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Jersey Unreported Judgments
You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> Jersey Unreported Judgments >> AG v Metcalf [2024] JRC 008 (11 January 2024)
URL: http://www.bailii.org/je/cases/UR/2024/2024_008.html
Cite as: [2024] JRC 008, [2024] JRC 8
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Inferior Number Sentencing - grave and criminal assault
|
Before : |
R. J. MacRae, Esq., Deputy Bailiff, and Jurats Ronge and Cornish |
The Attorney General
-v-
Wayne Christopher Metcalfe
Sentencing by the Inferior Number of the Royal Court, following a guilty plea to the following charge:
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1 count of: |
Grave and criminal assault (Count 1). |
Age: 51.
Plea: Guilty.
Details of Offence:
The Defendant and the Victim met at the end of May 2023. The Defendant had been staying at the Victim's flat on a regular basis for approximately two weeks leading up to the night of the assault. During this time they were in an intimate personal relationship.
On Friday 23 June 2023, the Victim contacted the Defendant stating they needed to talk. She intended to inform him she wanted to end the relationship and he would need to find somewhere else to stay. The Defendant was aware his stay at her flat was temporary.
The Defendant went to the Victim's flat that evening. They went for a walk and drank alcohol. When they returned to the flat, the Defendant and the Victim got into an argument over an air fryer which the Victim had borrowed from a friend. The Victim then told the Defendant he could no longer stay at the flat.
The Defendant went to the bedroom to get his belongings and proceeded to assault the Victim. He grabbed and squeezed her neck, applying so much force the Victim struggled to breathe. He also pushed her to the chest during the incident, causing four bruises. The Defendant left the flat but he returned around an hour later after the Victim telephoned and asked him to return. Following another argument, the Defendant left the flat for a second time.
The Victim called the police later that night and the Defendant was arrested the following day.
The Defendant pleaded guilty on a basis. The Crown did not accept the basis and a Newton Hearing was held.
Details of Mitigation:
Guilty plea, albeit this was not at the earliest opportunity. A basis of plea was provided and a Newton Hearing was held and the Victim was required to give live evidence and be cross examined.
Previous Convictions:
The Defendant has previous convictions for 133 offences.
Conclusions:
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Count 1: |
15 months' imprisonment. |
Domestic Abuse Protection Order ("DAPO") sought for a period of 5 years in respect of the Victim.
Notification requirements order under the Domestic Abuse (Jersey) Law 2022 sought for a period of 5 years.
Restraining order sought in the alternative to the DAPO.
Sentence and Observations of Court:
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Count 1: |
15 months' imprisonment. |
Restraining order made for a period of 5 years.
Notification requirements ordered under the Domestic Abuse (Jersey) Law 2022 for a period of 5 years.
Ms C. L. G. Carvalho, Crown Advocate.
Advocate D. S. Steenson for the Defendant.
JUDGMENT
THE DEPUTY BAILIFF:
1. Wayne Metcalfe, you are 51 years old and appear to be sentenced in respect of an offence of grave and criminal assault to which you pleaded guilty in this Court and we give you substantial credit for that plea. The basis of your plea led to a Newton hearing requiring your victim to give evidence. At that hearing four matters were considered by the Jurats arising from the basis of your plea and on two of those matters the Jurats were satisfied so that they were sure that the Crown's case was correct, namely that you had grabbed and squeezed your victim's neck in the course of the assault, as well as pushing her to her chest thereby causing her injury.
2. You had a short intimate relationship with your Victim beginning in May of last year and on 23 June, a Friday, she told you that she no longer wanted to see you.
3. That night, you drank alcohol together in a park and then returned to her flat where an argument led to you assaulting her in the way that we have described - grabbing and squeezing her neck, applying so much force that she struggled to breathe and pushing her in her chest causing four areas of bruising.
4. You then left the Victim's home but she asked you, on the evidence, to return later on that evening which you did. This appears to have led to another argument, you leaving her home and she then telephoning the police. The police found her upset and distressed. She immediately complained of assault and she was examined by a doctor the following day. You were arrested and you denied what you had done. You have been remanded in custody since your arrest.
5. This was, on any view, an offence of domestic violence in which you assaulted a woman with whom you were intimately connected in her own home, a place where she was entitled to feel safest.
6. Domestic abuse is inexcusable and we have had regard to the case of Coelho v AG [2020] JRC 216, the leading case on domestic abuse in Jersey and we have identified the following aggravating features that are present in this case:
(i) In our judgment this was an abuse of trust, your Victim trusted you and for that reason you were in her home that night.
(ii) It is clear from the evidence that we have, not merely her Victim Person Statement but all the evidence, that this was a vulnerable women.
(iii) You have a proven history of violence including at least one offence involving domestic violence and in addition there appears to be evidence of a history of disobedience to Court Orders.
7. You are assessed at high risk of general reconviction and of perpetuating further domestic abuse in the opinion of the Probation Officer and that risk is elevated when you are intoxicated, as you were at least to some extent in this case.
8. You accept limited responsibility for what you did.
9. We agree that you have committed a domestic abuse offence for the purposes of the Domestic Abuse (Jersey) Law 2022 in that the offence you committed consisted of more than one act in the way that we have described, and the other statutory criteria are met. The Royal Court has adopted a similar interpretation in respect of the relevant provisions of the Law in two recent cases including AG v Withe [2023] JRC 179. Accordingly the Court's power to make orders under that law is prima facie engaged and the Crown has made two application for orders under that law.
10. The first application is for a Domestic Abuse Prevention Order. We have considered that application and noted the application that the Victim makes for a restraining order which is identical in terms to any order made under the Domestic Abuse (Jersey) Law 2022 and accordingly in the circumstances, having regard to the two statutory tests namely under the Domestic Abuse (Jersey) Law 2022 and the Crime (Disorderly Conduct and Harassment) (Jersey) Law 2008 we have decided that it is appropriate to make a restraining order under the 2008 Law for the period of 5 years in the terms set out by the Crown at paragraph 33 of its conclusions. This order will ensure that there is no further contact between you and the Victim again and protect her from any further offending on your part. If you breach that order you will be liable to a term of imprisonment for up to two years.
11. We have also been asked to make a notification order in your case under Article 11 of the Domestic Abuse (Jersey) Law 2022. We are satisfied that it is necessary and proportionate to do so to reduce the risk of further abusive behaviour by you and we note that such orders assist the States of Jersey Police to manage domestic abuse perpetrators - allowing the police to conduct risk assessments and so on which will be relevant and appropriate if you decide to remain in the island, notwithstanding your assertion that you propose to leave and not return. In the circumstances we make such an order for a period of 5 years expiring on 11 January 2029 and you will be advised about the consequence of that order.
12. As to the offences, we have already described the circumstances of this offending and referred to your extremely poor record, including for offences of violence. In the circumstances we have no doubt that it is appropriate to grant the Crown's conclusions which are perhaps on the low side in any event. Accordingly, in relation to the offence you have pleaded guilty to, you are sentenced to 15 months' imprisonment.
Authorities
Domestic Abuse (Jersey) Law 2022.
Crime (Disorderly Conduct and Harassment) (Jersey) Law 2008