Downing Centre Local Court dismissed the case against our 50 year old client from Paddington who was charged with ‘dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage‘ after making 268 fraudulent claims for payment over an 8 month period by accessing the Medibank Private online payment system.
Our lawyers obtained medical reports showing that our client suffers from Major Depressive Disorder.
We argued that the matter should be dealt with under ‘section 32’ of the Mental Health (Forensic Provisions) Act 1990 which allows a court to dismiss charges without conviction and without any finding of guilt if a person suffers from a ‘mental condition’ and it is ‘appropriate’ to place them on a treatment plan rather than imposing a criminal conviction.
The Magistrate accepted our argument and dismissed all charges against our client.