Jersey Unreported Judgments

Inferior Number Sentencing - Illegal entry - common assault - malicious damage

[2019]JRC178

Royal Court

(Samedi)

13 September 2019

Before     :

T. J. Le Cocq, Esq., Deputy Bailiff, and Jurats Thomas and Averty

The Attorney General

-v-

J

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

1 count of:	Illegal entry (Count 1).
2 counts of:	Common assault (Count 2 and Count 3).
1 count of:	Malicious damage (Count 5).

Age:  27. 

Plea: Guilty. 

Details of Offence:

The defendant and Victim A were in a relationship with one another for approximately four years, their relationship commencing circa 2014.  They used to live with one another from the end of 2015 to October 2018.

 

In May 2018 Victim A fell pregnant.  A DNA test was conducted after the baby was born.  The results of the test showed the defendant was not the father.  The defendant was informed of the result on the same day and their relationship ended.  The only contact between the defendant and Victim A since this date was via text messages.

 

At the time of the offending, Victim A was in a relationship with Victim B by which point the baby was approximately two months' old. 

 

During the evening of Saturday 13^th April, 2019, Victim B was staying at the property with Victim A and the baby.  At approximately 11:30pm Victim A and Victim B went to sleep in the bedroom whilst the baby was asleep in a crib next to Victim A by the bedroom door.

 

In the early hours of the morning the defendant send a number of messages to Victim B, telling him that he would kill him and that he should arm himself in preparation of violence.  Victim B was asleep and did not see the messages.

 

Victim B awoke to "someone punching me in the face... and I felt around six or seven punches to my face as I lay on my back."  It was dark so he was unable to see the intruder.  Victim A was lying next to Victim B and saw the shadow of Victim B being punched in the face.  During this attack Victim A suffered bruising to her arm and finger.

 

Victim A left the bed, turned the bedroom light on, took the baby from the crib and ran into the living room.  After she had left the room with the baby, the baby's crib was damaged by the defendant.  Victim B restrained the defendant and the police were called.  Victim A noticed the first floor bathroom window was open and suspected that this was how the defendant had entered the property.  Police attended the property and arrested the defendant.  After the assault it was noted that Victim B's mobile phone, which was on the bed at the time of the assault, had been damaged. 

 

Victim B was later examined and found to have bruising and swelling to his nose, bruising and abrasions to his right eye, right upper arm, right lower arm, left upper arm and tenderness to the lower ribs. 

Details of Mitigation:

Guilty plea, good character and remorse. 

Previous Convictions:

No relevant previous convictions.

Conclusions:

Count 1:	3½ years' imprisonment.
Count 2:	6 months' imprisonment, concurrent to Count 1.
Count 3:	3 months' imprisonment, concurrent to Count 1.
Count 5:	2 weeks' imprisonment, concurrent to Count 1.

Total:  3½ years' imprisonment. 

Restraining order sought under Article 5 of the Crime (Disorderly Conduct and Harassment) (Jersey) Law 2008 to commence from date of sentence for an indeterminate period prohibiting the defendant from approaching or contacting, directly or indirectly, Victim A and her child, other than any contact which is inadvertent or unavoidable.

Compensation orders sought in the sum of £797.00 for Victim A and £1904.00 for Victim B. 

Sentence and Observations of Court:

Count 1:	2 years' imprisonment.
Count 2:	6 months' imprisonment, concurrent to Count 1.
Count 3:	1 months' imprisonment, concurrent to Count 1.
Count 5:	2 weeks' imprisonment, concurrent to Count 1.

Total:  2 years' imprisonment.

Restraining order made under Article 5 of the Crime (Disorderly Conduct and Harassment) (Jersey) Law 2008 to commence from date of sentence for an indeterminate period prohibiting the defendant from approaching or contacting, including by social media, directly or indirectly Victim A and her child, other than any contact which is inadvertent or unavoidable. 

