DPP loses sentence challenge

No- jail assault penalty stands

THE Director of Public Prosecutions has failed in a bid to overturn a suspended prison sentence handed down to a man who assaulted three people on the Hobart waterfront.

Corey Graham Vincent pleaded guilty to three counts of assault and in August was sentenced by Justice Stephen Estcourt to 18 months jail, wholly suspended, plus a 12month community corrections order.

The Court of Criminal Appeal dismissed the DPP’s appeal against the sentence, ruling it was “neither unreasonable nor unjust for the respondent not to be sent to prison”.

Vincent was found guilty of assaulting two men near the Salamanca taxi rank after a night out with friends on December 21, 2018.

The court heard Vincent, who was 23, approached one victim from behind, threw him to the ground and kicked him to the face with sufficient force to render him unconscious.

A friend who went to the man’s aid was struck in the head by Vincent multiple times.

The third assault occurred on April 28, 2019, at the front entrance to The Observatory bar.

The court heard Vincent spoke to a friend of the victim who told him to leave his friend alone. Vincent then punched the victim to the side of the head, causing him to fall backwards and hit his head on the ground, rendering him unconscious for five minutes.

The victim dislocated his ankle and had to wear a moon boot for five months.

The court heard Vincent was 12 years old when his stepfather was stabbed to death in front of him and as far back as he could remember he had suffered constant physical abuse in the care of his mother.

Chief Justice Alan Blow wrote in his findings the suspended sentence gave Vincent a “very strong incentive not to go back to his old ways”.

“If he reoffends within two years after the date of the sentencing, the suspended sentence will have to be fully activated unless a judge considers that course unjust,” he wrote.

“If that happens, the respondent will deserve to go to prison. On the other hand, if he does not reoffend within the two years after the date of his sentencing, that will be a very strong indication of rehabilitation, and he will deserve to be excused from serving his sentence.

“It is in the public interest that he not commit any further crimes, and the suspended sentence should help to achieve that objective.”