Year’s imprisonment for knife assaults

Press, 27 February 1986, Page 18

Year’s imprisonment for knife assaults

A year’s imprisonment was imposed in the District Court yesterday on a motorist who took a knife and accosted occupants of another car, asserting that their vehicle had cut his off.

One occupant, Spencer Michael Hill, suffered small cuts to the face and stomach when the knife was poked at him, and the other occupant, Mark Thomas Todd, was struck

in the head with the knife, causing a 12cm laceration that required stitching on Mr Todd’s admission to hospital. The defendant, Mark Sewhoy, aged 22, unemployed, had pleaded guilty, before the start of a jury trial in the District Court, to charges of injuring Mr Todd with intent, and assaulting Mr Hill, in Bealey Avenue last October 1.

He was jailed for a year on the first charge and for six months concurrently on the second. Imposing sentence, Judge Pain said that Sewhoy had reacted in a violent and aggressive way to what he believed was a traffic infringement by the other motorist.

He detailed the circumstances of the incident and said that before causing Mr Todd’s injuries Sewhoy had swung at Mr Todd with the knife and narrowly missed a girl passenger. He had then struck Mr Todd in the head, causing a laceration that required 20 stitches. Sewhoy was fortunate not to have caused lasting Injury in the attack. There was no place in the community for attacks

with knives on citizens, and a custodial sentence must be imposed for the public’s protection.

The Judge said Sewhoy had a prospensity to violent conduct, and had been convicted of assaults in 1979, 1981, 1984, and last year, when he served three months jail for two assaults and other charges.

Mr D. C. Fitzgibbon, for Sewhoy, had sought a lesser penalty than imprisonment. He said Sewhoy was adamant that the other car had cut his off. That was why the incident started.

Sewhoy did not excuse his own conduct but his background and upbringing were factors tending towards this type of conduct Sewhoy had a drug problem which he had now largely overcome. The knife was something that was habitually part of the drug scene.

Mr Fitzgibbon said that on this occasion Sewhoy was surprised at his own reactions.

He realised he had a “head” problem and intended to take psychological treatment.