Compensation orders made in the sum of £547.00 for Victim A and £450.00 for Victim B

Ms E. L. Hollywood, Crown Advocate.

Advocate M. J. Elks for the Defendant.

JUDGMENT

THE DEPUTY BAILIFF:

1.        You are to be sentenced for one count of illegal entry, two counts of common assault and one count of malicious damage.  We do not need to go into the full details because they have been referred to at appropriate length by the Crown in the Statements of Facts which have been read out. 

2.        This was an illegal entry of an occupied dwelling at night, for the express purpose of an unprovoked attack on a victim ("Victim B"), during the course of which you also assaulted your former girlfriend ("Victim A").  A young child was present in the room when you commenced your assault.

3.        We fully understand the background to this and that you had been badly hurt when you found out that your former girlfriend's child was not yours, although you had been in a relationship with her for approximately 4 years, were present at the birth and had formed an attachment to the baby.  That is from our perspective an important context.  However, that does not in any way excuse your actions which were not provoked by any immediate action on the part of Victim B nor indeed on the part of Victim A.  That you broke in when they were sleeping and you began to punch Victim B is both cowardly and sinister.  It must have been a totally terrifying experience for them, and they suffered injuries as a result in the form of bruises and abrasions, and we have of course read their victim impact statements.  You were fuelled by alcohol which is of course an aggravating feature and not a mitigating feature. 

4.        Illegal entry of a private dwelling, especially an occupied one at night, is always viewed by the Court as very serious indeed, as it involves a violation of a person's home, a place of safety and sanctuary for them.  We agree with the Crown's assessment of features of the assault and we also agree with the Crown's identification of those aggravating features of prior threats and alcohol.

5.        By way of mitigation we of course take into account your guilty plea, your previous good character and the references which speak to a very different side of your character.  We note that you are assessed as being to a low and moderate risk of offending.  We have to say that we do not feel able to accept your counsel's invitation to deal with this on a non-custodial basis.  We do, however, because of the domestic context and the almost unique circumstances of this offending, believe that we can make a discount from the Conclusions moved for by the Crown.

6.        Accordingly you are sentenced as follows: with regard to Count 1, illegal entry, 2 years' imprisonment.  With regard to Count 2, common assault, 6 months' imprisonment, concurrent to Count 1.  Count 3, common assault, 1 month's imprisonment, concurrent to Count 1.  Count 5, malicious damage, 2 week's imprisonment, concurrent to Count 1 making a total of 2 years' imprisonment.

7.        We are satisfied that we should make the restraining orders moved for by the Crown and indeed you do not oppose that in principle.  We think that it is in fact as much in your interests as much as anybody else's that we make them for an indefinite period, which we do and were merely amend them to say that the defendant be prohibited from approaching or contacting, directly or indirectly, including by social media, Victim A and her child, other than any contact which is inadvertent or unavoidable.

8.        We turn now to the question of compensation.  In our view, subject to the provision of receipts, the items claimed by Victim A we allow, that is for the bedroom items in the total sum of £297.  We do not think that it is appropriate to provide for a replacement iPhone for Victim B and we allow £200 for repairs.  With regard to the compensation for personal injuries suffered we do not propose to make an order in the form requested and instead with regard to Victim A we order the payment of £250 and the same sum with regard to Victim B.  We direct that they should be paid at the rate of £200 per month, starting 3 months after your release from custody with 2 weeks imprisonment in default.

9.        That is the sentence of the Court. 

Authorities

Whelan on Aspects on Sentencing in the Superior Court of Jersey, 3rd Edition , Extract

Harrison-v-AG [2004] JLR 111

AG v Da Silva [1997] JRC 218

AG v Gouveia [2013] JRC 132

AG v Higham [2017] JRC 199

AG v Poingdestre [2018] JRC 029

Criminal Justice (Compensation Orders) (Jersey) Law 1994

Crime (Disorderly Conduct Harassment)(Jersey) Law 2008

Sentencing Council Guidelines "Suggested starting points for physical and mental injuries"