Jersey Unreported Judgments

Inferior Number Sentencing - Grave and criminal assault.

[2019]JRC117

Royal Court

(Samedi)

21 June 2019

The Attorney General

-v-

Benjamin William Paton

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

Age:  21. 

Plea: Guilty. 

Details of Offence:

The defendant and the complainant became cell-mates on 21^st December, 2018.  The defendant used the lower bunk and the complainant the upper bunk.  The two men had a few misunderstandings which the complainant put down to the fact that they were of a different age, liked different things, enjoyed different television programmes, and would sleep at different times.

In the two to three days preceding the assault the defendant and complainant were not happy with each other.  The defendant complained that the complainant made too much noise at night, whereas the complainant said that the defendant had started to make noise at night to prevent him from sleeping.  Both men made complaints to prison staff and requested to be placed into separate cells.  They started to have "words and verbal arguments in the cell but nothing physical."  On 14^th January, 2019 the two men did not speak to each other, but the prison officers told them that they would do something about splitting the men up in the following days.  That evening the complainant went to bed at about 9:30pm and the defendant was watching television.  The defendant went to bed at about 11:00pm.

During the night the complainant was asleep on his back.  He woke up with the defendant slashing at his throat and punching him to the face.  The complainant could feel pain to the left side of his neck and felt one punch to the left side of his jaw.  The complainant asked the defendant "Why did you do that? What was the reason for that?"  The defendant told him that he did it because he was snoring too loudly and he (the defendant) could not sleep.  The complainant did not fight back and realised that he was bleeding from his throat area.  The defendant told the complainant that if he continued to snore "he could make more damage to me, like stab me, cut my head off, get me in a coma or I would not be there in the morning."

At approximately 1:37am the defendant used the cell intercom system to contact the Prison Officers; he told them "You gone (sic) need to get me out now as I am about to smash this guy up. I have assaulted him."  Prison Officer McDonald asked the defendant how he had assaulted the Complainant, to which he replied "I punched him."

Prison Officers entered the cell to find both men sitting on chairs with the cell light was on.  The defendant was asked what had happened to which he replied "I have assaulted him, I slashed him".  The defendant also told the officers that he had not been able to sleep for a couple of nights because the complainant had been snoring, therefore he had taken matters into his own hands and attacked him.

The Officers saw that the complainant had a cut mark with freshly drawn blood on his neck, although there was not a lot of it and the wound appeared superficial.  The complainant told officers "I was asleep when Ben attacked me".  He was shaking and looked confused.  Both men confirmed that the complainant had not retaliated.

When asked what he had used to assault the complainant, the defendant pulled out and surrendered a broken piece of plastic cutlery which had been sharpened at one end to make a weapon (colloquially a 'shiv').  He said "I fully admit to doing it and I am ready for the consequences."

The defendant was removed to the contained unit at the prison.  The complainant remained in the cell as the officers assessed that his injury did not warrant immediate health care intervention.

Details of Mitigation:

Guilty plea, young man, psychological difficulties and difficulties in childhood.

Previous Convictions:

13 previous convictions for 47 offences including conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace, malicious damage and threats to kill.

Conclusions:

Sentence and Observations of Court:

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

Advocate J. W. R. Bell for the Defendant.

JUDGMENT

THE BAILIFF:

1.        You are here to be sentenced on one count of grave and criminal assault which took place at Her Majesty's Prison in January this year.  You were placed in a cell with another prisoner and, while he was asleep in the middle of night you took an implement, which you had fashioned yourself into a knife with a sharp point, and put it into the complainant's neck.  Fortunately he was not badly injured, but you were not to know that, and it could have been quite serious, and it is just as well for you that it was not.

2.        The Crown moves for a sentence of 3 years' imprisonment and rightly says in that connection that the complainant was entitled to think that he should be safe in the cell which he was sharing with you, and therefore that is an aggravating factor.  The use of the weapon is certainly a serious matter and there is no doubt at all the court must impose a custodial sentence upon you for that offence.

3.        Your advocate, who has said everything that could be said on your behalf, points to some things in particular.  First of all that you have had difficulties in your childhood.  Secondly, you have some psychological difficulties, but more importantly in the context of the approach we are taking today, that you are still a young man of 21 which is a matter which the Crown does not seem to have taken into account in its assessment of that mitigation.  We have had regard to your guilty plea and certainly we think there was an element of impulsivity in this offence.

4.        In the circumstances we are going to impose a sentence of 18 months' imprisonment for this offence. 

5.        You will have the opportunity while you are in prison of engaging with the psychological staff there for some assistance and you should really do that because they can give you some help.  You are only 21, the world is ahead of you.  You have had numbers of difficulties and you have committed previous offences in the past, but it does not have to be like this.  You can, and ultimately it is only you who is going to do it, you can change your life around and while you are serving the rest of your sentence the court recommends that you give some serious thought to that. 

6.        18 months' imprisonment.

Authorities

AG v Paton [2019] JRC 113A. 

Harrison v AG [2004] JLR 111. 

AG v George [2012] JRC 216B. 

AG v Lawlor [2009] JRC 150.