STATE OF TASMANIA v JONATHON CHARLES ADAMS 16 SEPTEMBER 2022
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE JAGO J
Mr Adams you have pleaded guilty to one count of assault. On 29 August 2021 you were at a supermarket with a young man, whom I shall refer to as B. B is the son of your previous partner. Following the breakdown of that relationship B continued to maintain a close relationship with you and would spend considerable time in your company.
By chance, you came across your ex-partner in the supermarket. She was with two children. One of those children was your biological daughter and the other was a child with whom you had a close relationship and had raised as your own throughout the course of the relationship. Your ex-partner was with the complainant. This surprised you as you had not been informed that your ex-partner had commenced a new relationship and that there was a male, who was unknown to you, spending time with your children. You approached your daughter to speak with her. You perceived the complainant manoeuvred himself as if to interfere with you speaking to your daughter. You grabbed hold of him and said “your dead mate”. The situation then settled and you all went about your grocery shopping. Shortly after, and again by coincidence, you were all in the supermarket carpark at the one time. You approached the complainant, grabbed hold of him with one hand and forced him up against a fence adjacent to his car. You threatened the complainant and then punched him once to the face with a clenched fist. The complainant walked away and you returned to your car. In a separate incident, and in circumstances where the State do not allege you bear any criminal responsibility, B approached the complainant and punched him several times to the head and body, causing him to fall to the ground. As a consequence of B’s assault the complainant suffered a number of facial bone fractures, but as I have said, it is not alleged that you bear any criminal responsibility for that assault.
The punch you inflicted upon the complainant does not appear to have caused any substantial physical harm. I do note however, that having observed you punch the complainant, it is likely B was influenced (not in a legal sense, but perhaps a moral sense) to carry out his assault. Certainly you did not set a good example for him.
You are 41 years of age. You are in a new relationship. You are currently dependent on benefits having recently been made redundant from your employment. You have a strong industrial history and are hopeful of obtaining new employment shortly. I am told your behaviour towards the complainant arose because you were annoyed he was in the company of your children when you had not been told about him. You were angry and reacted in a way that is not typical for you. You have one relevant prior conviction. In 2010 you were convicted of common assault. That involved you grabbing and pushing your then partner following a dispute over contact with a child. It does appear as though this incident was rather out of character for you. It goes without saying that the use of violence in circumstances such as this, in front of children, and in a public place, is most unacceptable. Hitting anyone to the head or face area, particularly when they are standing on hard surfaces like a car park, can have grave, often unintended, consequences. I take into account that no injury seems to have been suffered by the complainant as a result of your punch, although I have no doubt he found the circumstances most confronting. I have considered the victim impact statement provided by the complainant. I exercise a degree of caution in determining the impact your crime had upon him given the subsequent assault that was committed by B. I sentence on the basis that I certainly accept there would have been some impact upon him, at least to the extent that he must have found the circumstances confronting, and your behaviour towards him was entirely unprovoked and unjustified. As I have noted, the fact the assault was committed in a public place and in front of children are aggravating circumstances although it is not clear to what extent the younger children would have observed the entirety of the incident.
I take into account your plea of guilty which I accept was an early one. There was some delay associated with the resolution of this matter but that appears to have been predominately related to the investigation involving B’s behaviour. You made admissions from the outset as to your role in this matter and have always indicated a preparedness to plead guilty to the assault as it is now particularised.
In all of the circumstances the most appropriate course is for me to make a community correction order requiring you perform some community service hours. Community Corrections do not recommend supervision because of what they assess as low criminogenic needs.
Jonathon Adams, you are convicted of the crime of assault and I make a community correction order requiring you to:
- Satisfactorily perform and complete 98 hours of community service as directed by a probation officer or a supervisor. Those hours must be completed within the next two years;
- I order that you present to Community Corrections Launceston, by close of business today.