Glassing lawyer sentencing delay

Glassing lawyer sentencing delay

New Zealand-born Daniel Robert Healy was to be sentenced yesterday after pleading guilty to grave and criminal assault and being drunk and disorderly.

The 30-year-old, who is an associate with the law firm Appleby, faces a possible sentence of 14 months in prison for the attack which occurred last July in the Royal Yacht.

The sentencing in the Royal Court was adjourned, however, after Advocate James Bell, who was acting for Healy, tried to show the court a still photograph from CCTV footage of the attack.

Crown Advocate Conrad Yates objected to the photograph on the grounds it was out of context with the whole sequence of events.

After a brief discussion, Deputy Bailiff Tim Le Cocq said the court did not wish to proceed without seeing whatever video footage of the incident was available.

‘In the unusual circumstances of this case as it has developed, the court thinks in order to do justice both to you and the victim we need to see the video,’ the Deputy Bailiff explained.

Healy was released on bail to re-appear in court next Friday for a new sentencing date to be set.

Crown Advocate Yates had already outlined the offences for Jurats Paul Nicolle and Elizabeth Dulake before the matter was adjourned.

Crown Advocate Yates said that Healy had been drinking heavily on the day in question and told the police after his arrest that he had been on a stag do.

He eventually found himself in the Royal Yacht with a friend, Crown Advocate Yates said. The two were standing near the bar when the victim tried to get by to get a drink.

After the victim made an innocuous comment to Healy, the court heard the defendant turned and slapped him four times. Healy was then seen to jerk the hand in which he was holding his glass upwards toward the victim’s head. Glass went flying everywhere and the victim was left with an open wound, which was gushing blood down onto his shirt, the court heard.

Healy tried to walk away but was apprehended by a doorman. Police officers wearing body cameras attended and Healy told them he knew there had been an altercation at the bar but he was otherwise confused. He was arrested and taken to police headquarters.

The Crown accepted Healy’s plea on the basis that the use of the glass was ‘inadvertent’ and there was no intent to use a weapon. Healy has also sought alcohol counselling and was assessed as being at very low risk of re-offending.

In court, he wept and kept his head in his hands as the Crown outlined the effect the attack has had on the victim.

The man has been left unable to sleep properly, he had to take anti-depressants and bears both mental and physical scars. He feels he can no longer compete at the sport he loves – golf – at the level he could before the attack.

And he worries people will judge him as a violent person because of his scar although he had never before been in a fight, the court heard.

According to excerpts of his statement read by Crown Advocate Yates, he used to feel safe in Jersey and St Helier, but this ‘unprovoked violent attack’ has robbed him of that.

The Crown asked the court to consider a custodial sentence of 14 months and that a compensatory payment be made to the victim.

Before the matter was adjourned, however, Advocate Bell argued there was sufficient mitigation that a community service sentence could be made.

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