When sentencing a man for a domestic incident, Magistrate David Day said that Mudgee had a disproportionately high rate of crime based on the amount of matters filed at the local court compared to its population.
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Mr Day estimates that on a per capita basis Mudgee and surrounding areas [excluding Gulgong and Rylstone/Kandos, that have their own courts] have three times as many matters as Orange, where he also sits.
And he made specific mention of domestic violence incidents.
The Magistrate has implemented a routine on Mudgee Local Court list days where he attempts to deal with all matters of a domestic nature and Apprehended Violence Orders (AVOs) prior to the mid-morning adjournment. Having completed this segment of last Wednesday he noted that these offences accounted for around half of that day's list.
When sentencing a defendant earlier he made his thoughts known.
"The rate of domestic violence in this town is appallingly high, the crime rate in this town is appallingly high, it's three times that of Orange," he said. "And I don't think that's just because of proactive policing.
"I think if word got out to the general public of NSW the tourism would drop."
The matter that drew the ire of Mr Day was that of 34-year-old Trent Harrop, who was charged with 'Contravene prohibition/restriction in AVO (Domestic)'. The order was put in place in April 2018 and contained a condition that he not approach the Person In Need Of Protection (PINOP) within 12 hours of consuming alcohol.
At about 11.50pm on Thursday, December 20, 2018, Harrop arrived at the PINOP's home intoxicated and refused to leave when told. The police were called and informed about the AVO, they arrived and noted that he was slurring his speech, unsteady on his feet, and initially argumentative with them.
Upon reading the police facts submitted to the court, Mr Day asked "is there a separate offence for boorish behaviour?"
The incident also put the defendant in breach of a good behaviour bond he'd placed on in June 2018, for a charge of 'Destroy or damage property (Domestic)', from an incident that March.
"A condition of the bond is that he be of good behaviour, Mr Harrop doesn't seem to understand that," His Honour added.
Harrop was sentenced to an 18-month corrections order with 50 hours community service.