STATE OF TASMANIA v BOBBY GENE JACOBSON 26 NOVEMBER 2020
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE BRETT J
Mr Jacobson, you have pleaded guilty to one count of assault.
You committed the crime against your wife on 4 January 2020. You and she had been together for 10 years and married for six. You were living together with the two sons from your relationship, aged five and three, as well as your stepdaughter, the complainant’s daughter, who was 12 years of age. You had been out drinking the previous night and it would seem had stayed away from the house all night. You arrived home at 5:45 am, after a text message exchange with the complainant. I infer that you were affected by alcohol. The complainant was getting ready for work when you arrived at the house. Your sons were in bed but your stepdaughter had slept away from the home that night.
As soon as you arrived in the house, you accused the complainant of being unfaithful. The complainant tried to ignore you and continued with her preparations for work but you started to verbally abuse her. Then, without provocation, you grabbed her around the neck with both hands and began to strangle her. You squeezed hard enough that she could neither breathe nor call out, and you held her throat in this way for between five and seven seconds. Your actions were choking her, and the complainant believed that she was going to die.
She tried to fight you off, and eventually you let her go. This caused her to fall backwards into the shower. You then stood over her and as she tried to stand up, you punched her twice to her face with the heel of the palm of your hand. The force of this knocked her backwards into the bath, leaving her feet and legs dangling over the side. You then stood over her and punched her twice to the head. You then left the bathroom.
It would seem that the assault, or part of it, was witnessed by your three-year-old son, who had obviously got out of bed. He asked you why you had pushed over his mother. You told him that you did not mean to, but then continued to say to the complainant that she deserved what you had done, that she had pushed you to do it, and that you had warned her. You repeated this last comment a number of times.
The assault caused the complainant’s nose to bleed and she was very distressed. She was unable to go to work and required assistance to care for the children. You came back shortly after to the complainant’s mothers house, where the children were, and attempted to enter the house. When you were not permitted access, you became angry and a smashed a pot plant, before leaving.
The complainant was taken by police to the emergency department of the hospital. As a result of the assault, she suffered a broken nose, as well as bruising and swelling to her temple and cheekbone area and to her face. She also suffered bruising and grazing on her neck and bruises to her chest, upper arms and legs. I have received a detailed impact statement from the complainant. Her description of the impact is expressed within the longer term context of the relationship and your ongoing conduct towards and treatment of her, as she expresses it. It is understandable that the complainant would express the impact in this way, but of course you are only to be punished for the criminal conduct which constitutes the assault to which you have pleaded guilty. I was asked to read the statement to myself and, accordingly, I do not intend to set out the significant detail of the complainant’s description of the immediate and ongoing consequences of and the impact of this assault. However, it is clear that the assault has caused very significant ongoing emotional and psychological consequences, and has also had an ongoing impact on the children. The complainant has required treatment in the form of medication and counselling, and her employment has been and continues to be affected. The trauma arising from the shock, brutality and potentially lethal nature of this assault is significant. I am satisfied that the impact as described by the complainant is consistent with the expected consequences of an attack such as this.
You are 43 years of age. You have a relatively lengthy criminal history, which includes several convictions for drink driving offences. This is consistent with your acknowledgement of a long standing problem with the abuse of alcohol. You also have a number of prior convictions for assault. In 2003, you were convicted of common assault. In 2009, a wholly suspended sentence of imprisonment was imposed on you for two counts of common assault. These assaults involved significant personal violence against your then partner, not the complainant in this case, which included grabbing her around the throat with both hands on at least two separate occasions. At least one of the assaults was committed while you were under the influence of alcohol. In 2016, you pleaded guilty to assaulting the complainant in this case. According to the prosecution facts, that assault involved similar conduct to that which occurred in this case, and was also committed in the presence of your children.
In the immediate aftermath of committing this crime, you blamed the complainant for provoking you, and then in a subsequent police interview, claimed that she had attacked you first and that you were acting in self-defence. However, in his plea in mitigation, your counsel conceded that these allegations were false, and claimed that you have since reflected on your conduct and have developed insight and remorse. He informed me that you now acknowledge the impact of your conduct on your wife and children, and you are sorry for this. You also acknowledge your ongoing problem with alcohol and the existence and effect of underlying psychological and mental health problems, including depression and anxiety. Prior to the plea in mitigation, you had taken steps to seek treatment and assistance for these issues. It is not suggested by your counsel that your mental health is relevant to sentence in the manner described in the case of Verdins, but you do acknowledge that you needed help, and according to your counsel you have sought help. You have recently been in permanent employment but the inevitable sentence of imprisonment in this case will bring this employment to an end.
The conduct for which you are to be sentenced involved a serious episode of family violence. The assault was brutal, sustained and very dangerous. The dangers inherent in placing pressure around another person’s throat and neck in the nature of an attempted strangulation, are well established and documented. The risks to the complainant in this case were exacerbated by your lack of control arising from your anger and intoxication. I have no doubt about the existence of severe and ongoing impact of your conduct on the complainant. Further, your culpability is significantly aggravated by the presence of young children in the house, one of whom may well have witnessed some or all of your attack on his mother. The potential ongoing effect of the exposure of children to family violence perpetrated within their home is also well known, and in this case is most concerning. Finally, your actions were unprovoked and constitute a grave breach of trust towards your family. The primary sentencing considerations are general deterrence, denunciation and vindication of the complainant. Given your prior history of family violence offending, I think that personal deterrence is also an important sentencing consideration in this case.
In mitigation, I will take into account your plea of guilty and your somewhat belated attempts to seek assistance for your alcohol and underlying emotional and mental health problems. I accept that the plea of guilty is consistent with your stated remorse. I will moderate the head sentence and allow for early release on parole in order to acknowledge these matters, and to allow for your supervised release into the community. However, the objective seriousness of your conduct, and the sentencing considerations already discussed, mean that the only available sentence is a significant term of imprisonment.
Bobby Jacobson, you are convicted of the crime to which you have pleaded guilty and sentenced to imprisonment for a term of two years and three months. That sentence will commence from the date you were remanded in custody, which is 20 November 2020. I order that you are not eligible for parole until you have served 14 months of the sentence.
Pursuant to s 13A of the Family Violence Act, I direct that this crime be recorded on your criminal record as a family violence offence.
The prosecutor has indicated that a satisfactory family violence order is already in place. I am not asked to make any further order and, accordingly, I decline to do so.