R v Vu [2023] NSWDC 635

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: R v Vu [2023] NSWDC 635 Hearing dates: 11, 13, and 14 September 2023 Date of orders: 14 September 2023 Decision date: 14 September 2023 Jurisdiction: Criminal Before: Neilson DCJ Decision: See par [71] – [73]. Catchwords: CRIME – SENTENCE – PLEAS OF GUILTY – SUPPLYING LARGE COMMERCIAL QUANTITY of methylamphetamine (over 218 kg) plus knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime ($1.14M) – Prior good character – Disadvantaged background – Contrition and remorse – Good prospects of rehabilitation – "Manager" of drug warehouse. Legislation Cited: Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 Cases Cited: Ayk v R [2013] NSWCCA 119 Deakin v R [2014] NSWCCA 121 Hung v R [2019] NSWCCA 303 R v Ferguson [2022] NSWCCA 147 R v Ngo [2022] NSWDC 271 R v Wong [2019] NSWDC 233 Texts Cited: Nil. Category: Principal judgment Parties: Crown – R (NSW) Accused - Manh Cuong Vu Representation: Counsel: Crown – Ms Gray, F. Accused – Mr Boulton, P. SC.

Solicitors: Crown – Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions Accused – JBP Law File Number(s): 2022/00141136 Publication restriction: Nil.

Judgment

Charges 1. HIS HONOUR: Manh Cuong Vu stands for sentence as a consequence of pleading guilty to two very serious charges. The first charge is that on 9 July 2021 in Canterbury in this State, he did supply an amount of prohibited drug, namely 218 kilograms, 716.55 grams of methylamphetamine being an amount which was not less than the large commercial quantity applicable to that drug. The maximum penalty for that offence is imprisonment for life and/or a fine of 5,000 penalty units. Parliament has fixed a standard non-parole period of 15 years which I would have to consider imposing if the offender had pleaded not guilty and was convicted of the charge and the matter was in the mid-range of objective seriousness. I must point out that the large commercial quantity of methylamphetamine is 500 grams so that the amount of amphetamine which was found to be in the possession of the offender was 437 times the prescribed large commercial quantity of the drug. 2. The offender asks me to take into account on a Form 1 three further offences known as sequence 3, sequence 4 and sequence 10. Sequence 3 is supplying 33.32 grams of 3,4‑methylenedioxy-methylamphetamine being an indictable quantity of that drug. The maximum penalty for that offence is imprisonment for 15 years. Sequence 4 is supplying 36.06 grams of cocaine, the indictable quantity of that drug, and another offence carrying a maximum penalty of imprisonment for 15 years. Sequence 10 is supplying 767 grams of 1,4-Butanediol, an indictable quantity of that drug, again an offence carrying a maximum penalty of imprisonment for 15 years. 3. The second substantive offence which the offender asks me to sentence him is the crime that on 9 July 2021, at Canterbury in this state, he did deal with the proceeds of crime, namely $1,144,650.00 in Australian currency, knowing that it was the proceeds of crime. The maximum penalty for that offence is 15 years' imprisonment. There is no standard non-parole period. 4. At the time that the offences are alleged to have occurred, 9 July 2021, the offender was 29 years old. He is now 30 years old and will soon turn 31 years.