P v Spokes[2007] QDC 308

[2007] QDC 308

DISTRICT COURT

CIVIL JURISDICTION

JUDGE O'SULLIVAN

No D1761 of 2007

BRISBANE

DATE 16/10/2007

ORDER

HER HONOUR:  This is an application by P for criminal compensation from Kenneth William Spokes.

On 5th November 2001 the respondent was found guilty of one count of attempted unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl under 16, one count, and one count of unlawfully and indecently dealing with a child under 16 years.

At the time of the offences the applicant was aged 13, nearly 14, and the respondent was 20.

...

HER HONOUR:  The circumstances of the offences are set out in my sentencing remarks.

The incident had an immediate and serious psychological effects on the applicant.

I note that Dr Evans, in a report which has been filed in support of the application, says there was no psychiatric support of the application, says there was no psychiatric

After the assault the applicant attended a counsellor at Protect All Children Today for "roughly two years". The applicant also had subsequent psychological episodes, to use the terminology of Dr Evans. She was admitted to hospital at the Mental Health Unit at Redlands Hospital and the Adolescent Mental Health Unit at Logan Hospital. She was first admitted on 21 January 2001 and was transferred to the Logan Hospital.

I quote from page 3 of the written Submissions:

"She was quiet, withdrawn, refused to eat, experienced a dream-like state, had auditory hallucinations, mood disturbance, paranoid ideation and disturbances of thought form. She was diagnosed as suffering from a Brief Reactive psychosis, and treated with containment and anti-psychotic medication. She was admitted again on 29 June 2002. On this occasion her symptoms included refusal to eat or speak, agitation and tearfulness. There were no psychotic features noted at this time. Her diagnosis was of a Conversion Disorder. She settled rapidly on this admission.

As at the date of her report (which I note is somewhat old, 2004) Dr Evans notes that there is evidence of an Anxiety Disorder Not Otherwise Specified, of a moderate degree.

Dr Evans noted that an Anxiety Disorder Not Otherwise Specified includes disorders with prominent anxiety or phobic avoidance which do not meet criteria for any specific anxiety disorder or adjustment disorder.

Dr Evans notes that the psychological problems the applicant experienced had a major effect on her education and occupational function. Indeed, Dr Evans considered at that time (2004) in her then state the applicant was unemployable.

Dr Evans notes that the condition of the applicant immediately following the incident was serious. She stopped eating for two to three weeks. She was hospitalised. She refused to speak. She could not recognise her parents. She dropped from 65 to 48 kilos in three weeks.

The applicant has filed an affidavit outlining her continuing difficulties, and that affidavit includes the effects immediately following the incident, most of which are also recorded in Dr Evans' report, and also the continuing effects.

Very unfortunately the applicant suffered ridicule at school as a result of the incident when she was called names such as "slut" and "liar".  Very sadly this led to isolation from her school friends and eventually she moved to another school.

She deposes at paragraph 21 of her affidavit:

"I find it hard to have a relationship with a member of the opposite sex because any intimacy brings back memories of the offence and I trust no-one.  I have been in a relationship for about 18 months and have a three month old baby.  I still have difficulty relating to my boyfriend in sexual matters."

Because the offender lived only five minutes from the applicant's family home, and her continuing anxiety arising from that, her parents relocated to another house.

Before the incident the applicant's school results were good and they deteriorated significantly thereafter. Before the incident she had ambitions to become a police officer, and that did not eventuate because of those poor results. Whether in the long run the applicant recovers and is able to fulfil her early ambition is a matter which is impossible for me to say. The applicant deposes to her eating still being erratic, continuing problems with socialising, and trust issues.

One of the effects of the incident was that she commenced smoking and she now smokes 25 cigarettes a day, which, of course, has implications for her health and is undesirable for her baby.

The incident occurred on the 3rd of July 2000 and it is thus quite some time ago. I am a little disappointed that I have not received a more recent psychological report. The one I have is three years old, but I'm able in a patchy sort of way to work out the continuing problems of the applicant.

I have benefitted from comparative decisions which have been given to me in written Submissions, and have also had the benefit of a summary of the matters which come within Regulation 1A, that is, Adverse Impacts of a Sexual Nature.

It is, of course, always important to separate symptoms which relate to mental and nervous shock, on the one hand, and problems which come within 'Adverse Effects of a Sexual Nature'. The applicant's solicitors have done that for me very satisfactorily, and I consider that their submissions on quantum are appropriate.

In respect of mental and nervous shock, I consider the appropriate figure is 20 per cent, that is at the high range within the category of moderate, and results in an award of $15,000.

So far as the Regulation 1A item is concerned, the Submission argues for 25 per cent, and I agree with that. This results in an award of $18,750.

I order the respondent to pay the sum of $33,750 to the applicant by way of criminal compensation.