Consorting

If you agree that you have committed the offence and the police are able to prove all the element of the offence, it is best to plead guilty at an early opportunity to receive the maximum discount. Currently the maximum discount available for an early plea of guilty is 25% of the sentence.

Furthermore, the early guilty plea shows the Court that you have remorse and contrition for your actions.

Our Lawyers at National Criminal Lawyers work closely with you to ensure that we obtain all necessary paper work at increasing the chances of obtaining a non-conviction or section 10.

Consorting can be punished with a prison sentence of up to 2 years (if heard in the Local Court) or up to 3 years (If heard in the District Court) or a fine of 16,500, or both.

Please note that the penalties mentioned are reserved for the worse case offending and are unlikely to be the penalty you receive.

If you decide to plead not guilty you will need to prepare to go to a Defended Hearing.

A defended hearing is where all the witnesses of that case are called to give evidence. The witnesses are both examined by the prosecution and tested by your defence lawyers.

National Criminal Lawyers have defended numerous people charged with Consorting and are experts at these hearings.

Some of the possible defences available for those charged with consorting can include:

• • • Lawful purpose;

If the defendant satisfies the court that the consorting was reasonable in the circumstances, then they will be found not guilty:

For example:

• • • consorting with family members,
    • consorting that occurs in the course of lawful employment or the lawful operation of a business,
    • consorting that occurs in the course of training or education,
    • consorting that occurs in the course of the provision of a health service,
    • consorting that occurs in the course of the provision of legal advice,
    • consorting that occurs in lawful custody or in the course of complying with a court order.
    • If you were compelled to act in a certain way due to the circumstances, or the threats of another you may be able to argue- Duress.
    • If your actions were necessary to prevent a greater harm from occurring, you may have the defence of-Necessity.

In NSW, a court can impose any of the following penalties for a Consorting charge.

• Prison sentence
• Home Detention
• Intensive correction order (previously periodic detention)
• Suspended sentence
• Community service order (CSO)
• Good behaviour bond
• Fine
• Section 10

However, from the 24 September 2018 new penalty’s will be replacing the above. They are as follows:

• Full time Imprisonment
• New ICO (ICO) with a home detention condition available
• New Community Correction Order (CCO)
• Fine
• New Conditional release Order (CRO)

Our client was an itinerant man with terminal and chronic pancreatitis. He had been warned by police for consorting with three people while sitting and talking with them on park benches, at Petersham Oval. At his sentencing hearing, the locations were described by our lawyer as ‘places where homeless people hang out’. We subsequently advised the court: “He is ostensibly an itinerant man with significant medical problems. The magistrate noted that the criminal histories of the three people our client had been warned about consorting with did not contain serious indictable offences. Our client as such received a 12 month bond to be ‘of good behaviour’ under section 9 of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999.