A South Launceston man who forged an old doctor's letter to try and avoid breach of bail charges forgot to change the date to the requisite date, the Supreme Court in Launceston heard.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Aaron Neil Wesley, 32, pleaded guilty to two counts of perverting justice and a count of forgery.
He received a wholly suspended six-month jail term, which comes on top of an already existing 103-day suspension.
The court heard that Wesley was given a specific bail address in December, 2020, but when police arrived on January 13, 2021, to check his curfew, he was not home.
Two days later he told police that he had been at the emergency department of the Launceston General Hospital at the time he was supposed to be at the bail address and signed a statutory declaration.
"What you told police was a lie and the statutory declaration was false," Justice Robert Pearce said in sentencing.
"In your attempt to avoid breach of bail you perverted justice."
On April 15, 2021, Wesley was again absent from his bail address. He again told police that he was at the LGH at the time.
He produced a letter ostensibly signed by a doctor and made a statutory declaration that he had been at the hospital.
"The letter was a forgery and that was discovered because it had a spelling error in that it was dated June 15, 2021,"Justice Pearce said.
"By attempting to avoid breach of bail charges you perverted justice."
He said the second of the attempts was the worst because it came after Wesley had already been charged once with perverting justice and also that he tried to support his claim with a forged document.
"Perverting justice is a serious crime, because it undermines the justice system," he said.
Last year Wesley served 79 days in jail after pleading guilty to 55 counts, including aggravated burglary, breach of bail, stealing, burglary, motor vehicle stealing, evading police and traffic offences over the past 18 months.
Magistrate Ken Stanton wholly suspended 103 days of Wesley's sentence on the condition that he commit no commit no imprisonable offence for 18 months.
Wesley was found unsuitable for a drug treatment order because he was unable to provide a suitable address and misled the court.
He was released on a Community Correction Order.
Justice Pearce said that Wesley's life fell apart when he got involved with illicit drugs.
He said that he had been homeless since his release from jail and it seemed his use of drugs had not ceased or reduced.
"I have concluded that it would be counterproductive to send you back to jail," he said.
Justice Pearce sentenced him to six months' jail on the latest crimes but wholly suspended it for 18 months.
He must submit to the supervision of a probation officer.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark www.examiner.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter: @examineronline
- Follow us on Instagram: @examineronline
- Follow us on Google News: The Examiner