STATE OF TASMANIA v DANIEL DALE DOUBLE 24 SEPTEMBER 2026
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE PEARCE J
Daniel Double, you plead guilty to assault. The crime was committed just after 4.30 am on 12 March 2022. The victim was John Sapei, then aged 36. Mr Sapei was a seasonal worker from Vanuatu. You had been at the Commercial Hotel with your partner since 11.00 pm. By the time you left you were both affected by alcohol. Because you had been arguing you were standing away from her when she left her handbag on a low brick wall in York Street to find a concealed place to urinate. As she did so, Mr Sapei walked past, picked up the handbag from where it had been left and continued to walk down York Street. It cannot be really known whether he thought the handbag had been abandoned or whether he had some dishonest intent. The circumstances were suspicious. You saw him and ran after him. You caught up with him on Charles Street near Princes Square. He was on his own. You pushed him against a wall and then forced him to the ground. You then punched him three times to his face. Mr Sapei did not fight back. You took the handbag and left.
Mr Sapei was found by others and taken to hospital. Medical investigations revealed that he had suffered extensive fractures to his facial bones, predominantly on the right side. His right eye was swollen shut, his nose was obviously deformed and there were multiple facial abrasions. He underwent plastic surgery on three occasions, on 16, 22 and 25 March 2022, for fixation of the facial bones. He was last seen in the plastic surgery clinic on 12 May 2022. His recovery was progressing well although he still had a noticeably deviated nose which might have required further corrective surgery.
You were interviewed by the police after having voluntarily presented to the police station on 31 May 2022. You admitted much of what you had done. You claimed to not have intended to severely injure Mr Sapei, but admitted that you were already angry and might have handled it differently if you had been sober. You also claimed to have been very worried later about the fact that you had abandoned him injured on the ground.
The State accepts that the force you used to take Mr Sapei to the ground and one punch to his face was justified by defence of property, that is to retrieve your partner’s handbag in circumstances where you believed, rightly or wrongly, that Mr Sapei had taken the bag dishonestly. However, you admit, by your plea, that the punches following the first punch were more than was reasonably necessary for that purpose, and thus unlawful.
You are now aged 35. You were then aged 30. You are married to a person who was not your partner at the time. You have one child aged 17 months. You have two older children, the oldest of whom lives with you full time. You are employed full time as a shearer and you are well regarded by your employer. You have no relevant prior convictions. Your plea of guilty came in circumstances in which the State may have had some difficulty in securing Mr Sapei’s attendance at a trial. He has returned to Vanuatu and lives in a remote location. Your admissions and the CCTV go a long way to establishing your guilt. Nevertheless, your plea is considerably in your favour and should result in a reduction in sentence because it was entered soon after the facts on the basis of which you are to be sentenced were agreed, because it facilitates justice, indicates an acceptance of responsibility and relieves the State of the considerable time trouble and expense of calling Mr Sapei.
I accept that you experience some remorse, although this was a serious assault. You correctly agreed with the police in the interview that you went overboard. The nature and extent of Mr Sapei’s injuries give some indication of the degree of the excessive force you inflicted. The punches must have been extremely hard and were inflicted when Mr Sapei was doing nothing to resist. It is however to be distinguished from the type of case involving random and completely unjustified alcohol fuelled public violence.
In all the circumstances, I think that the appropriate sentence is a wholly suspended term of imprisonment.
Daniel Double, you are convicted. You are sentenced to imprisonment for seven months, wholly suspended for 18 months from today. It is a condition of that order that while it is in force you do not commit any offence punishable by imprisonment. If you breach that condition then a court must order that you serve that term unless it is unjust.