STATE OF TASMANIA v MICHAEL LINDEN DENNISON 23 JULY 2021
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE MARSHALL AJ
Mr Dennison has been found guilty by a jury of a single count of assault committed while an inmate in Risdon Prison on the evening of 17 March 2019.
The conviction arose from an incident which occurred about 10pm on that evening. From the verdict of the jury they must be taken to have accepted that at about that time Mr Dennison entered the room of fellow prisoner, Mr Jones, in the Gordon Delta medium security unit and punched him with a forceful single punch to the left eye and cheek bone. At the time there were 8 inmates in the Gordon Delta unit. There was evidence that there was ill-feeling between Mr Jones and other inmates in the unit due to Mr Jones’ drug use and his leaving of used syringes around the unit. There was also evidence that Mr Jones had called Mr Dennison a “two faced cunt”, and that Mr Dennison had interrogated Mr Jones about whether he had described him that way to other inmates in the unit.
By its verdict the jury should be taken to have accepted the contents of a statutory declaration signed by Mr Jones on 18 March 2019 which described the assault. The document states that Mr Jones told another inmate, Mr French, that Mr Dennison was “a two faced cunt” at about 10pm on 17 March 2019, and that Mr French told Mr Dennison who then asked Mr Jones if he had made that comment. Mr Jones denied it. Shortly thereafter Mr Dennison came into Mr Jones’ room, stood over him and punched him in his left eye with a closed right fist. Mr Jones experienced 10 out of 10 pain immediately as Mr Dennison had put all his weight behind the punch. When Mr Jones got up after being hit he observed that his face was swollen. At the suggestion of another inmate Mr Jones took a shower to put cold water on his face. Mr Dennison told him to say he had fallen over in the shower, and if he was charged Mr Jones should “look out”.
Mr Jones called for prison staff on the intercom system and they came with a nurse to the window of the unit and Mr Jones was subsequently removed from the unit and ultimately taken to Royal Hobart Hospital where medical staff noticed that Mr Jones had been injured on the left side of his face by a single punch which produced facial trauma, swelling and bleeding around the left eye, and which restricted his left eye movement. There was also a fracture to the left cheek bone which required an operation and follow-up outpatient care for up to six months.
The incident involved a serious painful assault on a weaker and defenceless victim. It was also a grave breach of prison security. Prisoners are entitled to expect to serve their sentences without being subject to physical violence from anyone within the prison system.
Mr Dennison is now 44 years old, having been born on 1 January 1977. He is one of five children. He had a troubled childhood and became a ward of the State. He committed his first burglary at the age of 11 and has a significant criminal record which includes crimes of violence, including in a prison context. Counsel for the State has referred the Court in particular to the following prior offences:
- A sentence of 4 years and 6 months imposed by Cox CJ on 1 May 2002 for the crime of aggravated robbery of a betting agency.
- A sentence of 2 years and 9 months imposed by Evans J on 24 September 2006 for injuring property and assault for what was basically a prisoner takeover of a section of the prison. At the time, Evans J described Mr Dennison’s record as “appalling”.
- A sentence of 9 months’ imprisonment imposed by Blow J (as he then was) on 27 May 2009 on a charge of wounding. This involved Mr Dennison stabbing another prisoner with an improvised knife. His Honour described Mr Dennison’s criminal record as “very bad”, observing that he had been in custody since July 2000 and as being “one of the leaders during a prison siege in May 2005”, but had “normally behaved properly since then”.
- A sentence of 2 years and 6 months for assault and injure property, and a further sentence of 7 years and 6 months’ imprisonment for aggravated armed robbery, imposed by Porter J on 11 March 2011. The assault charge arose out of an incident in Risdon Prison involving an assault on a prison officer by punching him and then punching and kicking him while he was on the ground in the course of what Porter J described as “an affray”.
In addition on 23 December 2013, Mr Dennison was sentenced in the Magistrates Court to 6 months’ imprisonment on a charge of common assault which again arose out of an incident at Risdon Prison. A further charge of assaulting a public officer (a prison officer) was the subject of a guilty plea by Mr Dennison on 7 May 2019 in respect of an incident on 13 April 2018, just short of a year before the incident the subject of the current proceedings.
The injuries to Mr Jones’ eye and cheekbone, especially his cheekbone, were severe. The pain caused was substantial. Although there is no victim impact statement, the medical evidence and the matters concerning the effects of the assault referred to in the statutory declaration of Mr Jones in evidence are matters which demonstrate the seriousness of the offence and are aggravating features for the purpose of sentencing. I accept the submission of counsel for the Crown that the offence was a serious example of the crime of assault.
Counsel for Mr Dennison emphasised in his favour that he has not offended in the community for a decade. He has had his parole revoked in the past as a result of casual drug use. Mr Dennison also has a good work record of successfully completing programs in prison, including a program about transitioning to life outside prison.
Mr Dennison was the subject of some initial prison punishment after 18 March 2019 by being transferred to maximum security afterwards and being housed there since then, and being placed in solitary confinement, initially for 3 days, and later in the Tamar unit for 46 days where movement is severely restricted. I take that punishment into account in assessing an appropriate penalty, as well as recent penalties in comparable cases in a prison context.
General deterrence and specific deterrence, as well as denunciation of the crime, dictates that a custodial sentence be imposed in relation to the crime. Although Mr Dennison is not to be punished for his past crimes of a similar nature, it is relevant that he has several prior convictions for crimes of violence committed in a prison context.
Mr Dennison you are convicted of the crime of assault as a consequence of the jury’s verdict. I sentence you to a period of 15 months’ imprisonment and direct that you not be eligible for parole until you have completed 8 months of that term. Pursuant to s 15(3) of the Sentencing Act, that sentence shall be served cumulatively upon the sentence already being served by you. The sentence is backdated to 1 June 2021 being the date on which it is likely that the Parole Board would otherwise have granted you parole on the matters on which you are currently in custody, but for the existence of the charge the subject of this matter.
The practical effect of that is that 43 days of this sentence will be concurrent with any existing sentence being served, and the balance is to be served cumulatively.