Causing Serious Injury: Crimes Act Victoria 1958

This article will discuss the crime of causing serious injury under sections 15 to 15B of the Crimes Act 1958 of Victoria. 

Every year, thousands of people in Victoria face serious injury. While some of these injuries are accidental, certain intentional actions of another person may cause other serious injuries. These intentional injuries can be devastating, both for the victim and for their loved ones.

This article will explore the two types of serious injury caused to another person:

1. Intentionally causing serious injury
2. Recklessly causing serious injury

What Is a Serious Injury?

Section 15 defines this term as an injury (including the cumulative effect of more than one injury) that—

1. endangers life; or
2. is substantial and protracted; or

Moreover, serious injury can also refer to the destruction, other than in the course of a medical procedure, of the foetus of a pregnant woman, whether or not the woman suffers any other harm.

Causing Serious Injury Intentionally (Section 15A)

Section 15A of the Crimes Act of Victoria imposes a level 3 imprisonment (20 years maximum) upon a person who intentionally causes serious injury to another, without lawful cause, in circumstances of gross violence.

What Constitutes Gross Violence?

This Act also specifies the acts that constitute gross violence:

• The offender premeditates to do a certain act.
• At the time of planning:
  • the offender intended that the conduct would cause serious injury; or
  • the offender was reckless as to whether the conduct would cause a serious injury; or
  • a reasonable person would have foreseen that the conduct would be likely to result in a serious injury.
• The offender is in company with two or more persons in causing a serious injury.
• The offender enters into an agreement, arrangement, or understanding with two or more other persons to cause a serious injury.
• The offender plans to carry or use an offensive weapon, firearm, or imitation firearm and uses such tools to cause serious injury.
• The offender caused serious injury to the other person while the other person was incapacitated.

Also note that if a victim was any of the following persons, a non-parole period of not less than 5 years be fixed unless the court finds that a special reason exists:

• an emergency worker on duty, 
• a custodial officer on duty or 
• a youth justice custodial worker on duty

What are Examples of Special Reasons under the Sentencing Act 1991?

According to the Act, the following special reasons relevant to imposing minimum non-parole periods:

• impaired mental functioning
  1. mental illness 
  2. intellectual disability
  3. acquired brain injury
  4. autism spectrum disorder
  5. a neurological impairment, including but not limited to dementia
• self-induced intoxication

Causing Serious Injury Recklessly (Section 15B)

Reckless causing of serious injuries to another person is punishable by law. Thus, a person who recklessly causes serious injury to another in circumstances of gross violence without lawful excuse is subject to a level 4 imprisonment (15 years maximum).

Causing Serious Injury Cases in Victoria

DPP v Nawalu [2022] VCC 2100

In this case, after severely beating a stranger on a night out with a shattered bottle, the court sentenced the offender to prison. He received an eight-year, six-month prison term with a six-year, three-month non-parole period. 

Given the premeditation involved in purposefully breaking the bottle and the fact that the victim was fleeing and retreating at the time of the attack, the judge deemed the attack and the damage it caused to the victim to be at the “high-end range”. The defendant had a significant criminal history, which the court learned included violent offences.

DPP v Crockett [2022] VCC 1021

What happened in Crockett’s case was after a dispute broke out, a man shot a friend in the leg and then fled the scene. The court sentenced him to prison and he received a five-year and ten-month prison term with a three-and-a-half-year non-parole period. 

Jamie Crockett entered a guilty plea to one count of unlawfully possessing a firearm and was found guilty by a jury of one count of deliberately causing serious damage. The judge argued that purposely shooting an unarmed guy in a residential street constituted an excessive overreaction.

DPP v Frayne [2019] VCC 2221

After gravely hurting the accused’s friend during an altercation at a bar, a man was sentenced to prison. This case involved two friends having an argument while they were out drinking and having dinner together. Following an escalation of the argument, one of the friends punched the other numerous times.

The Court, in this case, called the assault “callous and brutal.” It also noted that the victim suffered from the injury because even the most basic tasks, like shaving and cleaning his teeth, had become very challenging.

Accused James Frayne was sentenced to four years and six months in prison with a two-year and ten-month non-parole period after entering a guilty plea to one count of deliberately causing serious damage.

DPP v Gudge [2020] VCC 955

Ashley Gudge was sentenced to two years and ten months in jail with a one-year and six-month non-parole period after entering a guilty plea to one count of recklessly inflicting serious damage.

A father of nine who assaulted his spouse and left her half-blind and covered in blood on the floor was imprisoned. After staying up too late one day, the perpetrator and his partner, who were moving into a new house, got into a fight. When a mutual buddy showed up to assist with the relocation, the debate became more heated.

The victim’s left eye had approximately one-third of its vision destroyed, according to expert medical studies, and she was no longer able to see distant objects well. The presiding judge took the offender’s abusive background and low education into account while determining the sentence.

Consult a Criminal Defence Lawyer

A criminal defence lawyer can help you understand the charges against you, develop a strong defence strategy, and represent you in court. JB Solicitors can help you negotiate a plea agreement or mitigate the consequences of a conviction.

If you are facing a charge of causing serious injury in Victoria, Australia, do not hesitate to contact a criminal defence lawyer today. Your future may depend on it.