NSW Police Force v Katrina Golding [2015] NSWLC 26

Local Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: NSW Police Force v Katrina Golding [2015] NSWLC 26 Hearing dates: 23 September 2015 Decision date: 27 November 2015 Jurisdiction: Criminal Before: Grogin LCM Decision: This Court has jurisdiction to further deal with these matters as the Defendant is lawfully before the Court pursuant to the operation of s 33(1)(b) of the Mental Health (Forensic Provisions) Act 1990 Catchwords: CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS – mental health diversion – s 33(1)(b) Mental Health (Forensic Provisions) Act 1990 – Mental Health Act 2007- Local Court jurisdiction Legislation Cited: Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999, ss 9, 25 Criminal Procedure Act 1986, s 196 Mental Health (Forensic Provisions) Act 1990, ss 32, 33 Mental Health Act 2007, ss 14, 15, 18, 24, 27, 31, 32 Cases Cited: R v Thomas Stafford Roberts (22 August 2014, Heilpern LCM, unreported) Texts Cited: Local Court Bench Book Category: Procedural and other rulings Parties: NSW Police Force Katrina Golding (Defendant) Representation: Solicitors: Sergeant O'Donnell Mr Rees, Aboriginal Legal Service (for the Defendant) File Number(s): 2014/54631, 2014/127044, 2015/155552, 2015/209102, 2015/233372, 2015/250197

Judgment 1. This matter concerns an issue raised on behalf of Ms Katrina Golding (the Defendant) as to whether the Local Court has jurisdiction to hear proceedings once an order has been made under s 33(1)(b) of the Mental Health (Forensic Provisions) Act 1990 ('MHFPA') and where a finding is made under the Mental Health Act 2007 ('MHA') that the person is mentally ill. The defendant argues that the Court has no jurisdiction in such circumstances. The prosecution does not agree with these assertions. 2. The defendant has an extensive criminal history and has had a number of charges dealt with pursuant to both s 32 and s 33 of the MHFPA. The charges which are the subject of this decision are: * H57871004: offensive manner; * H58140705: custody of a knife; * H59339769: offensive language and goods in custody; * H54197519: assault police (s 9 bond call up); * H54576721: assault occasioning actual bodily harm (s 9 bond call up); * H58715045: offensive manner, assault police and malicious damage. 1. It is necessary to reproduce the relevant legislative sections throughout this judgment in order to understand the operation and link between both the MHFPA and the MHA.