STATE OF TASMANIA v AIMEE LOUISE HOGAN 10 AUGUST 2023
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE ESTCOURT J
The defendant, Aimee Louise Hogan, who was born on 1 June 2001, has pleaded guilty to one count of assault. At the time of the incident, she and Raimn Cole Westcott were in a relationship together. The complainant is Tiarney Nicole Robinson, who was born on 15 April 1999. The defendant and the complainant were not known to each other at the time of the incident.
On Thursday, 17 June 2021 the complainant and her friend, Jesse Smith, were at Eastlands Shopping Centre where Mr Smith withdrew bond money that was being requested from him from an ATM. The complainant and Mr Smith returned to Mr Smith’s address. Mr Smith began to count out the bond money in front of the defendant’s co-defendant. While Mr Smith was counting the money, the complainant approached the co-defendant and asked if he was going to apologise for punching a Ms Turner. The co-defendant picked up a baseball bat and swung it in a motion towards the complainant, though the bat did not make contact with her. This frightened her and she hid behind Mr Smith. The co-defendant swung the bat again and it made contact with Mr Smith’s right bicep. This caused him to flinch in pain and the complainant feared that he would assault Mr Smith further and used both of her hands to push the co-defendant further away from Mr Smith.
While the complainant was doing that the defendant punched the complainant three times to the back of her head. The complainant turned around to see who had punched her and the defendant was standing behind her. The co-defendant grabbed the complainant and forced her onto the ground. While the complainant was lying on the ground, he stomped on the back of head. The complainant was frightened and dazed and attempted to move away to avoid being assaulted. As she did so, the defendant approached her and punched her multiple times. The complainant attempted to protect herself by raising her right foot and kicking out at the defendant, but fell on the ground during the altercation. While the complainant was lying on the floor, the co-defendant threw a small glass perfume bottle at her forehead, splitting her forehead open and causing blood to flow. The complainant attempted to wipe the blood from her face but the co-defendant taunted her as she did so and took photographs of her injuries on his phone.
The complainant required five stitches for the wound on her forehead and was monitored for signs of concussion for several days after the initial contact. She suffered from pain, nausea and discomfort. As a result of the incident she has been left with a scar on her forehead.
I have read a victim impact statement prepared by the complainant and it is clear that not only did she lose wages as a result of having time off work, but she has ongoing psychological symptoms as a result of the assault, which she describes as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I will take that to mean that she has significant ongoing psychological symptoms as a result of the trauma, but I have no formal diagnosis of any psychiatric injury or disorder.
The defendant is now 22 years of age. She has no prior convictions of any nature whatsoever. Her plea was a relatively early one given that the matter required some negotiations before the charges against her were settled.
In all of those circumstances it is my view that this matter ought to be dealt with by way of a substantial fine. The defendant is convicted of the charge to which she has pleaded guilty and is fined the sum of $1,000.