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Jersey Unreported Judgments
You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> Jersey Unreported Judgments >> AG -v- McKeegans [2018] JRC 107 (25 June 2018)
URL: http://www.bailii.org/je/cases/UR/2018/2018_107.html
Cite as: [2018] JRC 107
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Superior Number Sentencing - grave and criminal assault.
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Before : |
T. J. Le Cocq, Esq., Deputy Bailiff, and Jurats Crill, Grime, Christensen, Dulake and Kerley |
The Attorney General
-v-
Darren McKeegans
Sentencing by the Superior Number of the Royal Court, to which the accused was remanded by the Inferior Number on 23rd April, 2018, following guilty pleas to the following charges:
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3 counts of: |
Grave and criminal assault (Counts 1A, 2 and 3). |
Age: 27.
Plea: Guilty.
Details of Offence:
On Sunday 1st October 2017 the defendant, his girlfriend (Miss A) and Miss B were drinking and socialising at the home of the defendant and Miss A. At approximately 3:15am Mr C and Mr D arrived at the flat, having been invited by Miss B.
On arrival the defendant took a dislike to Mr C and Mr D (whom he had not met prior to that night) but was assured by Miss B that she would not have invited anyone weird to the flat because she respected Miss A and the Defendant.
At approximately 5am the defendant, Mr C and Miss B were in the kitchen smoking (Miss A and Mr D were asleep in the lounge). The defendant began speaking about fights he had been involved in when he lived in Scotland and at one point leant across the table and took hold of Mr C's neck on more than one occasion as he was showing them what he had done to other people.
At approximately 5:30 - 6am all five people in the flat were in the lounge, Miss A and Mr D were still asleep and the defendant, Mr C and Miss B were sitting on the sofa with Miss B sitting in between the two men. Suddenly, and without provocation, the defendant jumped on Mr C and put his hands around Mr C's neck, pushing his thumbs into Mr C's windpipe. The defendant then punched Mr C approximately five times to the face. Miss B was trying to get the defendant off Mr C and woke Miss A up to try to get her to stop the defendant. Miss A and Mr D woke up and tried to get the defendant off Mr C. The defendant told them to "fuck off". Miss B ran out of the flat and called the Police. She then sent Mr D a text message reading "please tell me you got him out of there."
Meanwhile the defendant had stopped attacking Mr C and tried to grab Mr D. Mr D ran out of the flat and after leaving the block tried to get into his uncle's house which was nearby. Mr D saw the defendant coming after him holding a knife and Mr D ran away in the direction of Rouge Bouillon. A neighbour was woken by a loud bang and saw the defendant standing outside the block of flats, she heard the Defendant shout "I'm gonna fucking kill you." A short while later she saw Miss A standing outside the block of flats wrapped in a 'white sheet'. Another witness saw Mr D running in the road with a scared expression on his face, she also saw the defendant who was swaying and had an angry expression on his face. (Count 2)
Meanwhile Mr C was alone in the flat and he went to the kitchen to get some water. The defendant then re-entered the flat and ran into the kitchen and started attacking Mr C with a knife. The defendant tried to cut Mr C's throat but Mr C managed to block the blow with his arm. The defendant repeatedly stabbed at Mr C causing serious injuries to his arms, head and side. At one point the knife the defendant was using broke and he grabbed a second knife to continue stabbing Mr C. Miss A entered the kitchen and tried to stop the defendant, he turned towards her and cut her arm (Count 3). It was accepted by the Crown that this injury had been caused recklessly rather than with intent. The defendant then turned back to Mr C and continued to stab him with the knife. (Count 1A)
Miss A left the flat and crossed paths with PC Abreu who had entered the block of flats after hearing a blood-curdling female scream from within the block. PC Abreu entered the flat and shouted "Police" the defendant stopped attacking Mr C and ran into the hallway with the knife in his right hand. The defendant threw the knife in the direction of PC Abreu and complied with the direction to lie on the floor. However when PC Abreu tried to arrest the defendant he began to resist, PC Abreu had to spray the defendant with PAVA spray before he was placed in handcuffs and leg restraints and transported to the Police Van.
