(CNS): A local man who punched a woman in her face so hard she was knocked unconscious and broke her ankle as she fell in an unprovoked, but isolated, attack has been ordered to pay $20,000 in compensation. But Kameron McLean (33) dodged going immediately to jail for the attack, having been given a two-year suspended sentence. This means he has retained his job as a corporate assistant, enabling him to pay his victim compensation and continue as the primary caretaker to his son.
A week before a trial was due to take place last November, McLean admitted that he had punched his victim following a minor argument in Bliss Bar at the Strand Plaza in January last year. Justice Emma Peters arrived at the sentencing decision based on submissions from the Crown and the defence counsel, as well as a victim impact report and a social inquiry report from social workers.
She heard that this was a one-off incident, a spur-of-the-moment offence without any planning, and no weapon was used. It is agreed that there was no premeditation. While it may have been connected to issues relating to his former partner, who was a friend of the victim, whatever the cause, the innocent woman who was hit by McLean ended up with a badly broken ankle.
The injury, which she suffered as a result of her fall, required extensive surgery and is still giving the woman significant problems well over a year later. It also caused her to lose six months’ salary, as she was unable to work.
McLean was heavily intoxicated at the time, and he had a previous conviction for assault. But despite a rocky start to adulthood and the world of work over the last decade, the court heard that he had settled down, was now a full-time carer for his son, and had a decent job at a local company.
After arriving at a sentence of two years, “the least possible sentence that is appropriate in these circumstances”, Justice Peters said it could be suspended, and she had given careful consideration to that issue. Going to jail would mean he would lose his job and be unable to pay any compensation to the victim.
“Furthermore, importantly, he would be unable to remain as the sole caregiver for his son, which would have significant consequences for that child. It is for those reasons that I have reached the conclusion that the just sentence in this situation is one of two years’ imprisonment suspended for two years,” she said before attaching a number of conditions.
The judge said McLean must complete the anger management programme offered through the Department of Community Rehabilitation. He must attend the Counselling Centre as directed by DCR, as well as other programmes deemed suitable by his probation officer, and he must not contact the victim.
She issued a $20,000 compensation order to be paid $600 per month.
She sentencing judgment case number: IND.77of2025.
