Disgraceful attack earns judge’s wrath

A WOMAN’S involvement in the aggressive questioning and assault of a man who had helped her was reprehensible, a Supreme Court judge has said.

Carley Anne Watkins, 33, of Blackmans Bay, was found guilty in June of aggravated assault and computer-related fraud and pleaded guilty last month to subsequent charges of forgery, uttering, false swearing and perverting justice.

She appeared for sentencing before Justice Gregory Geason in the Supreme Court in Hobart yesterday.

The aggravated assault and computer-related fraud crimes were committed with two others — Leigh Reginald Dobson, 33, and Samuel James Franklin, 31, who were sentenced last month — at Watkins’ home on July 6 last year.

The court heard Watkins invited Muhammad Osama Siddiqui inside, and Mr Siddiqui was subjected to aggressive questioning, punching and threats.

Justice Geason said the offences occurred “against a backdrop of the complainant having assisted you [Watkins] on a number of occasions”.

“Your treatment of him was reprehensible and reflects poorly on you,” he said.

Justice Geason said he accepted events “got out of control” that night, partly due to the trio’s drug consumption.

“Some of your criminal responsibility arises as an accessory to the conduct engaged in by your co-accused,” he said to Watkins.

The second set of charges Watkins was sentenced on arose from an application she made to vary her bail to allow travel to the North of the state using false documents and a false affidavit.

Justice Geason said Watkins generated documents intended to show she had been accepted to participate in a university seminar in March in the North of the state.

Watkins’ behaviour was “a most serious example of perverting justice”, he said.

“By your conduct you obtained an advantage to which you were not entitled,” he said.

Justice Geason said he accepted that Watkins was motivated by what she saw as “a need to get away from things at that time” and that she had otherwise complied with her bail conditions.

Watkins received a ninemonth suspended sentence for the perverting justice matters and a 15-month jail sentence for the July 2018 crimes.

The latter was backdated to take into account time Watkins has already served and she will not have to serve the remainder if she completes a drug treatment order. Watkins, however, was in breach of a previous three-month suspended sentence when she forged the seminar documents.

Justice Geason backdated the operation of that sentence but required Watkins to serve another two months from yesterday.

“That is as gentle as I can be in all the circumstances,” he said.

“If suspended sentences are to be effective, you and others need to be aware that there will be consequences [if they are breached].”

Justice Geason previously told the court rehabilitation in Ms Watkins’ case was particularly important “so we can bring this cycle [of offending] to an end”.