STATE OF TASMANIA v BRYCE ROBERT RICHARDSON 17 FEBRUARY 2022
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE JAGO J
Bryce Robert Richardson you have pleaded guilty to one count of assault. I have also agreed to deal with two related summary offences being a charge of a breach of a family violence order by committing the assault, and a charge of destroy property which occurred during the same incident. At the time of the commission of the crimes, the defendant and complainant had been in a significant relationship. In the weeks leading up to 11 September 2020, the relationship had been deteriorating and the couple were living separately. A police family violence order had been made on 29 August 2020 in favour of the complainant. One of the conditions of the order was that the defendant “not directly or indirectly threaten, harass, abuse or assault” the complainant.
On 11 September 2020 the defendant and complainant had travelled together to the Port Arthur Holiday Park with the intention of spending time together to work on their relationship. On route to the accommodation both of them had consumed alcohol. On arrival, they both continued to consume alcohol. The defendant consumed significantly more alcohol than the complainant, but they were both intoxicated. During the course of the evening the defendant and complainant argued. It developed into a physical altercation. The defendant and complainant pulled each other to the ground and were rolling around on the floor of the cabin, engaged in a mutual struggle. Earlier it seems, some cider bottles had been broken and glass was scattered on the floor of the cabin. Whilst they were rolling around on the floor, the complainant sustained a large cut to her upper arm. The State accepts the defendant bears no criminal liability for this injury.
At one point whilst the complainant was on the ground, the defendant punched her once to her face. As a result of this assault the complainant suffered a broken nose, bruising around both her eyes, and a swollen bottom lip which was cut on the inside.
Also during the altercation the defendant caused significant damage to the cabin in which they were staying. He caused three holes in the cabin walls, damaged a blind, broke a leg off a bedside table and damaged the fridge. Cost of the damage was approximately $3,563.60. In addition to the damage, the cabin was left in a state of disarray, with broken glass on the floor and blood on the floor and walls from where the complainant had bled as a consequence of her injuries.
The complainant attended the reception area of the accommodation to seek assistance. The defendant followed her there and was very apologetic about what had occurred. He was asked to leave the area by the accommodation manager. Police were called and subsequently attended. By the time of their arrival the defendant had left the area. Some days later police located him and on 5 October 2020 he participated in a record of interview. He told police he was aware of the police family violence order, that he had been drinking all day on 11 September, and considered himself a 10 on a scale of drunkenness where 10 was “fall down drunk”. He said during the evening he and the complainant had a verbal argument which escalated into a physical fight. He said he found it hard to remember the events because of his level of intoxication. He told police he recalled punching the complainant to the face and her bleeding from her nose. He said he gets “pretty angry sometimes and blacks out”. He told police he wanted to continue the relationship but needed to “get right in the head and go on medication”. As a result of the defendant’s violence the complainant had to have surgery to repair her broken nose. A re-breaking of her nose to allow it to be reset, under anaesthetic was necessary.
I have read a victim impact statement from the complainant. She says she finds it very difficult to understand the defendant’s behaviour. When she was assaulted she believed she was going to die. She says she has been left feeling depressed and is often unmotivated and teary.
The defendant has a poor criminal history. He has a number of prior convictions for matters of dishonesty which have resulted in periods of imprisonment being imposed on him. He has a number of prior convictions for breaching both police and family violence orders, matters of common assault and destroy property. Four of the prior convictions for common assault relate to this same complainant. Seven of the prior convictions for breach of police family violence orders relate to this same complainant. On 25 September 2015 the defendant was sentenced to a one month period of imprisonment, wholly suspended for bail matters, one count of common assault and two counts of breaching a police family violence order. On 14 June 2019 the defendant was sentenced to a six month period of imprisonment for several breaches of a police family violence order, breach of bail requirements for failing to comply with the terms of the police family violence order, and three counts of common assault, all committed against this same complainant. In February 2020 he was again sentenced to a period of imprisonment for matters including breach of family violence orders, destroy property and common assault. Again, this complainant was the victim. In March 2021 he was re-sentenced to a period of imprisonment for family violence matters, and of note sentenced to a period of imprisonment on a charge of destroy property which related to an accommodation facility, and some dishonesty matters.
