Jersey Unreported Judgments

Inferior Number Sentencing - harassment - grave and criminal assault - assault - attempting to pervert the course of justice.

[2015]JRC130

Royal Court

(Samedi)

12 June 2015

Before     :

T. J. Le Cocq, Esq., Deputy Bailiff, and Jurats Fisher and Olsen

The Attorney General

-v-

Pawel Lukasz Suchodolski

Sentencing by the inferior Number of the Royal Court, following guilty pleas to the following charges:

1 count of:	Harassment, contrary to Article 3 of the Crime (Disorderly Conduct and Harassment)(Jersey) Law 2008 (Count 1).
1 count of:	Grave and criminal assault (Count 2).
1 count of:	Assault (Count 3).
1 count of:	Attempting to pervert the course of justice (Count 4).

Age:  28.

Plea: Guilty.

Details of Offence:

Suchodolski and the female victim had been in an on/off relationship for around three years until she ended it in July 2014.  Soon afterwards she encountered the defendant on the street; as she tried to avoid him he chased after her demanding to know where she was living, who she was seeing and generally interrogating her.  As she again tried to get away from him, the defendant lunged to grab her, burning her shoulder with a cigarette.  Thereafter the defendant sent her many abusive text and social media messages, harassed her with calls and loitered outside her work which she was too scared to leave alone.  He later tormented her with messages referring to an unsuccessful pregnancy, attaching a photograph of an aborted foetus (Counts 1 & 2).  One evening in February 2015 he assaulted her as she entered her accommodation, running at the door as she was closing it, forcing it open and knocking her to the hallway floor, where he grabbed her roughly, squeezing her body hard causing her to scream and struggle; he struck her in the face and they continued to struggle until a neighbour arrived causing the defendant to run off (Count 3).  The defendant was arrested an hour or so later.  He said he had been with a friend all evening.  A search of the defendant's accommodation revealed a jacket with an epaulette missing, matching an item torn off during the struggle and found in the victim's hallway.  At the police station the defendant was afforded his right to make a telephone call, during which he directly asked a friend to provide him with a false alibi (Count 4), the detail of which was recorded.  On interview denied assaulting the victim or being at her address, until shown epaulette when he said "All true, I was lying."  With regard to the earlier harassment he admitted the calls and messages were made to upset her and that the aborted foetus message was "horrible".  Made full admissions with regard to asking friend to provide false alibi. 

Details of Mitigation:

Some guilty pleas indicated in lower court; on indictment entered simple guilty pleas to Counts 1 & 4, a guilty plea to Count 2 on the basis of recklessness and a guilty plea to a lesser offence of common assault on Count 3 which was charged as grave and criminal assault; the Crown accepted the pleas tendered. 

Previous Convictions:

None. 

Conclusions:

Count 1:	4 months' imprisonment.
Count 2:	8 months' imprisonment, concurrent.
Count 3:	10 months' imprisonment, consecutive.
Count 4:	3 months' imprisonment, consecutive.

Total: 21 months' imprisonment. 

Restraining Order sought under Article 5(1) of the Crime (Disorderly Conduct and Harassment)(Jersey) Law 2008:-

(i)      That for a period of 10 years (from release of custody) the defendant be prohibited from making contact by any means whatsoever, either directly or indirectly, with the victim;

(ii)     That for a period of 10 years (from release of custody) the defendant be prohibited from entering any part of the property of the victim, or approaching within 50 metres;

(iii)     That for a period of 10 years (from release of custody) the defendant be prohibited from entering any part of the property where the victim is employed, or approaching within 10 metres;

(iv)     That should the defendant see or come into unexpected contact with the victim in any public or private place, he must take immediate action to avoid any breach of this order.

Recommendation for deportation sought.

Sentence and Observations of Court:

Count 1:	3 months' imprisonment.
Count 2:	3 months' imprisonment, concurrent to Count 1.
Count 3:	12 months' imprisonment, consecutive to Count 1.
Count 4:	3 months' imprisonment, consecutive to Count 3.

Total: 18 months' imprisonment.

