On 16 April 2020, a 49-year-old man was arrested and charged after allegedly intimidating and deliberately driving his car towards an Ambulance paramedic in Surry Hills. The man drove his car and stopped behind the Ambulance, which was attending to an unrelated incident. The man began to swear and shout abuse at the 22-year-old female paramedic before allegedly revving the car’s engine and deliberately driving towards her. The paramedic ran inside a nearby unit complex and contacted local police. Police charged the 49-year-old with stalk/intimidate with intent to cause physical harm.
The Law
Stalking or intimidation with intent to cause fear is an offence pursuant to section 13 of Crimes (Domestic and Personal violence) Act 2007, which states:
- A person who stalks or intimidates another person with the intention of causing the other person to fear physical or mental harm is guilty of an offence.
Maximum penalty–Imprisonment for 5 years or 50 penalty units, or both.
Section 7 of Crimes (Domestic and Personal violence) Act 2007 defines the meaning of intimidation as:
- “intimidation” of a person means—
(a) conduct (including cyberbullying) amounting to harassment or molestation of the person, or
(b) an approach made to the person by any means (including by telephone, telephone text messaging, e-mailing and other technologically assisted means) that causes the person to fear for his or her safety, or
(c) any conduct that causes a reasonable apprehension of injury to a person or to a person with whom he or she has a domestic relationship, or of violence or damage to any person or property.
(2) For the purpose of determining whether a person’s conduct amounts to intimidation, a court may have regard to any pattern of violence (especially violence constituting a domestic violence offence) in the person’s behaviour.
Section 8 of Crimes (Domestic and Personal violence) Act 2007 defines the meaning of stalking as:
- “stalking” includes the following—
- the following of a person about,
- the watching or frequenting of the vicinity of, or an approach to, a person’s place of residence, business or work or any place that a person frequents for the purposes of any social or leisure activity,
(c) contacting or otherwise approaching a person using the internet or any other technologically assisted means.
(2) For the purpose of determining whether a person’s conduct amounts to stalking, a court may have regard to any pattern of violence (especially violence constituting a domestic violence offence) in the person’s behaviour.
Stalking or intimidation with intent to cause fear of physical or mental harm is a serious offence and between September 2018 and September 2019, 3984 offenders went before the Courts and they were sentenced in the following manner:
- Dismissal– 0.3%,
- Conditional release order without conviction– 10.8%,
- Conviction only – 0.4%,
- Conviction with a fine – 4.6%,
- Conditional release order with conviction – 11.7%,
- Community corrections order – 48.9%,
- Intensive corrections orders – 9.4%, and
- Prison – 13.9%.
Pannu Lawyers extensively practice in Criminal Law and regularly appear at Courts throughout New South Wales. If your matter is at Blacktown Local Court, we are conveniently located within a walking distance from the Blacktown Local Court. Call our office on 02 9920 1787 to discuss your matter in a confidential manner.
