NSW 18 Months Jail for holding someones hand and touching another on the shoulder

Australia's #1 for Law
Join 150,000 Australians every month. Ask a question, respond to a question and better understand the law today!
FREE - Join Now

dangargoyle

Well-Known Member
17 November 2020
17
0
71
I'm a Black man living in Sydney, NSW. I am diagnosed with depression, anxiety and psychosis. I was intoxicated one day at the train station and was greeting almost everyone I came across. I met two young ladies and greeted them and shook the hand of the first lady and held it for a few seconds. I then touched the second lady on the shoulder. To my surprise, the first lady called the police and alleged that I grabbed the second lady on her buttocks. The police came and arrested me and quickly charged me with two counts of Common Assault and one count of Sexual Touching. Luckily, there was very clear CCTV footage of the incident and it was confirmed that I only touched the second lady on the shoulder. So sexual touching charges were quickly dropped. Before court, I was as usual encouraged to plead guilty so as to get a 15% discount. The magistrate disregarded my early guilty plea and sentenced me to a total of 18 months in prison for the two common assaults. My lawyer was extremely shocked. In jail, I met many people who were serving less than 6 months for very serious and violent incidents including stabbings, armed robberies and assaults occasioning bodily harm. My question is, is such an occurrence and sentence normal in Australia?
 
Last edited:

Adam1user

Well-Known Member
5 January 2018
577
33
2,219
I doubt this story is true! Why you use "Black" man? are you trying to stir things up? this is not the method to do it nor wanted. You could have easily stated you are a man, why you concentrated on "Black"? are you trying to see if there is racism in Australia? well, I can give you the answer, it does, not because Australia is a bad country, on the contrary, it is one of the best countries in the world. Racism is of a human nature, it does not relate to a culture, race or citizenship.... I immigrated to Australia way back, and I can tell, there is racism in my original country more than I felt it here, and yes both countries are best countries in the world. Even if I put this criticism, that does not mean I hate both countries, it means I am honest and understand life. So please stop trying to raise issues where are not needed or wanted, in addition, Australia is going through a hard time, so we don't more damage.