R v MURPHY [2009] NSWDC 58

New South Wales District Court

CITATION: R v MURPHY [2009] NSWDC 58

18 December 2008 HEARING DATE(S): 19 December 2008 6 March 2009

JUDGMENT DATE: 6 March 2009

JURISDICTION: Criminal

JUDGMENT OF: Berman SC DCJ

DECISION: In each matter sentenced to concurrent periods of imprisonment consisting of head sentence of 2 years and a non parole period of 12 months. Ordered to be served by way of periodic detention.

CATCHWORDS: Criminal law - Sentence - Obtain financial advantage by deception - Breach of trust - Previous convictions for similar matters.

LEGISLATION CITED: Crimes Act 1900

PARTIES: The Crown Katrina Murphy

FILE NUMBER(S): DC 2004/11/0506

COUNSEL: A Seeto (The Crown) G Brady (Offender)

SOLICITORS: NSWDPP Nyman Gibson Stewart

SENTENCE

1 HIS HONOUR: Katrina Murphy appears for sentence today, having pleaded guilty at an earlier time to three offences of obtaining financial advantage by deception. These offences were committed some time ago, in 2001. The reason for the delay in dealing with the matter is quite simple, Ms Murphy did not appear at her trial when required to do so in 2004. A warrant was issued for her arrest and it was only recently executed.

2 Ms Murphy's offences were committed in a remarkably simple way. She was connected with the payroll of Ord Minnett Cash Management Trust. It was her job, along with others, to ensure that the employees were paid. To do that she had to engage in some electronic banking, transmitting to Westpac details of who was to be paid and how much. On each occasion she simply altered the electronic banking records so that payments were made to her bank account, for employees who no longer worked at Ord Minnett. By that remarkably simple means she obtained, as far as count one is concerned, $7,255.79 cents; as far as count two is concerned $5,238.16 cents; and as far as count three is concerned $6,679.50 cents.