STATE OF TASMANIA v JAKE RILEY SAVAGE 25 SEPTEMBER 2026
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE BRETT J
Mr Savage, you have pleaded guilty to one count of assault. The crime was committed on 5 August 2021, when you were aged 18. You were having a night out with three male friends, and you had consumed a considerable amount of alcohol. During the course of the night, you and your friends interacted with the complainant. He was an older man aged 31 and was having dinner at the same restaurant with his partner. He had also consumed alcohol. He had approached your group and purchased drinks for you all at the bar.
About midnight, there was a confrontation between the complainant and one of your friends outside the restaurant. Initially, you were still in the restaurant and had nothing to do with this, and it seems clear that the confrontation was started by the complainant. You told police that you only learned about the confrontation when a security guard came into the restaurant and informed you that your friend was being attacked by the complainant. You and your two co offenders went outside to assist your friend. The situation quickly escalated into a physical fight, with the three of you fighting the single complainant. The prosecution accept that you were largely defending yourself and the others in your group, but your criminal liability is on the basis that you used violence beyond that necessary in lawful self-defence. In particular, you punched the complainant in the head, including the top of his head, and upper body on several occasions. The complainant suffered some injuries as a result of the force used against him by the group, which included a cut to his lip. He also suffered a more serious injury, a fracture to a bone in his neck, which could have had serious consequences, but it is accepted that you are not criminally responsible for the force which caused that injury.
You are now 23 years of age. You are in full-time employment and well regarded by your employer. You live with your partner and you and she have the care of her two children and the young child of your relationship. At the time of this crime, you had no prior convictions. However, you have since been convicted of some traffic offences, including drink driving, disqualified driving and evading police. In 2024, you were sentenced for the crime of conspiracy to commit the crime of trafficking in drugs. The sentencing judge’s comments reveal that you committed this crime when you were enticed by a more mature offender to assist him in his scheme to import significant quantities of drugs into Australia, by providing your address for the delivery of parcels from overseas containing the drugs. Fortunately for you, the scheme was disrupted by police in the relatively early stages of your involvement. You were 20 years of age at the time, and the judge considered that compared with other cases of that crime, your criminality was “moderately low”. A wholly suspended sentence was imposed on condition of both the performance of community service and supervision. I have obtained a report from community corrections which indicates that you completed both satisfactorily.
The incident with which I am dealing involved violence fuelled by alcohol late at night in a public area, perpetrated by a group of men on a single victim. All of those features make this a serious example of the crime of assault. However, I accept that your culpability is mitigated to some extent by the fact that you did not seek out or initiate the violence and that your involvement commenced with your attempt to defend your friend. You were young and at the time had no prior convictions. Your two co-offenders have been dealt with by another judge by community service orders. I intend to deal with your case in a similar way. I have considered the question of supervision but given your current circumstances and what I have been told about your successful completion of the supervision order in 2024, I do not think this is necessary. I will, however, as recommended by community corrections include conditions enabling referral to appropriate programs.
Accordingly, I convict you of the crime to which you have pleaded guilty and make a community correction order. You must comply with the order for a period of 12 months. That period shall commence today. The core conditions of the order require you to report to a probation officer and you shall do so at the office of community corrections in Burnie within three clear days of today. In addition to the core conditions, the order shall also include the following special conditions:
- that you perform community service as directed by a probation officer for a period of 100 hours.
- If directed by a probation officer, you must attend, participate in and complete the EQUIPS aggression program as directed.
- If directed by a probation officer, you must attend, participate in and complete the EQUIPS addiction program as directed.