STATE OF TASMANIA v RACHEL ELLEN MORGAN 6 AUGUST 2019
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE BRETT J
Ms Morgan, you have pleaded guilty to one count of perverting justice. You committed the crime when you provided a sworn affidavit to police which contained a false alibi for a man who had been charged with disqualified driving. The affidavit assisted the man to receive bail after he was charged, although he eventually pleaded guilty to the charge.
You committed the crime when you were going through a very difficult time in your life. You were suffering emotionally from the breakdown of a long-term relationship, you had turned to drugs and were in the grip of a significant drug addiction when you were persuaded to make the false statement. It would seem that you were persuaded to commit this crime by the offer of drugs. Your use of drugs has caused significant problems to your life. This has included loss of employment and exclusion from University, where you were studying to become a nurse. You also lost the benefit of a scholarship, which had been provided to assist you with those studies.
You have since made some positive changes in an effort to get away from drugs and put your life back on track. You are now living at home with your mother and have effectively submitted yourself to her supervision. I accept that you are committed to reform, although it seems that it has taken you some time to get to this point. You have recently discovered that you are pregnant and hopefully this will motivate you to continue with your efforts towards reform.
This was a serious crime. Criminal conduct such as this strikes at the proper operation of the criminal justice system. In this particular case, the effect of your false statement was limited, but the potential to undermine the proper administration of justice was considerable.
You have no prior convictions of significance and have pleaded guilty at an early time. You also spent three nights in custody in respect of this matter. You have been assessed as suitable for supervision under a community correction order. In all of the circumstances, I am satisfied that this is the appropriate sentencing outcome in this case.
Accordingly, I convict you of the crime to which you have pleaded guilty, and I make a community correction order. You must comply with the order for a period of 9 months, and that period shall commence today. That period is the operation period of the order. The core conditions of the order require you to report to a probation officer and you shall do so at the office of Community Corrections in Hobart within three clear days of today. In addition to the core conditions the order shall also include the following special conditions:
(1) you must, during the operational period of the order, attend educational and other programs as directed by the court or a probation officer;
(2) you must, during the operational period of the order, submit to the supervision of a probation officer as required by the probation officer;
(3) you must, during the operational period of the order, undergo assessment and treatment for drug dependency as directed by a probation officer;
(4) you must, during the operational period of the order, submit to testing for drug use as directed by a probation officer;
(5) you must, during the operational period of the order, submit to medical, psychological or psychiatric assessment or treatment as directed by a probation officer.