STATE OF TASMANIA v NICHOLAS HINE 6 APRIL 2023
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE BRETT J
Mr Hine, you have pleaded guilty to one count of assault and the summary offence of negligent driving.
These offences were committed in the early hours of 9 July 2022. You and the man you assaulted did not know each other before this, but you were both drawn into a confrontation that was taking place between other people. Shortly before your involvement, your partner had attended an address occupied by her brother and his partner, and some form of dispute had developed between those people. I have not been told what that dispute was about. This did not initially involve you, but your partner asked you to drive to the residence to collect her brother and take him to your home. The complainant was also not involved in the dispute, but he is the father of the brother’s partner, and at about the same time you were contacted, she had contacted her father, the complainant and asked him to attend the address. You both did as requested, and in particular you collected your partner’s brother and started to drive him to your home. For some reason, the complainant, with his upset daughter in the car, decided to follow your car. The prosecution asserted initially that the decision to follow you was “to make sure Mr Enright was okay”. I indicated to the prosecutor that I would not accept this at face value without proper explanation, but despite an opportunity being offered for that explanation to be provided to me, it is not been provided and I have now been told that the prosecution withdraws the positive assertion concerning the complainants motivation to follow you. I am in the position where I still do not know why the complainant found it necessary to follow your vehicle.
In any event, he did so. According to your counsel, you were travelling at the speed limit, but the complainant’s vehicle rapidly caught up to you. You became aware at this point that he was following you but had no idea why he was doing so. He followed you for a considerable distance, including into the street in which you live. Eventually, you executed a U-turn and drove back at the complainant’s vehicle. At the last minute, you crossed on the incorrect side of the road in an attempt to stop him and the front of your car collided with the front of his. This constitutes the offence of negligent driving. It is not suggested that the collision was deliberate nor serious.
After the collision, you left your car and approached the driver’s side door of the complainant’s vehicle. You and he argued, and you then assaulted him by punching him to the mouth 3 to 4 times and at least once to the jaw. He got out of the car and the verbal argument continued. You remained at the scene until police arrived.
As a result of the assault, the complainant suffered a fractured tooth, two displaced teeth and a laceration to his lip. He required surgery for the fractured tooth and may require further surgery in respect of the displaced teeth. I have received an impact statement from him. He claims to have ongoing emotional and psychological symptoms arising from the assault. Given the circumstances in which this assault was committed, and in particular the complainant’s contribution to the confrontation between you and him, and his unexplained conduct in following your vehicle, I treat his impact statement with more than the usual degree of circumspection. Notwithstanding this, there is no question that he did suffer some serious dental injuries as a result of your assault.
You are 29 years of age. You are in a relationship and employed on a full-time basis. Your criminal history is modest but it does include some family violence offences committed in 2016. There is nothing else in your record which indicates a propensity for violence.
I will take into account that you have entered pleas of guilty at an early time, and that you acted appropriately after this event by not leaving the scene until the arrival of police. Further, it is relevant to your moral culpability that this confrontation was not solely of your making, although you did make the decision to intercept the complainant’s vehicle. In my view, the complainant also played a significant role in bringing the two of you together in circumstances of confrontation by following your vehicle, and then contributing to the verbal argument between you which preceded the assault. Having said this, there was no justification for your physical assault on this man. The infliction of physical violence on another person, particularly by blows to the head, is unacceptable and potentially very dangerous. Further, it is clear that you used a considerable amount of sustained force in perpetrating the assault, and it did cause significant physical injury.
In my view, the severity of the assault and the need to deter others and you from resorting to serious violence to deal with a dispute, requires the imposition of a sentence of imprisonment. However, in view of your plea of guilty and the mitigating circumstances of the case, I am satisfied that you should be given an opportunity to avoid actually serving that sentence. Accordingly, my intention is to impose a wholly suspended sentence of imprisonment. I had intended to require you to perform some community service, but in view of the presentence report, I think that there would be more utility in requiring you to submit to supervision and I will include that as a condition of suspension of the sentence.
The orders I make are as follows:
- You are convicted of the crime and the offence to which you have pleaded guilty;
- For the crime of assault, you are sentenced to 5 months imprisonment. The whole of the sentence will be suspended for a period of 12 months from today on the following conditions:
- that you are not to commit another offence punishable by imprisonment during that period.
- that you will be subject to the supervision of a probation officer. You must comply with this condition for a period of 12 months. That period will commence from today. The court notes that the conditions referred to in s 24 (5B)of the Sentencing Act apply to this condition. These include that you must report to a probation officer within 3 clear days of today. In addition to the core conditions the order shall also include the following special conditions:
(a) you must, during the operational period of the order,
- attend educational and other programs as directed by the Court or a probation officer
- submit to the supervision of a probation officer as required by the probation officer
- submit to medical, psychological or psychiatric assessment or treatment as directed by a probation officer;
- For the offence of negligent driving, you are fined the sum of $300, which must be paid within 28 days.
- I make a compensation order in favour of Justin Tippett in a sum to be assessed and I adjourn that assessment sine die.
- I should also indicate that while I had the discretion to impose a driving disqualification, I have decided not to do so.