Though cases involving assault, domestic violence and property damage are common, they still require experienced criminal lawyers in Melbourne with a comprehensive understanding of the law and judicial system.
There can be far-reaching consequences for a person convicted of assault or property damage offences. At Stary Norton Halphen we have a team of highly experienced lawyers across Melbourne, who work on cases involving allegations of violence, be they assaults or breaching intervention orders, on a daily basis.
After reviewing the evidence against you, our assault defence lawyers will be able to advise you as to whether you have a viable defence and, if you do, how to prepare and run that defence; or alternatively to provide you with advice as to how to achieve the lightest penalty possible. This may include negotiating a resolution to a plea of guilty to a less serious charge on the basis that a more serious alternative charge is withdrawn; and/or providing you with advice as to the plea material you can obtain and the rehabilitative courses you can undertake so that when your case is heard there is evidence that can be put to the court in support of you being sentenced to the lightest penalty possible.
If you’ve been charged with an assault offence, or believe you may be charged, it is very important to contact assault defence lawyers as soon as possible. Often, strategic advice and decisions early on will give you the best defence. Having an experienced criminal lawyer on your side will help make sure your interests are protected and make the experience less overwhelming.
Our assault lawyers in Melbourne can assist you, whether you have been charged with a minor instance of assault or property damage or more serious examples of those offences, including:
intentionally causing injury or serious injury;
recklessly causing injury or serious injury;
negligently causing serious injury;
gross violence offences;
affray;
aggravated home invasion;
home invasion;
aggravated burglary;
armed robbery;
robbery;
aggravated carjacking;
carjacking;
stalking;
arson;
criminal damage or property damage with the intent of endangering life;;
criminal damage; and
wilful damage.
If you’ve been contacted by police; questioned or charged in relation to one of these offences contact our assault lawyers in Melbourne as soon as possible.
.jpg)
The law prohibits the intentional damage or destruction of another person’s property.
Damaging property with the intent of endangering the life of another, is a serious offence which carries a maximum penalty of 15-years imprisonment. Criminal damage, that is intentionally damaging property belonging to another (even if that property is jointly owned by you and another), is an offence which carries a maximum penalty of 10-years imprisonment. Wilful damage is the least serious example of a property damage offence carrying a maximum penalty of 6-months imprisonment.
In circumstances where you have originally been charged with criminal damage, provided the damage you have caused is less than $5000.00, it may be that wilful damage is an appropriate alternative charge. Our criminal lawyers will advise you as to what the appropriate property damage charge is, as well as about other matters which may impact positively on the outcome of your case.
There are many different forms of assault, including domestic violence and some sexual offences.
The most common forms of assault are:
Common assault (found in Section 23 of the Summary Offences Act);
Aggravated assault (found in section 24 of the Summary Offences Act); and
Indictable or serious assaults (found in Section 31 of the Crimes Act).
The elements that the prosecution must prove, as well as the defences available to you and the maximum sentence depends on which form of assault you are charged with.
Common assault is located in section 23 of the Summary Offences Act. The prosecution must prove that the accused unlawfully assaulted or beat another person. The maximum penalty is a fine or three months’ imprisonment.
Common assault is usually heard and determined in the Magistrates’ or Children’s Court.
There are two types of aggravated assault set out in Section 24 of the Summary Offences Act. These are: assault against a woman or child under 14; and assaults in company, by kicking or with a weapon.
The maximum penalty is a fine or six months’ imprisonment. Whilst these charges are usually heard in the Magistrates’ Court or Children’s Court, they are considered serious examples of assault.
The Crimes Act sets out a number of serious versions of assault charges. A common mistake is to believe that assault must include the use of physical force. For assaults charged under the Crimes Act, there does not have to be physical contact for there to be an assault.
Charges under the Crimes Act are considered serious. This can be a complex area of law, which is why it’s important to get expert legal advice from assault defence lawyers. Our experienced assault lawyers in Melbourne can advise you on how to defend any type of assault charge and guide you through the experience.
There are a number of complex legal concepts in each element. Whether or not an act is considered intentional, reckless involves a complex analysis of the law and the alleged acts of which you have been accused as well as any available defences.
The law also has specific definitions of ‘injury’ and ‘serious injury.’ This is a technical area of law that requires careful consideration and expert advice.
Section 15B(2) of the Crimes Act sets out the circumstances of gross violence as one or more of the following:
a) The offender planned in advance to engage in conduct and at the time of the planning-
When a person is injured as a result of being assaulted there are a number of offences they can be charged with, including:
intentionally/recklessly causing serious injury in circumstances of gross violence.
intentionally/recklessly causing serious injury.
intentionally/recklessly causing injury.
negligently causing serious injury.
Intentionally or recklessly causing serious injury in circumstances of gross violence are very serious charges that are heard and and determined in the County Court. The offences are set out in Section 15A and 15B of the Crimes Act.
There are 5 elements to this offence:
The victim has been seriously injured;
The accused has caused the serious injury;
The accused intended or was reckless to their conduct causing the serious injury;
The injury was caused in circumstances of gross violence; and
There is no lawful excuse for the conduct.
