Case Materials 2018 Round 3 For Schools The Law Society of Western Australia Level 4, 160 St Georges Terrace, Perth WA 6000 Postal: PO Box Z5345, Perth WA 6831 or DX 173 Perth Phone: (08) 9324 8600 Fax: (08) 9324 8699 Email: info@lawsocietywa.asn.au Website: lawsocietywa.asn.au
State of Western Australia v Woodman Case Summary The defendant, Phoebe Woodman, is charged pursuant to section 317 of the Criminal Code with assault causing bodily harm arising out of an incident arising from a game of rugby at St Malcolm of the Plebiscite s College, Forrest Street, North Perth, on 17 March 2018. She is charged with assaulting Sarah Sullivan, a fellow student. When questioned, the defendant denied assaulting Sullivan and claimed she acted in self-defence. The Prosecution must prove each and every element of the offence beyond reasonable doubt. The Prosecution and the Defence will receive the following: 1. Legal notes 2. Prosecution Notice 3. Statement of the First Witness for the Prosecution [Sarah Sullivan (Student)] female. 4. Statement of the Second Witness for the Prosecution [Josh Valentine (Student)] male. 5. Statement of the First Witness for the Defence [Phoebe Woodman (Defendant)] female. 6. Statement of the Second Witness for the Defence [Adam Coleman (Student)] male. Please note The above outline is also the order of appearance. The gender of each witness is fixed in order to avoid difficulties on references (to he/she etc. Students playing the part of a witness are to adopt the role of the male or female as indicated. The Law Society of Western Australia Page 1
Legal Notes Assault Causing Bodily Harm 317. Assault causing bodily harm (1) Any person who unlawfully assaults another and thereby does that other person bodily harm is guilty of a crime, and is liable Assault (a) (b) if the offence is committed in circumstances of aggravation or in circumstances of racial aggravation, to imprisonment for 7 years; or in any other case, to imprisonment for 5 years. Alternative offence: s. 313. Summary conviction penalty: (a) (b) in a case to which paragraph (a) above applies: imprisonment for 3 years and a fine of $36 000; or in a case to which paragraph (b) above applies: imprisonment for 2 years and a fine of $24 000. 222. Term used: assault A person who strikes, touches, or moves, or otherwise applies force of any kind to the person of another, either directly or indirectly, without his consent, or with his consent if the consent is obtained by fraud, or who by any bodily act or gesture attempts or threatens to apply force of any kind to the person of another without his consent, under such circumstances that the person making the attempt or threat has actually or apparently a present ability to effect his purpose, is said to assault that other person, and the act is called an assault. The term applies force includes the case of applying heat, light, electrical force, gas, odour, or any other substance or thing whatever if applied in such a degree as to cause injury or personal discomfort. 223. Assault is unlawful An assault is unlawful and constitutes an offence unless it is authorised or justified or excused by law. The application of force by one person to the person of another may be unlawful, although it is done with the consent of that other person. The Law Society of Western Australia Page 2
Summary re the Elements of the Charge: The elements of the crime are: (1) An assault (2) Causing bodily harm It is not necessary in establishing the offence that the prosecution prove a specific intent to cause harm, however it is necessary to prove an intention to use force or to create in the person being assaulted an apprehension of the use of force. The term bodily harm means any bodily injury which interferes with health or comfort: Criminal Code Act Compilation Act 1913 (WA) s 1 ('Criminal Code') Self-defence 248. Self-defence (1) In this section harmful act means an act that is an element of an offence under this Part other than Chapter XXXV. (2) A harmful act done by a person is lawful if the act is done in self-defence under subsection (4). (4) A person s harmful act is done in self-defence if (a) (b) (c) the person believes the act is necessary to defend the person or another person from a harmful act, including a harmful act that is not imminent; and the person s harmful act is a reasonable response by the person in the circumstances as the person believes them to be; and there are reasonable grounds for those beliefs. Important Note: Onus and Standard of Proof: The Prosecution bears the onus of proving, beyond a reasonable doubt, the case against the Defendant. This also includes negating beyond reasonable doubt the defence of self-defence. The Law Society of Western Australia Page 3
