STATE OF TASMANIA v JONTY BRUCE PENNEYSTON 2 NOVEMBER 2023
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE BLOW CJ
Mr Penneyston has pleaded guilty to two assault charges. The charges relate to separate incidents that occurred in the early hours of Saturday 11 June 2022. Both assaults were recorded on CCTV and/or phone video footage.
The first assault is the subject of a charge under the Police Offences Act 1935. I am dealing with that charge under s 385A of the Criminal Code. Mr Penneyston and some other people had been drinking at a bar in Salamanca Place. After leaving that bar Mr Penneyston assaulted a man whose identity has not been established. The man in question was talking with either Mr Penneyston or one of his companions when, without warning, Mr Penneyston punched him to the face with his right hand. He threw about ten punches. At least two of them did not connect. Then he grabbed the man and kneed him to the head twice, causing him to fall to the ground. He hit him at least three more times while he was on the ground. Mr Penneyston’s brother intervened and pulled him away. The victim of this assault did not make any attempt to fight back. He got up and left the area on foot. Police officers attempted to locate him, without success.
About 30 minutes later Mr Penneyston and his companions encountered three men who were walking on Murray Street. An altercation started between one of Mr Penneyston’s companions and one of the other men. While those two men were fighting, a member of the other group yelled something and pointed at Mr Penneyston. He responded by punching that man to the face with his right hand, knocking him out. The victim began to fall to the ground. Mr Penneyston continued to throw punches at the man as he was falling. After he landed on the ground, Mr Penneyston punched him three more times to the face. Once again, Mr Penneyston’s brother intervened and stopped him from continuing the assault. The victim remained unconscious on the ground for a number of minutes.
Ten days later Mr Penneyston voluntarily went to the Hobart Police Station, participated in a video recorded interview, and made substantial admissions in relation to the two assaults.
On the morning of 11 June the victim of the second assault woke up with double vision. He went to the Royal Hobart Hospital. A CT scan revealed a mildly displaced fracture to the nose. The treating doctor also suspected mild concussion. The victim suffered pain, bruising, abrasions to his face, burst blood vessels in one eye, and a split tooth.
Mr Penneyston was 23 years old on the night in question and is now 24. In January 2022, some five months before the night in question, he pleaded guilty before a magistrate to a charge of disturbing the public peace by fighting. The magistrate did not record a conviction but adjourned the matter on an undertaking to be of good behaviour for 12 months. However he has no significant prior convictions. He was educated to the end of grade 10 and has worked in various occupations since he was 17 years old.
I accept that what he did on the night in question was out of character. It appears that he drank far more alcohol than he usually does prior to committing these assaults. He was shocked to see his behaviour when police officers showed him the video footage. It counts in his favour that he cooperated with the police, made admissions to them, and indicated at an early stage that he would be pleading guilty. His counsel told me that he regrets what he did and has moderated his drinking.
These were serious assaults. I will not send Mr Penneyston to prison today because he is young and what he did was out of character. I think the most appropriate course is for me to impose a wholly suspended sentence of imprisonment and to require him to perform some community service.
Jonty Bruce Penneyston, I convict you and sentence you to 3 months’ imprisonment, wholly suspended on conditions that:
(a) you are not to commit any offence punishable by imprisonment for a period of two years, and
(b) you must complete and satisfactorily perform 175 hours of community service as directed by a probation officer or a supervisor, within 18 months of today.