Ellyse Kwan, Criminal Defence Lawyer from KPT Defence Lawyers, recently represented a client who was charged with three criminal offences; common assault (domestic violence related), stalk or intimidate intending to cause fear of physical or mental harm (domestic violence offence) and drive motor vehicle menaces another person with intent – first offence.

The client was a 21-year-old man who had records of prior convictions for other matters.

The Facts

The client had a strained relationship with his stepfather and the victim. On the date of the offence, the client drove to his stepfather’s warehouse, where he was asked by the victim and his stepfather to meet at a carpark located across the road from the Como boat ramp.

A verbal altercation had ensued, in which the client had called his step-father ‘a dog’ and proceeded to smash his own windscreen, car door and driver’s side mirror.

The client had made several threats consisting of ‘I’m going to kill you’, ‘watch what’s going to happen to you’, ‘you dog’ and watch what I’m gonna do to you’. This altercation was ongoing for around 5 minutes.

The client had escaped the grasp of his stepfather and spat multiple times towards the victim, as he continued to yell at the victim and made threats.

The client then proceeded to get into his vehicle and drove towards all parties at a high speed towards the boat ramp. In this process, the client had rammed the front left of his vehicle against the rear right of the vehicle belonging to another person’s vehicle.

The Result

Drive motor vehicle menaces another person with intent carries with it a maximum imprisonment of 18 months imprisonment and/ or a fine of $3,300 if dealt with in the Local Court. This comes with an automatic licence disqualification period of 3 years.

The common assault and stalk or intimidate charge both carries with it a maximum term of imprisonment of 2 years and/or a fine of $5,500 each.

Through representations and negotiations with the police, the charge of drive motor vehicle with menace was successful withdrawn and the fact sheet was amended. There was material relied upon that the client had experienced a very traumatic upbringing, with his biological father being murdered when he was 10 and then being subject to physical and mental abuse from the victim and the witness in the matter for more than 8 years. He had a history of trauma, abuse, loss, and grief in which his family circumstances had psychologically impaired him.

Following Ms Kwan’s strong submissions, His Honour saw fit to impose a conditional release order for 2 years with a non-conviction, despite his existing criminal history record.

This was a fantastic result for the client, who was incredibly happy.

If you wish to obtain the services of a great criminal law advocate like Ms Kwan, we recommend that you contact KPT Defence Lawyers. The criminal law team at KPT Defence Lawyers have extensive experience in all areas of criminal and traffic law at all levels of the NSW court system.

*Disclaimer: This is intended as general information only and not to be construed as legal advice. The above information is subject to changes over time. You should always seek professional advice before taking any course of action*.