STATE OF TASMANIA v CHARLES JOHN RATTRAY 25 OCTOBER 2019
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE MARTIN AJ
Mr Rattray, you have been found guilty by a jury of perverting justice through a phone call between you and your former partner which occurred on 26 February 2018. At that time your former partner had made a complaint against you alleging assault and you were the subject of charges under the Police Offences Act 1935. Subsequently you were acquitted of those charges.
You had been speaking to your mother on her mobile when she handed the mobile to your former partner. In the conversation that followed, you berated your former partner in what can only be described at times as extremely loud, aggressive and intimidating words and volume.
In the course of the conversation you said words to the effect “what you want to keep going on with this do you, because if you do I will have Child Protection that far up your fucking arse it won’t be funny” and, with reference to her son, “you said he was going to be charged”.
The jury has found, not only that you uttered those words, but they were uttered in such a way as to amount to an improper threat and intimidation that crossed the line into the criminal law. There can be no doubt that your behaviour on that occasion was very aggressive and highly intimidatory.
The jury also found that you were trying to intimidate your former partner into either having the charges withdrawn or changing her statement in some way to exonerate you. In other words, you wanted the whole thing dropped.
Whether you believed that the statement that had been made by your former partner was false or otherwise was irrelevant to the jury’s consideration. Certainly you were acquitted and you are presumed to be innocent of the charges that followed the complaint. However, I am not in a position to consider the details of that matter or to make any determination as to whether you thought the complaint was false.
It can be said, however, that your offending, which is serious because any attempt of this nature strikes at the heart of the criminal justice system, is at the lower end of the scale of seriousness. It happened spontaneously in the course of a conversation at a time when you had been speaking to your mother and at a time when you were in custody. It is obvious from the call that you were upset and very angry. So this is in quite a different category from some cases of attempts to pervert the course of justice.
Mr Rattray, you are now 48 and you have a long record of prior offending involving many traffic matters, quite a lot of dishonesty and some breaches of family violence orders. There is only one offence, as I read it, of common assault in 2011. There are also some drug matters and I am told that you have had a problem with drugs.
You were in custody from 3 February to 26 June 2019 and your counsel has told me that you took the opportunity to stay off the drugs and to make the most of your time in gaol. As a consequence, you have regained your relationship with your mother and you now have her support and that of your son.
Importantly you have made progress in terms of staying out of trouble and becoming employed since you were released on 26 June 2019. I have a reference from your employer who obviously knows the nature of the charge that you faced in this Court. He has employed you since 15 July on a casual basis, and in his reference he says that you have assisted in refurbishing their office which involved painting, plastering, tiling and bench restoration. You have restored a grain feed trailer to a degree that he describes as fantastic, and there are future restoration projects which he has in mind for you. In addition, you have been assisting with feeding of livestock, shearing, stock movements, lamb marking, fencing and irrigation, and not only is your employer impressed with the work that you have undertaken, but he describes you, and I quote, “as eager, cheerful, diverse and fitting into the team perfectly”.
A fellow employee has also provided a reference and that employee knows of the matter before this Court. Although he has only known you for a short time he has found you to be “very enthusiastic, reliable, hardworking, helpful and willing to learn”.
In addition, you have sent a letter to me and asked me to see that you have turned over a new leaf and that you want nothing but the best for your future in an honest way. You speak about your life as a drug addict and how you funded that with your offences of dishonesty. You have provided me with pictures of some of the work that you have undertaken and, quite rightly Mr Rattray, you say you are proud of your achievements and of your self-control since being released from prison.
Your offending requires a sentence of imprisonment. People who are tempted to engage in this type of offending in order to avoid being dealt with in the proper way within the criminal justice system must understand that the courts and the community, for that matter, take a very dim view of this type of conduct. As I said earlier, it strikes at the heart of the criminal justice system.
So a sentence of imprisonment is required, but at the same time your offending is at the lower end of the scale of seriousness. It was not a premediated and planned exercise. It occurred in the course of a short spontaneous phone call. Importantly for someone with your background, you have finally shown positive signs of rehabilitation. But, of course, with anyone who has been through what you have been through there is a long way to go, but the signs are very good.
In relation to this matter you have already spent 21 days in custody but, of course, you were in custody for a lot longer than that in connection with other matters in respect of which you were found not guilty. It seems to me that the best interests of the community can be served in this case by imposing a sentence, but suspending it from today. So I am going to let you out to continue on with your good work.
Mr Rattray, you have obviously had a problem with your temper in the past and that is something that happens when people get into difficulties within domestic relationships. But you have to understand, and I am sure you do, that you are right at the end of the rope. That if you step out of line again with violence of that sort and that includes verbal violence – verbal intimidation, then you are just going to go straight back to gaol and a judge in the future is not going to have much sympathy for you because you are getting a chance now.
I am going to impose some conditions. So the sentence is a sentence of imprisonment for 18 months and I am suspending it from today. I am going to say it commences on 4 October 2019 and I am suspending it from today because that is my calculation that its roughly at least 21 days. So it is suspended from today. So you have served around about 21 days of the sentence, but you have to understand that this suspended for a period of 18 months which means for the next 18 months you have the sentence of 18 months hanging over your head. I guess it is 18 months less 21 days. So just over 17 months of imprisonment is hanging over your head for the next 18 months. If you step out of line then you will be liable to serve that sentence. I have some conditions.
In that period you are not to commit any offence against the Misuse of Drugs Act 2001. Now that is any offence against the Misuse of Drugs Act 2001, and you are not to commit any offence punishable by imprisonment. Quite separate from the Misuse of Drugs Act 2001. In that period you are not to consume an illicit drug in any way. That includes cannabis. So no drugs whatsoever. Do you think you can survive 18 months without the drugs?
MR RATTRAY: Yeah definitely.
HIS HONOUR: You reckon, yes good.
HIS HONOUR: And in that period you are to submit to testing for illicit drugs, including by way of urine or blood samples, forthwith upon request by a police officer. Now the police officer does not have to have an excuse. He can just ask you to provide a blood sample or a urine sample or test you in some other way for the drug and, of course, if you come back positive it will prove that you have broken the other condition, that you have used an illicit drug in some way. So that is the other condition. Right so you understand that?
MR RATTRAY: Fully.
HIS HONOUR: So what is the sentence I have imposed?
MR RATTRAY: 18 months with three conditions.
HIS HONOUR: Right good. Right so you are free now to go about your life and to continue to rebuild your life.
MR RATTRAY: Thank you.
HIS HONOUR: Good luck.