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1. Jaspreet Singh Mavi, you have pleaded guilty to one count of intentionally inflicting grievous bodily harm, aggravated by the involvement of family violence, contrary to s 19(2) of the Crimes Act 1900 (ACT) (CAN 3208/2024).

2. The maximum penalty for this offence is 25 years’ imprisonment.

3. You pleaded guilty on 26 March 2025, following a criminal case conference. As a result, you are entitled to a discount of between 15-20%. In the exercise of my discretion, I consider that a discount of 20% is appropriate.

Facts

4. An agreed statement of facts was contained in the prosecution tender bundle, which was tendered in court.

5. The victim is your brother-in-law, your wife’s brother.

6. On 10 March 2024, the victim and his wife hosted a party at their home for their children’s birthdays. The party was attended by family members including: (a) you, your wife and your children; and (b) the victim’s brother (Mr T), his wife (Mrs T) and their children.

7. During the party, the adults prepared food, ate, drank alcohol and engaged in conversation. The children were in a room inside the home.

8. Throughout the evening, you, the victim and Mr T drank a large amount of alcohol and talked on the back deck. While the agreed facts state that you consumed close to a bottle of whisky on your own, I find that the exact amount consumed is unclear but accept that it was a significant amount.

9. At around 11pm, you, the victim and Mr T began arguing about the caste system and the role of your wife within the family. You complained that, earlier that day, when painting your driveway in the heat, you had asked your wife for water from inside the house and had been brought tap water, rather than iced water. You were critical of your wife. You thought that the victim and Mr T were taking the side of your wife.

10. The argument became increasingly heated. You and the victim swore at each other and began to get aggressive with one another. At some point, shortly before the commission of the offence, Mrs T observed you with a knife in your hand and stated: “he has got a knife in his hand”. The victim’s wife checked her kitchen drawer, and noticed a knife was missing. You told your wife to put your children in the car as you wanted to leave. However, the argument between you, Mr T and the victim began to escalate once again.

11. There were attempts to diffuse the argument by the women present. Your wife attempted to move the victim, who is her brother, inside the house, but he continued arguing with you. Both of you were extremely angry with each other. The victim’s wife noticed something in your hand and asked what it was. You held up a knife, which she recognised as the knife usually in her kitchen drawer. You then said to the victim, “I have a knife, I am going to stab you”. The victim responded, saying “Ok, you want to stab me? Stab me”. The wives of the offender and the victim were standing near the victim. The victim’s wife asked the your wife to take the victim inside the garage, away from the escalating argument. Around this time, the victim’s wife screamed “move away, he’s got a knife” and attempted to stop you and take the knife from you. The victim moved to the garage, where you and the victim continued exchanging heated abuse, with the victim continuing to argue with you. Your wife told the victim to stop saying things to you, in an attempt to stop the argument.

12. You then rushed towards the victim who was in the garage. The victim’s wife attempted to stop you by closing the garage door, but it got stuck on a clothesline and you went into the garage after him. You then stabbed the victim four to five times in the abdomen and left flank, resulting in stab wounds which immediately began to bleed heavily. One of the stabs with the knife had lacerated the victim’s spleen. Your wife pulled on your shoulder and pulled you out of the garage.

13. You turned and ran towards your car while still holding the knife, which you dropped on a nature strip nearby the residence. Police later located the knife, the blade of which was bent. There was a dispute between the parties as to the cause of the blade being bent. The prosecution asserted that this was due to you stabbing the victim, while you claimed that it was a result of the blade being driven over by police. However, there was no dispute that, whether or not it had that effect on the blade of the knife, you stabbed the victim with sufficient force to fracture one of his ribs. In those circumstances, I do not consider it necessary to make a finding on the cause of the blade being bent.

14. The victim’s wife and Mrs T immediately tried to stem the victim’s bleeding. Mrs T called an ambulance and Mr T called police. The residents of several neighbouring properties had heard a loud verbal disturbance, which seemed to be escalating, and had called police. The children present in the home heard a verbal dispute but did not witness you stab the victim. It is accepted that the urgent attention of the police and paramedics most likely saved the life of the victim.

15. You left in your car and drove to a Sikh temple, where you called a friend, who drove you to Belconnen police station. At the police station, you were placed under arrest. Police observed that you were heavily intoxicated. In your interactions with police, you made a number of admissions to stabbing the victim, stating “please god save him” and that this was the “biggest mistake of [your] life”, and pleading for information about the victim’s condition.

Victim impact

16. Medical records and a report of Dr Sarah Quercini, a Staff Specialist in Clinical Forensic Medicine, confirm that the victim suffered a stab wound to the left upper quadrant of his abdomen, resulting in injury to his spleen, life threatening internal haemorrhaging and a rib fracture, as well as four additional stab wounds to the posterior torso. On the night of the offending, the victim had emergency surgery to remove his spleen. One day after his discharge from hospital, he was readmitted to hospital with sepsis, a life-threatening response to infection. He was at an increased risk of significant complications of infection due to the absence of his spleen. He was also treated for wound dehiscence (breakdown), a possible respiratory tract infection, and a widespread drug-related and allergic dermatitis rash.