The offender intended that the conduct would cause a serious injury; or
The offender was reckless as to whether the conduct would cause a serious injury; or
A reasonable person would have foreseen that the conduct would be likely to result in a serious injury;
b) The offender in company with 2 or more other persons caused the serious injury;
c) The offender participated in a joint criminal enterprise with 2 or more other persons in causing the serious injury;
d) The offender planned in advance to have with him or her and to use an offensive weapon, firearm or imitation firearm and in fact used the offensive weapon, firearm or imitation firearm to cause the serious injury;
e) The offender continued to cause injury to the other person after the other person was incapacitated;
f) The offender caused the serious injury to the other person while the other person was incapacitated.
The offences of intentionally or recklessly causing serious injury have similar elements, but do not involve an allegation of gross violence. These offences are set out in sections 16 and 17 of the Crimes Act and are usually heard in the County Court.
The elements of intentionally causing serious injury are:
The victim suffered a serious injury;
The accused caused the victim’s serious injury;
The accused intended to cause serious injury; and
The accused acted without lawful justification or excuse.
The maximum penalty for intentionally causing serious injury is 20 years imprisonment.
The elements of recklessly causing serious injury are:
The victim suffered a serious injury;
The accused caused the victim’s serious injury;
The accused was reckless about causing serious injury; and
The accused acted without lawful justification or excuse.
The maximum penalty for recklessly causing serious injury is 15 years’ imprisonment.
Negligently causing serious injury is an offence set out in section 24 of the Crimes Act. The prosecution must prove that the accused person owed the victim a duty of care and the accused person breached that duty by doing something or failing to do something. They must also prove that the breach of duty caused a serious injury to the victim.
The offence of negligently causing serious injury is commonly charged where someone is driving and through failing to take proper care (for example, using a phone) they cause an accident and someone is seriously injured. Most cases of negligently causing serious injury are heard in the County Court.
Section 18 of the Crimes Act outlines the offences of intentionally or recklessly causing injury. These offences are often heard in the Magistrates' Court and they do not involve an allegation that someone has been seriously injured.
Again, determining whether an injury is serious or not; and whether an accused person was acting intentionally, recklessly or negligently are very complex yet significant concepts. An expert lawyer can draw on expertise and experience to advise you of the best outcome.
The penalties for these offences range between five and 20-years imprisonment, with some injury and serious offences carrying a mandatory sentence of imprisonment.
Stary Norton Halphen lawyers understand each of these concepts and are able to explain them to you, and indicate where you may have a defence.
If you are charged with causing injury to another person, it is essential that you seek legal advice from an experienced assault defence lawyer.
A threat to kill or to inflict serious injury may be made in the heat of the moment, without any intention of carrying out the threat. Nevertheless, a conviction of a threat charge can have very serious consequences.
The elements the prosecution must prove for threat charges are, that, without lawful excuse, you:
made a threat to either kill or cause serious injury to another person; and either:
intended that person to fear the threat would be carried out; or
were reckless as to whether or not that person would fear the threat would be carried out.
These charges are often heard in the Magistrates’ Court. Threat charges are often laid in circumstances where they may not be able to be proven. They require a lawyer to carefully analyse whether they can be proven by the prosecution as the consequences are significant.
The maximum penalty for threat to kill is 10-years, while the maximum penalty for threat to inflict serious injury is five years imprisonment.
These offences involve allegations of entering a property without permission, whilst armed or whilst someone is or might be at the property, with the intention of:
stealing;
assaulting a person; or
damaging property.
If you are charged with unlawfully entering a property (or part of a property, such as a garage) with the intention of assaulting a person, your matter will be heard in the County Court. This situation often arises in circumstances of relationship breakdowns, and that context is taken very seriously by the Courts.
The prosecution must prove that the accused trespassed at the property, and at the time of entry intended to assault a person therein. They are not required to prove that any assault took place.
Aggravated home invasion and home invasion cases must be heard in the County Court.
All are considered to be very serious offences and all carry a maximum penalty of 25-years imprisonment. It is essential that anyone charged with one of these offences is properly represented by an assault lawyer in Melbourne.
Armed robbery includes committing a robbery whilst being in possession of a firearm, imitation firearm, offensive weapon, explosive or imitation explosive.
The offence of armed robbery has a maximum penalty of 25-years imprisonment. It is considered a very serious offence and is always dealt with in the County Court. Robbery, whilst also being a serious offence, carries a less significant maximum of 15-years imprisonment and can, in certain circumstances, be heard in the Magistrates’ Court. When charged with either of these offences it is critical that you engage an experienced criminal lawyer to review the evidence against you and advise you of the best way forward.
At Stary Norton Halphen, we have a team of experienced assault lawyers in Melbourne who can provide expert advice and services for defending people charged with assault, threat and property damage offences.
If you have been charged, interviewed or are a suspect of assault, threatening another or property damage call us immediately on (03) 8622 8200 or, if it is the weekend or after hours, on 0407 410 821.
Advice from a competent and experienced criminal lawyer before you are interviewed can and often does have a meaningful impact on the outcome of your case and in some instances, is the difference between whether your matter proceeds to court or not.
© 2023 Copyright Stary Norton Halphen.
Doyle's Guide First Tier Criminal Law firm (2020, 2021 and 2022).
