STATE OF TASMANIA v DARRYL JAMES DAY 18 SEPTEMBER 2024
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE PEARCE J
Darryl Day, you plead guilty to one count of strangulation. I also agreed to deal with the three counts of common assault. In each case the victim is your wife Kaylene Day. The first assault occurred on 20 November 2023. You were aged 58 and she was 52. You had been together for eleven years and married for six years. At the time you were living in a caravan on a block of land at Perth on which you were planning to build a house. Following an argument you slapped her face. She had a sore face but was not otherwise injured. The result was that she went back to Sydney for a week before returning.
The remaining offences were all committed about two months later on 15 January 2024. During the evening there was a heated argument. Outside the caravan you pushed her back into a chair and struck her face three times. You then grabbed her shirt and threw her to the ground. She ran into the caravan to retrieve her mobile phone. You followed her inside, pushed her back onto a couch and put your hands around her neck. You squeezed with your hands to apply pressure. You were yelling at her. She tried to push you away. She was frightened. She cannot say how long this continued but to her it felt like a long time. You then pulled her up by the jumper and dragged her around a table. She managed to extract herself, got out of the caravan and yelled at you to leave her alone. You then left. She went inside, locked the door and went to sleep.
She contacted the police the following morning. She made a statutory declaration about what had happened and photographs were taken of her injuries. You were arrested during that day. When interviewed by the police you substantially admitted what you had done and immediately expressed regret. You entered early pleas of guilty to each of the charges and accept now that what you did was shocking, unjustifiable and a breach of the trust which is inherent in intimate relationships.
Your personal circumstances were outlined by your counsel and in a pre-sentence report prepared by Community Corrections. You are now aged 59. You have no relevant prior convictions and are a self-funded retiree after having sold a successful business in 2021. You and Mrs Day have no children together but you each have children from previous relationships. You relocated to Tasmania in 2022 from the central coast of NSW. Your plan was to build on your block but there were serious problems with that process which placed you under emotional and financial pressure. You were drinking heavily. I accept that you have led an industrious life, that you were otherwise of good character and that you were affected by the pressures I have referred to. However none of that reduces the seriousness of family violence. There is never an excuse for violence within relationships, which is an insidious, prevalent and serious problem in society. The devastating impact of violence perpetrated against women in domestic circumstances is well recognised across Australia by the criminal courts and the community. Strangulation is a serious crime because it is a particularly dangerous form of attack, indicative of the exercise of power and control. For those reasons there is a strong need for a court to provide such protection as it is able to provide through the imposition of sentences that will act as both a punishment and a personal and a general deterrent.
There are some factors in your favour. You pleaded guilty quickly. I accept that you are strongly remorseful, embarrassed and ashamed. After these crimes you took it upon yourself to engage with a program run by Relationships Australia aimed at assisting participants to recognise the impact of their behaviour and learn strategies to deal with it. That process is continuing. After a break of four months your wife has resumed your relationship and is supportive of you. You have largely given up alcohol.
Home detention is not an available sentence because you would be confined to premises in which Mrs Day also lived. In my view a sentence of imprisonment is necessary, but I will permit you the opportunity to avoid having to serve any part of it by wholly suspending it on conditions which include the performance of community service and a period of supervision to enable your case managers to address and reduce the chance of any repetition. There will be conditions which require you to complete the Family Violence Offender Intervention Program. You should clearly understand that if you reoffend in any serious way it is almost certain that you would be required to serve the term of imprisonment I am about to impose.
Darryl Day, you are convicted on the indictment, on complaint 30845/24 and complaint 30846/24, counts 1 and 3. In accordance with the Family Violence Act, s 13A, I direct that each offence of which you have been convicted be recorded on your criminal record as a family violence offence. I impose one sentence. You are sentenced to imprisonment for nine months, wholly suspended for 18 months from today 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 term unless that is unjust.
- during the 18 month period of the order, commencing today, you will subject to the supervision of a probation officer. The conditions referred to in s 24(5B) and (5C) of the Sentencing Act will apply to this condition and will be set out in the order you will be given. These include that you must report to a probation officer at the office of Community Corrections in Launceston within three clear working days, 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 employment or address.
- in addition to the core conditions, the order will also include the following special conditions that you must, during the operational period of the order:
- submit to the supervision of a Community Corrections officer as required by that officer;
- perform 100 hours of community service;
- attend educational and other programs, undergo assessment and treatment for alcohol or drug dependency, submit to testing for alcohol or drug use and submit to medical, psychological or psychiatric assessment or treatment as directed by a probation officer; and
- attend, participate in and complete the Family Violence Offender Intervention Program if directed by a probation officer.