Trowsdale v The Queen

[2011] VSCA 81

SUPREME COURT OF VICTORIA

COURT OF APPEAL

S APCR 2009 0632

RYAN SCOTT TROWSDALE	Appellant
	v
THE QUEEN	Respondent

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JUDGES	BONGIORNO, HARPER and HANSEN JJA
WHERE HELD	MELBOURNE
DATE OF HEARING	2 February 2011
DATE OF JUDGMENT	30 March 2011
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION	[2011] VSCA 81
JUDGMENT APPEALED FROM	R v Trowsdale (Unreported, County Court of Victoria, Judge Murphy, 8 May 2009)

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CRIMINAL LAW – Sentence appeal – Recklessly causing serious injury – ‘Glassing’ – Injuries probably permanent – Plea of guilty – Sentencing practices at time – Winch v The Queen [2010] VSCA 141 – Appeal allowed.

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APPEARANCES:	COUNSEL	SOLICITORS
For the Applicant:	Mr P F Tehan QC	Slades & Parsons Solicitors
For the Crown:	Mr G J C Silbert SC	Mr C Hyland, Solicitor for Public Prosecutions

BONGIORNO JA:

1. On 24 December 2006, Ryan Scott Trowsdale, then aged 24, threw a beer glass at the head of 19-year-old Michael James Shale in a bar at the Portsea Hotel.  He threw the glass from a distance of two or three metres in a manner which witnesses described as ‘hard’.  It shattered and caused Shale serious injuries to his right eye and face.  Trowsdale later told police that at the time he had had ‘four or five’ beers and was ‘in the best mood ever’.  He also told police that he had thrown the glass at the floor and its striking of Shale was, in effect, accidental.  However, ultimately, he did not persist in this obvious lie.

1. There is no suggestion that Shale in any way provoked this attack.  The only relevant contact between him and his assailant had been on 8 December 2006 when both had attended a club in Port Melbourne where Shale had danced with a girl named ‘Nikki’.  It later emerged that Trowsdale was Nikki’s ‘boyfriend’ and that when he became aware of the contact between her and Shale he was annoyed.  That they both attended the Portsea Hotel on Christmas Eve appears to have been a coincidence.

1. Shortly after the assault, Trowsdale was heard to say ‘tell your friend I hope he gets a fucking glass eye’.  Shortly afterwards he phoned a friend of the victim, one Derek Walter and said words to the effect ‘if you tell the cops who I am I’m going to kill you’.  He then repeated words to the same effect. 

1. As a result of this assault, Shale suffered very serious injuries to his right eye and to the surrounding area of his face.  He has required extensive surgical intervention and has been left with a severe diminution of vision in his right eye with a very uncertain prognosis.

1. Although he fled the scene, Trowsdale was ultimately arrested, along with an accomplice, one Pollard, and subsequently charged with a very large number of offences, including intentionally causing serious injury.  There followed appearances in the Magistrates’ Court on 23 January, 11 April, 14 June and 17 December 2007 ultimately resulting in Trowsdale (and Pollard) being committed for trial.…