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Jersey Unreported Judgments
You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> Jersey Unreported Judgments >> The Attorney General v Tyler Colin Ahier [2021] JRC 302 (19 November 2021)
URL: http://www.bailii.org/je/cases/UR/2021/2021_302.html
Cite as: [2021] JRC 302
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Inferior Number Sentencing - Grave and criminal assault
|
Before : |
R. J. MacRae, Esq., Deputy Bailiff, and Jurats Ramsden and Cornish. |
The Attorney General
-v-
Tyler Colin Ahier
Brandon Ryan Guillemot
Sentencing by the Inferior Number of the Royal Court, following a guilty plea to the following charges:
|
1 count of: |
Grave and criminal assault (Count 1). |
Age: 19.
Plea: Guilty.
Details of Offence:
AHIER, GUILLEMOT and the Victim all attended a party at a flat in St Helier. In the early hours of the morning (Sunday 4th April 2021) there was some form of altercation. CCTV shows that at 2:25am the Victim left the flat followed by four or five others, including GUILLEMOT. At 2:28am AHIER came out of the flat, topless, but was held back and did not reach the Victim. After a short period they all entered the flat again.
At 2:35am AHIER exited the flat and can be on the street limbering up by swinging his arms and throwing punches into the air. The Victim emerged and was struck hard from behind by AHIER, hard enough to knock him to the ground, where he remained. AHIER appeared to shout at him and is moved away by another man. As the Victim sat up, AHIER came back towards him in an aggressive manner, shouting. The Victim is facing AHIER when GUILLEMOT took a short run up and kicked him to the face, causing the Victim to fall onto his back. GUILLEMOT immediately ran off as AHIER punched the Victim to the shoulder or neck, shouted at him, and then walked back into the flat. The Victim got up and walked unsteadily towards Bond Street before he collapsed.
The Victim was taken to the Hospital where it was confirmed he had a badly fractured jaw. The Force Medical Examiner said: "(The) most striking finding on examination was the swelling of the right jaw and the misaligned teeth which is highly correlated with a clinical fracture of the jaw."
AHIER was arrested at the scene, and GUILLEMOT the following day. In interview AHIER made no substantive comment, and after initial evasions GUILLEMOT admitted the offence.
Details of Mitigation:
AHIER has the benefit of an early guilty plea. He is still a young adult but does not have the benefit of good character or a good employment record. He is assessed as at high risk of reoffending, and of risk of harm to the public. He is in breach of orders imposed by the Magistrate's Court.
Previous Convictions:
AHIER has previous convictions for motoring and drug offences, as well as a breach of probation in 2019, and has Parish Hall appearances for malicious damage, drugs and common assault.
Conclusions:
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Count 1: |
15 months' youth detention. |
Breach of Community Service Order and Probation Order: Community Service Order and Probation Order discharged and 3 months' youth detention, consecutive imposed.
Total: 18 months' youth detention.
Sentence and Observations of Court:
|
Count 1: |
15 months' youth detention. |
Breach of Community Service Order and Probation Order: Discharge the Community Service Order and Probation Order and impose 3 months' youth detention, consecutive.
Total: 18 months' youth detention.
Exclusion Order made under Article 2(1) of the Licensed Premises (Exclusion of Certain Persons) (Jersey) Law 1998 that the Defendant is excluded from 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th and 7th, category licensed premises excluding The Multiplex Cinema, Jersey Airport and the Ferry Terminal at Elizabeth Harbour for a period of 12 months from the date of release from custody.
Brandon Ryan Guillemot
|
1 count of: |
Grave and criminal assault (Count 1). |
Age: 18.
Plea: Guilty.
Details of Offence:
See Ahier above.
Details of Mitigation:
GUILLEMOT has the benefit of an early guilty plea and a short but positive working record. He is currently 18 but was 17 at the time of the offence.
Previous Convictions:
None.
Conclusions:
|
Count 1: |
210 hours' Community Service Order, equivalent to 15 month's youth detention. |
Exclusion Order sought under Article 2(1) of the Licensed Premises (Exclusion of Certain Persons) (Jersey) Law 1998 that the Defendant is excluded from sought from 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th and 7th, category licensed premises excluding The Multiplex Cinema, Jersey Airport and the Ferry Terminal at Elizabeth Harbour for a period of 12 months from the date of sentence.
