Jersey Unreported Judgments

Inferior Number Sentencing - indecent assault.

[2015]JRC157

Royal Court

(Samedi)

27 July 2015

The Attorney General

-v-

G

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

Age:  51.

Plea: Guilty.

Details of Offence:

The victim of the two assaults was a regular visitor to the G household when in her late teens, as she was his stepson's girlfriend.  After an argument with the stepson he walked out and left the victim on his bed, crying.  G went into the bedroom to console her, put an arm around her and then deliberately placed a hand on one of her breasts, which shocked and upset the victim.  Some months later, when giving the victim a lift home, G took a detour and stopped his vehicle in a quiet lane.  He released his seatbelt, leant across to her and kissed her, pushing his tongue into her mouth; the victim was again shocked and struggled to release the door which eventually operated, allowing her to remove herself.  After making her views clear G drove the victim home.  Both assaults had occurred between 10 and 12 years ago and only came to light as a result of a separate complaint.  The Crown accepted pleas on a basis and the Court allowed a count of false imprisonment lie on file. 

Details of Mitigation:

Offences historic; no convictions for sexually motivated crimes before or since; guilty pleas - albeit only after directions hearing when it became clear the victim was prepared to endure the trial procedure; married, steady accommodation and relatively steady employment history; expressed regret, momentary losses of self-control. 

Previous Convictions:

One previous conviction for dishonesty; otherwise mainly relatively minor motoring offences.  

Conclusions:

Total: 90 hours' Community Service Order and a 12 month Probation Order.

Order sought from the date of conviction that the defendant becomes subject to the notification requirements of the Sex Offenders (Jersey) Law 2010 for a period of 5 years to elapse before the defendant is permitted to apply under Article 5(5) of the Law to be no longer subject to the notification requirements of the Law. 

Sentence and Observations of Court:

Any indecent assault is a criminal offence but accepted these were at the lower end of the scale, however the victim is a vulnerable young woman and guilt could have been admitted earlier.  Counts 1 & 2: The Crown's conclusions granted, the Court agreeing that Count 2 passed the custody threshold.  Notification period reduced to three years in view of the nature of the offences and the period of time which had elapsed.

Total: 90 hours' Community Service Order together with a 12 month Probation Order. 

Order made from the date of conviction the defendant becomes subject to the notification requirements of the Sex Offenders (Jersey) Law 2010 for a period of 3 years to elapse before the defendant is permitted to apply under Article 5(5) of the Law to be no longer subject to the notification requirements of the Law. 

S. J. O'Donnell, Crown Advocate.

Advocate P. G. Nicholls for the Defendant.

JUDGMENT

THE commissioner:

1.        Any indecent assault, even of the kind that has been described by the Crown here as very much at the lower end of possible assaults is a criminal offence.  This was a vulnerable young woman but whether she had been vulnerable or not, she is entitled to say no as she very vigorously did when you touched her on those two separate occasions.  But it is clear from the facts of the case that this is not by any means the most serious sort of offence, although you could have pleaded guilty earlier than you did, you pleaded guilty early enough to save her some of the trauma that is involved in considering the possibility of having to give evidence, and we accept that you are genuinely remorseful about it. 

2.        You did, however, on two occasions take advantage of a vulnerable young woman, vulnerable not because of things you had done but because of earlier life experiences that this Court has heard about on separate occasions.  For those reasons the Court intends to follow the conclusions of the Crown. 

3.        The sentences will be:-on Count 1 there will be a Probation Order for 12 months, that means for the next 12 months you must see the probation officer when he or she asks to see you, notify them of any change of address, carry out any tasks that you are asked to do by the probation officer, in this case it will involve attending a programme designed to help you understand more clearly than you do at the moment, the boundaries that exist, and must exist, in relation to this sort of conduct.  On Count 2 there will be 90 hours' Community Service, concurrent with a 12 month Probation Order, that means you do 90 hours unpaid work for the community at the times and places specified by the community service officer during the next 12 months.  Do all of that and that will be the end of the penalty.  If you fail to do the work properly, breach any of the terms of the Probation Order or particularly of course offend again, and you will be liable to be brought back to Court and resentenced for these offences.  And they do pass the custody threshold so that would be likely to be a short prison sentence. 

4.        We have also considered the application by the Crown for what is in fact automatic, that is to say your being subject to the notification requirements of the Sex Offenders (Jersey) Law 2010.  We have considered the appropriate length.  The normal minimum length is 5 years - we think there are reasons here for imposing a shorter period, the reasons being the nature of the offending, the time that has passed since you last offended and the fact that there has been no sort of behaviour of this kind by you in the 10 to 12 years that have passed since those previous offences.  So for that reason the requirement will be in existence for 3 years rather than the 5 year period that was asked for by the Crown.  That involves similar obligations to your Probation Order in a sense in that you have to notify the police of your change of address or any change of name and the police have certain powers in relation to requiring samples, fingerprint, intimate samples from you if they need to do so in the course of investigation into other matters.  That is not part of the penalty - it is designed to protect the public from any danger that may still exist that you will offend again.  

5.        So that is 12 months' Probation, 90 hours' community service and a 3 year notification obligation under the Sex Offenders (Jersey) Law 2010. 

Authorities

Sex Offenders (Jersey) Law 2010.

R v Hall & Ors [2012] 1 WLR 1416.

AG v Hayman [2008] JRC 211.

AG v Sousa 2001/219.

AG v Roque [2013] JRC 037.