Obviously the defendant has a poor record in terms of family violence offences. As a consequence of some of the sentences to which I have just referred, the defendant spent between 15 October 2020 and 14 April 2021 in custody. I am told that during his time in custody the defendant resolved to make changes. He reflected on the wrongfulness of his behaviour. Upon his release, the defendant initially went to live with his new partner and was focussed on maintaining that relationship. His new partner has children to previous relationships, and the defendant spent time assisting in parenting those children. I was told the defendant also had prospects of employment in a timber yard. It seems that relationship has now come to an end and the defendant has relocated to live in a residence with a flatmate. He has been, whilst living with that flatmate, undertaking some labouring work for the flatmate’s parent’s company. I am told that he is considered a good worker. He has in the past held a number of labouring-based positions, and has always been able to find work when he has sought it out.
The defendant describes his relationship with the complainant as being tumultuous. He says they would regularly argue, and at times their verbal arguments escalated into mutual violence. I am told the complainant, at one point, was charged with stabbing the defendant with a pair of scissors. Reciprocal police family violence orders operated at times throughout the course of their relationship and alcohol consumption was a difficulty for both of them. The defendant says he feels remorse and shame for how he behaved throughout the course of the relationship, and on the night of the assault. Since then he has complied with the terms of the family violence order. He has had no further contact with the complainant, even though I am told, through his counsel, that she has endeavoured to contact him. The defendant recognises that alcohol has been a problem for him. He recognises that on occasions when he consumes excessive amounts of alcohol, to use the words of his Counsel, he “loses it”. He has resolved to reduce his alcohol consumption. He has seen his general practitioner in order to be prescribed medication to help in curbing his desire for alcohol.
I take into account the plea of guilty which has spared the complainant the ordeal of giving evidence. The defendant was originally charged with wounding. The State now accept he bears no criminal responsibility for the wound to the complainant’s arm. He made admissions to assaulting the complainant during the record of interview and has always indicated a preparedness to plead guilty to the charge of assault. Accordingly I treat the plea of guilty as an early one.
The plea in mitigation highlighted that following his release from custody in April 2021, the defendant has not breached the family violence order and, save for some breach of bail matters, has not been in any trouble with the law. It was put on the defendant’s behalf that he was committed to rehabilitating himself as evidenced by the fact he had obtained his driver’s licence for the first time since 2009, and was pursuing employment options. It was also suggested he was seeking assistance with anger management by way of seeing a psychologist. At the urging of his counsel, I obtained a home detention assessment report. Unfortunately, and despite Community Corrections making numerous attempts to engage the defendant, he did not attend appointments to allow the assessment report to be completed. As a consequence of his failure to engage in the assessment process he has been deemed unsuitable for all community-based orders. This also casts into doubt, in my view, his claims that he is committed to his rehabilitation, and determined to make positive changes. The defendant had the opportunity to pursue the possibility of home detention as a sentencing option. All he was required to do was complete the assessment report. For reasons I consider unmeritorious he declined to do so. That raises real questions in my mind as to whether he is serious about making changes.
This is a serious assault upon a vulnerable complainant who was entitled to feel safe in the relationship. Courts, without exception, recognise that any level of family violence must be regarded as a serious matter. The need to condemn family violence and emphasise the importance of deterrence, denunciation, punishment and the protection of victims and the community, weigh heavily in the sentencing process. Offences of this nature simply must attract harsh punishment in order to achieve all of those relevant sentencing objectives. Given, as I have noted, there is no cogent evidence, in my view, of the defendant holding any genuine desire to rehabilitate, there is really nothing to mitigate the sentence, beyond the defendant’s plea of guilty, which I give weight to.
The defendant is convicted of all matters to which he has pleaded guilty. I impose a single sentence. Mr Richardson, you are sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment, backdated to commence on 5 January 2022 to take into account time spent in custody and not otherwise accounted for. I direct that you are not to be eligible for parole until you have served one half of that sentence. I direct that these crimes are to be recorded as family violence offences pursuant to s 13A of the Family Violence Act.
I make a compensation order in favour of Port Arthur Holiday Park, quantum to be assessed.