On 1 May 2019, Tyronne Thomas of our office appeared before the Brisbane Magistrates Court, entering a plea of guilty on behalf of our client, with respect to one charge of Assault Occasioning Bodily Harm (AOBH) with the circumstance of aggravation of ‘in company.’
At the time of the offence, our client was a 21-year-old female with a promising career in real estate for a respectable agency. Our client had maintained full-time work in the industry, steadily working her way up to her position as a business development manager.
Our client’s personal and professional history both demonstrate that she is a responsible young woman, however, in the early morning hours on the 24th of February, she was involved in an assault.
The assault occurred at approximately 2:00 am in the Fortitude Valley Chinatown Mall. Our client had a verbal altercation with her associate and the complainant and his associate.
Our client told the two men to go away. As they were walking away, the two men have turned back and exchanged further words with our client. Our client’s associate has then chased the two men and assaulted one of them. Our client followed after her associate, removed her shoe, and struck the complainant with it. A bystander pulled our client away.
The complainant was hospitalized and required a staple to seal a two-centimeter cut to his head caused by our client’s shoe.
While entering a plea of guilty on behalf of our client, Mr Thomas made submissions on behalf of our client with respect to her significant mitigating features. Namely, the fact that she has no prior criminal history, her otherwise good character and work history, her early plea of guilty, and that fact that she is very remorseful for her actions—made evident through her letter of apology to the complainant and her offer to pay restitution to the complainant. Mr Thomas submitted that the Magistrate should exercise their discretion to not record a conviction having regard to section 12 of the Penalties and Sentences Act and the affect it would have on our client’s employment.
After hearing Mr Thomas’ submissions, our client was fined $500 with no conviction recorded. $250 of the fine was required to be paid to the complainant. Our office considers this a positive outcome for our client.
If you are interested in Tyronne Thomas acting on your behalf, please call 0408 760 860.
