Friday, August 22, 2008

Winery bomb plot

Source: Wangaratta Chonicle 22.08.08
Court told defendant was emotionally stressed

A FORMER Cheshunt grape grower, who plotted to have Gapsted Winery blown up to look like "terrorists have done it", was suffering emotional stress at the time due to the disappearance and suspected murder of his mother.

Steven Bergamin (now of Grattan Street, Parkville) was working in the family business - Bergamin Wines and Spirits - when in late 2002, he began to plot the bombing, unwittingly engaging the services of an undercover police officer.

He pleaded guilty before the Wangaratta County Court on Wednesday to one charge of incitement to cause damage.

The court heard Bergamin was 19 when he began arranging the attack in the months after his mother, Kath Bergamin, first went missing that August.

Bergamin contacted an associate on November 29, telling him he would be paid to blow up the winery by an initial deadline of December 15, because he perceived Gapsted had a monopoly on the local industry and was undercutting the cost of grapes.

The deadline passed with little contact between the two, though Bergamin had said he wanted "the job done and I want it to look like terrorists have done it... I want to be there when it happens".

The associate contacted police soon after their first conversation, and he was told to pass on the number of an undercover police officer who would pose as someone able to arrange the job.

Bergamin met with the associate again in early January, telling him he wanted foundations destroyed so the winery could not be rebuilt, but was considering holding off until after vintage.

The undercover officer met with Bergamin on January 15, when Bergamin gave him a hand-drawn map of the winery, detailing its layout and size, and said he wanted the storage vats destroyed.

Despite attempts by the officer to speak with Bergamin over the next month, he did not get any further instructions from him until late February, with Bergamin saying he wanted to wait until May or June.

Bergamin last spoke to the officer on March 14 to tell him he no longer wanted anything done and "the problem is fixed", as he believed the winery was going broke.

He was arrested in June 2006, almost three and a half years after the offences allegedly occurred.

Defence counsel, Greg Lyon SC, tendered a psychological report to the court that indicated his client had been suffering from an adjustment disorder due to the disappearance of his mother, and the suspicions that he and his father, John Bergamin, were involved in the matter.

Dr Lyon said the emotional stress of this, combined with his immaturity, had led him to behave out of character.

The report stated Bergamin had "expressed profound remorse for his behavior", which the psychologist deemed to be genuine.

Dr Lyon added Bergamin was "full of hot talk and temper" at the time, but never wanted to go through with his plan, constantly putting it off, with the undercover operative and associate contacting Bergamin first on most occasions.

"He can talk the talk but he can’t walk the walk... and never quite wants to go through with it," he said.

Dr Lyon said it was clear the plot had been expressly terminated before any set plans were made, and no payment was ever made or even calculated for the job.

Character witnesses told the court Bergamin, now 25, had matured greatly since this offence, was hardworking and focused on completing his studies in agribusiness.

Crown prosecutor Bill Stougiannos said a wholly suspended sentence could be acceptable, considering Bergamin’s guilty plea, the circumstances surrounding the offending, his withdrawal from the plan, and his otherwise good character with no prior convictions.

Judge Pamela Jenkins said she would take some time to consider her sentence in what was "an unusual offence", not commonly seen before the courts.

Bergamin was bailed to reappear before Melbourne County Court for sentence on September 8.

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