17. The victim prepared a victim impact statement, which was read out in court by counsel for the prosecution. The statement describes the constant physical and emotional pain the victim has experienced since the offending. As a result of the removal of his spleen, he states that his immune system is weakened, he is required to take antibiotics for the rest of his life, and things like coughs, colds, fevers and animal bites are life-threatening. He states that, on the day of the sentencing hearing, he would be undergoing surgery for a hernia as a result of his injuries, with a recovery time of seven to eight months. He also refers to ongoing fear and flashbacks, loss of confidence, and the experience having “shattered [his] sense of safety and peace” in his own home.

18. The victim impact statement also refers to the wider consequences for the victim’s family, including the fear and anxiety experienced by his wife, the change in his relationships with his children due to his physical limitations, his inability to work to support his family, and the impact on their plans for the future. His children are not aware of the true cause of his injuries. He states: “I now live with guilt — guilt that my pain has affected everyone I love. My wife is exhausted, my children have lost their carefree childhood, and my mother still grieves everyday”. Objective seriousness

19. The offence was very serious. The offending was motivated by your perception of yourself as humiliated, apparently because the victim would not support you against your wife. It occurred while you were a guest in the victim’s home, where he was entitled to feel safe, and you were aware that children were present inside the house (though the evidence indicates that they are not aware of what occurred). While the offending was not premeditated, it was extremely violent, particularly in circumstances where the victim was unarmed and retreating from you, while you chased him into the garage holding a 12 cm long kitchen knife. You stabbed the victim four or five times in his torso, risking his life, and resulting in him losing a vital organ and having lifelong health impacts.

Subjective circumstances

20. Your subjective circumstances are set out in a pre-sentence report, an intensive correction order assessment report and a report of Tabitha Frew, clinical psychologist, dated 4 November 2025. You have also provided references from your wife, your sister’s husband who I will refer to as Mr S, a friend and potential employer in the ACT, and your current employer in Melbourne.

21. The pre-sentence report states that you reported a positive, prosocial and stable upbringing in India before moving to Australia in 2008 and that you continue to have positive relationships with your parents and sister. You have always held employment in manual labour jobs except while in custody in relation to this offence. You commenced drinking and smoking cannabis socially at the age of 18, and, prior to the offence, would consume two or three drinks twice per week, as well as engaging in binge drinking and consuming cannabis at certain family occasions with your brothers-in-law. You have no prior criminal history in Australia and are assessed as a low risk of general reoffending.

22. Despite saying that you have no conscious memory of the incident, the pre-sentence report indicates that you expressed regret and shame and demonstrated appropriate insight into the pain caused to the victim, his family and your family. The agreed facts indicate that you expressed regret and concern for the victim’s condition to police on the night of the offence. I have had regard to the reference letters, which all attest to your expressions of remorse for the incident and that you are otherwise of good character. Mr S gave evidence at the sentencing hearing that you had often expressed concern about the impact of the offence on your family and on the victim.

23. In her report, Ms Frew opined that your conduct was not directly caused by the effects of a mental health condition and you were not suffering from a diagnosable mental health condition at the time of the offending. She considered that the offending was indirectly contributed to by your “personality vulnerabilities”, cultural influences and the effects of intoxication. While finding that you had genuine remorse for your conduct, she considered that you had limited insight into the complex psychological factors leading to the offence and recommended psychological treatment to develop this insight. She also recorded comments you had made that the elder members of the family “should have stood up to me”, that the victim was saying aggressive things, and that your actions were a result of consuming alcohol.

24. Ms Frew was called to give evidence and closely cross-examined. She was unable to say how much alcohol you had consumed before the offending. She said that the offending was a result of anger, in the context of your personal background and life experiences. I obtained limited assistance from the evidence of Ms Frew because, as your counsel conceded, she was unable to provide any psychological explanation (in the sense of a diagnosis impacting moral culpability or enlivening the Verdins principles, which take their name from R v Verdins [2007] VSCA 102; 16 VR 269) for why you would fly into such a fit of rage and anger that you would stab your brother-in-law.

25. Since your release on bail in July 2024, you have been living in Melbourne with Mr S’s family, and so apart from your wife and children. Your wife continues to support you. Your children are unaware of the cause of your absence. Your relationship with your wife’s family remains broken, perhaps irretrievably. You are currently employed as a truck driver in Melbourne, with no debts or financial stressors. You report no physical health concerns but a diagnosis of depression. You completed six appointments with a psychologist focused on anger management, emotional regulation and communication between May and July 2025.

