STATE OF TASMANIA v JESSE LEIGH FLETCHER-JONES ESTCOURT J
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE 17 MAY 2019
The defendant, Jesse Fletcher-Jones, has pleaded guilty to one count of assault and one count of motor vehicle stealing. On 26 July 2017, the complainant Jaiden Harris, was leaving 200 Lenah Valley Road, Lenah Valley where he had been visiting, before going to his work as a baker. He had started his motorcycle and was standing next to it while he put his helmet on and his motorcycle gloves. He noticed a person of slim build and wearing dark clothing walking down the driveway wearing a balaclava. He got onto his motorbike, but at that time he noticed a second person walking up the driveway also wearing a balaclava. The person he first noticed walking down the driveway grabbed the handlebars of the motorbike and the front break, and the other person grabbed the complainant and pulled him backwards causing him to fall. The motorbike fell on top of the complainant. Both persons then assaulted the complainant whilst he was on the ground. The complainant rolled himself into a ball and felt a number of hits from an item, and some kicks. He saw an implement in the hands of one of them, the complainant recalls being hit ten to fifteen times to the back of his head and to his ribs. He was still wearing his bike helmet at the time. At some point the complainant found the opportunity to run away down the road. He ran towards John Turnbull Park where he used his mobile phone to call police. Police attended and an ambulance was called and he was taken to hospital. As he was waiting at the John Turnbull Park for police to arrive he saw his motorcycle being driven away. At the hospital an x-ray was taken which showed a fracture to the complainant’s right shoulder-blade. He was treated with a sling.
Police conducted a crime scene examination at 200 Lenah Valley Road, and a dumbbell handle found on the roadway in front of the address and a blue baseball cap located further along the road returned DNA matches to the defendant. Some days after the incident the complainant’s motorcycle was located at Gant Street in New Town. There was some damage to it including a bent gear lever, scratched fairings, broken front indicator and worn front and rear sprockets. Swabbing was conducted and a high grade DNA match to the defendant was returned.
The defendant was interviewed in January 2018 but denied any involvement in the incident. He was later charged. The Crown asserts that the defendant was one of the males who attended 200 Lenah Valley Road and participated in the assault, and that each male was criminally responsible for the injury caused to the complainant and the ultimate stealing of the motorbike. All that is true and is accepted by the plea of guilty that has now been entered.
I have seen the victim impact statement by Mr Harris, and as I have said, he suffered a fractured shoulder-blade, he lost his transport as a result of the theft of the motorcycle and, as a result of his injury he lost his employment as a baker. He suffers from flash-backs and is reluctant to leave his home.
The defendant is serving a sentence of 5 ½ years’ imprisonment for armed robbery, and is not eligible for parole until 24 June 2020. He has numerous other prior convictions for offences of dishonesty but no prior convictions of violence as an adult. The sentencing principles that need to be balanced in this case are general deterrence and the vindication of the victim, with the defendant’s youth and the totality of any prison sentences added together against the background of his present incarceration.
He was 18 years of age at the time. His parents separated when he was 16 and he was devastated by the breakdown. At 17 he was introduced to the drug Ice, and things deteriorated for him from there. He lost the support of his family, he increased his use of Ice and began to associate with older, more experienced poor company who were also heavy users of the drug Ice. He incurred a drug debt and the present offending can be attributed to that fact. He has now rekindled his relationship with his family, and will live with his father on his release from prison at Campbell Town. He is finding prison particularly difficult, he is in protective custody, has had suicidal ideation and is medicated. He has pleaded guilty and is entitled to a genuine discount on an otherwise appropriate sentence for that fact. His earliest release date at the moment is December 2022. As I have said, his earliest parole date is 24 June 2020. I need to avoid a crushing sentence when adding any sentence today to the sentence he is presently serving.
The Crown seeks a compensation order in favour of Jaiden Harris, and I note the application, make the order and adjourn the application to a date to be fixed for damages to be assessed.
The defendant is convicted of both counts and is sentenced to 15 months’ imprisonment, 12 months of which is to be served concurrently with the sentence he is currently serving. The nett effect of my sentence is to add three months to his existing sentence. I make no provision for parole.