R v Antony Paul Hanney [2014] NSWDC 13

District Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: R v Antony Paul Hanney [2014] NSWDC 13 Hearing dates: 19 February 2014 Decision date: 17 March 2014 Before: Mahony SC DCJ Decision: Partially concurrent terms of imprisonment. For orders see [62] Catchwords: Sexual intercourse without consent; indecent assault Legislation Cited: Crimes Act 1900 Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 Cases Cited: Ibbs v R (1987) 163 CLR 447 Pearce v R (1998) 194 CLR 610 Category: Sentence Parties: Director of Public Prosecutions (Crown) Antony Paul Hanney - (Offender) Representation: V Morgan - Director of Public Prosecutions D Barron - Barron Law File Number(s): 12/305362 Publication restriction: Nil

reasons on sentence

Introduction 1The offender has pleaded guilty to two offences. The first is an offence under s 61I of the Crimes Act 1900, namely, sexual intercourse without consent. It carries a maximum penalty of 14 years imprisonment, and a standard non-parole period of 7 years. The second offence is an offence of indecent assault pursuant to s 61L of the Crimes Act NSW. The maximum penalty is 5 years imprisonment and there is no statutory non-parole period. 2The offences occurred on 30 September 2012. The offender was arrested on 2 October 2012 and has been in custody since that date. On 17 July 2013 he was committed for sentence from the Wagga Wagga Local Court, and the sentence hearing took place before me in Wagga Wagga District Court on 19 February 2014. At that time he had spent 1 year 4 months and 19 days in custody.

The Circumstances of the Offending 3On 30 September 2012 the offender had been drinking all day. At approximately 8.45pm he left his house and drinking companions, and is said to have driven away. 4At approximately 9pm a witness was entering the Calvary Hospital to visit his wife. The doors of the hospital are locked each night at 8pm and access can only be gained by a remote monitor within the hospital. When the witness sought access, the staff inside opened the doors for him. As he entered the hospital, CCTV footage from a camera at the front door of the hospital showed the offender sneaking into the hospital behind him. 5A short time later at 9.16pm the offender was captured on CCTV footage in the theatre area of the hospital. He was shown walking along a corridor wearing theatre "scrubs" including a bandana on his head. A short time later at 9.30pm, nursing staff were alerted by a patient in room 16 buzzing for assistance. She had thought someone was trying to get into her room from a balcony area. 6Some time before 9.30pm the first victim, patient X, who was 77 years of age at the time, saw the offender standing next to her bed. She was recovering from surgery to her vaginal area that day. She initially thought the offender was either an orderly or a doctor because of the surgical scrubs he was wearing. He pulled the sheet down and lifted the side of her pants up. He put his hand inside her vagina. The victim asked him on three occasions "What are you doing?" until he stopped. He caused her considerable pain. The offender left the room and after a few minutes the victim called out to another patient in the room and told her she thought she had just been assaulted. The other patient then buzzed for help. 7The offender then went to another room on the same level of the hospital but in a different wing. In that room was patient Y, who had been admitted for rapid and uncontrolled heartbeat as well as other medical problems. She was on the verge of going to sleep when she became aware of the offender standing next to her bed. She believed the offender was a nurse. He asked: "Are you alright?" She said: "Yes I'm alright." 8The offender then went to the patient and felt her stomach. He put his hand up between her legs and put his hand on her vaginal area, outside her underpants. The patient then became alarmed and swung her arm at him, at which time the offender left the room. Patient Y then engaged the call light and spoke with staff about what had happened. 9The offender was shown on CCTV returning to the theatre change room and a short time later walked past the nurses station where he spoke to staff, telling a nurse that he had worked at the hospital four years ago. He then left the hospital via the emergency stairwell at approximately 9.45pm. Nursing staff then contacted a supervisor who alerted security staff at the hospital. The offender was observed by security to leave the hospital grounds. Shortly thereafter nursing staff became aware of what had happened to patient X.