Woman sentenced for perverting the course of justice after landmark slavery case
On 23 April 2021, a Victorian Supreme Court jury found Mrs Kumunthini Kannan and Mr Kandasamy Kannan guilty of possessing and using a person as a domestic slave in their Melbourne home. This followed an investigation by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and lengthy prosecution by the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions.
The Kannan couple were charged with 2 modern slavery offences contrary to s270.3(1) of the Criminal Code (Cth). Charge one was for intentionally possessing a slave and charge 2 was for intentionally exercising over a slave, powers attaching to the right of ownership.
On 21 July 2021, Mrs Kannan was sentenced to 4 years’ imprisonment for charge one and 8 years’ imprisonment for charge 2, to be served concurrently, and with a 4 year non-parole period. Mr Kannan was sentenced to 3 years’ imprisonment for charge one and 6 years’ imprisonment for charge 2, to be served concurrently and with a 3 year non-parole period.
The Kannans sought to appeal their convictions and sentences, however, on 21 March 2023, the Supreme Court of Victoria Court of Appeal dismissed those appeals in Kannan and Kannan v The King [2023] VSCA 58.
In a related but separate matter, Mrs Kannan pleaded guilty to one charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice, contrary to s43(1) of the Crimes Act 1914 (Cth) and was sentenced on 7 July 2023 to 2 years and 6 months’ imprisonment.
The matter
The victim, who the jury concluded was the Kannans’ slave, arrived in Melbourne from Tamil Nadu, India, on 5 July 2007 on a one-month tourist visa. Prior to the victim’s departure, an oral agreement was made by the Kannans outlining the domestic services they expected the victim to provide at their Mount Waverley home. The victim’s travel costs and visa were organised and paid for by the Kannans and upon arrival, they took the victim’s passport.
The victim lived at the Kannan family home for 8 years, until she was taken to hospital on 30 July 2015. During those years, she cared for the offenders’ children and undertook a variety of household chores.
In July 2015, an emergency call was made requesting an ambulance attend the home where paramedics found the victim laying barely conscious in a pool of urine on the bathroom floor. She was in a perilous state of health, weighed 40 kilograms and was suffering hypothermia, altered consciousness, urinary sepsis and untreated type 2 diabetes.
The Kannans gave false and conflicting accounts to medical staff and police about the victim’s name, their relationship with her, the nature of her stay in Australia and the whereabouts of identifying documents such as her passport. The conflicting accounts resulted in the matter being referred to the AFP’s Human Trafficking team and an investigation commenced shortly thereafter.
In August 2015, the victim’s family in India, concerned about her welfare, contacted the Australian High Commission in India and the Indian High Commission in Canberra. As a result, on 24 August 2015, at the request of the Indian Consulate in Melbourne, Victoria Police visited the Kannans’ home to check on the welfare of the victim, who at that time had been admitted to hospital under a false name.
A search warrant was executed at the Kannans’ home on 1 October 2015 and the couple were arrested on 28 September 2016.
At trial, the victim gave evidence that the Kannans had taken her passport upon arrival, that she had been subjected to physical and verbal abuse and had been largely confined to the Kannans’ house, including during their annual trips to India. The victim also told authorities that her health had deteriorated from around 2012 and that in 2013 she had asked the Kannans to return her to India but was refused. The victim’s communication with her family was also limited and only allowed in the presence of the Kannans.
The CDPP submitted that the offending was premeditated and that the period of enslavement far exceeded that of any other slavery case finalised in Australia. It further submitted that they exercised various powers of ownership over the victim and that they committed serious offending which warranted the imposition of immediate sentences of imprisonment
Following a 10 week trial in the Supreme Court of Victoria, on 23 April 2021 a jury found each of the Kannans guilty of one charge of intentionally possessing a slave contrary to s270.3(1) of the Criminal Code (Cth) and one charge of intentionally exercising over a slave powers attaching to the right of ownership contrary to s270.3(1) of the Criminal Code (Cth).
The maximum penalty for each of these offences is 25 years’ imprisonment and/or a fine not exceeding 1500 penalty units.
Sentencing
On 21 July 2021, Mrs Kannan was sentenced to 8 years’ imprisonment for the first charge and 8 years’ imprisonment for the second charge, to be served concurrently, and with a non-parole period of 4 years.
Mr Kannan was sentenced to 6 years’ imprisonment for the first charge and 6 years’ imprisonment for the second charge, to be served concurrently, and with a non-parole period of 3 years.
The Kannans sought to appeal their convictions and sentences, however on 21 March 2023, the Supreme Court of Victoria Court of Appeal refused to grant extensions of time to appeal in Kannan and Kannan v The King [2023] VSCA 58. The Court held, inter alia, that the verdicts against each accused were reasonable and supported by the evidence, and that the sentences imposed were not manifestly excessive, nor did they breach the parity principle. The appeals were therefore dismissed, with the Court refusing to grant extensions of time to appeal on the basis that it would be futile to do so.
Landmark compensation award
Under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (Cth), the house in which the victim was enslaved, was restrained and subsequently sold. The sale proceeds, some $493,000, were forfeited to the Commonwealth.
Ordinarily, amounts forfeited to the Commonwealth under the Act are deposited into a Confiscated Assets Account, however, s100(2) of the Act permits the Commonwealth Attorney-General to otherwise direct the proceeds of the property.
In August 2023, the victim made a civil claim for unpaid wages under the Fair Work Act and the victim was awarded $485,411.12 in compensation, issued under a direction by the Attorney-General in recognition of unpaid wages and other entitlements owed to her.
Following payment to the victim, the remaining balance of $7,588.88 was credited to the Confiscated Assets Account.
The Attorney-General’s direction is the first of its kind under the Act.
Matters involving human trafficking and slavery offences can involve complex and lengthy prosecutions where victims require significant support. In this matter, the CDPP provided witness assistance support throughout the proceedings.
Perverting the course of justice
In a related but separate CDPP matter, Mrs Kannan pleaded guilty to one charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice, contrary to section 43(1) of the Crimes Act 1914 (Cth) which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment.
While facing trial for slavery offences, on 16 February 2020 Mrs Kannan called the victim and for over an hour, attempted to deter the victim from giving evidence in court against her.
The Court accepted the CDPP’s submission that Mrs Kannan’s moral culpability and the objective gravity of her offending was serious. It noted that the gravity of offending lies not in whether a perversion of justice actually occurred but in Mrs Kannan’s conduct which had the tendency to divert the course of justice from its natural path.
She was convicted and sentenced on 7 July 2023 to a further 2 years and 6 months’ imprisonment to commence 18 months prior to the expiration of her existing head sentence, resulting in a total effective sentence of 9 years.
Related links
Slavery matter sentencing remarks DPP v Kannan and Kannan [2021] VSC 439
Perverting the course of justice sentencing remarks DPP v Kannan [2023] VCC 1165