The charge of causing wounding or grievous bodily harm (gbh charge) with intent is a very serious offence and carries a maximum penalty of 25 years of full-time imprisonment. This is contrary to section 33, Crime Act 1900.
In NSW, as stated above, the legislation that covers grievous bodily harm is section 33 Crime Act 1900 which states;
A person who–
(a) wounds any person, or
(b) causes grievous bodily harm to any person,
with intent to cause grievous bodily harm to that or any other person is guilty of an offence.
Furthermore, the definition of “Grievous bodily harm” includes–
(a) the destruction (other than in the course of a medical procedure or a termination of a pregnancy in accordance with the Abortion Law Reform Act 2019 ) of the foetus of a pregnant woman, whether or not the woman suffers any other harm, and
(b) any permanent or serious disfiguring of the person, and
(c) any grievous bodily disease (in which case a reference to the infliction of grievous bodily harm includes a reference to causing a person to contract a grievous bodily disease).
The minimum sentence for grievous bodily harm is 7 years of full-time imprisonment. This is also known as the standard non-parole period. However, this does not mean that if you are convicted of wounding or grievous bodily harm, you can’t be sentenced to less than 7 years imprisonment. A standard non-parole period is seen as a guidepost for a sentencing court.
The best way to understand the difference between actual bodily harm and grievous bodily harm is to consider the below examples.
Nature of injury | Actual bodily harm vs grievous bodily harm |
Serious bruising | Actual bodily harm |
Fractured bones | Grievous bodily harm |
Minor cuts to the face | Actual bodily harm |
Abrasions to body parts | Actual bodily harm |
Multiple Broken bones | Grievous bodily harm |
Broken wrist requiring surgery | Grievous bodily harm |
Bleeding from the arms | Actual bodily harm |
The defences available to you for such as charge is;
You should contact the best criminal lawyer if you have been charged with wounding or grievous bodily harm. It is an extremely serious charge, and only an experienced criminal defence lawyer should give you advice.
If the police have charged you or a loved one, you must attend court. Appearing in court for a criminal charge is usually daunting. Let us help you make the process easier. Here are 10 reasons to choose our team of criminal lawyers from Lyons Law Group;
Our team will work to achieve the best result for you in the shortest time possible. However, we do aim to provide quality over quantity service to you. Our criminal lawyers appear in all criminal and traffic matters, including trials, sentencing, bail applications, and apprehended violence orders. We are a result-focused firm of lawyers.
At Lyons Law, we do not make any unrealistic promises for results. You will be advised on the most realistic results achievable in your case, including acquittals of all charges against you. Nevertheless, you can be sure that our team will work extremely hard to achieve the best possible outcome for you.
Our experienced defence lawyers are passionate about representing their clients and achieving the best outcome. Lyons Law is a team of solicitors who are dedicated, and with our support staff, you can be confident of the highest quality of legal representation. We have an exceptional track record of results. We provide our outstanding client service at an affordable rate for our clients.
We always let our clients know how much their cases will cost from the beginning. This makes it easier for them to decide whether or not they want to proceed with the case. Not only do we offer fixed fees lawyers for many types of criminal cases and services, but also free first phone consultations. In addition, our firm offers fixed fees applicable to a wide range of Local Court cases such as drink driving, fraud, drug possession, assault, and AVOs.
For all of those individuals who are going to court, we offer a free first 15-minute phone conference with one of our senior criminal defence lawyer. It is best you email our office all your relevant documents before a conference so criminal lawyers can provide the best advice within that time frame.
Lyons Law Group is a highly experienced team of criminal lawyers. Our team is led by Mohammad Khan, who is one of the best criminal lawyers in Sydney. He has represented clients in some of Australia’s most high-profile cases and was under the direct tutelage of Australia’s leading criminal lawyer Adam Houda.
Moreover, our team has worked and successfully represented clients on highly complex trials and sentences in NSW.
We work closely with some of Australia’s leading criminal law barristers. Barristers are usually instructed in more serious matters, and their experience and input can be invaluable to your case. The barristers we regularly instruct range from Queen’s counsels, Senior counsels and highly experienced junior-senior counsels.
Our team of sydney criminal lawyers have worked on numerous District and Supreme Court trials in NSW. We have worked on extremely complex criminal law trials that require impeccable preparation and understanding of the law.
Lyons Law Group is a highly experienced team of bail lawyers. We have regularly obtained bail for clients for extremely serious charges that carry life sentences. For types of charges, bail is usually denied by a Court.
Our criminal lawyers have in-house investigators with decades of law enforcement experience and assist our team with process service, background checks, integrity testing, investigations, surveillance, and bug detection.
For the preparation of jury trials and defended hearings, these services can be utilised on behalf of our client to achieve the best result.
From Broken Hill to Waverly, our criminal lawyers appear in all courts throughout New South Wales.
If you wish to contact us or book your first free 15-minute phone conference, contact us on (02) 7205 5934 or send us an email at info@lyonslaw.com.au.
