Suspended Term of Imprisonment for Assaulting Police Officers and Subsequent Breach of Suspended Imprisonment
In 2022, our client was charged with assaulting police when they attended at his house for a disturbance.
Assaulting a police officer is a serious offence that can carry imprisonment, depending on the circumstances of the offence and on any injuries caused.
If “bodily harm” is caused, mandatory imprisonment applies. If no bodily harm is alleged, then imprisonment is still an option, but it is no longer mandatory.
In this case, our client has several charges pertaining to several different police officers. However, he also had a troubled background and would have benefited from counselling.
We represented him for his sentencing hearing and he was sentenced to a suspended term of imprisonment with conditions that he attend counselling.
Suspended term of imprisonment
Being sentenced to a suspended term of imprisonment means you do not go in to prison, so long as you do not breach the terms provided. You can serve your sentence in the community.
You would breach the terms by:
- Not complying with any required conditions (e.g. counselling);
- Being found guilty of another criminal offence which carries a term of imprisonment.
If you breach the sentence by committing a further offence, you will be resentenced for the original offending, as well as the new offence. The Court has a few different options at sentencing, depending on whether you have completed the term of suspended imprisonment, or not.
If the suspended term is still in place, the Court must order that you serve the term of imprisonment in prison unless it would be unjust to send you to prison giving consideration to any circumstances that have arisen since the suspended term was imposed. That means you will generally be sent to prison to serve the sentence immediately, unless something new has arisen that would make it unjust to send you to prison.
Resentencing for a breached suspended sentence
In 2023, our client breached his suspended sentence by being found guilty of a further offence.
Tim Hampson from our office successfully argued that our client should not be made to serve the term in prison by persuading the Magistrate that it would be unjust to do so.
It was a great outcome and our client is now able to continue to receive counselling and treatment, and continue with his employment.
If you would like advice and representation regarding an assault offence, or sentencing where you are concerned you may receive imprisonment or for breaching a suspended term of imprisonment, please contact our office on (08) 9500 8915 or at [email protected].