STATE OF TASMANIA v KATRINA GAIL CHICK 5 JULY 2022
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE PEARCE J
Katrina Chick, you are to be sentenced on your plea of guilty to wounding. The victim is your husband Phillip Chick. At the time of the crime you had been together for 28 years but your relationship had its ups and downs over a long period. You were living together in a house in Launceston but sleeping in separate rooms. On the evening of 21 April 2022 you went to the Newstead Hotel. You drank alcohol and also consumed a small amount of amphetamine. By the time you arrived home at around 11.30 pm you were intoxicated. At first you went to bed, but, after some time you went to the kitchen, retrieved a carving knife and took it to the door way of your husband’s bedroom. When he saw you produce the knife he jumped from the bed and attempted to disarm you. In the course of the struggle he was wounded twice in the upper right arm and once on his right forearm. Your 30 year old son was also living at home at the time. He responded to your husband’s calls and helped disarm you. After all of that you were the one who called the emergency services and told them you had stabbed your husband.
After you were arrested you again admitted what you had done. You said you just wanted to let the anger out and had been thinking about stabbing or poisoning your husband for some months.
The wound to your husband’s forearm was superficial. However each of the wounds to his upper arm were about three to four centimetres long and were deep. Both required four stitches to close. There is no evidence that any of the underlying structures were damaged and no other indication of any lasting physical or psychological impact.
You are now 54. You have had an extremely difficult life. You were exposed to profound cumulative trauma, much of which is described in a report prepared by Dr Georgina O’Donnell dated 6 November 2018. I have taken all of it into account and there is no need to repeat it here. The end result is that you suffer from mental health conditions which have been variously diagnosed but which Dr O’Donnell thinks best described as borderline personality disorder with co-morbid addiction problems. One of your long standing problems is abuse of alcohol. More than 10 years ago you served terms of imprisonment for some alcohol related driving offences. Between then and 2018 there are instances of anti-social offending. There are no offences of violence until 2018 when you committed a crime very like this one. On 1 August 2018, you stabbed your husband in the buttock with a knife you had secreted in a chair with the intention of using it for that purpose. On 8 February 2019 you were sentenced to imprisonment for 12 months. Six months of the term was suspended on condition that you submit to supervision by a probation officer and perform community service. However another incident occurred in October 2019 when you took a replica hand gun to a hotel looking for someone you believed had harmed your granddaughter. You were sentenced to imprisonment for four months and also required to serve the suspended sentence.
As a result of Dr O’Donnell’s report in 2018 some changes to treatment were recommended, but the nature of personality disorder is enduring. It cannot be cured but may be managed by psychological interventions. Regrettably, despite active engagement with your GP and other services this further crime was committed. Again it is contributed to by abuse of alcohol which you know you should avoid. In this case the drinking and drug use was brought on by a stressful family situation. There is no strong indication that you present any real threat to anyone other than your husband and you now accept that your relationship is permanently at an end. You will never again live together. The need for general deterrence is moderated. In my view however there is a real need for punishment and personal deterrence. It is also most unfortunate that as a result of your imprisonment your long term social housing rental property has been lost. On your release it is your intention to relocate to Hobart where you have other family.
Your plea of guilty is in your favour. You contribute to the community in other ways. You are a long term volunteer at a community organisation in Launceston. However there is no proper alternative to a term of actual imprisonment. As an incentive to avoid further offending and to assist in your return to the community I will again suspend part of the sentence on condition that you submit to supervision. Because part of the term is to be suspended, and taking into account the minimum term you should serve to adequately provide for the sentencing factors I have referred to, I will not make a parole order.
Katrina Chick, you are convicted on complaint 31730/2022. I make no parole order. You are sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 20 months from 22 April 2022. I suspend 10 months of that term for three years from your release on the following conditions:
- you are not to commit another offence punishable by imprisonment during that period. If you breach that condition you will be required to serve the suspended part of the term unless that is unjust.
- for one year from your release you will subject to the supervision of a Community Corrections officer. The conditions referred to in s 24(5B) of the Sentencing Act apply to this condition and will be set out in the order you will be given. These include that you must report to a Community Corrections officer within three clear days of your release, you must submit to supervision and comply with the directions given by your probation officer, you must not leave Tasmania without permission and you must notify of any change of address.
- in addition to the core conditions, the supervision condition of order will also include the following special conditions that you must:
- attend educational and other programs as directed by the Court or a Community Corrections officer;
- submit to the supervision of a Community Corrections officer as required by that officer;
- undergo assessment and treatment for alcohol or drug dependency as directed by a Community Corrections officer;
- submit to testing for alcohol or drug use as directed by such an officer;
- submit to medical, psychological or psychiatric assessment or treatment as directed by a Community Corrections officer;
- attend and complete the EQUIPS addition program as directed by a Community Corrections officer.
I direct that this offence be recorded on your record as a family violence offence.