IN THE DISTRICT COURT
CRIMINAL JURISDICTION
ADELAIDE
WEDNESDAY, 26 MARCH 2025 AT 9.35 A.M.
BEFORE HER HONOUR JUDGE SUTCLIFFE
NO.DCCRM-23-036634
R V IAN MICHAEL LOVEGROVE
HER HONOUR IN SENTENCING SAID:
Ian Lovegrove, you have pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated causing serious harm with intent to cause serious harm, contrary to s.23(1) of the Criminal Law Consolidation Act.
The offence is punishable by a maximum penalty of 25 years imprisonment. You are entitled to a maximum discount of 5% for your plea of guilty, which was entered after the victim gave evidence at trial.
On the day of the offence, 11 November 2022, you were 18 years and three months old. In the early hours of that morning you stabbed Mr Wanganeen, who had been your friend since you were both young teenagers, causing him serious physical harm.
Your families were close until this time and you had been on good terms with the victim.
In mere seconds you caused very serious physical injury to Mr Wanganeen that threatened his life and has caused him ongoing trauma.
Your actions have had a ripple effect on the persons close to you, and to Mr Wanganeen. The relationship between your two families has been forever effected.
I turn now to how the offending unfolded.
Mr Wanganeen had been enjoying a night out on a Saturday night with friends. In the city he met a woman named Ms Briscoe and we went back to her townhouse with others in the early hours of the morning.
You knew Ms Briscoe. Before 11 November 2022 you had been in a relationship with her.
Ms Briscoe, Mr Wanganeen, and three others were in an upstairs bedroom. Mr Wanganeen was lying on a bed with Ms Briscoe. The bedroom light was on. You climbed through the bedroom window. To get there you must have climbed up from the ground outside, most likely using a hot water service on the ground.
You were holding a large knife. You had no reason to know that Mr Wanganeen was in the room, and until this night the two of you had been on friendly terms, although you had not seen each other for some time.
Mr Wanganeen recognised you immediately and stood up facing you. You said 'Tyson huh' and lunged at him, stabbing him in an underarm motion.
You are to be sentenced on the basis that in doing so you intended to cause Mr Wanganeen a serious and protracted physical impairment.
Mr Wanganeen grabbed his stomach, opened the door, ran downstairs and out of the house. He panicked as he felt blood pouring out.
Mr Wanganeen knocked on the doors of about three houses yelling for help to raise a response. At the last house he attended a person answered the door. Police and an ambulance were called. The resident of the house, assisted by others, put Mr Wanganeen on a chair and applied pressure to the wound with a towel.
The injury was life-threatening and required surgical intervention. The abdominal stab wound travelled upwards across the diaphragm and into his chest. His intestines and stomach were protruding from the wound. Mr Wanganeen required three surgeries and remained in hospital for 28 days.
The wound involved damage to Mr Wanganeen's stomach, intestines, small bowel, colon and liver. Mr Wanganeen also developed pericarditis and pulmonary emboli which were not life-threatening.
Mr Wanganeen will have permanent scarring from the stab wounds and surgical treatment.
Police investigating the matter attended at Ms Briscoe's townhouse. The knife that you used to stab Mr Wanganeen was found by police in a sheath, hidden behind a TV cabinet.
You had remained at the house, but were not identified as the offender until Mr Wanganeen identified you later.
Police observed you at the premises and saw that you were sleepy and lethargic. You kept falling asleep.
You were arrested on 12 February 2023 and have remained in custody since that time.
In his victim impact statement Mr Wanganeen has described how the offending has changed his life. He was a social young man and worked hard in a physical job. He lost his job due to his injury. He feels isolated.
He has not returned to the doctor since his release from hospital because he now struggles to leave the house.
He lives with ongoing pain in his lower stomach when he sits for extended periods.
He is upset that your actions have split the close connection that had existed between your families.
He has flashbacks of the offence and is worried about when you will be released.
The physical and mental injuries have impacted his quality of life and enjoyment of life.
I turn to your personal circumstances which I have heard about in an Aboriginal sentencing conference convened under s.22 of the Sentencing Act, in sentencing submissions from a pre-sentence report, and a psychological report from Mr Balfour who conducted an assessment of you.
You are now 20 years old. You have been sentenced for offences before, but not for anything as serious as the current offence. You have some matters that were dealt with without conviction in the Youth Court. I place little weight on these matters, other than to note that one offence involved possession of a knife, and another involved carrying an offensive weapon.
