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Reckless Grievous Bodily Harm Or Wounding – s 35 Crimes Act 1900

As one of Sydney’s best team of criminal defence lawyers, you can expect to receive realistic and practical advice by a strong team of experienced lawyers fighting hard to guaranteeing maximising your chances of getting the best possible outcome.

Call us now on (02) 8606 2218 to book a free first consultation with an experienced Criminal Defence Lawyer.

Your Options in Court

You will be found Not Guilty to recklessly causing grievous bodily harm or wounding if the police are unable to prove beyond reasonable doubt each of the following:

  • Your actions caused the victim to suffer really serious injury, including any permanent or serious disfiguring such as broken bone (grievous bodily harm), or cutting of the interior layer of the skin such as a split lip (wounding), and
  • You knew or should have known at the time that the kind of physical harm done might be caused

If any one of the above is not proven by police, your charge will be dismissed in court.

Defences to this charge

You will be found not guilty if any one of the following defences apply to you:

  • Self defence: where you believed it was necessary to do what you did to protect yourself, someone else, or your property, and your response was reasonable to the circumstances perceived by you at the time.
  • Mistaken identity: where the person who caused the injury to the victim was not you.
  • You didn’t know and you didn’t realise that your actions might have caused the kind of harm that was done.
  • There was another intervening event that caused the injury, not yours.
  • Duress or Necessity

Our Senior Specialist Criminal Lawyers have extensive experience and knowledge in assault charges, and regularly defend these charges in court with a high success rate. They specialise in getting these charges dropped or downgraded at an early stage, and have succeeded doing this for years.

Before pleading guilty, speak to an experienced criminal lawyer who can give you realistic and practical guidance and advice with the best approach. If you decide to plead guilty, remember to consider negotiating to downgrade the charge first. See below for critical tips and information on pleading guilty and the best way to preparing your case.

25% discount on punishment

You will be entitled to a 25% discount on your punishment if you enter the plea of guilty at an early stage of your case in court. This allows the Judge to give you a lighter punishment with a lenient outcome in court.

It’s important to get experienced advice as early in your case as possible because the amount of discount reduces with the amount of delay in entering the plea of guilty in court.

Good character references

Well drafted good character references gives the Judge an opportunity to read about your good character.The Judge is given insight into who you really are, and in this way it allows for a further reduction in your punishment, giving you a lighter punishment in court.

Powerful good character references should be guided and reviewed by an experienced criminal lawyer before handing it to the Judge. Each one should express your remorse, insight, embarrassment and the good things you have done in the community. It should come from yourself, your employer, family and friends.

Negotiate to drop charges

The charge of recklessly wounding or causing grievous bodily harm can, and has on countless occasions been dropped or downgraded to a less serious charge by police attracting much lighter punishments. This is best achieved by thoroughly analysing the police evidence, point out all the problems in it, and then strategically approach police with reasons why it should be dropped.

Our team of senior criminal lawyers specialise in getting charges dropped early.

Negotiate facts

The police fact sheet is a document telling the Judge a story of what happened. This is what the Judge will read right before giving you a punishment. It usually includes the extent of injuries caused, and is normally drafted by police, giving one side of a story attracting a heavier punishment.

It’s important to know that these facts can and often do get negotiated and changed to tell the truth, putting you in a better light, and allowing a lighter punishment. The best way to negotiate is by pointing out all the holes in the police evidence that don’t make sense, and aren’t true. We have been doing this for years.

Psychologist reports

A psychologist court report can significantly reduce your punishment with a lighter outcome if it’s drafted by a highly experienced and respected psychologist or psychiatrist. Our senior lawyers use only the best psychologists and psychiatrists in Australia.

The Judge is allowed to further reduce your punishment if the report is done properly, expressing your mental condition as an explanation for why you committed the offence, remorse, insight and a plan for your rehabilitation. It can also express your perception of why you behaved this way.

Maximum penalty

The Courts don’t normally give the maximum punishment. Those are reserved only for the severest cases and offenders.

The following are the maximum punishments available for a Judge:

  • Reckless grievous bodily harm: up to 10 years imprisonment with a standard non parole period of 4 years.
  • Reckless grievous bodily harm in company: up to 14 years imprisonment with a standard non parole period of 5 years.
  • Reckless wounding: up to 7 years imprisonment wIth a standard non parole period of 3 years.
  • Reckless wounding in company: up to 10 years imprisonment with a standard non parole period of 4 years.

The standard non parole period is the period of time required to spend in full time prison and is only used as a guidepost. It is not compulsory to impose that period. There are also other options of punishment, other than prison, see below.

Types of penalties

The following are other types of options of punishment a Judge can give depending on how your case is prepared and presented as explained above.

  1. Section 10 Dismissal
  2. Conditional Release Order
  3. Fine
  4. Community Correction Order
  5. Intensive Correction Order
  6. Full Time Imprisonment

As Sydney exclusive and highly respected specialist lawyers for assault charges, you will be guaranteed to be placed in a position where no stone will be in-turned, and the chances of getting the best possible outcome to your case will be maximised.

Call us now on (02) 8606 2218 to book a free first consultation with an experienced Criminal Defence Lawyer.

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