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Unlawful Entry Onto Inclosed Lands – s 4 Inclosed Lands Protection Act (NSW)

Charged for the offence of unlawfully entering onto inclosed lands is not considered as serious as other offences under the law. Our criminal defence lawyers have over 20 years experience and are considered leaders in this field. Our team have successfully convinced police to drop these charges early, proved innocence, and avoided criminal convictions for their clients countless times.

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

Your Options in Court

You can only be guilty to this offence if police can prove the following element beyond reasonable doubt in court:

  • You entered onto inclosed lands without consent, or remained in the lands after being requested to leave.

Your charge will be be dismissed, and you will be found not guilty if police are unable to prove the above.

‘Inclosed lands’ basically means, any private or public land inclosed or surrounded by a barrier or erections of some sort, and includes a river or natural feature. It also includes premises such as school, child care service, or hospital.

Defences to this charge

You will be Not Guilty if:

  • Consent was given to enter the inclosed lands, or upon request, you left.
  • You had a lawful excuse for entering or remaining on the lands i.e. you were preventing stock from straying or regaining control of stock that have strayed.
  • You were passing through a road which happened to be inclosed lands of another person, and there is no reasonably defined track through the lands.
  • Duress or Necessity: Where you committed the offence out of coercion of threat, or did it to prevent serious injury or harm to someone.
  • Honest and reasonable mistake.

Your charge will be dismissed, and you will be not guilty if any of the above defences apply to your case.

Speak to one of our senior team of lawyers on (02) 8606 2218 for realistic advice on how to strengthen your best defence early. Our lawyers have a proven success record of getting charges dropped early, and proving their clients innocence for over 20 years.

If pleading guilty, see the following extremely useful tip on how to prepare and present your case in a way to maximise your chances of avoiding a conviction, and maintain a clean name.

25% Discount on punishment

Pleading guilty at the earliest time will land you a discount of up to 25% off your punishment automatically to this offence. This results in a more lenient outcome, better chances of s10 non conviction.

The later a plea of guilty is entered, the less this discount gets. This is why it’s critical to get early advice from an experience lawyer.

Good character references

Getting good character letters from family, friends, work, charity and letter of apology from you for the Judge to read, often allows the Judge to give you a more lenient outcome.

Each letter should express your good character, remorse, insight, and shame for best possible results. Our team of lawyers will guide you on this.

Negotiate to drop charges

By carefully considering the police evidence, picking out the holes in it early, and then strategically negotiating, the police can be convinced to drop these charges early.

Our senior lawyers specialise in this, and they hold an exceptional track record in successfully achieving this countless times over the years.

Negotiate facts

The set of facts is a document read by the Judge, initially drafted by police, expressing your offending behaviour which you plead guilty to. For this reason, it can be one sided, portraying you in the worst possible light, attracting a heavier punishment.

To prevent this, through negotiations with police, these set of facts can be changed to reflect you in a more favourable way, often resulting in a more lenient outcome. This can often be achieved by having a good knowledge of the weaknesses of the police evidence.

Psychologist reports

By getting a powerful psychologist or psychiatrist report from a highly experienced and respected expert for the Judge to read, can drastically improve your court result.

The maximum chances of this happening, the report should express opinions of your state of mind, insight, remorse, and shame. Our senior lawyers can hand pick the best suited expert to your case.

Maximum penalty

The maximum punishment for an offence of unlawful entry or remain in inclosed lands is a fine of up to $1,100 if the land is a prescribed premises i.e. school, nursing home, hospital, or fine of up to $550 for any other inclosed lands.

The maximum is rarely given, and only reserved to the most serious offenders. Chances of getting a s10 non conviction are realistic, and reasonable if your case is prepare well.

Types of penalties

The Judge will choose to give you any one of the following types of punishment for this offence, depending on the above points:

For best possible results, and getting the best chances at a s10 non conviction, get guidance and representation from a highly experienced senior criminal defence lawyer. Our team have over 20 years experience in regularly attending court, and achieving exceptional results.

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