R v Eden O'GRADY [2010] NSWDC 14

New South Wales District Court

CITATION: R v Eden O'GRADY [2010] NSWDC 14

JUDGMENT DATE: 22 January 2010

JURISDICTION: District Court of New South Wales

JUDGMENT OF: Cogswell SC DCJ

DECISION: Sentence of imprisonment of 2 years wholly suspended upon entering into a good behaviour bond for the period of 2 years.

CATCHWORDS: CRIMINAL LAW - sentence - reckless wounding - plea of guilty - no prior convictions - anxiety disorder - genuine remorse - public nature of offence - custodial sentence - suspended

LEGISLATION CITED: Crimes Act 1900 s 33(1)(a), s 35(4)

PARTIES: Regina Eden O'Grady

FILE NUMBER(S): 2009/11/0788

SOLICITORS: Director of Public Prosecutions (NSW) Mr Hogan

JUDGMENT

1. Eden O'Grady is a young man who comes from a troubled background who has done remarkable things to develop his life and opportunities. He has shown, as Mr Hogan who appears for him says, a remarkable degree of determination and perseverance from a young age. However, on 12 December 2008 he did a very silly thing. Not only was it silly, it was a serious criminal act and resulted in him being charged with a very serious offence.

2. I am now to sentence him for that offence and I need to weigh up, on the one hand, the need to punish offenders who have committed very serious offences with appropriately severe punishment with, on the other hand, taking into account a young man's personal circumstances in a case such as this.

3. What happened can be briefly summarised from what is agreed between the parties and recorded in exhibit A. Mr O'Grady is from Melbourne. He was visiting Sydney in December 2008 as a member of a band which was playing at a club. After the band finished playing Mr O'Grady and some friends ended up talking with some other young men. Words were exchanged between Mr O'Grady and a young man named Alexander Somers. They started pushing and punching each other and were pulled apart by Mr O'Grady's companion. Mr Somers sat in the gutter about five metres away, this was in the street, around Oxford and Flinders Streets in Darlinghurst.