Jersey Unreported Judgments

 2002/85

ROYAL COURT

(Samedi Division)

26th April 2002.

The Attorney General

-v-

Ashley Anaise Hamon

Breach of a 12 month (supervised) probation order, with 180 hours' community service to be completed within 12 months, made by the Royal Court on 11^th May, 2001, following a guilty plea to:

Age:     26

Plea:    Breach admitted.

Conclusions:

Probation Order to be discharged; 3 months' imprisonment.

Sentence and Observations of Court:

Probation Order to continue, extended for a further 6 months.

N.M .Santos Costa, Esq, Crown Advocate.

Advocate P. de C. Mourant for the accused.

JUDGMENT

THE DEPUTY BAILIFF:

1.        On the 11^th May, for an offence of grave and criminal assault, this Court gave you a chance.  Normally, such an offence would have attracted a prison sentence, but this Court made a probation order with the condition that you carry out 180 hours community service.  We explained at that stage the importance of complying with it.

2.        Now in fairness, you have complied with the Order to a considerable extent.  You carried out 107½ hours and you have also complied with the probation officer's directions.  On many occasions, however, you simply did not turn up for community service.  It transpired that very often that was because you were ill and you had a medical certificate to prove it, but that was usually only given to the community service organisers long after you should have told them.

3.        When this matter was presented to us, the Crown indicated that there were 25 occasions on which there was no medical certificate.  Your advocate has this morning produced two new medical certificates which had not previously been shown to the community service staff as they should have been, but we are satisfied from this that you were ill on a further 10 occasions.  In other words there are 15 occasions when you simply did not turn up and had no excuse.

4.        Usually, people who fail to comply with community service or with probation orders go to prison, and that is important, because those sentences are not a soft option.  If offenders do not comply with them, we support the service by ensuring that they realise the consequences.  I have to tell you that this Court was initially minded to send you to prison on this occasion, so you have come within an inch of that.  We are impressed, however, with the efforts you have made to turn your life around.  Those efforts have continued notwithstanding the failure to attend on 15 occasions.  There is also a strong letter of support from your mother, which has been very helpful to you.  We bear in mind that you have not committed any offences for two years and we also bear in mind that you have been suffering from depression and other illnesses.

5.        All in all, and having regard to that and to the other information available on the papers in your case, we regard this as an exceptional case and we are going to give you another chance.  We are not going to make any order in the sense that we are not going to add to the time you have to carry out, but you must turn up, and if you are ill and have a certificate you must produce that to the community service organisers quickly.   If you come back before us again for another breach, I can tell you that you will go to prison.  There will be no further chance.  We note that you are not ill at the moment, that you do not have a certificate, and neither are you working, so we recommend that you carry out the community service - as much as the organisers can handle - in order to complete it as soon as possible.  You will then be able to go back to England, if that is what you wish to do. 

6.        So it is up to you now.  If you come back before us again for another breach you know what to expect.  There will not be a further chance.  We extend the order by 6 months, because it is about to expire.

Authorities.

AG-v-Hamon (11^th May, 2001) Jersey Unreported; [2001/103]