STATE OF TASMANIA v JAMIE LAWRENCE CARRICK 2 JULY 2021
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE BRETT J
Mr Carrick, you have pleaded guilty to 3 counts of assault contrary to the Criminal Code. You have also pleaded guilty to a number of associated summary offences, in particular, several offences of common assault and one injure property.
All the crimes and offences were committed during a sustained course of violent conduct directed toward your then partner, the complainant, which took place at her home between 29 and 30 September 2019. During the course of this offending, you also assaulted your partner’s father who had come to her assistance.
You and your partner had been in a relationship for approximately three months. The violence started after the complainant objected to the presence of your former girlfriend at the house, after you had arranged for that woman to come there. This was the complainant’s house, and her objection seems to me to be a reasonable one. However, it made you angry, and you commenced the course of violence, which is as follows:
(a) You scruffed her by her dressing gown and then pushed her into a brick fence causing the back of her head to strike the bricks. You then held her against the wall with one hand and used the other to hold her by the throat and squeeze. She was not able to talk or breathe and she attempted to pry your hand from her throat but was unable to. You eventually released her because another male, who was also at the premises, intervened and forced you to release your grip on the complainant’s throat.
(b) The complainant went back into the house. However, you followed her and, as she reached the door, you grabbed her hair and pulled her backwards onto the ground. Some of her hair was torn from her scalp. Once again the male intervened to enable the complainant to get up and go back into the house. However, you pushed past him, followed her inside and punched her in the face, causing one of her teeth to break at the gum. She spat the broken teeth into a bin and told you to get out of the house but you refused. Again, you were restrained by the male person.
(c) However, as the complainant was inspecting her injury in the mirror, you grabbed the back of her neck and pushed her into the wall. You did this a second time after you grabbed her by her dressing gown.
(d) You then held by the throat again and squeezed, interfering with her breathing. You held her like this for some time. She tried to break your grip but was unable to do so. She became weak at the knees. You did not let her go until you were convinced to do so by the other male.
(e) The complainant then ran into a bedroom and shut the door in an attempt to escape from you. You followed her, and kicked the closed door multiple times until it cracked and broke open. This must have been a terrifying experience for the complainant. You then grabbed her again and pushed her into the bedroom wall with such force that it caused a large hole in the wall. You then punched her once to the stomach. Further violence was prevented by the intervention of the male yet again.
(f) The complainant again tried to escape by going to the bathroom. But you were not finished with her. You followed her into the bathroom and punched her in the back of the head twice. While she was in the bathroom, and before you entered, she was able to telephone her father, who lived nearby, for assistance.
(g) Her father, upon receiving this call, immediately went to the house. A fight started between him and you after he saw his daughter’s injuries and was told you were responsible for them. During the course of that fight, you took hold of two of his fingers and bent them back with such force that both fingers were fractured.
The complainant was taken by ambulance to hospital where she was treated for a number of injuries. These included a laceration to the back of her head, numerous scratches, bruising and areas of pain on several areas of the body and, of course, the snapped tooth. She has provided an impact statement which speaks in some detail about the physical, psychological, emotional and practical impact upon her of your violence. It is clear that the psychological impact, in particular, has been profound and that is a completely understandable consequence of significant violence of this nature. She is having ongoing counselling and has needed to make a number of adjustments to her life to deal with the ongoing impact. Her father has also provided an impact statement. The physical consequences of his injuries have affected his ability to work and have caused ongoing stress and financial loss. He has also been impacted by the emotional impact on his daughter.
You are 30 years of age. You have four children and two stepchildren. Your childhood was marred by an abusive home life and you suffered homelessness. You developed problems with alcohol and illicit substances when you were very young. You have a very concerning and lengthy criminal history which includes a number of convictions for crimes of violence. In 2010, you were sentenced for Criminal Code assault, which related to an attack on your then partner with a knife. In 2015, you were sentenced to a lengthy term of imprisonment for the crimes of committing an unlawful act intended to cause grievous bodily harm and Criminal Code assault. The sentencing judge on that occasion described the violence involved in one of these crimes as brutal and callous. You have been convicted on a number of other occasions of common assault, including one in 2018 which involved assaulting your then partner. You have also been convicted of other family violence offences. It is abundantly clear to me that you have a concerning propensity for serious violence, including violence perpetrated against a domestic partner.
On this occasion, that propensity manifested in a sustained and brutal attack. It cannot be said that there was any significant, legitimate or understandable provocation for that violence. You followed this woman throughout her house as she tried to escape from you, attacking her with blows to the head and body, and on two occasions applied pressure around her throat for prolonged periods of time in a way which restricted her breathing. Your conduct was cruel and callous. The attempted strangulation was extremely dangerous. Your violence was clearly intended to assert your domination over the complainant. It seems that your various acts of violence were only interrupted by the intervention of the other male person in the house, and one wonders what the outcome would have been had he not been there. This was shocking and serious family violence. Your conduct is further aggravated by the fact that you perpetrated this violence when you were on parole for other crimes of violence.
There are a number of sentencing considerations which are of importance in this case. The denunciation and condemnation of serious family violence of this nature is most important. The nature of the violence which included pressure applied around the throat and neck of the victim also demands particular condemnation. General deterrence is very important. Further, your longstanding propensity for violence means that specific deterrence and community protection are also relevant sentencing considerations. There is little to mitigate your conduct. I will take your plea of guilty into account for its utilitarian benefit. I will also have regard to the principles of totality.
Jamie Carrick, you are convicted of the crimes and offences to which have pleaded guilty. You are sentenced to a global term of five years’ imprisonment. That sentence will backdated to commence from 5 August 2020. Having regard to your age, I will permit release on parole, but having regard to your criminal history, the serious nature of this offending, and the fact that you committed these crimes while on parole, I think that you should serve the majority of the sentence in prison. Hopefully that will give you some time to reflect on your conduct and get appropriate assistance to modify your behaviour in the future. Accordingly, I order that you not be eligible for parole until you have served three years and nine months of the sentence.
Pursuant to s 13A of the Family Violence Act, I direct that each crime and offence, with the exception of count three on the indictment, be recorded on your criminal record as a family violence offence.
Pursuant to my power under the Family Violence Act, I make a family violence order in the same terms as the order made by the Magistrates Court on 27 August 2020, which will continue for an indefinite period, that is, until revoked or amended by an order of a court of competent jurisdiction.
I dismiss count 17 on the complaint.
I make a compensation in favour of the complainant in the sum of $1,680.
I make a compensation order in favour of New Bounty Pty Ltd in a sum to be assessed and I adjourn the assessment sine die.