STATE OF TASMANIA v JACK RICHARD WILLING CUTHBERTSON J
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE 8 MAY 2026
Jack Richard Willing, you have pleaded guilty to an indictment charging you with causing grievous bodily harm and assault. On 1 July 2023, you were at the Moorings Pub in Franklin. You were 21 years old at the time. The complainants, Nathaniel James Graham and SL, were also at the pub during the course of the evening. Mr Graham had been there since 7.30 pm with some friends. Towards the end of the evening, there was a hostile interaction between you and a person called Joshua Redman who is one of Mr Graham’s friends. You knocked Mr Redman’s drink out of his hand and asked him to fight outside. He ignored you and walked away. SL, who was aged 15 at the time, attended the pub at 10.30 pm to drop some photo id to his sister. He met up with Mr Graham and Mr Redman. Because of an unrelated disturbance inside the pub, Mr Graham, SL and four others in that group left and began to walk to a nearby address. As they approached a neighbouring house, you were standing in the driveway. You walked down the driveway towards the group. Mr Redman yelled out in the direction of the pub that you were “over there”. You and the group approached each other. You punched Mr Graham to the head. Mr Graham fell to the ground. His head hit the concrete and he was immediately unconscious. You then hit SL to the head. He fell to the ground but got up quickly. He did not suffer any injuries. You then ran away.
Police were nearby and contacted an ambulance. Mr Graham was ultimately transported to the Royal Hobart Hospital by his girlfriend due to the delay in the ambulance arriving. He was admitted and spent several days in hospital. As a result of the assault, he sustained a concussion, a bleed on the brain, fractures to the base of his skull with a cerebral spinal fluid leak and permanent right side hearing loss.
Police spoke to you two weeks later. You told police that you had drunk approximately 12 Jack Daniels cans over the course of the evening. You described being involved in an earlier altercation with Mr Redman in the pub. You told police you had arranged to be picked up, so you started to walk to where you arranged to meet your lift when the group, which included Mr Graham and SL, followed you. You told police that Mr Redman started swinging at you, so you pushed him over. You claimed to have hit Mr Graham after he hit you first. You also claimed that you ran off and were chased by three people, including SL. You said that you hit him to the face as he tried to drag you to the ground.
Your explanation of your offending given during the course of the plea in mitigation was that you recall having a brief argument with Mr Redman and that you bought him a drink which was thrown on the floor. You left the pub first, but the group came towards you. I am told that you felt that you were in danger and hit the complainants in the chaos that ensued. You accept that your conduct constituted excessive self-defence and also constituted an overreaction in the circumstances. The State does not dispute your characterisation of the events of that evening.
I have received a victim impact statement from Mr Graham. It outlines the extent of his injuries and his slow recovery which included having to learn how to walk and talk again. He lost his job as a result of his injuries and was unable to work for 12 months. He did obtain another full time job, however, had to resign after six months due to his ongoing physical issues including dizzy spells, vertigo and loss of balance. He currently has employment with additional supports in place. He is fortunate to have a supportive workplace which allows him to take time off to attend to his physical and mental health. He suffered a mental breakdown about six months ago. He is prescribed an anti-depressant. He has experienced issues in his marriage since he was injured and he still experiences memory loss. He feels anxious if he goes back to the venue or near where the assault occurred. Previously he was a very social person but now hates mingling or being around a lot of people. He no longer feels safe in public.
You are now 25 years old. You live with your partner of 12 months who is pregnant with the first child of your relationship. You have two children from a previous relationship, now aged five and two years old. You are the middle of five children. Your parents divorced when you were 12 years old. Your mother now lives interstate. You do not have a close relationship with your father. You finished year 10 and commenced, but did not finish, a plumbing apprenticeship. You lost your drivers licence and were unable to continue that work. You have had work since collecting firewood. You have recently obtained new employment labouring for a construction company. I am told that your mental health has been poor and that you suffered post traumatic stress disorder when you had the unfortunate experience of finding a friend’s body after he had been run over and killed. You experienced particular difficulties when you were aged between 19 and 21 years old. There were problems in your relationship with your ex-partner. You were using drugs and alcohol to excess when dealing with those stressors. You now accept that you have difficulty with alcohol. Your difficulties with substances and in your personal life continued for a period after committing these offences. You ultimately separated from your partner.
More recently you have managed to keep out of trouble. You are shortly to have your drivers licence returned to you. You have had no violent offences since you committed these assaults in 2023. You have relevant prior matters. When you were 17 years old, you pleaded guilty to threatening a police officer and abusive language to police. No conviction was recorded. In October 2021, you pleaded guilty to charges of disorderly conduct, resisting police, using abusive language towards police and behaving in a violent manner. No convictions were recorded on that occasion. In 2023 you pleaded guilty to a breach of family violence order. No conviction was recorded. This offence related to being in the presence of the person to be protected contrary to the terms of the order. You have prior convictions for driving offences, including drive while disqualified, driving whilst a prescribed illicit drug is present in your oral fluid and evade police. You also have priors for failing to appear in Court. In January 2024 you were sentenced on nine counts of driving whilst a prescribed illicit drug was present in your oral fluid, namely methylamphetamine. It is readily apparent from the large number of charges and the short period of time over which those offences were committed that you had a significant problem with illicit substance use, at least in the period between January and August 2022. For those offences, and other associated charges, you received a period of six months imprisonment which was wholly suspended for two years. The offences for which you fall to be sentenced by me occurred prior to the imposition of that suspended sentence but after that offending.
