Kuranda man Justin Lawrence Hammond sentenced for brutal, public knife attack
A Kuranda man who committed a brutal knife attack, seriously injuring someone he’d known for 20 years, has been sentenced. Read how he is being punished.
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Kuranda dad Justin Lawrence Hammond was sentenced in the Cairns District Court on Friday for a brutal knife attack in 2021 of a man he had known for two decades.
Despite Hammond’s guilty plea to the vicious assault of the victim with his fists before using the knife to cut him at least eight times on his face, arms, and thigh, before leaving him bleeding on the ground, he did not have a Serious Violence Offence (SVO) recorded against him.
Hammond was represented by barrister James Sheridan assisted by instructing solicitor Scott Osbourne and appeared before Judge Paul Smith who presided remotely via video link from Brisbane.
Wearing a white, long-sleeved shirt and boardshorts, Hammond sat in the dock and showed no emotion.
Crown Prosecutor Lauren Hall who was assisted by instructing clerk Sam Goodwin, cited concerns for community safety and pressed Judge Smith to record a SVO against Hammond, which would require him to serve 80 per cent of his sentence before being eligible to apply for parole.
The court heard Hammond’s previous sentencing was adjourned to allow time to obtain a report on his mental state.
Mr Sheridan presented the psychological report to the court and said there seemed to be evidence of an acquired brain injury and various mental health issues.
The court heard the report compiled on September 23 at Lotus Glen Correctional Centre, showed Hammond was drug dependent and his cognitive ability was impaired by drugs, disrupted thoughts, poor social skills and anger management issues.
“My client’s sister is in court to support her brother and she’s willing to consider having him reside with her on his release,” Mr Sheridan said.
“She’s a mature person, a former manager of the Cairns Casino and lives on the Tablelands.”
Mr Sheridan suggested a sentence of “about four years”.
“That’s a bit low,” Judge Smith said.
“It’s a serious offence”
Ms Hall said in her opinion, Hammond, “had a moderate to high risk of reoffending”.
“You need to do something about this drug problem, you’ll either die of drugs or in jail,” Judge Smith said.
“That’s right, that’s the honest truth,” Hammond replied.
Judge Smith said he decided not to impose an SVO, but award a longer parole date.
“It’s a borderline case,” he said.
“On the GBH I order you be imprisoned for a period of five-and-a-half years and be eligible for parole fixed as at 15 March, 2024.
“I declare you have served 386 days in pre-sentence custody from 16 September, 2021, to 6 October, 2022. I declare this time already served.”
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Originally published as Kuranda man Justin Lawrence Hammond sentenced for brutal, public knife attack
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