STATE OF TASMANIA v CLINT GRAEME STANISZ 24 MARCH 2022
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE JAGO J
The defendant has pleaded guilty to one count of assault, contrary to s 184 of the Criminal Code. I have also agreed to deal with three related summary offences being one count of common assault and one count of destroy property on complaint 52215/21 and one count of trespass on complaint 52216/21.
At the time of the commission of the crime the defendant and complainant had been in a significant relationship for approximately 2 ½ months. There had been difficulties in the relationship. The complainant had told the defendant she was ending the relationship on 7 June 2021. On that date the defendant was at the complainant’s residence. The complainant asked him to leave. He agreed to do so and the complainant drove him to a friend’s residence. Later that same afternoon the defendant returned to the complainant’s home and she allowed him inside to have something to eat. The complainant needed to leave to collect her children from school. The accused asked if he could stay and have a sleep. The complainant said no. She then walked to a bedroom and the defendant followed her. The defendant asked for a cuddle. The complainant declined. The defendant pushed her onto the bed, jumped on top of her and started to choke her. He placed both of his hands around her neck and squeezed. The defendant held this grip for approximately ten seconds. The complainant was “thrashing about” and was unable to breath. The defendant stopped choking her, but remained on top of her pinning her to the bed. He called her a whore and slapped her with an open hand to her head. This is the count of common assault. The defendant got off the complainant and opened the bedroom door. The complainant’s daughter ran into the bedroom and the complainant asked her to lock the door behind her. She tried to, but the defendant kicked opened the bedroom door. I was not told whether the child was in the house during the entire time the assault occurred, but it is a reasonable inference that she heard at least some of her mother’s struggle given she ran straight into the bedroom once the defendant had opened the door. This is an aggravating factor.
The accused left the complainant’s residence. Later that evening, he returned to her address when she was not at home. He smashed a window to the front of the house and gained entry to collect some of his property from the residence. This is the count of destroy property.
On 10 June 2021 the defendant asked the complainant to meet him at her address, supposedly for the purpose of giving her some money. The complainant was reluctant to meet the defendant and instead made arrangements for a former partner to meet the defendant. When the former partner arrived he observed the defendant climbing through the previously broken front window. The former partner challenged the defendant about what he was doing. The defendant ran off. This is the trespass charge.
The defendant ran to a nearby primary school. Police received calls from members of the public in relation to his behaviour. Police attended at the school and located the defendant in the school grounds. The school had been forced into a lock down because of his presence there. The defendant was arrested and transported to the Mersey Community Hospital for treatment.
I have not been provided with any victim impact statement from the complainant but I have no doubt the assault was a very upsetting and traumatising experience for her. I am not told she sustained any physical injury.
The defendant has a terrible criminal history for matters of family violence. He has 11 prior convictions for matters of common assault. All except one involve family violence. Concerningly, many of the prior matters involve the defendant applying pressure to the throat of his victims. Additionally, the defendant has 21 prior convictions for breaching the terms of an interim family violence order or family violence order. He has a number of prior convictions for destroying or injuring property, again in a family violence context. On the 25 October 2019, the defendant was sentenced (and re-sentenced) to a 20 month period of imprisonment for family violence offences, including four counts of common assault which all involved grabbing his victim by the throat. He was only released from prison on 19 November 2020. This crime was committed a little over six months later. It is trite to say the defendant is not to be re-punished for his prior offending, but the frequency with which he commits acts of violence against persons with whom he shares a significant relationship, coupled with his preparedness to ignore the terms of family violence orders made to protect them, is most concerning and suggests specific deterrence and community protection are relevant sentencing considerations.
The defendant has a long term drug addiction. He has been using methyl amphetamine for the last 15 to 16 years. He has experienced drug psychosis, mania and aggression because of it. I note the contents of a psychiatric report tendered on the defendant’s behalf. The report indicates the difficulties he has experienced with his drug addiction. It notes however, he has never attended a detoxification unit or any intensive rehabilitation courses in respect to his drug addiction. He has during previous periods of time in custody undertaken some drug and alcohol counselling, but it does not appear as though he has made any concerted or long term effort to address his drug addiction. The psychiatric report also notes that even in the absence of drugs the defendant presents with mood dysregulation, poor impulse control and has a tendency towards aggressive outbursts, perhaps suggestive of an underlying borderline personality disorder.
In the past the defendant has been able to hold down employment in both the hospitality and fishing industries, although he has not worked for some time. He hopes in the future to obtain qualifications in disability care so as to act as carer for a friend who suffers from paraplegia. The defendant has three children. Prior to his incarceration, he was not having contact with the children. I am told he is motivated to make changes in the hope that in the future he can be a part of his children’s lives. Whether that happens will largely depend on whether the defendant is prepared to do the hard work necessary to overcome his drug addiction. The defendant continues to have the ongoing support of his father and will have accommodation upon his release from custody. I am told he recognises he must address his drug addiction and is determined that this time he will do something about it.
Family violence crimes are always serious. They inherently involve a breach of trust and are typically committed against vulnerable complainants. The act of choking is particularly bad. It is dangerous and can cause the loss of consciousness and death very quickly. Underlying injuries can often be caused by the pressure applied to the throat which may not manifest immediately. Ongoing difficulties can occur over an extended period of time. The courts have emphasised on many occasions the need to condemn such violence. In sentencing any family violence matter general deterrence, denunciation, punishment and protection of victims are paramount sentencing considerations, and as I have noted, given the defendant’s significant family violence history, specific deterrence also has a role to play in this sentencing exercise. Save for his plea of guilty, which I accept was an early one, and has mitigatory value because it has saved the complaint the ordeal of giving evidence, there is little to mitigate the defendant’s conduct. A significant deterrent sentence is warranted.
The defendant is convicted of all matters to which he has pleaded guilty. I will impose a single sentence. The defendant is sentenced to 20 months’ imprisonment, backdated to 29 November 2021 to take into account time spent in custody and not otherwise accounted for. The defendant is not eligible for parole until he has served one half of that sentence. Pursuant to s 13A of the Family Violence Act 2004, I direct that the offences be recorded on the defendant’s criminal record as family violence offences.
I make a family violence order in the same terms as the interim family violence order dated 10 June 2021. That family violence order will operate for a period of 5 years from today.