STATE OF TASMANIA v TRISTAN JACOB HINDS 6 FEBRUARY 2025
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE PORTER AJ
Tristan Hinds, the defendant, has pleaded guilty to one count of wounding, the particulars of which are that on 26 February 2024 he wounded Tori-Lee Derrick by punching her several times to the face while holding an object. That is a family violence offence. I am also dealing with his pleas of guilty to three charges of breaching a police family violence order made on 20 December 2023 and a summary charge of assault all arising from the same incident on 26 February. The defendant and Ms Derrick had been in a significant relationship for about five years before they separated in December 2023. They have two children aged 4 and 2 years. The relationship broke down and on 20 December 2023 the defendant was served with a police family violence order the conditions of which included that he not directly or indirectly threaten, abuse or assault Ms Derrick and he not enter the premises at which she lived. After 20 December, the defendant lived with his mother and was believed to be heavily using drugs. He and Ms Derrick remained in contact, speaking about how they might reconcile. On 25 February 2024, Ms Derrick took the defendant to her home after he told her he had had an argument with his mother. Being there put in him in breach of the order. He spent some time playing with the children but after they had gone to the bed, and during a conversation about their relationship, an argument developed between the two about whether each was seeing another person. The defendant yelled degrading comments at Ms Derrick telling her that she would do what he wants and she would do what she was told. The argument continued. Ultimately, Ms Derrick became angry and threw a number of objects at the defendant. He pushed Ms Derrick back against a microwave oven and held her there. This is the summary charge of assault. The argument then continued outside during which the defendant hit Ms Derrick with a plastic bottle containing water and then struck her several times to the right side of the face while holding an object of some description. Ms Derrick tried to defend herself and realised she was bleeding from near her right ear where the defendant had punched her. The defendant eventually ran away after which Ms Derrick went inside and noticed a large cut across her right cheek. She realised the defendant must have had an object in his hand at the time he was hitting her, although she did not know what it was. There is a suggestion that it was a set of knuckle dusters as she had seen him earlier in the evening with a set, but she is not certain that he was holding that item. I note that the two charged episodes of violence constitute the two additional breaches of the police family violence order. Ms Derrick suffered an eight to nine centimetre laceration to her right cheek and after being treated at the scene, was taken by ambulance to the hospital where the wound was closed with stiches. She was discharged later that day. She now has a visible scar on her face. The defendant was arrested shortly after the incident and a set of knuckle dusters and a spring assisted flick knife were found on him. He declined to participate in an interview with police. I note that he has been in custody since 26 February 2024. It was not made clear to me why the matter has taken this long to resolve.
I have a victim impact statement from Ms Derrick dated 14 January 2025. In terms of the relationship she says the last five years were the worst of her life. She says that the defendant made her believe she was nothing, had no rights to leave and deserved the things he did to her. Her mental health deteriorated significantly. She had thoughts that it would be easier if she was dead. She says the physical scars (sic) from this incident affect her badly but the mental effects are something from which she will never heal. She will never get over what he has done and will deal with the emotional and mental issues for the rest of her life.
The defendant is now 28 years old; he will be 29 in early April. In short, he has a very bad recorded history of violence and breaching family violence orders. On my count, since November 2006 he has been dealt with for 20 charges of assault, two of which were dealt with by way of caution when he was a youth, and one of which was an assault on a pregnant woman – a family violence offence – for which he was dealt with in this Court at the same time as an unrelated and non-family violence offence of wounding. That was on 19 December 2016. He was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment with a non-parole period of 11 months. Shortly after, for four charges of assault which pre-dated his appearance in this Court, he was sentenced for a further eight months imprisonment cumulative. Since then, in May 2020 he was imprisoned for six months, for among other things, two breaches of a family violence order relating to Ms Derrick and three further charges of assault, in relation to one of which Ms Derrick was the victim. Those involving Ms Derrick were committed in May 2019 and February 2020. It appears the defendant had a very difficult childhood and adolescence, that is something that needs to be taken into account. He was raised by his father and mother, and from a young age, witnessed much violence towards his mother. I was told that in witnessing these events, he felt powerless to intervene but felt the need to protect his mother and younger brothers. He has recently had counselling in relation to these experiences. I am told that how it is that he has come to perpetrate violence on female partners is something he wants to explore and understand. The defendant was homeless from about the age of 15 for a considerable period. He took to drugs and eventually methylamphetamine, to which he became addicted. Much of his previous offending whilst under the influence of drugs or as a result of his addiction. It was pointed out that there is a relatively significant gap in the recorded offending between what occurred in mid-2019 and early 2020, and these matters. That is so. The defendant suggests that he had love and support from Ms Derrick and was able to stop drugs and hence violence. Apparently, in about January 2024, problems developed in the relationship; the situation then became tense, and he experienced some violence at her hands. He felt isolated within the relationship. He does not offer any of that as an excuse. He says he is not proud of what he did and is remorseful. A plea of guilty was entered at a relatively early stage, having been flagged at an earlier time when a bail application was made but then not pursued. I was told that he accepts that the relationship is over and wants to move on. He had employment in metal fabrication. I was told that employment is available to him when he is free, and he intends to take that up, and intends to support his children, doing what he can within the parameters of the present family violence order, or otherwise within legal means, to attempt a relationship with them.
The State has made an application for a serial family violence perpetrator declaration, pursuant to s 29A of the Family Violence Act. There was argument about the operation of the section. The court may make such a declaration if, among other things, the offender has “on that conviction been convicted of at least 2 indictable family violence offences, with at least 2 of these offences being committed on different days;” or “on that conviction, been convicted of at least 3 family violence offences, whether indictable or summary, with at least 3 of those offences being committed on different days.” I reject the submission that, for the section to operate, convictions for all relevant offences must occur at the same time. The words “on that conviction” mean where there is a conviction for a family violence offence, and that simply gives rise to the situation where the offender has convictions for the relevant number and nature of other family violence offences. In this case, there will be a conviction for two family violence offences, one indictable, and that means that both of the two limbs which I have set out, apply.
All unlawful violence is unacceptable but violence within relationships is a particular matter of great community concern. It is often difficult to detect, frequently involves vulnerable victims and is an insidious problem. It involves, as this conduct did, a breach of trust within the relationship. Courts have repeatedly stressed the need to strongly condemn such conduct and to promote deterrence. This is a serious incident of violence. It involves a breach of trust. A weapon was used to inflict a wound to the face, which resulted in a permanent scar. Even assuming no specific intention to wound, the degree of recklessness in the conduct was very high making little effective difference. The conduct is aggravated by the presence of the children in the house at the time, although nothing is known of what they actually perceived and, of course, the previous history disentitles the defendant to any leniency on that count, and supports the need for a sentence having deterrent effect on him. I take into account the plea of guilty, which has obviated the need for a trial and for Ms Derrick to give evidence and that does entitle the defendant to some discount.
Mr Hinds, I have set out the facts of your personal circumstances and the considerations which I see needs to be taken into account. As I have noted, domestic violence is a major concern within the community. To physically hurt someone with whom you are in a family relationship is despicable conduct. You have not been deterred by previous sentences from acting in this way. You are convicted and sentenced to 21 months’ imprisonment, to commence on 26 February 2024. I order that you not be eligible for parole until you have served 14 months of that sentence. I make a serial family violence perpetrator declaration. It will remain in force for three years. I make a family violence order in the same terms as the order made on 18 March 2024. That will be for a period of five years. I direct that these offences be recorded as family violence offences.