STATE OF TASMANIA v LOGAN CONNOR RICHARD FLANNERY
4 NOVEMBER 2022
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE JAGO J
Logan Flannery, you have pleaded guilty to one count of assault, contrary to s 184 of the Criminal Code. On 30 October 2021, you unlawfully assaulted Mr Leon Smart by head butting him, punching him to the head and face multiple times and throwing him to the ground.
You were 18 years of age at the time of the incident. Mr Smart was 43. Both of you were at the Pub Rock Diner in Devonport. Both of you had been consuming a considerable quantity of alcohol prior to the incident. At approximately 1:00 in the morning of the 30 October 2021, you and the complainant engaged in a physical altercation inside the venue. It is not clear what the altercation was about, but in any event, security intervened and the complainant was removed from the venue. I am told that following the complainant’s departure from the venue, he called out to you from a balcony below. You and another male left the venue and joined the complainant who was at that point in the Rooke Street Mall. There was a verbal altercation. You punched the complainant to the head once. He staggered away. You then moved towards him and punched him several more times to the head area whilst holding on to his clothing. Something of a wrestle ensued. You continued to punch the complainant as he held on to you. Eventually, you threw him to the ground and you walked away. The assault was captured on CCTV footage. The total incident occurred over about 28 seconds.
The complainant was transported to the Mersey Community Hospital. He suffered two lacerations in his left eyebrow, a large haematoma around the left eye socket, extending from the scalp area to the cheek area. He also suffered a dislocated left shoulder. The lacerations required stitches and the left shoulder joint was successfully returned to its correct position.
You were subsequently arrested and interviewed. You told police that you had been drinking from approximately 6:00 pm on 29 October 2021. You told police that you had consumed an inordinate amount of alcohol and that at the time of the assault, you were feeling “pretty blind”. You told police there was an incident inside the venue and that after security had removed the complainant, he was “screaming” from below the balcony for you to come down. You said you went down and there was a fight. You said the fight was “violent” and that you had thrown “too many punches”. You told police you could not recall much of the night but you nevertheless expressed remorse for your conduct. You showed insight into the wrongfulness of your behaviour. You were remanded in custody overnight in respect to the matter. You have no relevant prior convictions.
I have received no Victim Impact Statement from the complainant but I have seen photographs of his injuries. The injuries were reasonably significant and I have no doubt that he would have experienced pain as a consequence of them. It seems, however, the injuries have resolved without the need for further medical intervention.
You have entered a plea of guilty at an early opportunity and that is to your credit. As noted, you were 18 at the time of the incident and are now 19 years of age. When the incident occurred, you were experiencing some difficulties in your family relationships. You began using drugs and you were consuming large amounts of alcohol. You have now resolved the conflict in your family relationships. You have ceased your drug use and you have reduced your alcohol consumption considerably. I have been provided with a report from Youth Family and Community Corrections indicating that you have engaged with that service for counselling in respect to your alcohol consumption. You are employed with Huon Aquaculture in a full time capacity.
Because you were 18 at the time of the crime, you are to be treated as a youthful offender. I accept that this assault is out of character for you and is unlikely to be repeated. You have not, in the past, shown a propensity towards violence. However, drunken assaults by young men in the early hours of the morning, occur far too frequently and can have devastating and even fatal consequences, even when those consequences are entirely unintended. The level of alcohol that you had consumed on this particular evening meant, in my view, that you had very little control or understanding of the violence you were inflicting and potential consequences that may flow. General deterrence is a prominent feature in sentencing in cases such as this. In all of the circumstances, and in particular because of your youth, lack of prior criminal history and the remorse you have demonstrated, both by way of your early plea of guilty and the comments you made to police during you record of interview, the appropriate sentence, in my view, is a period of imprisonment, but it will be wholly suspended.
I make the following order: you are convicted and sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment, the execution of that period of imprisonment is wholly suspended on condition that you commit no offence punishable by imprisonment for a period of two years.
I warn you, Mr Flannery, that if you do commit any offence punishable by imprisonment – and I emphasise the word “any” – during that time, you can be brought back to this court and an application made that you serve the period of imprisonment I have suspended. The law is that a judge must activate that sentence unless it is unjust to do so.