Jersey Unreported Judgments

Inferior Number Sentencing - harassment.

[2016]JRC214

Royal Court

(Samedi)

18 November 2016

The Attorney General

-v-

Robert John Ingram Moon

Sentencing by the Inferior Number of the Royal Court, following a guilty plea to the following charge:

Age:  38.

Plea: Guilty.

Details of Offence:

The victim owned a buy to let property and bought a piece of land next to it which compromised two parking spaces.  The parking space land is partly owned by another adjacent property which is lived in by an elderly lady which the defendant believed he was protecting her interests.  The defendant had no rights whatsoever to the land or the parking spaces.  The victim placed an advertisement on the land for the parking spaces together with her mobile telephone number and soon after doing this the defendant began making abusive and threatening phone calls to the victim.  These calls caused the victim and her husband significant distress. 

The defendant continued to make calls and at one point blocked the parking spaces with a chain and a gate.  On another occasion the defendant dumped chippings onto the parking spaces.  The victims had to spread it all over the car park to allow residents to park there.  On both occasions the defendant was present, smirking and intimidating the victim. 

Between November and January the defendant made 23 calls to the victim from his mobile telephone as well as calling from other land lines. 

Details of Mitigation:

The defendant was suffering from a manic episode as a result of his mental health condition of Bipolar Disorder Type 1, when he committed the offence. 

Previous Convictions:

Three convictions for 18 offences majority of these from his youth.  Most recent were committed in Australia in 2011 for assault and damage to property, for which he received fines. 

Conclusions:

Total: A 12 month Probation Order together with a Treatment Order.

Restraining Order sought for a period of 5 years from date of sentence with a default sentence of 12 months' imprisonment. 

Sentence and Observations of Court:

The Court reiterated that harassment causes immense distress and causes damages to lives and those people who are victims of harassment need to feel they have the Court's support.  The Court urged the Magistrates Court to think carefully about imposing non-custodial sentences for harassment offences. 

Had the defendant not have been suffering from a mental disorder a custodial sentence would have been inevitable. 

Restraining Order made for a period of 1 year from date of sentence with a default sentence of 12 months' imprisonment. 

C. R. Baglin, Esq., Crown Advocate.

Advocate L. J. Glynn for the Defendant.

JUDGMENT

THE commissioner:

1.        Mr Moon, what you did caused great distress and upset to the victims of your harassment and we hope that you appreciate that.  You got it into your head that they were not entitled to charge for the use of this car parking space and you then began a campaign of harassment including numerous abusive and intimidating telephone calls, blocking off part of the space with a chain and then dumping a pile of chippings on the car park.  If it were not for your mental condition which has been diagnosed since then we would, without hesitation, have sent you to prison. 

2.        We were told by Advocate Glynn that she knows of a number of more serious cases of harassment which have been dealt with by non-custodial sentences in the Magistrate's Court.  Now clearly we know nothing of the details of those cases and there may have been compelling reasons to justify a non-custodial sentence.  But harassment can cause immense distress to the victims; it can play on their minds and really cause damage to their lives.  Victims need to feel that if the matter comes before the Court, they will have the Court's support.  So we think that the Magistrate's Court should think very carefully before imposing a non-custodial sentence in cases of any gravity. 

3.        But this case is unusual because of the diagnosis.  It is quite clear from the psychiatric reports that if you had not been suffering from this manic episode, then you would not have acted in this way and the charges would not have occurred.  So in those circumstances we do think that we can proceed by way of a non-custodial sentence. 

4.        We are going to impose a Probation Order for 9 months with the condition that you must engage with the Mental Health Service and you must comply with any treatment which they prescribe, do you understand?  So if they prescribe treatment you must abide by it, otherwise you can be brought back here. 

5.        We see from the reports that you have taken a lot of illegal substances too.  We think that it is very likely that that contributed to what happened and we think if you continue to take all those illegal substances there is a real risk that it will lead to problems in the future, do you understand?

6.        So we hope very much that you will work with the Probation Service to try and address that issue as well. 

7.        We think that a restraining order should be made for 1 year in the terms put forward to us but as amended, so;

(i)        The defendant is prohibited from having any contact, direct or indirect, with the victims save that contact be made by lawyer's in respect of the property 18 Poonah Road, St Helier, owned by the defendant;

(ii)       The defendant is prohibited from approaching or following the victims;

(iii)      The defendant is prohibited from loitering in the vicinity of or entering any part of 6 Poonah Lane, St Helier, or entering any part of the premises known as 14 Poonah Road, St Helier, or entering any part of the land adjacent thereto as marked in red diagonal lines on the plan attached to this order, other than by prior arrangement made through his lawyers. 

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

8.        You must realise that if you breach that restraining order then you can be prosecuted and face  prison for up to 1 year and of course if you do not comply with what the probation officers tell you, then you can be brought back here and punished for these offences, do you understand? 

Authorities

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

AG-v-Gallichan [2011] JRC 094.

AG-v-Suchodolski [2015] JRC 130.