26. At the sentencing hearing, Mr S confirmed that you had been living with his family since July 2024, during which time you had participated in household activities, spent time with his children, and worked. He stated that, in that period, he or his wife had always been present with you at home and had not seen you consume any alcohol. He indicated that, as well as not drinking alcohol as it is a condition of your bail, you have made a choice not to drink alcohol again because of the way it impacted you at the time of the offending. He noted that, following the recommendation of Ms Frew, you had arranged an appointment with a psychologist and were seeking one with a psychiatrist

Consideration

27. I am satisfied that you took some offence about what was said in an argument, the argument escalated in the manner described to the point where you became so enraged that you found a knife in the kitchen and fulfilled your threat to stab the victim. It was only by the fortuitous attendance of police and paramedics, and then the skills of the surgical and medical staff in the hospital, that the victim’s life was saved.

28. I am satisfied that you procured the knife with the intention to stab the victim, knowing that you were in a family violence situation. You ignored the entreaties of your wife and others and plunged the knife into the torso of the victim five times in accordance with that intention. That is the basis on which I sentence you.

29. At the sentencing hearing and in their written submissions, the prosecution submitted that a significant period of imprisonment is required. The prosecution noted in particular the significant impact on the victim and breach of his trust, the seriousness of the grievous bodily harm, the presence of children in the home, and the absence of any form of mitigation, with you being indistinguishable from any other offender who gets drunk and angry.

30. Your counsel accepted that the threshold in s 10 of the Crimes (Sentencing) Act 2005 (ACT) has been crossed and submitted that, while a sentence of two years’ imprisonment would be insufficient to recognise the purposes of sentencing, a sentence of four years’ imprisonment, to be served by way of an intensive correction order, would not be manifestly inadequate. Your counsel emphasised your remorse and acceptance of responsibility, your prosocial history and your desire to continue rehabilitation. Your counsel further submitted that, should a term of full-time custody be imposed, a shorter non-parole period would be appropriate to allow you to continue your rehabilitation in the community and return to your family and employment.

31. I consider that the threshold in s 10 of the Crimes (Sentencing) Act has been passed, and I find that the only appropriate disposition in this case is a period of full-time custody. I have had full regard to the submissions of your counsel that an intensive correction order would not be a “soft option” and that you have been assessed as suitable for an intensive correction order, I do not consider that an intensive correction order would be an appropriate disposition to achieve the purposes of sentencing in this case. I similarly do not consider that a suspended sentence would be appropriate. This is because your offending is just too serious. To impose such penalties would bring the administration of justice into disrepute. Crimes such as the offence in this case are always associated with elevated levels of passion and anger connected with issues that are very often personal to the offender and the victim. This offence occurred in the context of the aggravation of family violence. It is my role to denounce this conduct and set an appropriate sentence which reflects the need for deterrence. I have taken these matters into account.

32. I have had regard to the comparable cases referred to by the parties: see Jovanovic v The Queen [2015] ACTCA 29, R v Torbert [2015] ACTSC 331, R v Chevalier [2018] ACTSC 236, R v Bourne [2018] ACTSC 35, R v Barron [2020] ACTSC 281, DPP v Chatfield [2024] ACTSC 329; 21 ACTLR 240, DPP v Atem [2025] ACTSC 301, and DPP v Curtis-Hodge [2025] ACTSC 415. The starting points in those cases ranged from imprisonment for three years (Curtis-Hodge) to imprisonment for 10 years and nine months (Jovanovic).

33. The starting point for the sentence in this case is four years and eight months’ imprisonment. In considering the starting point in this case, I have had regard to the need to denounce and deter your conduct, hold you accountable for your actions and recognise the significant, permanent harm done to the victim and his family. I have also taken into account that you have no other criminal history, a low risk of reoffending, a prosocial history and positive subjective circumstances. I accept the expression of your remorse for the offending, though you have limited insight in some respects, that you have ceased your consumption of alcohol, and that you have taken some steps to address your anger management.

34. I find that a discount of 20% is appropriate in light of your plea of guilty following a criminal case conference. This reduces your sentence to a period of three years, eight months and 24 days’ imprisonment.

35. I also set a lower than usual non-parole period, given the circumstances of the offence. It is unusual and almost inexplicable how it occurred. You let yourself be carried away by your rage, having heavily consumed alcohol. As a result, your family is completely fractured, and that fracture may never heal. You have a wife and young children. Your wife has been the sole caregiver for your children since the offence, while working full time to provide for them and being dislocated from her own family because of her support for you. Although you are not to be punished for this, this is part of the dreadful consequences of your actions.

36. You have been in custody in relation to this offence for 114 days, between 11 March 2024 and 2 July 2024. I will take this period into account by backdating the sentence I impose to 19 November 2025.

Orders

37. The orders of the Court are: (1) On the charge of aggravated intentionally inflicting grievous bodily harm (CAN 3208/2024), you are convicted and sentenced to four years and eight months’ imprisonment, reduced by 20% to three years, eight months and 24 days’ imprisonment, commencing on 19 November 2025 and ending on 11 August 2029. (2) The non-parole period is one year, seven months and 15 days, commencing on 19 November 2025 and ending on 3 July 2027. I certify that the preceding thirty-seven [37] numbered paragraphs are a true copy of the Reasons for Sentence of his Honour Acting Justice Slattery. Associate: Date: