R v Douglas-Major
[2014] ACTSC 299
•27 October 2014
SUPREME COURT OF THE AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY
Case Title: | R v Douglas-Major |
Citation: | [2014] ACTSC 299 |
Hearing Date(s): | 27 October 2014 |
DecisionDate: | 27 October 2014 |
Before: | Burns J |
Decision: | See [12] |
Category: | Sentence |
Catchwords: | CRIMINAL LAW – Particular Offences – offences against the person – assault occasioning actual bodily harm - sentence |
Parties: | The Queen (Crown) Leisel Valerie Douglas-Major (Offender) |
Representation: | Counsel Mr Thomas (Crown) Mr Doig (Offender) |
| Solicitors ACT Director of Public Prosecutions (Crown) Darryl Perkins Solicitors (Offender) | |
File Number: | SCC 207 of 2013 |
Burns J:
The offence
Leisel Douglas-Major, on 13 August this year you entered a plea of guilty in this Court to one count of assault occasioning bodily harm (CC2013/4500). That count was on an indictment which also had a further count of burglary. The prosecution accepted your plea of guilty to the charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm in full satisfaction of the indictment and has not proceeded with respect to the more serious charge.
I note that the maximum penalty with respect to this offence is one of five years' imprisonment. A Statement of Facts has been placed before the Court which shows that on 29 May 2013 you, in the company of two other females, went to the home of the 16-year-old victim where you head-butted, slapped and twisted the fingers of the victim causing the victim to sustain an abrasion to her left eyebrow and a fracture to her left fifth finger.
I accept that that occurred in the context that your son had recently left home and you hadn’t heard from him for some time and you subsequently became aware of an allegation that he was purchasing cannabis from the people who were living at the address where your victim was located. I accept that you became angry and attended the premises of your victim without any great pre‑meditation as to what you were going to do when you got there.
It has been submitted on your behalf by Mr Doig that your actions were understandable, and to a certain extent I accept that proposition. Whilst they may well have been understandable, particularly in the context of the stress that you were under with your family at that time, that doesn’t mean that they are excusable. There were other ways in which you could have dealt with the situation as you, indeed, have today accepted in your evidence.
Offender characteristics
I note that you have a criminal history, although the only matters of any great significance, insofar as sentencing today is concerned, on that criminal history are convictions for offences of assaulting police which were imposed in August 2002, although I do note that the offences themselves occurred in December 1999. I infer from the record that those were not considered to be particularly serious examples of that type of offending because the penalty imposed was simply a conviction and a recognisance to be of good behaviour.
I take into account contents of the Pre-Sentence Report that has been put before me. I note that you are currently 34 years old, although you were 33 at the time of this offence. You had a difficult childhood. Your father was involved in crime and he was killed when you were only four years old. Your mother struggled with parenting due to a disability. You spent many years in youth refuges and supported accommodation and you were homeless from time to time. In that regard, it is very much to your credit that you have managed to find yourself employment and, although you are currently not employed, you have undertaken study which enabled you to find employment. You have also shown a commendable degree of commitment to your own family.
I note that you are a single mother of three children. Two of those children currently reside with you, and the third currently resides with his paternal grandmother due to an acquired brain injury that he suffered in a motor vehicle accident in December 2012. I note that you currently reside in supported accommodation with the two youngest of your children.
You left school at the end of year six but later completed a Diploma in Youth Work and you were employed as a youth worker from 2001 until 2008. You commenced the use of cannabis at a very early age, being nine years old, and when you were 13 you began the use of heroin. You apparently ceased heroin use when you were 20. There are indications in the Pre-Sentence Report of continuing cannabis use and I note that there is an allegation that you have recently used methylamphetamine, although that is still before the courts and is yet to be resolved so I will not proceed on the basis that there is any evidence establishing that use.
The Pre-Sentence Report also notes that you have had mental health issues, undoubtedly connected with the stress involved with your family affairs. The Pre-Sentence Report indicates that you did not accept responsibility for committing this offence although Mr Doig has suggested that there may have been some misunderstanding with the author of the Report. The author of the Report assessed you as being at moderate risk of re-offending. I note that you were considered not to be suitable for community service or for periodic detention, although neither of those sentencing options were pressed by the Crown.
Consideration
I take into account your plea of guilty which has a significant utilitarian value and, I am satisfied, demonstrates also a degree of remorse with respect to this offence. I take into account that the offence occurred somewhat spontaneously, that there was no great planning involved and it was committed in circumstances where you were under a considerable amount of stress and you became angry as a consequence of being told that your son was purchasing cannabis from the home where the victim lived.
I’m obliged to take into account, in determining what sentence to impose, the effect that any particular sentence may have upon your family. It has been suggested by the Crown prosecutor that an appropriate course would be to record a conviction and place you on a good behaviour order. That is a course which I also considered to be appropriate.
I record a conviction and there will be a Good Behaviour Order for a period of 18 months with the following conditions:
(a)first, that you are to accept the supervision of ACT Corrective Services for that period of 18 months or such lesser period as deemed appropriate by your supervising officer, and you are to undertake such counselling or programs with respect to alcohol and drug abuse, mental health issues and employment as directed by ACT Corrective Services;
(b)secondly, you are to undertake random urinalysis as directed by ACT Corrective Services; and
(c)thirdly, you are not to use illicit drugs.
| I certify that the preceding twelve [12] numbered paragraphs are a true copy of the Reasons for Sentence his Honour Justice Burns. Associate: Date: |
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