SUPREME COURT Man Imprisoned For Indecent Assault

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32222, 14 February 1970, Page 18

SUPREME COURT Man Imprisoned For Indecent Assault

For an indecent assault oni i a girl of 13, of which he was i convicted by a jury last week, i Albert Raymond Avery, aged i 37, a showman, was impris- i oned for nine months when I sentenced in the Supreme Court yesterday. , This punishment, for such an offence, was a very light ; one indeed, said Mr Justice [Wilson, and was made so be- i cause it would bear most i heavily on Avery’s wife and i : children. “I don't think the con- : science of the community would be satisfied with any less punishment than imprisonment,” his Honour said. His Honour said he lid not think it right that he should suppress the name of the

prisoner any longer. “It is proper that a person capable of this offence, as he is, and not in proper control of himself, should be known as liable to that conduct,” hjs Honour said. Counsel for Avery, Mr R. A. Young, submitted that the 1 , assault on the girl, which the jury had found proved, must have been, on the medical evidence, of a most minor nature, and, counsel submitted, was out of character. Some penalty short of imprisonment, should be imposed. His Honour said he had no doubt that the verdiet brought in by the jury was a proper one. "This was a very nasty type of indecent assault and the evidence indicated that this was probably not the first time something of this sort had been at i tempted by you,” he told [ Avery. “An offence of this nature calls for a sentence of imprisonment," his Honour said. “It is an offence which carries a maximum of seven [years imprisonment, and is a very serious matter indeed." Avery, although “a hit of a larrikin” when younger, .: seemed to be basically a de[cent man, said his Honour, [ but was a quite selfish per- [ son, unable to control his im- . pulses. Bearing in mind that 1 the period of punishment- [ must bear heavily on his wife . and children, he would sentence Avery to a term which ! —for the offence—was a very . light one indeed. [j The sentence of nine months imprisonment was . ordered to be followed by a ’year’s probation, a special condition of which is that Avery pays $2OO towards the I cost of his prosecution.