Ashley Bishop sentenced to a wholly suspended jail term

Ashley James Bishop, 32, pleaded guilty at a previous hearing to the common assault of a man at Ravenswood on April 22 this year.

The case was complicated when Bishop told the court that the man made a provocative sexual comment about a family member.

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Magistrate Ken Stanton ordered a disputed facts hearing after police disputed that the comment was made.

Police withdrew the objection on Thursday morning and Mr Stanton proceeded on the basis that the comment was made.

In the previous hearing police said the complainant and his partner were waiting at a bus stop when Mr Bishop drove past.

"The defendant stopped near the bus stop and said 'I told you to stay away'," police prosecutor Jarrod Lightfoot said.

"He punched the complainant to the left side of the mouth causing him to spin around and nearly fall over."

"The defendant got in his car and continued to be verbally abusive to [his] partner."

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The court heard that the complainant suffered a swollen lip and that Bishop was a big man.

Mr Bishop told Magistrate Ken Stanton that as a loving father he objected to the comment.

"I do regret punching him and I do have an issue with assaults, but I have cleaned my act up," he said.

"I'm sorry for what I done, but I can't take it back."

Defence counsel Grant Tucker said in a plea of mitigation that the comment would have been provocative for any member of society.

In his decision Mr Stanton that it was a very "distasteful" comment.

"It was provocative but did justify the assault, there were other legitimate ways of responding," he said.

"Your response was an overreaction."

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Mr Stanton said that Bishop had four prior convictions for common assault, mostly in a family violence context.

"You are somebody prone to respond with violence," he said.

"Specific deterrence is important so that you understand that you simply cannot assault people in private or in public."

"It is clear previous penalties have not deterred you from committing assaults so it is necessary to go to a another level of sentence notwithstanding the level of provocation."

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He sentenced Bishop to a six-week jail term which was wholly suspended for 12 months on the condition that he commit no imprisonable offence and to 63 hours of community service.

In 2017, the complainant was jailed for 12 months, six months suspended, by Acting Justice Pierre Slicer for communicating with intent to procure a person under 17 years of age to engage in an unlawful sexual act; possession of child exploitation material; and making a communication with an intention of exposing a person under the age of 17 years to indecent material.

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