A "catastrophic breach" of Victoria's bail system led to repeat sexual offender and murderer Sean Price raping a woman in a Christian bookstore, a lawyer has told a Melbourne court.
Sean Price was on bail in 2015 when he fatally stabbed 17-year-old Masa Vukotic in Doncaster, and then raped a woman at the Sunshine bookshop two days later.
The 33-year-old has been sentenced to more than 50 years' prison for the murder and the rape, but the second offence resulted in an additional charge of breaching a supervision order.
In a pre-sentence hearing for that offence, defence lawyer Michael Fitzgerald said his client, who had a long history of sexual assault and mental illness, was not adequately monitored while on bail.
"His compliance with the supervision order was unravelling some time before the offending," Mr Fitzgerald told the County Court.
"[Price] required scrupulous support and monitoring. That was not occurring."
Price, appearing via video feed, made lewd gestures and noise throughout the court hearing, prompting Judge Meryl Sexton to mute the audio and threaten to cut the video feed entirely.
Severe delusions and fantasy
Price has a history of paranoid schizophrenia and psychosis.
He spent five and a half years in a Melbourne psychiatric prison after a string of sexual offences, including the rape of a 13-year-old girl when he was 18.
After serving his sentence he was sent to Corella Place, a facility for sex offenders in western Victoria.
Later, after serving prison time for violent property offences, Price was released back into the community instead of being sent to Corella Place, where he could have been monitored.
Mr Fitzgerald told the court his client was now confined to a prison cell for 23 hours a day, resulting in severe delusions and fantasy.
"He engages in discussion with himself," Mr Fitzgerald said.
"He is effectively isolated from anyone apart from Corrections staff."
Mr Fitzgerald told the court his client should be given some leniency because he pleaded guilty to breaching his supervision order.
"Likely, he'll spend his non-custodial period, or most of it, in very onerous conditions," Mr Fitzgerald said.
He said Price was the victim of sexual assault and family violence when he was young.
But prosecutor Peter Rose, QC, said Price should be given the maximum sentence for breaching his supervision order.
"The seriousness of the breach must be reflected in the sentence," Mr Rose said.
Judge Sexton indicated it would be within a fortnight.
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