Common Law The common law has always recognised the right of persons to defend themselves against an attack and to act in the defence of others: Beckford v The Queen [1988] AC 130 at 137-138 If the issue of self-defence is raised by or on behalf of the accused, it must be disproved by the prosecution. That is to say the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused person was not acting in self-defence: Woolmington v DPP [1935] AC 462 An explanation of the law of self-defence requires no set words or formula. The question to be asked in the end is simple. It is whether the accused believed upon reasonable grounds that it was necessary in self defence to do what he did. If he had that belief and there were reasonable grounds for it, or if the jury is left in reasonable doubt about the matter, then he is entitled to an acquittal : Zecevic v. DPP (1987) 162 CLR 645 The onus lies on the prosecution to eliminate any reasonable possibility that the defendant was acting in self defence R v Dziduch (1990) 47 A.Crim 378. The issue is whether the defendant believed on reasonable grounds that it was necessary in self-defence to do what he/she did. If there is acquittal.zecevic (ibid), the prosecution must prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the defendant had no belief that it was necessary in self defence for him or her to do what he or she did OR that there were no reasonable grounds for that belief. If it fails to establish EITHER fact then the defendant is entitled to an acquittal.r v Dziduch (ibid). This is not an hypothetical reasonable man test. It is the belief of the defendant based upon his or her personally perceived circumstances which has to be reasonable and not the belief of some statistically ideal or average person..r v Hawes (1994) 35 N.S.W. L.R. 294. In determining whether an assault is authorised, justified or excused by law by reason of selfdefence the question is whether the person believed on reasonable grounds that it was necessary in self-defence to act as he did: Randle v The Queen (1995) 15 WAR 26 at 23 The Law Society of Western Australia Page 4
Criminal Procedure Act 2004 Prosecution Notice Western Australia Criminal Procedure Act 2004 Prosecution notice Magistrates Court at PERTH No: 4024 of 2018 Details of alleged offence 1 Notice to accused Accused Date or period Place Phoebe Woodman 17 March 2018 North Perth Description Assault causing bodily harm Written law Sec 317 Criminal Code You are charged with the offence described above, or the offences described in any attachment to this notice. The charge(s) will be dealt with by the above court. Accused s Date of birth 04/02/2000 Male/Female details 2 Prosecutor 3 Person issuing this notice Address Full name Official title Work address Work telephone Signature Witness s signature 4 Female 14 Assisi St, North Perth Anya George Sergeant Police Station North Perth (08) 1977 9555 A George Edmund Barton JP/Prescribed court officer Date This prosecution notice is signed on 19 March 2018 The Law Society of Western Australia Page 5
STATEMENT OF SARAH SULLIVAN I, Sarah Sullivan of 17 Rosebery Street, Jolimont, say as follows: 1. I am a student at St Malcolm s College. 2. I used to know Adam Coleman's brother, but I don't see much of him anymore. I don t mix with most of the other students, but I have a good friend who plays netball for the college. We are best mates. 3. I can recall the 17 th March, 2018. I was playing fullback for the Bulls against a side in which Adam Coleman was playing. It was a good clean game and before the game I wished Adam good luck. 4. Some time during the game Adam made a break. He thinks he is a very fast runner, and tells everyone that all the time. I was the last line of defence and everyone was depending on me to stop Adam. I moved to the side where Adam was when just at the last moment he changed direction sharply and I was going to miss stopping him. Instinctively I put my hand out full stretched, just to try and put him off balance, but I accidentally clipped him on the chin. He carried on and made out he was hurt. His friend Phoebe Woodman raced up to me. I could see that she was angry. I said to her words to the effect: "Whoa, these things happen." 5. She said words to the effect: "That was nasty. Here cop this." She then just punched me in the nose for no reason. She then said: "I'll teach you." 6. It really hurt. The referee sent Phoebe Woodman off the field for hitting me illegally. The Law Society of Western Australia Page 6
STATEMENT OF JOSH VALENTINE I, Josh Valentine, student, say: 1. I am a student at St Malcolm s College. 2. On the 17 th March 2018 I was playing lock for the Red House side against the White House. Those teams are called the Bulls and the Unicorns for short. Adam Coleman who was number 8 for the Unicorns got the ball from the scrum. I should have made the tackle but I tripped. My parents bought me a new pair of boots on the morning of the game and they were too big for me. I should have taken them back to get them changed, but I didn't have time, and thought they would be ok. 3. After I tripped, Adam got tackled by our fullback. The tackle was a bit high but it was an accident. 