Mr C was taken by ambulance to the hospital where his wounds were sutured and treated, he required surgery in respect of two wounds to his right arm. Mr C's right ulnar nerve was completely severed and the surgeon performed a reconstruction of the nerve. Mr C was left with loss of function in his dominant right hand at the date of sentencing and his prognosis for recovery was uncertain. Mr C has also been left with pain and scarring from the wounds suffered.
Mr C was also diagnosed by a consultant psychiatrist who concluded that he was suffering from PTSD as a result of the attack. He had been unable to work from the date of the attack to the date of sentencing.
Details of Mitigation:
Guilty plea.
Previous Convictions:
8 previous convictions for 15 offences, including assault, breach of the peace and behaving in a threatening or abusive manner likely to cause fear or alarm.
Conclusions:
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Count 1A: |
Starting point 12 years' imprisonment. 10 years' imprisonment. |
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Count 2: |
18 months' imprisonment, concurrent. |
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Count 3: |
18 months' imprisonment, concurrent. |
Total: 10 years' imprisonment.
Forfeiture and destruction of the knives sought.
Sentence and Observations of Court:
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Count 1A: |
Starting point 10 year's imprisonment. 8 years' imprisonment. |
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Count 2: |
18 months' imprisonment, concurrent. |
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Count 3: |
18 months' imprisonment, concurrent. |
Total: 8 years' imprisonment.
Forfeiture and destruction of the knives ordered.
M. Temple, Solicitor General appeared for the Crown
Advocate R. C. L. Morley-Kirk for the Defendant.
JUDGMENT
THE DEPUTY BAILIFF:
1. You are to be sentenced with regard to three counts of grave and criminal assault all of which took place at the home that you shared with your girlfriend. During the course of the evening prior to the assaults, and over that night you consumed very substantial amounts of alcohol which were clearly a significant contributory factor to the assaults.
2. In the early hours of 1st October, 2017, two invited guests attended your home. You had not previously met them but in any event it appears that you formed an immediate dislike for them. During their time there you became increasingly drunk and you spoke of the violence that you had been involved in in the past.
3. Without any apparent provocation at some point you jumped on your first victim putting your hands around his throat and covering his windpipe and punching him several times in the face. Others including your girlfriend tried to pull you off. In a further altercation that took place shortly there afterwards, the details of which have been fully explored by the Crown in their Statement of Facts, you threatened one other person with a kitchen knife and you assaulted your girlfriend also with a kitchen knife by recklessly cutting her.
4. Most seriously however, you committed a sustained attacked on Mr C with a knife causing him multiple wounds and lacerations, one of which was to the chin as you tried to cut at his neck. When the first knife broke you immediately reequipped yourself with another knife to continue the assault and you only stopped when the police arrived. You were not co-operative, you struggled and you resisted being restrained by the police.
5. We have had the injuries set out for us significant detail and we have seen the psychological and other reports. We think that although Mr C's injuries were very serious they could have been very much worse and he could have been killed.
6. The Social Enquiry Report describes you as presenting a medium risk of re-conviction and this does not surprise us, because although your record is not of great significance the inexplicable level of violence that you perpetrated on that night is worrying to us.
7. Quite simply this appears to be an unprovoked, sustained, alcohol fuelled frenzied attack with a knife, on a wholly innocent guest in your home.
8. We have read psychological reports and we have perused the statement of Mr C. He suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and nerve damage. He talks of the effects both physical and mental of your attack and we fully understand them.
9. We have considered carefully the mitigation of your guilty pleas which are of real value and we take them into account. They were not the promptest pleas possible but nonetheless as I say they are of real value.
10. We have read the references, they speak extremely well of you, but in a way they make all the more inexplicable the level of violence that you carried out on that night. However, in the light of all of the mitigation we think that we can make some deduction from the conclusions moved by the Crown.
11. Accordingly we sentence you as follows. With regard to Count 1A from a starting point of 10 years imprisonment you will serve 8 years' imprisonment. Count 2 and Count 3; 18 months' imprisonment, all concurrent making a total of 8 years imprisonment.
12. We order the forfeiture and destruction of the weapons.
Authorities
Harrison-v-Attorney General [2004] JLR 111
AG-v-Prior 2001/156
R v Daniels [2018] EWCA Crim 112
R v Pollin [1997] 2 Cr App R (S) 356
Sentencing Council - Assault Definitive Guidelines