Criminal Law

Criminal Law

Question 1 (25 Marks)
You are working as a summer clerk with the police prosecutors and have been asked to advise what
crimes Farouk, Georgio and Hassa could be charged with and whether any defences may be raised.
Assume that the following section has been inserted into the Summary Offences Act 1988 (NSW)
and is now in force:
s4B (1) A person must not use offensive language in or near, or within hearing from, a public
place or a school in circumstances of aggravation.
Maximum penalty: 6 penalty units or imprisonment for 3 months.
(2) In this section circumstances of aggravation means circumstances in which offensive
language is:
(a) used within hearing of another person under the age of 14 years;
(b) knowingly said to another person over the age of 60.
Farouk, Gerogio and Hassa owned houses adjacent to each other. Two years ago each sold his
house to Smart Living Pty Ltd. At that time, Dexter was the CEO of Smart Living Pty Ltd and he and
his son Edward negotiated the sales with each of Farouk, Georgio and Hassa. Smart Living Pty Ltd
allowed them to stay in their houses for one year rent free before they had to move out. During that
year, the property prices in the area rose substantially, and by the time they had to move out, Farouk
thought that Smart Living Pty Ltd had ripped him off.
Two weeks ago, Farouk’s solicitor informed him he should be successful in recovering an additional
$50,000 from Smart Living Pty Ltd for the sale of his house, but that it would cost him at least
$20,000 in legal fees. Farouk’s solicitor wrote to Smart Living Pty Ltd several times, demanding the
$50,000. Smart Living Pty Ltd’s solicitors responded, saying the deal was fair. Farouk has not yet
instituted legal proceedings against Dexter, but based on the advice of his lawyer, he believes he is
entitled to $50,000 from Smart Living Pty Ltd.
Last Saturday, Osgood Primary School was used as a polling station for council elections. Students
from the school aged 11 and 12 were selling raffle tickets to people standing in the queue waiting to
vote.
Farouk, Georgio and Hassa went to Osgood Primary School to vote. While they were waiting in the
queue, Farouk showed Georgio and Hassa a copy of the letter his solicitor had sent to Smart Living
Pty Ltd and the letter Smart Living Pty Ltd’s solicitor had written in reply. Just then, Dexter and
Edward approached them with a how to vote pamphlet for the ‘Smarter Urban Development’ group.
Dexter was wearing a diamond encrusted gold bracelet on his right wrist. Farouk is a jeweller and
made a quick appraisal that the bracelet was worth $40,000.
Farouk decided to take the bracelet to save himself the trouble of going to court to get the $50,000 he
believed Smart Living Pty Ltd owed him. Farouk extended his right hand to shake Dexter’s hand and
as he did so, he placed his left hand on top and unclipped Dexter’s bracelet without Dexter noticing,
and took the bracelet and placed it in his pocket.
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Georgio didn’t realise what Farouk was doing and shouted ‘I can’t believe you’re shaking that
dickhead’s hand. The fuckin’ bastard ripped us all off.’
Edward said to Georgio and Hassa ‘You blokes got a good deal. There’s no use complaining about it
now.’ Hassa punched Edward in the face, knocking him to the ground. A medical examination
showed that Hassa’s punch broke Edward’s nose, but no surgery was needed.
As Farouk and Dexter helped Edward back up on his feet, the bracelet fell out of Farouk’s pocket.
When interviewed by the police, Farouk said he believes he is legally entitled to $50,000 from Smart
Living Pty Ltd, and that he took the bracelet to increase his ability to negotiate a deal with Smart
Living Pty Ltd, but that he was going to return the bracelet to Dexter when Smart Living Pty Ltd paid
him the $50,000.
When interviewed by the police, Hassa told them he had grown up in an orphanage where he was
physically beaten every day for five years. At the end of each beating, his abuser always said
‘There’s no use complaining about it now.’ Hassa said that when he heard Edward say ‘There’s no
use complaining about it now’, it brought back memories of his abuse, but he doesn’t remember
anything after that. Hassa has no previous history of violence, and is shocked and embarrassed that
he punched Edward in the nose.
When interviewed by the police, Georgio said his swearing was a reaction to the letter he had just
read from Farouk’s solicitor, and that he didn’t think there were any children at the school that day.