It is relevant that you have previously been dealt with for offending involving a knife and a weapon, as it means that despite having been sentenced for those matters, it did not deter you from carrying a knife on the day of the offence.
There is a conviction for failing to comply with bail in 2022. That offence involved you failing to report on one occasion.
On 8 August 2023 you were sentenced for theft and an assault against a worker. The offending having occurred on 23 December 2022, which was after the current offending.
You have three younger siblings born to your mum and dad. From the age of eight you were raised by your grandmother, who stepped in to help your mum when she had had a stroke and couldn't look after you and the three younger children.
You say you now have a good relationship with your parents, your grandmother, and your siblings. You are rebuilding a relationship with your father, who for some of your childhood was in prison.
You told Mr Balfour that as a child you were frequently exposed to domestic violence and regularly assaulted by both your parents. You considered that you were toughened by these assaults.
You described an occasion when at 15 you were raped by two adult staff members at the Cavan Training Centre, an incident you disclosed in the last year to a counsellor. You are participating in telephone counselling in connection with this, which is an important step for your mental health.
As a teenager you lost a close friend who died from cancer. You struggled with grief, and your family observed that after your friend's death you drank more and took illicit drugs and were angry.
Your parents and your grandmother love and continue to support you. Your grandmother is prepared to have you come back to live with her on your release.
You left school after year 9 and have held one job, but were unemployed at the time of the offence.
You report that you drank a lot on the night before the offence, and that you have no memory of the offence.
You recall being at Ms Briscoe's house and drinking in the morning and then getting into a taxi.
You have once or twice before had an experience of drinking and not remembering events whilst you were intoxicated when you were under 18.
You say it has been difficult for you to accept what you have done, but you feel bad for what you have done. You told Mr Balfour that you pleaded guilty after Mr Wanganeen gave evidence, because you realised you must have done it.
You were diagnosed with diabetes when you were 17, but received little support and education for it before being remanded in custody. You have been receiving assistance from a diabetes nurse whilst you have been in custody.
You have struggled to comply with some of the regulations in custody, and have received warnings for not following the rules, for matters including being in an out of bounds area and not attending for employment. But none of these matters have been of a serious nature that has resulted in you being moved from Mobilong.
In February 2025 Suboxone was found in your cell, a drug that is not prescribed for you. You have explained that this was provided to you at a time that you were stressed about your court matter.
You reported that you started drinking alcohol when you were about 15. And prior to your arrest you were smoking cannabis daily.
You told the author of the pre-sentencing report that you did not think you had a drinking problem. Mr Balfour considered that you had a drinking problem based on your report that you were drinking every day.
You reported that you had at times used methamphetamine and MDMA.
You thought that your abuse of alcohol was due to your depression caused by the death of your friend. You report that your depression led to a suicide attempt about five years ago, and your mother intervened to prevent it.
You told Mr Balfour that you had a temper problem, and after being assaulted by your dad you used to take out your anger on other people.
You considered yourself to be a good fighter. You said you enjoy fighting to vent your anger and tensions, and that you have a history of punching objects, damaging your hands, and breaking property.
Your grandmother at the sentencing conference also said that when you were at school, you used to get into trouble with your anger.
You said your relationship with Ms Briscoe at the time of the offence was on and off, that you wanted to break up with her and she did not want to separate. You agreed that you were probably jealous when you saw the victim with Ms Briscoe.
You have consistently said that you do not remember the offending, and you consider that that is because you were intoxicated. You said you were young and intoxicated, including on drugs, which affected your frame of mind. You have stressed that you do not offer this explanation as an excuse.
I accept that you were intoxicated which is consistent with your sleepy demeanour when seen by police.
In the sentencing conference and in your written letter of apology, you have expressed your deep remorse, particularly to Mr Wanganeen. You do not expect him to forgive you. You have taken responsibility for your actions and the harm you have caused.
Mr Balfour considered that you have an undiagnosed learning disability. Despite that hurdle, you have spent your time in custody productively undertaking courses to get construction cards and you want to get work on your release. You are to be commended and encouraged for undertaking that study.
You hope to access drug and alcohol counselling when the next course is available and you want to be sober when you are in the community. That is very important and good to hear because this will be one of the important steps for your successful rehabilitation.
I accept that your apology and your remorse is genuine, that you have reflected on the seriousness of your conduct and that you intend to work on your rehabilitation.
