Jersey Unreported Judgments

 2001/201

ROYAL COURT

(Samedi Division)

 

28th September 2001

 

 

The Attorney General

-v-

Mark William Sneddon

 

 

1 count of:

grave and criminal assault.

 

Breach of 6 month Probation Order made in the Magistrate's Court on 24^th January, 2001, on guilty plea to 1 count of being drunk and disorderly and 1 count of malicious damage.

 

Age:     31.       

 

Plea:    Guilty; breach of Probation Order admitted.

 

Details of Offence:

On 29^th May, 2001, the defendant and his girlfriend (the victim) spent the day on the beach where the defendant consumed several cans of lager.  That evening the defendant continued drinking in several public houses. The defendant and the victim began to argue in one of the bars, as a result of which the victim left and began walking home on her own.  The defendant pursued the victim and started shouting at her in the street.  He gradually became more threatening and pushed the victim from behind causing her to fall to the floor; he then grabbed her by the hair and attempted to drag her along.  He kicked her several times on her arms and head and stamped on her head.  The victim believed she had lost consciousness at one point during the attack.  She suffered abrasions and bruising but received no serious injury.

 

Breach of Probation Order imposed by the Magistrate's Court on 24^th January, 2001, to 1 count of being drunk and disorderly and 1 count of malicious damage.

 

Details of Mitigation:

An early plea of guilty was entered in circumstances where the prosecution could not have succeeded easily; the parties are now reconciled; at the end of her statement which the victim made to the police she requested that she did not want the defendant to be prosecuted; the defendant had a tempestuous relationship with the victim.

 

Previous Convictions:

1988 & 1989: breach of the peace; illegal entry, malicious damage, larceny from a shop.  There were no convictions for violence.

 

Conclusions:

18 months' imprisonment; 6 months' exclusion order from licensed premises of 1^st and 7^th category.

Breach of Probation Order: 1 month's imprisonment on each count, concurrent, but consecutive to 18 months sentence.

 

Sentence and Observations of Court:

240 hours Community Service Order.

Breach of Probation Order: 50 hours Community Service Order on each count, concurrent.

6 months' exclusion order from licensed premises.

2 year Probation Order.

In exceptional circumstances, individualised sentence possible.

 

 

The Attorney General.

Advocate P. de C. Mourant for the Defendant.

 

 

 

JUDGMENT

 

 

THE DEPUTY BAILIFF:

1.        Sneddon, this was a nasty attack on your girlfriend.  There was an argument in the street, you punched her to the ground and then you kicked her several times causing bruising to both her ears, to her forehead and to her arms.  The Court takes a strict view of such offending and it almost always leads to a prison sentence.

2.        The Attorney General has taken a starting point of three years for this offence.  Indeed he has gone further and asked us to endorse the general statement that three years is the correct starting point for an attack in a public place involving a series of kicks with a lightly shod foot to the head and body of a person on the ground.

3.        We understand the desire for guidelines but we do not feel able to endorse such a precise statement.  Even within these parameters there are many variables.  How many kicks?  How hard were the kicks?  Kicks can vary enormously in the strength with which they are carried out.  What were the injuries?  What led up to the assault?  And there may be other variables that we have not stated.  What we do say is that for the facts of this particular offence we agree that a starting point of three years is correct.

4.        However, Mr. Mourant has argued strongly that we should not impose a prison sentence.  He has referred to powerful mitigation.  He refers first to your guilty plea and we agree that that was particularly significant here because the victim (your girlfriend) did not wish to  proceed.  There was no other evidence in relation to the assault.

5.        Secondly, he points out that there is no evidence of any serious injuries and that you have no previous convictions for violence.  He relies strongly upon the fact that the victim did not at any stage wish there to be a prosecution.  You are still living together and she earnestly wishes there not to be a prison sentence.  It is clear to us that you are remorseful.  It is also clear to us that you have a drink problem and that you incline towards violent or uncontrolled behaviour when you have had too much to drink.

6.        Taking all these matters into account and all the matters dealt with very thoroughly in the social inquiry report we think we can proceed on this case by an individualised sentence.  In other words we will not send you to prison.  The most important thing, we consider, is that you should undergo the courses referred to by the Probation Service in the hope that this will enable you to address your problems and not re-offend in this way.  Our main concern in this case is the protection of your partner and we wish to do all we can to ensure that there is no repetition.

7.        The sentence of the Court therefore is one of 2 years' probation.  We do not impose a condition that you attend particular courses, that would be a matter for the Probation Service, but we strongly support the need for you to attend the two courses suggested.  Secondly, because this was such a serious assault you must serve a period of community service and we impose a sentence of 240 hours which you must carry out within the next twelve months.

8.        We state, as we are required to by law, that the sentence of imprisonment which we would have passed would have been 18 months.  We think the Crown's conclusions were absolutely correct.  In relation to the breach of probation you are sentenced to 50 hours' community service, concurrent, making a total of 240 hours.  Furthermore, we make an exclusion order so that you are not allowed into any 1^st or 7^th category public houses for the next six months.

9.        Finally, Sneddon, I must warn you that you must stick by these orders.  If you do not turn up to see the Probation Officer, if you do not carry out the community service, if you do not attend the courses, or if you re-offend you will be brought back before us and I can assure you that if you are brought back you will go to prison for a lengthy period in the way that we have described because this was a serious offence. You can consider yourself extremely lucky.

 

Authorities

AG-v-Mallet (24^th May, 2000) Jersey Unreported; [2000/87].

Mallet-v-AG (14^th July, 2000) Jersey Unreported; [2000/134].

AG-v-Le Mains (20^th October, 1996) Jersey Unreported.

Le Monnier-v-AG (27^th October, 2000) Jersey Unreported; [2000/208].