total, you stole approximately $47,000. The grant which was wrongly used to meet recurring expenses was in the sum of $10,000.
Your criminal conduct continued until the theft was discovered by other officers of the RSL. This occurred when outside suppliers complained that they were not being paid. It seems that the RSL has now entered administration. The losses caused by you were a factor, but not the sole reason, for the organisation’s financial problems which have led to that outcome.
You are 41 years of age. Your prior convictions are limited to traffic matters and some very old street offences. I am told that you have a long history of community engagement and volunteer work. At the time of the offending, you had the care of your own two children and four nieces under a kinship foster arrangement. Difficulties arose when your nieces were not returned to you after a visit to their mother. You were required to go to court, and the situation caused problems with Centrelink payments. At the same time, your husband lost his job, and you were getting no income at all. All of this caused a very difficult and stressful situation and you turned to gambling in an effort to relieve your financial problems, but this of course just caused further loss and difficulty. It was in the midst of these circumstances that you started to take money from the organisation and the problem quickly got out of hand.
It seems that you have attempted to repay some of the money. As I understand it you have repaid approximately $10,000 reducing the outstanding debt due by you to $36,700. You claim to be remorseful for your conduct and are resolved to repay the balance although it is not clear how you will obtain the resources necessary to do so.
There are clearly serious aspects to this offending. You took a substantial amount of money from a nonprofit organisation set up for community benefit. It could not afford the loss caused by your theft and is now, partly because of that, in administration. Further, your conduct was a significant breach of the trust placed in you by the members of the organisation. Your crime came to an end, not because you desisted, but because you were discovered. On the other hand, your offending was unsophisticated and was eventually bound to come to light. I accept that your conduct was out of character and largely a response to the very difficult and stressful circumstances in which you found yourself.
Ultimately however, crimes of this nature are relatively easy to commit but cause considerable suffering and loss to innocent people. They are also particularly amenable to general deterrence. That is an important sentencing consideration in this case.
I am of the view that the requirement of general deterrence requires the imposition of a sentence of imprisonment. However, when I have regard to the mitigating features of your conduct, including your plea of guilty, I am of the opinion that you should be given the opportunity to avoid actual imprisonment. Accordingly, I intend to impose a wholly suspended sentence. Further, the presentence report indicates that there are circumstances in your life at the moment which could benefit from support and has expressed the opinion that rehabilitation is best achieved by a community-based order. This can be achieved by making the suspended sentence which is conditional on supervision. It will also provide for the performance of community service to ensure some immediate punishment..
Accordingly, the orders I make are as follows:
- You are convicted of the crimes to which you have pleaded guilty;
- You are sentenced to a global term of 12 months imprisonment, the whole of which will be suspended for a period of 18 months on the following conditions:
- i that you are not to commit another offence punishable by imprisonment during that period.
- ii that you will be subject to the supervision of a probation officer. You must comply with this condition for a period of 18 months. That period will commence from today. The Court notes that the conditions referred to in s 24(5B) of the Sentencing Act apply to this condition. These include that you must report to a probation officer within three clear days of today. In addition to the core conditions the order shall also include the following special conditions:
you must, during the operational period of the order,
- attend educational and other programs as directed by the Court or a probation officer;
- submit to the supervision of a probation officer as required by the probation officer;
- submit to medical, psychological or psychiatric assessment or treatment as directed by a probation officer;
- that you will perform community service for a period of 140 hours. The Court notes that the sections referred to in s 24 (5A) of the Sentencing Act apply to this condition. For the purpose of those provisions:
- (a) you must report to a probation officer at the office of community corrections in Burnie within three clear days of today and
- (b) the operational period of the order is 18 months.
- I make a compensation order in favour of Rosebery RSL Sub Branch Inc AKA Rosebery District RSL and Ex-Services Club Inc (in liquidation) in the sum of $36,700.