Sentence and Observations of Court:
|
Count 1: |
210 hours' Community Service Order, equivalent to 15 month's youth detention. |
Exclusion Order made under Article 2(1) of the Licensed Premises (Exclusion of Certain Persons) (Jersey) Law 1998 that the Defendant is excluded from sought from 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th and 7th, category licensed premises excluding The Multiplex Cinema, Jersey Airport and the Ferry Terminal at Elizabeth Harbour for a period of 12 months from the date of sentence.
Ordered to pay £2,000 compensation to the Victim at a rate of £25 per week.
Advocate R. C. P. Pedley Esq., Crown Advocate.
Advocate S. E. A. Dale for Defendant Ahier.
Advocate M. J. Elks for Defendant Guillemot.
JUDGMENT
THE DEPUTY BAILIFF:
1. Tyler Ahier you are 19 years old and were 19 at the date of this offence. Brandon Guillemot you are 18 and were 17 when you committed this offence. Your victim was a man both of you hardly knew, and was 27 years old when you both assaulted him on the 3rd April 2021, a Saturday, when you and the Victim and others attended a party at an address in Hope Street, St Helier. Ahier, you drank 12 beers, half a litre of vodka and 4 cognacs that evening and Guillemot you had drunk, even though you were only 17, a crate of beer and some spirits.
2. About 2:25 on the Sunday morning the Victim left the flat where the party had taken place and walked into Hope Street. He was walking slowly, and others left the flat and were seen in the road on the CCTV including both of you. There was nothing unusual about anyone's conduct until you Ahier emerged into the street 2:28am. You were shirtless and walking towards the Victim, you pushed past two men but had to be held back by one of them and you did not reach the victim.
3. The Victim and others returned to the flat entrance and then the flat, and at 2:35 the CCTV shows you Ahier leaving the flat again; swinging your arms and throwing punches into the air. You seemed to be spoiling for a fight and a minute later the Victim emerged and walked a short distance away towards the CCTV camera. Within only a few seconds of the Victim leaving the flat, Ahier you punched the Victim hard with a clenched fist, hitting him behind to his head or neck with sufficient force to knock him to the ground, where he remained. This was in our view an entirely unprovoked assault.
4. When the victim sat up Ahier, you came back towards him shouting and then Guillemot you took a run up and kicked the Victim in the face, almost certainly breaking his jaw in the process and causing him to fall onto his back. Ahier said he heard a popping sound as you kicked the victim in the face. Guillemot you ran off, Ahier you walked back and punched the Victim again, this time to his shoulder or neck, shouted at him and then you walked off leaving the Victim on the ground. He got up shortly thereafter, walked into Bond Street before collapsing again and the footage shows him spreadeagled, lying on his face. He was taken to hospital where it was confirmed that he had a badly fractured jaw.
5. You were both arrested and interviewed. Ahier you claimed the Victim was trying to aggravate someone. Whether or not that is true, it was no mitigation for what you did and when you were shown the footage of Guillemot kicking the Victim in the face you said that it made you feel disgusted. When you were re-interviewed on the 20th May 2021 you largely made no comment.
6. Guillemot, when you were first interviewed you lied to the police, claiming you were with your girlfriend and then at home on the evening in question. Later on, after a break in interview, you admitted you had kicked the victim to the face owing to what you claimed were his actions inside the flat. You said it was probably "a bit too much" but, in your words, you felt that "he deserved it".
7. You both indicated guilty pleas before the Magistrate's Court on the 19th July 2021 and you are entitled to full credit for those pleas of guilty.
8. As to your Victim he has suffered and continues to suffer from your joint assault upon him. He is reluctant to leave his house on his own, save to go to work, he does not feel comfortable in crowds, he continues to suffer pain in his jaw, he could not eat solid food for five weeks and to this day he cannot drink anything that is too hot or too cold owing for sensitivity on the right-hand side of his mouth. He has not been able to recommence jogging owing to the pain in his jaw and sees when he looks in the mirror that his face is not properly aligned owing to this injury. He does not know if and when he will need further surgery, either to remove the metal work that was placed in his jaw during the first operation or to assist his recovery. He is awaiting on further advice from the hospital. He expects he will need further surgery as his jaw is still not lined up properly and his teeth are also out of alignment.
9. Ahier, for a young man you have a poor record. You first were put on Probation by the Youth Court in September 2019 for motoring offences. You breached the Probation Order. On 19th May this year you were placed on Probation for motoring and other offences for 9 months and ordered to perform 90 hours of Community Service. You have failed to do a single hour of that Community Service even though you were given chance after chance to do so before you were remanded into custody. You failed to comply with non-custodial sentences and the Court is satisfied that that failure means it is not appropriate to impose such a sentence on you now.
