Kidnapping...the FCA way

http://www.palsforjustice.com/news.php?extend.152

Who said Crime doesnt pay
There was an old saying that said "crime doesnt pay" but unfortunately somewhere along the way this was hijacked by social justice fanatics to such an extent that criminals now have the right to sue whilst in prison. Now anyone who goes to prison is entitled to be safe, but when you have an accident whilst performing a duty that is part of your punishment, then that is an occupational hazard and you should have to contend with that.

Well things have changed for the worst because now we have prisoners lodging claims for pain and suffering for accidents that people would find a little difficult to believe happened.One case in particular was reported this week and it involved convicted conwoman Toni Vodopic, who claimed damages against the State for slipping in a puddle as she mopped floors at the Dame Phyllis Frost Prison in Deer Park.

She claimed that the injuries sustained restricted her quality of life as well as her earnings power and she mysteriously had the case settled with a cash payment of $135000 excluding legal and medical costs of $45000 by the State, even though they never accepted liability.Centrelink were quick to get in and grab $3200 from this after it affected Vodopic's entitlements.

The only good thing to come out of this whole ludicrous decision, is that the money has been quarantined and made available for any of her victims to claim compensation against her.

One of her victims, Businessman Dean Reiley, was kidnapped and subjected to a severe bashing suffering cuts and bruises over a period of 30 hours for no other reason than a ransom of $3million. This money was apparently going to be used to cover up an earlier crime where she had fleeced family members of their money and was just about to be exposed.

Now what a wonderful caring person Toni is when you look at her past. Obviously her Lawyers thought so, because they put to the Court that this cheat would'nt be able to drive, play tennis, garden, or find meaningful employment.
Well with her past performances who would be game to employ her or even want to play tennis with her. One thing is for certain you would want an Independent umpire to adjudicate get the scores right.

 

Just in case some of you are wondering what the hell that's about. Toni and Joe Vodopic were FCA members....used to own millard's car, in fact. (it was slow then, too)

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/08/13/1029113928301.html

 

nope.

On August 14, 2002, the Herald Sun reported that an evil woman masterminded the kidnapping of a wealthy Melbourne businessman in a bizarre attempt to extort a $3 million ransom.

Toni Vodopic, 37, who manipulated family members into carrying out her scheme, also led a secret double life.

Vodopic operated a chic Toorak Rd fashion store and drove a Ferrari.

But she hid her past life as the former wife of Noel Faure.

Vodopic concealed her past from her next husband, undergoing cosmetic surgery and moving into society as an enthusiast with the Ferrari club.

She had a controlling interest in a Toorak Rd fashion store where Versace clothes and accessories sold for thousands of dollars.

But the rich and famous lifestyle began falling apart after she lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in a petrol import scheme.

Details of her ruthless plot to get out of financial strife were revealed in the Supreme Court.

It heard that Vodopic coerced her second husband, his elderly parents and her two daughters into taking part in her plan to kidnap millionaire Dean Reilly.

In May 2000, Mr Reilly, 37, was lured into a Mercedes Benz at his Mitcham workplace.

Over 30 hours he was beaten and terrorised, in the car and then at the Glen Iris home of Toni Vodopic's parents-in-law.

Mr Reilly failed in a desperate bid to escape from a moving car.

But he fought off his kidnappers, who tried to inject him with heroin and hit him with a piece of timber.

Mr Reilly was forced into signing prepared documents authorising the transfer of $3 million to a trust account.

But his bank became suspicious after it received the documents and refused to pay.

Prosecutor Boris Kayser said Toni Vodopic had pleaded guilty to a crime second only to murder and urged a lengthy prison sentence.

Mr Kayser said Vodopic was the organiser, producer and director of a crime committed for money and nothing else.

"Ms Vodopic, in committing this crime, demonstrated that she is a very evil person," Mr Kayser told Justice John Coldrey.

"He (Mr Reilly) was subjected to a prolonged sustained program of conflicting emotional stimuli . . . calculated to break his will to resist and, indeed, it succeeded."

The prosecutor said the experience was all the more terrifying for Mr Reilly because his kidnappers struck in broad daylight without disguising themselves.

"At times he feared he would not survive. The lack of disguise . . . encouraged him in that fear," Mr Kayser said.

"The circumstances indicated a degree of daring . . . a degree of ruthlessness and confidence."

He said Vodopic deserved a significantly longer sentence than a six-year term, with a non-parole term of three years, imposed on her husband Joseph Vodopic.

But counsel for Vodopic, Stratton Langslow, said her role had been much more passive than the Crown alleged.

He dismissed as self-serving exaggerations Mr Vodopic's claims that his wife had been the mastermind.

He said the kidnappers' lack of a disguise showed that the scheme was impulsive and hare-brained.

Mr Langslow said the trigger for the bizarre and fantastic kidnapping caper was the loss of $700,000 to $800,000 in a petrol importation scheme despite desperate efforts, including trips to various countries such as Singapore, to save it.

He said Vodopic's liberal attitude to the truth was highly likely behaviour she had adopted from childhood.

Mr Langslow said her significant personality dysfunction was most likely a result of childhood abuse, as well as of her 10-year marriage to a man who turned out to be a significant criminal.

He said a psychiatrist had commented on Vodopic's ability to manufacture a false reality, even being able to deceive herself.

"There is a lessened degree of culpability because of this disability," Mr Langslow argued.

He said that while it was easy for the prosecution to label his client as very evil, she had helped other prisoners come to terms with life in jail.

Mr Langslow also disputed this kidnapping was a bad example of the crime.

He said the lack of planning, the end of the abduction after 30 hours and the delivery of Mr Reilly to a hospital, and the lack of severe injuries inflicted showed that it was at the lower end of the scale.

Joseph Vodopic, 35, of Burwood, was jailed the previous April after pleading guilty to kidnapping.

His father Ivan, 71, pleaded guilty to assault and the case was adjourned for 18 months on an undertaking he be of good behaviour.

Jessica Regan, 19, Toni Vodopic's daughter, pleaded guilty to making a demand with menaces and was freed on a 12-month good behaviour bond.

Vodopic, of Church St, Burwood, has pleaded guilty to kidnapping, making and using a false document and attempting to obtain property by deception.

She was remanded in custody for sentencing.
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Can you imagine being kidnapped by people you know who beat you up and extort money? Like you wouldn't be SURE they were going to kill you. They wanted him to sign a document promising he'd never tell.

how stupid were they? It's beyond comprehension.

I went to the sentencing. I'm not sure if 10 years was enough, but I reckon every day in gaol would feel like a long time.

 

i'm not one of them.....just getting in before people start wondering

 

and just for the record too, this one's the only one i know of where i'd actually use the term 'crim'