R v Kyla Michaela BURROWS [2007] NSWDC 28

New South Wales District Court

CITATION: R v Kyla Michaela BURROWS [2007] NSWDC 28

HEARING DATE(S): 08/02/2007

JUDGMENT DATE: 8 February 2007

EX TEMPORE JUDGMENT DATE : 8 February 2007

JURISDICTION: Criminal

JUDGMENT OF: Berman SC DCJ

DECISION: See paragraph [21]

CATCHWORDS: Criminal law - Sentence when serving a sentence for a more serious matter - Obtain money by deception - Position of trust

LEGISLATION CITED: Crimes Act

PARTIES: Crown Kyla Michaela Burrows

FILE NUMBER(S): 06/11/0984

SOLICITORS: NSW DPP Legal Aid Commission

SENTENCE

1 HIS HONOUR: Kyla Burrows appears for sentence today on four offences of obtaining money for herself by deception. When sentencing her for one of those, the most serious of the offences on the indictment, she asks that I take into account a further thirty-eight similar matters.

2 These offences all arose as part of the ongoing dishonest enterprise which Ms Burrows conducted in order to feed her drug addiction. Ms Burrows was awaiting sentence for supplying a prohibited drug, the prohibited drug being heroin. Despite being on bail for this matter she continued to use drugs herself.

3 She applied for and was successful in obtaining a job with a bathroom design company. As part of that job she was given access to the accounts of the company, which she was able to access electronically. She was able to transfer various funds and pay various suppliers. It was her responsibility to see that the company's bills were paid.

4 A very short time after she began employment with this company she began to divert company moneys to her own purposes. A cursory glance at the company's accounts would not reveal what the offender had done. She simply electronically transferred company moneys into accounts she controlled, either herself or with her boyfriend, but made it look as though the money had been used to pay the company debtors. This was not a terribly sophisticated scheme and one that was always going to come undone when someone who was owed money by the company made an enquiry as to why they had not been paid.