STATE OF TASMANIA v ANTHONY DARREN COOPER 24 FEBRUARY 2023
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE ESTCOURT J
The defendant, now aged 37, has been found guilty by a jury of two counts of assault. At around 2 o’clock in the afternoon on Monday, 23 August 2021, two police officers in plain clothes were at units at Arthur Street in North Hobart. As they were leaving the unit complex, they heard a cry and when they looked up they saw the complainant calling out for help from a balcony on the first floor.
The complainant, who was 30 at the time, said that the defendant had been staying with her for a few days and that an argument had developed, and he had choked her twice. The first time was when she was lying down on a mattress in the lounge room with him, and he choked her to the point where she passed out. The second time was soon after that, when she got up from the mattress and tried to go to the bathroom. She said that he choked her again and pushed her into a cupboard where she fell to the floor. She said that she then managed to get away, opened the unit door and called out for help.
The defendant denied the allegations against him when police interviewed him and he maintained his denials through his counsel at trial.
I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt as to the truth and reliability of the evidence of the complainant, corroborated as it was by the evidence of the police officers, photographs of injuries to the complainant’s neck and the demeanour of the defendant himself on his video recorded interview, and accordingly I find that the assaults occurred as particularised in the indictment.
The defendant had a troubled upbringing and fell into drug use, but he has made no admissions and thus he can have no remorse. He is not entitled to a discount on sentence that commonly attends a guilty plea. He is not, of course, to be punished for exercising his right to trial.
I find that the complainant was extremely distressed and frightened by the assaults and suffered minor bruising and scratches. Assault by choking is a serious crime given the real risk of causing death associated with the restriction of the victim’s breathing.
I have seen a victim impact statement and it is clear that these events have had a significant impact on the complainant although the physical sequelae of the assaults were relatively minor. She has ongoing emotional and relationship problems.
The defendant has spent 37 days in custody. He does not have significant relevant prior convictions although he does have convictions for assault and family violence offences in South Australia, and for causing injury and family violence in Victoria. In Tasmania he has a conviction for breach of bail by contacting the complaint.
The defendant is convicted of two counts of assault and I impose a single sentence of 18 months’ imprisonment, backdated 37 days from today, which by my calculation is 17 January 2023. I make the maximum allowance for parole and the defendant is to be eligible for parole only after having served half of the sentence I just imposed.