4. I then saw the Unicorns captain, the Defendant, Phoebe Woodman race towards our fullback. I knew something was going to happen by the look on Phoebe's face. She was angry about what happened to her number 8. As Phoebe reached our fullback, I saw the fullback raise her arms to protect herself. Phoebe said something to our fullback, who responded back to Phoebe. I couldn't hear what was being said, but I could see the reaction on their faces. 5. Next thing, Phoebe just hit our fullback in the face. 6. This sort of thing should not be allowed to happen. It spoils the game for everyone and solves nothing. The referee didn't see what actually happened, and he just came over and told them both to get off. 7. A lot of people thought our fullback stiff-armed the other number 8. That was wrong because it was an accident. You have to remember that our fullback had to do something to stop a certain try being scored against us. The Law Society of Western Australia Page 7
STATEMENT OF PHOEBE WOODMAN I, Phoebe Woodman of 14 Assisi St, North Perth, say as follows: 1. I am a student in Year 12 at St Malcolm s College. It is an excellent school and for the past 6 years has been specialising in sports. They run great mixed sport programmes. 2. This year I was the captain of the White House Rugby Union side - called the 'Unicorns' for short. It was the best thing that has ever happened to me, and I wanted to make sure I was a great Captain and worthy of the honor given to me. 3. On the 17 th March, 2018 we played our second competition game against the Red House or the 'Bulls'. Our number 8, Adam Coleman, made a break near our 22 metre line. Adam is a very fast runner and he has represented our school in athletics. I think one of his relatives may have swum for Australia in the last Olympics. Adam beat all of the opposition and I was running up in support. He only had their fullback Sarah Sullivan to run past and he would have scored for sure. 4. I then saw Sullivan run over to Adam and stick her hand out in a straight motion with the intention of stiff arming Adam. Adam was hit, and fell straight to the ground in pain with a fracture to the nose. Sullivan said: "How'd you like them apples?" She is a big strong girl too, I m not surprised she s a fullback. 5. I ran up immediately and said to Sullivan words to the effect: "That was nasty and vicious." 6. She said "oh yeah - then I'm gonna belt you too." and immediately raised her fist. I thought to myself: The Law Society of Western Australia Page 8
"She's going to kill me." So as quick as I could I punched her in the face to stop her hitting me. Sarah fell to the ground crying and holding her face. She was making out she was hurt but I know she was trying to get me sent off. She looked up at me and said, "I'll get you." 7. The referee came over and told Sarah to leave the field as soon as she could walk and he then turned to me and told me to leave as well. 8. The next Monday the police came to school and took me away and charged me with assault. The Law Society of Western Australia Page 9
STATEMENT OF ADAM COLEMAN I, Adam Coleman, student, say as follows: 1. I am a student at St Malcolm s College. There are many innovative ideas at the school regarding sporting activities between the 4 houses competing within the college sporting framework. They have a fantastic mixed rugby programme and I love being part of it. Our girls can really stand up for themselves. 2. A couple of girls that I know made the 'Unicorns' or White House Rugby Union side. The whole team are pretty fast runners. Of course I am probably the fastest. I might be small but then again I am about three months older than the others. 3. On the 17th March 2018, we were playing against Sarah Sullivan's side. She used to be very friendly with my older brother. They don't go around together any more though and I don't think they like each other at all now. I don't think she likes me either and probably blames me for the break-up. 4. During the game, near the half way line, I got the ball from a scrum. I usually just pass the ball, but there was no-one to pass it to. So I just ran. There was no one near me so I ran as fast as I could. The next thing that I know I was flat on my back and I had a sore head. I looked up and saw Sarah Sullivan who said something to me which sounded like - "Would you like some apples? 5. Apparently she hit me with a stiff arm tackle and that was why my head was aching and I was dazed. The Law Society of Western Australia Page 10
6. I do know that Sullivan was sent off because of the stiff-arm tackle, but I didn't see anything after that because they put a towel over my face and carried me off on a stretcher. Before I was carried off however, I could hear our Captain, Phoebe Woodman. She came over and had a go at Sullivan. I am sure Phoebe hit Sullivan in self defence. She was only protecting herself. 7. I couldn't believe it the next day when they told me Phoebe had been charged. 8. I probably would have scored too, but for Sarah Sullivan and what she did to me. The Law Society of Western Australia Page 11