Successful non-conviction outcome on appeal to the Parramatta District Court for domestic violence offences

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Our 32-year old client who is a mother of two from Baulkham Hills was charged by the police with domestic violence assaults of common assault and an apprehended domestic violence order (AVO). Her husband was the alleged victim that police were acting for.

In 2020, our client was involved in an altercation with her husband where she pleaded guilty to the common assault charge, which was dismissed without conviction. An Apprehended Domestic Violence Order (ADVO) was then made final for a period of 2 years protecting her husband and anyone he has a domestic relationship with.

In late 2021, our client was in the shopping centre with her 5 year old daughter. Our client was experiencing a lot of stress at the time due to covid-19 and financial pressures. When her daughter misbehaved, she uncharacteristically disciplined her child by hitting her child’s head numerous times.

Having felt the guilt of what she did in front of others in the shopping complex, our client took herself to the nearest police station and reported what she did.

She was charged with ‘Common Assault’ and breaching her previous AVO protecting her husband and anyone he has a domestic relationship with (ie their daughter).

In the Parramatta local court, our client was convicted by the magistrate and sentenced to enter into a Community Corrections Order for 12 months and $880 worth of fines.

Our client then came to CDLA. We immediately arranged an appointment for her to get legal advise from our managing senior lawyer Tayla Regan. Tayla advised her on the appeal because on our view the sentence previously given was too harsh given the circumstances it was committed in.

Accordingly our team set off on the task to prepare for our client’s appeal hearing listed at the Parramatta District Court following the lodgement of the appeal in court.

Our Tayla tirelessly worked on our clients case, preparing it to the point of maximising her chances at getting the best possible result, namely, a non-conviction order (also known as a section 10 or CRO non-conviction).

Tayla made forceful and articulate submissions backed with evidence that was previously prepared as part of the preparation phase leading up to the hearing in court.

Some of the important aspects of our clients’ case includes her mental state in the context of a pandemic and limited financial capacity. All this was explained to the Judge who listened very carefully.

In the result, the District Court Judge agreed with our Tayla’s persuasive submissions in support of not convicting our client. The appeal was successful. The Judge on appeal quashed the local court Magistrate’s orders and instead sentenced our client to a non-conviction Conditional Release Order.

Published on 24/03/2022