You have pleaded guilty to these offences, albeit at a late stage. Your pleas have, however, saved the complainants the stress of coming to court to give evidence. I am told, however, that the witness had been partially briefed for trial. You have no other matters outstanding.
I sought an assessment from Community Corrections regarding your suitability for home detention and other community based orders. The report outlines your exposure to excessive alcohol use and violence as you were growing up. It confirms that you have experienced poor mental health and attempted suicide last year. You have sought treatment. You are currently receiving counselling and support in relation to your alcohol and drug use. You have ceased using alcohol and illicit drugs since your suicide attempt. You have been assessed as suitable for home detention and community service. Community based supervision is also recommended by Community Corrections.
Your offending is serious. Your drunken conduct on the night has resulted in significant and life-long injury to Mr Graham. I accept you did not intend to cause the serious injury which resulted. Both of the charges on the indictment relate to a single blow. There is little to distinguish your physical acts which were directed towards the two complainants. In the case of Mr Graham, his serious injury was caused when he fell and hit his head on the concrete. SL was not injured at all. This serves to highlight the grave danger that any blow delivered to a person’s head can cause. The possibility that serious injury may result is notorious. You fall to be sentenced to the crime of grievous bodily harm on the basis that when you hit Mr Graham, you realised you may cause him serious injury, and acted regardless of the risk that you would do so. The blows you delivered to both complainants were sufficient to cause them to lose balance, with devastating consequences in respect of Mr Graham. The degree of recklessness involved when you committed the crime of grievous bodily harm is not, however, as significant as that often seen by this Court.
I note your young age at the time of committing these offences. While you have prior matters of some relevance, you do not have any for serious violence. You have not received a period of actual imprisonment before. You have taken positive steps recently to address your underlying mental health and substance abuse issues. You have pleaded guilty.
The crime of causing grievous bodily harm ordinarily attracts a period of imprisonment, recognising the seriousness of the offence, the need for general deterrence, and to vindicate the victim of the offending. I have given careful consideration to whether it is appropriate to impose a sentence falling short of actual imprisonment in this case. I have ultimately concluded it is appropriate in this case in light of the absence of prior convictions for serious violence and what I consider to be strong prospects of rehabilitation. I intend to impose a home detention order coupled with a significant number of community service orders and supervision. The conditions of the supervision part of your sentence will include that you attend, participate in, and complete the EQUIPS Addiction Program and the EQUIPS Aggression Program as directed by a probation officer. I am satisfied that the relevant circumstances referred to at s 42AC(3) of the Sentencing Act do not exist in relation to you and that it is appropriate to make a home detention order in respect of the crime of causing grievous bodily harm. I will make a community correction order in respect of the crime of assault.
Jack Richard Willing, you are convicted of both charges on the indictment. On the charge of causing grievous bodily I impose a home detention order with an operational period of 15 months to commence from today. That order is subject to a number of core conditions which are set out in s 42AD(1) of the Sentencing Act and will be provided to you in writing. Those conditions include that during the operational period of the order, you must not commit an offence that is punishable by imprisonment and you must reside at the home detention premises namely ** address** and be at those premises between 6.00pm and 6.00am each day unless approved by a probation officer. You will also be subject to electronic monitoring during the course of that order. Sections 42AD(4) and (5) of the Sentencing Act apply as a consequence. In addition, your home detention order will be subject to the following special conditions:
- You must attend the Community Corrections Office at 75 Liverpool Street, Hobart for induction on this order immediately upon your release from Court.
- During the operational period of the order:
- you must maintain in operational condition an active mobile phone service, provide the contact details to Community Corrections and be accessible for contact through this device at all times;
- you must submit to the supervision of a Community Corrections officer as required by that officer;
- you must not take any illicit or prohibited substances. Prohibited and illicit substances include:
- any controlled drug as defined by the Misuse Use of Drugs Act 2001;
- any medication containing an opioid, benzodiazepine, bupropion, hydrochloride or pseudoephedrine, unless you provide written evidence from your medical professional that you have been prescribed the relevant medication;
- you must not consume alcohol, and you must, if you have been directed to do so by a police officer or a Community Corrections officer, submit to a breath test, urine test or any other test for the presence of alcohol;
On the charge of assault, I impose a community correction order for a period of two years from today. That order is subject to a number of core conditions which are set out in s 42AO of the Sentencing Act and also will be provided to you in writing. They include that you report to a probation officer at the office of Community Corrections at 75 Liverpool Street in Hobart immediately upon your release from Court. In addition to the core conditions, the order shall also include the following special conditions:
- that you submit to the supervision of a probation officer as required by the probation officer;
- that you satisfactorily perform community service as directed by a probation officer or supervisor for a period of 100 hours;
- if directed by a probation officer, you must attend, participate in, and complete the EQUIPS Addiction Program as directed;
- if directed by a probation officer, you must attend, participate in, and complete the EQUIPS Aggression Program as directed.