Recklessly Causing Injury – Family Violence

This is a case of Recklessly Causing Injury in a family violence context. The accused was facing charges of Recklessly Causing Injury, Assault With a Weapon, and Unlawful Assault.

What is alleged to have occured?
The incident arose from a family dispute. Our client had become increasingly frustrated with his 16-year-old son who was not attending school and was lying about his truancy to the family. He lost his temper and punched his son in the face. A scuffle ensued between the two where a chair was smashed and our client used one of the broken chair legs to assault his son. A nail sticking out of the chair punctured his son’s right palm requiring stitches.

What happened at court?
We acted on the client’s behalf at the Broadmeadows Magistrates’ Court. The charges were:

• Recklessly Cause Injury
• Unlawful Assault With a Weapon
• Unlawful Assault

After attending a conference at our office, our client was encouraged to seek counselling through his GP and attend an anger management program. Reports were prepared during the preceding months before sentencing in order to confirm his on-going participation in the counselling and his successful completion of the anger management program. The client enjoyed good family support, and his family was present at court during the plea hearing and they provided a number of written character references on his behalf.

What was the result?
After negotiations with the police, our client entered a plea of guilty to Recklessly Cause Injury. The balance of the charges were withdrawn.

The magistrate placed our client on a 24-month adjourned undertaking (a promise to be of good behaviour). No conviction was recorded against him. This was a good outcome as the charge involved a serious assault committed against his young son (the reckless cause of injury) in a family violence context. Importantly, this outcome also ensured that our client was able to continue in his field of employment.