The Attorney General v James John Dean Cameron

• Jurisdiction: Jersey
• Court: Royal Court
• Judge: Bailiff
• Judgment Date: 17 June 2016
• Neutral Citation: [2016] JRC 107
• Date: 17 June 2016

[2016] JRC 107

ROYAL COURT

(Samedi)

Before:

T. J. Le Cocq, Esq., Deputy Bailiff, and Jurats Liston and Ronge

The Attorney General

and

James John Dean Cameron

M. R. Maletroit, Esq., Crown Advocate.

Advocate J. C. Turnbull for the Defendant.

Authorities

AG v Cummins [2006] JRC 070 .

AG v Viveiros [2014] JRC 162A .

AG v Cameron [2013] JRC 120 .

Harrison v AG [2004] JLR 111 .

AG v Abreu [2014] JRC 077 .

AG v Furzer [2013] JRC 103 .

Licensed Premises (Exclusion of Certain Persons) (Jersey) Law 1998.

Inferior Number Sentencing — grave and criminal assault.

Sentencing by the Inferior Number of the Royal Court, following a guilty plea to the following charge:

1 count of:

Grave and criminal assault (Count 1).

Age : 28.

Plea: Guilty.

Details of Offence:

The defendant and the victim were unknown to each other at the time of the assault. The defendant had consumed a significant amount of alcohol before going to Tanguy's and was heavily intoxicated at the time of the assault. CCTV footage from within the premises showed the defendant and the victim on the dance floor area at approximately 11:20pm. The footage showed the defendant approach the victim and lean in towards the side of his face. According to the defendant, he thought the victim said something to him and he leaned in towards the victim to shout something in his ear. He accepted that his mouth may have brushed against the victim's face. The victim felt as if he had been licked. He tapped the defendant on the cheek, assuming that it was one of his friends. On being touched in this manner by the victim, the defendant immediately punched the victim with his right hand. It was a hard punch which made contact with the victim's nose. The defendant was holding a glass in his right hand which smashed when the punch was landed. It was accepted by the Crown that, although the punch was intentional, the use of the glass as a weapon was not. The victim suffered two lacerations across the top of his nose measuring approximately 5mm and 12mm in length. He also suffered a fracture and deviation of the nasal bones, and a scar on the bridge of the nose which was expected to fade with time.

Details of Mitigation:

Guilty plea, did not intend to use the glass as a weapon, employment.

Previous Convictions:

Thirteen offences, including a grave and criminal assault and a common assault in 2008 which also occurred within licensed premises.

Conclusions:

Count 1: 2 years' imprisonment.

Exclusion Order sought excluding the defendant from 1 ^st, 2 ^nd, 4 ^th, 5 ^th and 7 ^th category licensed premises excluding the Multiplex Cinema, Jersey Airport and the ferry terminal at Elizabeth Harbour for a period of 12 months from the date of his release from prison.

Should a non-custodial sentence be imposed the Crown applies for a contribution towards the prosecution costs in the sum of £1,000.

Sentence and Observations of Court:

Count 1: 15 months' imprisonment.

Exclusion Order made excluding the defendant from 1 ^st, 2 ^nd, 4 ^th, 5 ^th and 7 ^th category licensed premises excluding the Multiplex Cinema, Jersey Airport and the ferry terminal at Elizabeth Harbour for a period of 12 months from the date of his release from prison.

No order as to costs made.

Bailiff

THE DEPUTY

1 You are to be sentenced for one count of grave and criminal assault during...