STATE OF TASMANIA v ALASTAIR HUGH FLETCHER TAAFFE BRETT J
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE 25 JUNE 2025
Mr Taaffe, you have pleaded guilty to one count of recklessly discharging a firearm. You have also pleaded guilty to the summary offences of common assault and possessing a firearm without the appropriate licence.
The relevant offending occurred on 9 September 2024 at your parents’ home. You were then and still are living there. You had been drinking and had become angry and upset over the health of your dog. You took your drunken anger out on your parents. You were abusive to them. This resulted form a deterioration in your mental health which caused you to become emotionally upset and suicidal. According to a psychiatrist who has provided a report you have suffered for some time from a range of symptoms compatible with the diagnosis of post-traumatic type disorder. However, the decline in your mental health which led to your decision making on the night in question arose from depression which had developed in the context of some stressful and traumatic incidents in the months leading up to this day. This included difficulties securing sufficient feed for stock on your parents farm, which had led to the need for you to shoot a significant number of stock, your father’s involvement in a motor vehicle accident during which you were required to retrieve him when the vehicle he was in became submerged in water, and the declining health of your dog. You claim to have decided to commit suicide that night. You retrieved your father’s rifle from the firearm safe where it was kept and were moving towards the door to take it outside. Your intention was to walk away from the house to a particular location and shoot yourself. Your father told you not to leave the house with the rifle, but you pushed him with your shoulder causing him to fall to the ground. When you got outside, the darkness made it impracticable for you to walk to your intended destination. Instead, you positioned the gun so that the barrel was pointing toward your chin. You then discharged the weapon, but as you did so, you turned your head in response to a cry from your mother, and the projectile missed you. You then tried to get back into the house, but your parents, who were understandably fearful of your intentions, had locked the door and would not open it. You then called lifeline and the police, telling them that you intended to shoot yourself. Specialist police eventually arrived at the house in response to this call and arrested you without further incident.
You are 39 years of age. You have a modest criminal history consisting largely of traffic offences, which include three drink-driving matters. Your last convictions were in 2021 and consist of four assaults committed in a family violence context. Your marriage broke down in 2016. You have an industrious work history which included some time in the Australian Navy as well as work on oil rigs and as a security guard. In recent times and presently, you are employed on a full-time basis on your parents’ farm.
You have been having psychological treatment for some years and are also medicated with respect to your mental health. The psychiatrist makes the point that your offending did not arise from an intention to cause harm to your parents or anyone else but rather from your own emotional distress leading to your decision to commit suicide. I think this conclusion is obvious, although I think it must be the case that the effect of the alcohol you had consumed also played a part. Whatever might have been your actual intention, the fact remains that you knowingly caused a great deal of distress and fear to your parents and put them through a very traumatic experience. It is of concern that your dealings with police left them with no option but to deploy significant resources to deal with the situation, resources that might have been better used elsewhere.
You spent 84 days in custody on remand before being released on bail. Your counsel submits that this has had a very significant impact on you and has acted as a real deterrent with respect to further episodes of this nature. I am told also that you are continuing with regular psychological therapy pursuant to a current mental health plan and that you have given up alcohol. Your response to this offending also includes what should be regarded in the circumstances as an early plea of guilty.
The reckless discharge a firearm in any circumstance is a serious matter. The objective seriousness is increased when there is immediate risk to others. While I accept that there was no actual and immediate risk to your parents from the discharge of the weapon, they understandably did not appreciate that at the time. Further, such conduct can provoke reactions which can lead to escalation of risk and actual injury. Your parents sensibly locked the doors to keep you out, but one can easily envisage a reaction where they attempted to take the weapon off you. Such a situation would clearly have resulted in significant risk. It follows that general deterrence is an important consideration. Having said that, I accept that the time that you spent in custody has had a meaningful impact on you and it is unlikely that you will commit an offence like this again.
I intend to impose a modest wholly suspended sentence of imprisonment. The length of the sentence will be reduced to take into account that you have already spent 84 days in custody. The purpose of the sentence is to act as a deterrent to you and others in respect of the use of a firearm in this or any other unlawful way. I do not see the need to include in the conditions of suspension any provision for supervision given the steps you have already taken to deal with this issue.
The order I make is that you are convicted of the crime and offences to which you have pleaded guilty. You are sentenced to a global term of three months imprisonment which will be wholly suspended for a period of 12 months on the condition that you do not commit another offence punishable by imprisonment during that period.