10. As to you Mr Guillemot, you have no convictions - merely cautions reported against you in the Parish Hall for offences of motoring and of dishonesty.
11. We have considered with care the pre-sentence reports in both of your cases. Mr Ahier, we have read the report from the Probation Service and the addendum to it. You admitted breaching the Probation Order as well as the offence that brings you to this court. At the time of this offence, you were generally drinking 12 or 13 cans of larger and a quarter of a litre of vodka most days and smoking 5 grams of cannabis per week. You were unemployed and without any motivation to do anything. You had been evicted from your grandmother's home and you have found the experience of custody useful in the sense that you have detoxified and are now no longer able to take drugs. Your offending behaviour has worsened over the last year; you claimed the Victim pushed two 17 year old girls in the flat in this case which angered you and led to the assault. You did not know the Victim, though you did know your co-defendant. The Probation Officer says you showed little Victim empathy or remorse towards your Victim and indeed remained hostile to him until you wrote your letter of remorse, which we have read and had regard to.
12. The assessment is that you are at high risk of reconviction and you pose a risk of harm to the public, particularly when you are under the influence of alcohol. You say that even if you had been sobber you would have committed this assault owing to your hostility towards the victim who had simply pushed two young girls, you say.
13. This offence was not impulsive, and the Probation Officer assesses that walking away from committing this offence would not appear to have been an option for you. A non-custodial sentence would be a very high risk the Probation Officer says and, in our view, doomed to fail.
14. As to you Mr Guillemot, you have obtained GCSEs at school and secured an apprenticeship within a firm of electricians where you remain working. You are attending Highlands College one day a week, you take pride in your employment, you earn £250 a week, you have some good friends and only drink socially and do not go out every weekend, but you acknowledge that when you drink you can do so to excess. Since this incident you have been focusing on your job and spending time with your new partner. You are not involved in drugs and this is your first appearance before the courts.
15. You also claim that the Victim was behaving inappropriately towards a young women; you said that your co-defendant dragged the Victim out of the property. You acknowledge that your behaviour was completely unacceptable and you regret what you did and you have some insight into the seriousness of the injuries that you have caused your victim and you are assessed at being at low risk of reconviction.
16. The Probation Officer says that restorative justice may be appropriate in your case and you should pursue that, if it is available to you. You both must understand that this was appalling violence on the streets of St. Helier. It was unacceptable and inexcusable. You left a young man with serious injuries from which he is yet to recover.
17. The Court is entitled to find in respect of both of you that this offence is so serious that a non-custodial sentence cannot be justified and in respect of you Mr Ahier that you certainly have a history of failure to respond to non-custodial penalties and accordingly none are available to you. In addition, in your case there is a question of protecting the public from serious harm for the reasons set out in the reports of the Probation Officer.
18. The Crown has moved for the conclusions to which the Crown Advocate has referred to and in your case Mr Ahier, we are going to grant those conclusions. Accordingly, in relation this offence you will be sentenced to 15 months' youth detention. We discharge the orders made in the lower court by way of Community Service and Probation and sentence you to 3 months' youth detention, consecutive, making a total of 18 months' youth detention. In addition, you will be subject Mr Ahier to an Exclusion order for the period of 1 year on your release from youth custody pursuant to Article 2(1) of the Licensed Premises (Exclusion of Certain Persons) (Jersey) Law 1998 from all licenced premises excluding the Multiplex, the Airport and the Ferry Terminal at Elizabeth Harbour.
19. As to you Mr Guillemot, in your case the Court, had it imposed a custodial sentence, would have sentenced you to 15 months' youth detention and you have very narrowly avoided that fate and as a direct alternative to that sentence you are sentenced to 210 hours' Community Service. In addition, you are made subject to a 1 year exclusion from licensed premises order in the same terms as your co-defendant. You are also required to pay £2,000 compensation towards the victim which you will do at the rate of £25 a week and there will be a sentence of 4 weeks in default of payment if you fail to make any of those compensation payments.
20. Do understand Mr Guillemot that you have been given a chance by the Court and if you fail to comply with the Community Service Order that we have imposed then you will be brought back to this Court and almost certainly subject to custodial sentence.
Authorities
Licensed Premises (Exclusion of Certain Persons) (Jersey) law 1998.
AG v Passman and ors [2007] JRC 230
AG v Ewens and Others [2015] JRC 127
Criminal Justice (Young Offenders) (Jersey) Law 1994