Two years for "alarming and nasty" assault

Friday 30 October 2020

A man who held a knife towards his victim's throat and told him, "I'll end you," during an assault has been sentenced to two years in prison.

Darren Rouget (33) pleaded guilty to the offence, which he carried out alongside a woman who has also admitted the charge but is yet to be sentenced.

It was about 23:00 on 29 May when Rouget turned up at the victim's home with the co-accused and another person.

The victim heard a knock at the door and went to open it, but when he saw the defendant standing in the doorway he tried to close it again. At this point, Rouget was said to have kicked the door, although that allegation was disputed by the defence.

Once the defendant was inside the property, he grabbed the complainant by his jumper and walked him into the kitchen.

Pictured: The defendant picked up a knife from a kitchen counter and used it to threaten the complainant.

He cornered the victim and then picked up a knife, which had been left out on a kitchen counter. He held the knife towards the victim's throat and said, "I'll end you," before dropping the weapon and punching him multiple times in the head.

The female co-accused could be heard shouting, encouraging the defendant to "hit him harder." She then said, "let me have a go," and Rouget moved out of the way while the female punched the victim to the head numerous times.

Rouget punched the victim a few more times, before neighbours entered the property and told the group to leave.

Witnesses said the defendant was pinning the victim against the wall, with his hand around his neck, saying: "Do you want me to do you? Because I will do you."

The third person, who entered the house with Rouget and his co-accused, had been filming the assault on their phone. The video was circulated around a group of other people, before being intercepted by police and was shown to the court ahead of sentencing.

Pictured: A video of the assault was sent to multiple people. 

Rouget was found by officers later that day with a beer in his hand, and was taken to police custody.

When he was searched, officers found he had been carrying six capsules of tramadol and one diazepam tablet - both of which are Class C substances. He was later charged with possession of the tablets and capsules.

The victim went to the Emergency Department the following day with a headache, but there were no lasting injuries.

At first, Rouget denied the allegations in his police interview, saying, "I haven't done anything." He said he "wasn't threatening" with the knife but had "picked it up to move it to the other cooker."

He told officers that the victim had threatened him a few weeks earlier and he had gone to his address intending to "talk to him."

Pictured: The defendant was arrested and taken for a police interview.

However, when police showed him the video footage of the assault, he admitted it "doesn't look good."

"I have no idea what was going through my head," he told them. "I honestly wish I could turn back time."

He was formally charged with the offences on 30 May and was remanded in custody, where he has been ever since.

Defence Advocate Phoebe Cobb asked that Rouget be given full credit for his early guilty pleas, entered at the first opportunity.

She said the defendant had taken a "misguided decision" to enter the victim's property and had intended to speak with him, but the situation had "escalated quickly."

Pictured: The defendant was sentenced in the Royal Court.

"Mr Rouget regrettably picked up the kitchen knife," she continued. "It was not a weapon that Mr Rouget took with him or one that he specifically sourced. It was a moment of madness, but it's fully appreciated that it would have been terrifying for [the victim]."

The Advocate told the Court that Rouget had "done well to curb his illicit substance use" in recent years, but had "slipped back" during lockdown.

"My client's record is unenviable," she added. "But Mr Rouget does have the ability to stay out of trouble when he really puts his mind to it.

"He is hopeful for a better future. Mr Rouget is sorry, he is ashamed and he wants to put this incident behind him, learn from it and use it as a platform for change once and for all."

Pictured: The Royal Court building. 

After a period of deliberation, Judge Russell Finch said there were a number of aggravating factors: the home invasion, the threats, the language used and the knife.

He referred to the incident as "alarming, distressing and nasty", noting: "It could have been much worse, but it was bad enough."

"You are placed in a portion of the population with a very high risk of reoffending," he told the defendant. "Only you can stop yourself from reoffending."

Rouget was sentenced to two years in prison for the assault, with an extra seven days for each Class C possession offence - both of which will run concurrently to the assault sentence.

The sentence has been backdated to when Rouget was remanded in custody.

Judge Finch concluded by thanking the neighbours for intercepting the incident.

Pictured top: Darren Rouget.