Attacker spared further jail time

A PRISONER who fractured a fellow inmate’s jaw in two places in an attack has received a wholly suspended prison sentence.

In the Supreme Court in Hobart on Thursday before Justice Stephen Estcourt, Lochlan John Jahnig, 23, was sentenced after pleading guilty to one count of assault.

The court heard that on November 27, 2018, Jahnig, the complainant and four other prisoners went into a cell together and closed the door.

While they were in the cell, the defendant assaulted the complainant by punching him in the jaw, causing two fractures to the lower jaw, which were fixed at the Royal Hobart Hospital the following day.

Jahnig was moved from medium to maximum security and kept in solitary confinement for seven days.

He had prior convictions for violence including for assault for which he received a prison sentence.

“He has been in prison now for over two years, with extensive lockdown time and extensive time in maximum security, and with very little contact with his family who live on the North-West Coast,” Justice Estcourt said.

“Rehabilitation is still a strong feature in sentencing a young man of this age, and he is not to be crushed. He says he does not want to go back to prison, and looks forward to obtaining employment.”

Jahnig was convicted and sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment, wholly suspended on the basis he commit no offence punishable by imprisonment for three years.

“In my view, a suspended sentence is a far more effective general and personal deterrent than a concurrent sentence, even if there were exceptional circumstances warranting the imposition of a concurrent sentence,” Justice Estcourt said.