Mr Balfour found that your presentation and history was consistent with you having antisocial personality disorder which was worsened by drug and alcohol use. He also considers that you suffer from complex post-traumatic stress disorder that you dealt with by self-medicating with drugs and alcohol and that your volatile temper has resulted in problems managing your anger.
He said that your upbringing, including that you grew up in a violent environment, contributed to your anger management problem, and that your personality disorder and complex post-traumatic stress disorder facilitated your offending.
I accept that your post-traumatic stress disorder and anti-social personality disorder contributed to your offending and you have a problem managing your anger. Your intoxication would have worsened your mental state and impaired your ability to think carefully and exercise calm judgment and although it was self-induced, your drinking is also linked to your upbringing and social disadvantage. These matters reduce your moral culpability to a limited degree.
Your intoxication also potentially explains your asserted lack of memory and is relevant to your personal deterrence and prospects for rehabilitation.
The offence of aggravated causing serious harm with intent to cause serious harm is a very serious offence as indicated by the maximum penalty of 25 years imprisonment.
In sentencing you for the offence, I have had regard to the observations made by the Court of Appeal in McKenzie v The King 2023 SASCA 92 in relation to sentencing for offences of this type. Each case must, however, be considered on its merits which involves a consideration of your personal circumstances.
Matters relevant to the objective seriousness of the offence are that you used a knife and there is no explanation for why you were carrying it and entering the premises through an upstairs window.
You did not attend the premises with an intention to assault Mr Wanganeen, but that you snuck into the premises armed with a knife is very concerning. I make clear that I am only sentencing you for the offence against Mr Wanganeen and not about the way you entered the premises, but that is the relevant context to the offence.
Your attack on Mr Wanganeen was impulsive and unprovoked. The most plausible explanation for your offence is that once you saw Mr Wanganeen with Ms Briscoe, you reacted angrily and aggressively. That explanation does not reduce the seriousness of your conduct, but it means your difficulty in managing anger and your statement that you enjoy fighting, is highly relevant to your risk of reoffending.
The attack was without any warning or justification. Mr Wanganeen was completely defenceless.
The impact on Mr Wanganeen was and continues to be significant.
General deterrence is an important sentencing factor. Others must be deterred from such serious acts of violence.
Mr Balfour considered your prognosis for rehabilitation without a supervised structured rehabilitation program to deal with substance abuse and your mental health is poor, but that your combination of your youth and options for treatment will improve your prospects.
Personal deterrence is a relevant factor in sentencing you.
The sentence must also recognise the harm to your victim, publicly denounce your offending and give consideration to your prospects for rehabilitation.
I have regard to your personal circumstances which includes, but is not limited to, the disadvantage in your upbringing associated with growing up in an alcohol-fuelled, violent environment.
There is a clear need for you to engage in rehabilitation for your mental health and substance abuse.
Your prospects for rehabilitation are difficult to assess, but youth is in your favour. Your remorse, engagement with support for your mental health whilst you have been in custody and that you are undertaking steps to gain qualifications and your intention to stay away from alcohol when you are back in the community are all good starting points and provide some hope for your engagement with rehabilitation.
The sentence must also reflect that you were just over 18 at the time of the offence and that you are still a young man.
I would have imposed a sentence of five years imprisonment. You are entitled to a maximum discount on penalty of 5%. The utilitarian value of your plea is less than it would have been had you pleaded before Mr Wanganeen gave evidence.
I consider it appropriate to discount the penalty by 4% to a period of four years, nine months and 19 days imprisonment.
Having regard to the same sentencing factors and placing emphasis on the need for your rehabilitation, I set a non-parole period of two years and two months.
In setting that lower than usual non-parole period, I have had regard to your need as a young man for a period of supervised rehabilitation in the community which is in the interests of the safety of the community.
Your counsel submitted that good reason existed for me to suspend the sentence of imprisonment on you entering into a bond to be of good behaviour. That is an available sentencing option, but I must be satisfied there is good reason to suspend the sentence.
I have carefully considered the seriousness of the offence, your background and personal circumstances, which of course includes your youth as a mitigating factor and lack of relevant prior offending.
Also in favour of suspension is your rehabilitation, and that suspension is primarily aimed at an offender for whom it is not appropriate to send to gaol for the first time.
I must also consider the safety of the community, and that the sentence must deter you and others from similar offending in the future.
Taking all these matters into account, I am not satisfied that good reason exists to suspend the sentence.
I backdate the term to when you were in custody, 12 February 2023, and on my calculation, Mr Lovegrove, that means you will be eligible for parole in about one month.
ADJOURNED 9.57 A.M.
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