Restraining Order made under Article 5(1) of the Crime (Disorderly Conduct and Harassment)(Jersey) Law 2008:-

(i)      That for a period of 10 years (from release from custody) the defendant be prohibited from making contact by any means whatsoever, either directly or indirectly, with the victim;

(ii)     That for a period of 10 years (from release from custody) the defendant be prohibited from entering any part of the property of the victim, or approaching within 50 metres;

(iii)     That for a period of 10 years (from release from custody) the defendant be prohibited from entering any part of the property where the victim is employed, or approaching within 10 metres;

(iv)     That should the defendant see or come into unexpected contact with the victim in any public or private place, he must take immediate action to avoid any breach of this order.

Recommendation for deportation made.

C. M. M. Yates, Esq., Crown Advocate.

Advocate A. M. Harrison for the Defendant.

JUDGMENT

THE DEPUTY BAILIFF:

1.        You are to be sentenced today in respect of charges of harassment, grave and criminal assault, common assault and attempting to pervert the course of justice.  All of these matters arose out of the ending of your relationship with the victim of the two assaults.  That relationship was a volatile one and, towards the end, was characterised by harassment that took the form of telephone calls and texts and latterly, on one occasion, a grossly hurtful and offensive image.  You do not appear to have accepted that the relationship is over and it is in that context that the grave and criminal assault and common assault took place. 

2.        The Court accepts the Crown's characterisation of those assaults and the common assault, lying in wait for your former girlfriend as you did when she entered her home at night, must have been a terrifying experience for her.  You compounded your behaviour by attempting to persuade a friend to provide you with a false alibi.  You initially denied the offending but later made admissions and you have, of course, pleaded guilty.  You have no previous convictions and we have read the letters sent on your behalf from Poland and, indeed, from Jersey with a great deal of care.  They paint a very different picture indeed than the picture that your offending reveals and they show another side of your character. 

3.        We have considered all of those items by way of mitigation and all of the matters advanced by your counsel on your behalf, and that enables us to reduce the conclusions moved for by the Crown to an extent, but we bear in mind the victim's statement which we have read, which shows the profound effect that your assaults had on her and which we accept. 

4.        Accordingly, the sentence of the Court is as follows:- for Count 1, that of harassment, a period of 3 months' imprisonment, in respect of Count 2, the grave and criminal assault, a period also of 3 months' imprisonment, those two sentences to run concurrently, the one with the other.  In respect of the common assault which we take to be, in these circumstances, the most serious and at the higher end of seriousness of common assault, 12 months' imprisonment and, lastly in connection with Count 4, attempting to pervert the course of justice, a period of 3 months' imprisonment, the sentence of 12 months and 3 months to run consecutively to the other two, making a total of 18 months' imprisonment. 

5.        We also make the Restraining Order under Article 5(1) of the Crime (Disorderly Conduct and Harassment)(Jersey) Law 2008 moved for by the Crown.  Those are as follows:-

(i)        That for a period of 10 years (from your release from custody) you are prohibited from making contact by any means whatsoever, either directly or indirectly, with the victim;

(ii)       That for a period of 10 years (from your release from custody) you are prohibited from entering any part of the property of the victim, or approaching within 50 metres of the property;

(iii)      That for a period of 10 years (from your release from custody) you are prohibited from entering any part of the property where the victim is employed, or approaching within 10 metres of that property; and

(iv)      That should you see or come into unexpected contact with the victim in any public or private place, you must take immediate action to avoid any breach of this order. 

6.        The Court has gone on to consider the question of deportation and has considered very carefully the tests applied in the case of Camacho-v-AG [2007] JLR 462.  There are no specific issues in connection with your human rights or that of others in this matter, as indeed your counsel quite properly accepts, so the Court has considered primarily whether your continued presence would be detrimental to the community.  The Court is satisfied that it would be and, accordingly, makes a recommendation for your deportation after your release from prison. 

Authorities

Crime (Disorderly Conduct and Harassment)(Jersey) Law 2008.

Camacho-v-AG [2007] JLR 462.

AG v Le Feuvre [1996] JLR N9b.

AG v Barwise [2009] JRC 182.

AG v da Silva [2011] JRC 113.

Harrison v AG [2004] JLR 111.

AG v Lenton & Fannon [1992] JLR N10a.