STATE OF TASMANIA v SAMUEL WARD GALE 7 AUGUST 2023
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE JAGO J
Mr Gale, you have pleaded guilty to three counts of assault contrary to s 184 of the Criminal Code. I am also dealing with your pleas of guilty to two related summary charges, namely motor vehicle stealing and drive whilst not the holder of a driver’s licence. You assaulted your then partner, Ms Radford. You and Ms Radford had been in a casual sexual relationship for a relatively short period, probably about three weeks, when the assaults occurred. You were 18 at the time the crimes were committed. Ms Radford was 17.
At approximately 10pm on 17 February 2020, Ms Radford collected you from your place of residence. She was driving her silver Holden Commodore. When you got into the motor vehicle you locked the doors and then produced a knife, which you had obviously taken with you into the vehicle. You held the knife against Ms Radford’s throat and directed her to drive to the home of a Kristy Whittaker. During that drive, which took about two minutes, you mainly kept the knife at the complainant’s throat, although if another car passed by you would move it down so it could not be seen.
When you got to Ms Whittaker’s unit, you demanded Ms Radford go in with you. She refused so you took her keys in order to stop her driving away. Whilst you were inside the unit, Ms Radford called her former partner. She told him what you had done. He called the police. Ms Radford then deleted the call log from her phone because she was concerned what you might do if you found out she had made the call. Her concern was justified because upon your return to the vehicle you demanded to see her phone and riffled through a number of her messaging applications to see if she had called anyone. At one point, you said to her, “If I can’t have you, then nobody will”.
Ms Radford drove away from Ms Whittaker’s unit and began driving towards Ridgely. As she did so, you struck her several times to her arms and legs with an open hand, and also pinched her to the body. This behaviour amounts to the second count of assault on the indictment. During the car trip to Ridgley, Ms Radford pulled the car over several times in an endeavour to reason with you. You told her that she was going to go and stab her former partner and then dig his grave. You also told her she was the problem. You said to her, “Blood has been on this knife before and it will be again”. As you made these comments to Ms Radford you were holding the knife, pointing it towards her and gesturing with it towards her body. This behaviour amounts to the third count of assault on the indictment. It involves an assault by threatening gesture.
At one point you demanded Ms Radford return to Burnie and obtain some marijuana. She did so. This seemed to placate you somewhat. Later in the journey Ms Radford stopped the car near the Acton shop. You told her to get out and go to her house. As she got out of the vehicle, you moved into the driver’s seat and drove away. You did not have permission to drive the vehicle and you did not hold a driver’s licence, hence the charges of motor vehicle stealing and drive whilst not the holder of a driver’s licence. You contacted Ms Radford and told her where the motor vehicle it was. The car was not damaged.
Ms Radford returned to her residence. Tasmania Police were present. She was observed to be physically distressed. She reported to police what you had done. She also told a friend, a Mr Boyes, what you had done. Mr Boyes sent you a message. You telephoned Mr Boyes and admitted that you had behaved as Ms Radford said and that you had held a knife to her neck whilst she was driving the vehicle.
Police arrested you on 16 February 2020. A search was subsequently conducted of your unit. A knife was located. You told police that it was the knife they were looking for. It is unclear whether it was, but that matters little.
You participated in a record of interview. During that interview, you made some admissions but denied other aspects of your behaviour. For example, you admitted taking a knife into the car with you but claimed it was sitting on your lap the whole time. You denied you had used it to threaten the complainant, or held it against her neck. You admitted to police that at times Ms Radford was crying and that she was scared. At one point in the interview you admitted to police that you had held the knife towards the complainant so that she would “take you seriously”.
As a consequence of the assaults Ms Radford did not suffer any injury, but she was certainly distressed and traumatised. I have read her victim impact statement. She describes being scared and believing she may die. Since the incident she has suffered with insomnia and night terrors. She has difficulty trusting people and is reluctant to form new relationships. Her pre-existing mental health conditions have been exacerbated by this incident.
You are now 21 years of age. You have been homeless since the age of 14. Around that age you began using cannabis heavily. This was inconsistent with your family’s values hence you were asked to leave the family home. After that, you lived a fairly transient lifestyle and spent periods of time in homeless shelters. At the time of these crimes you were using methylamphetamine and other illicit substances quite heavily. I am told that following this you realised the need to make changes and to your credit, for the past two years or so, you have been abstinent from illicit drug use, although you do continue to use alcohol on a reasonably heavy basis. Importantly, you have recently obtained employment. You have been employed at a milk factory for a period of about six weeks or so. This is the first permanent employment you have held. You consider it to be a very positive experience and it seemingly is assisting you in maintaining stability in your life, including abstinence from illicit drugs. You have no relevant prior convictions. There are some subsequent convictions consistent with your illicit drug use.
Objectively, these are very serious criminal offences. Of particular concern is the use of the knife and the holding of the knife to the complainant’s throat whilst she was driving a motor vehicle. It is an obviously dangerous act, fraught with risk. Not only might the knife have caused a serious injury to Ms Radford, but her stress and panic flowing from the act may easily have led to some form of accident. It was undoubtedly a frightening experience for her and is the type of behaviour that clearly has the capacity to cause ongoing psychological consequences. Your behaviour also involved a breach of trust. Whilst the relationship between you and Ms Radford may have been relatively short lived, she was entitled to be treated with respect and decency, and not exposed to this type of violence.
I take into account your pleas of guilty, although I note they were entered at a relatively late stage. They nevertheless have a utilitarian value because given the material disclosed in the victim impact statement, I have no doubt that being required to give evidence in a court room would have exacerbated the trauma experienced by Ms Radford. They are also indicative of an acceptance of responsibility.
In my view, given the objective seriousness of the behaviour, and the paramountcy that must be given to general deterrence, the only appropriate sentencing order is a period of imprisonment. The quandary for the sentencing court is whether or not that period of imprisonment should be suspended in light of your lack of prior convictions and the significant improvements you have made in your life since these crimes were committed. You are no longer using illicit substances. I have no doubt your use of such substances directly contributed to these crimes. You are now in employment and appear to be doing well in that regard. You are still a young person. You were only 18 when these crimes were committed. Your rehabilitation therefore remains an important sentencing consideration.
I have determined that in all of the circumstances the period of imprisonment I intend to impose should be suspended. I make the following orders. You are convicted of all matters to which you have pleaded guilty. In respect to the summary offences of motor vehicle stealing and drive whilst not the holder of a driver’s licence, I make no further order. In respect to the three counts of criminal code assault, I impose one sentence. You are sentenced to a period of imprisonment of 13 months, the execution of which will be wholly suspended upon condition that you commit no offence punishable by imprisonment for a period of two years from today.
I also make a Community Corrections order for a period of 12 months from today. I note all core conditions set out in the Sentencing Act will attach to the order. You will be provided with a copy of those orders. You will be required to comply with all such conditions. I also impose a special condition that you must submit to the supervision of a probation officer for the 12 month period and you must participate in programmes and/or engage in counselling and/or attend and participate in psychological or psychiatric treatment as directed by your probation officer. In addition, during the operation of the Community Correction order you must undergo assessment and treatment for drug dependency and/or alcohol dependency as directed by a probation officer. You are required to report to Community Corrections, Burnie, by close of business today. That can occur by telephone if necessary.
Mr Gale, you must clearly understand that if you are foolish enough to re-offend and breach the terms of the suspended sentence I have imposed upon you, an application can be made requiring you to serve the period of imprisonment imposed. The law is a Judge must order you to serve it unless it is unjust to do so.