This is a case study on a sentence of diversion for family violence in Melbourne involving an assault and multiple breaches of an intervention order (IVO).
What is alleged to have occurred?
Our client was facing one charge of unlawful assault and two charges of contravene a Family Violence Safety Notice.
The assault involved our client striking their wife in the back with an open palm following a verbal argument between the pair. Police intervened soon after, imposing a Family Violence Safety Notice against our client to prevent them from having any contact with the wife or their two young children.
This was a devastating outcome for our client who then, in breach of the Family Violence Safety Notice, sent 35 messages to the wife in the space of four hours, and the next day was found by police at the family home with them.
Click this link for further information on Family Violence Safety Notices.
What happened at court?
Our lawyers were able to obtain the support of prosecution for Diversion by engaging in extensive negotiations and demonstrating that exceptional circumstances existed.
Our request for Diversion centred around:
- Our client’s lack of criminal history
- The potential impact of a criminal record on our client’s professional pursuits
- The client’s rehabilitative efforts to address issues underlying the charged conduct
- Minimising the prosecution’s assessment as to the seriousness of the allegations
Click this link for more information regarding Diversion.
This case of family violence in Melbourne was heard at the Sunshine Magistrates’ Court and one of our lawyers acted on the client’s behalf.
Due to the assault having occurred in family violence circumstances and the problematic nature of breaches of the Family Violence Safety Notice, there was a high possibility that the Magistrate would immediately refuse our application for Diversion. Magistrates often reject applications for Diversion in family violence circumstances.
Fortunately, our client came and saw us shortly after getting charged, providing us ample time to prepare the matter.
Our lawyer provided the Magistrate with documentary evidence of all of the rehabilitative efforts our client had undertaken since being charged by police. In persuading the Magistrate that our client was a suitable candidate for Diversion, submissions centred around explaining the circumstances leading up to the offending and highlighting that the many messages were not abusive in nature, but rather indicative of a desperate spouse and parent to their children.
These were circumstances that our client had never faced before, not having any prior criminal history and believing that their family were planning to relocate overseas without the client. Our client was distraught.
Further, our lawyer assisted our client to prepare a letter of apology to be given to the Magistrate to express their significant level of remorse and shame following the offending.
What was the result of the charges related to the family violence in Melbourne?
Ultimately, the Magistrate placed our client on a diversion plan with a variety of conditions, including to be of good behaviour for a duration of 12 months.
This meant that there was no finding of guilt or conviction recorded against our client, an excellent outcome given their professional employment pursuit in the banking industry.
Lachie Davine
Lachie is experienced in a broad range of criminal matters including serious indictable crimes. He has extensive exposure to the County Court’s specialist lists including Koori Court, Drug & Alcohol Treatment Court, and bail services including the Court Integrated Services Program (CISP).Lachie strongly believes that rehabilitative interventions as part of criminal proceedings should be holistic in nature.
View Lachie Davine's profile.
DISCLAIMER: This is a real case study of an actual case from our files. Details pertaining to the client have been changed to protect their privacy. The sentence imposed and the charge have not been altered. These case studies are published to demonstrate real outcomes and give an indication of possible tariffs in Court. We do not guarantee a similar case on these charges will get the same result. Please note that we post results at our discretion, therefore while many case studies are average results, others are notable for their exceptional outcomes. PUBLISHED 23/04/2025
