A man who is due to be sentenced for domestic violence charges has had his Supreme Court bail application granted.
Tyler Rodney Barclay, is also charged with breach AVO involving another complainant and mid-range drink driving.
However, the Supreme Court granted his application for release on the condition that he reside with his parents in rural NSW until he enters residential rehabilitation facility.
Domestic Violence Charges
Tyler Barclay will face Dubbo Local Court on 17 February 2022 where he is due to be sentenced in relation to a number of domestic violence charges.
He previously pleaded guilty to acting with intent to influence a witness, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, intimidation and common assault.
The allegations are said to have occurred between December 2015 and February 2016. However, he was only charged with the offences in 2019.
Justice Hament Dhanji said that Barclay appeared to have successfully prevented the alleged victim from complaining to police.
A further set out allegations involved a different complainant. The 30-year-old was charged with contravene AVO between 4 September 2019 and 9 October 2019.
One of the allegations is that Barclay attempted to have the complainant withdraw the AVO and not co-operate with police.
The mid-range drink driving offence was listed at Armidale Local Court at the end of the 2021.
The most recent charges involve a third female. They include aggravated break and enter, stalk or intimidate and two common assault charges.
Prior to these charges, he had complied with his bail conditions for two years. However, after being arrested in November 2021, he was refused bail.
The court heard that the most recent incident and drink driving charges were the result of Barclay not taking his medication and abusing alcohol.
Supreme Court Bail Application Granted
The 30-year-old was ultimately granted bail in the NSW Supreme Court. Justice Dhanji imposed bail conditions including that he initially reside with his parents at Trangie, in rural NSW. He is to remain there until he enters a residential rehabilitation centre in January 2022.
Central to the release application was a concession by the Crown that Barclay's mental health had been deteriorating and he was not receiving adequate treatment for it in custody.
His Honour held that this deterioration could potentially affect his participation in the upcoming sentencing proceedings.
"It appears his family is aware of the need to assist the applicant in monitoring his mental health," Justice Dhanji said.
He will be subject to further bail conditions which include a ban on going within 40km of Dubbo, reporting to police three times a week and having no contact with the complainants or crown witnesses.
Bail Applications NSW
There are two ways in which you can be granted bail. Firstly, Police can grant a person bail. Secondly, the Court can grant a person bail.
Police can grant you bail and impose bail conditions on you. If you believe the conditions are too harsh, or they restrict you from working, an experienced bail lawyer can apply to have these conditions varied at Court.
In some cases, criminal lawyers for bail applications can ask the court to 'dispense with bail', which means to eliminate bail completely.
If you are not granted bail by Police, then you will be brought before a Court "as soon as is practicable" and given the opportunity to make a bail application (ie. that day or the next morning).
An Australian study conducted by Don Weatherburn in 2015 found that there was no discernible increase in the amount of bail refusals since the Bail Act 2013 (NSW) was enacted.
It is important that you have the right representation for your first bail application in Court. This is because once you have made a bail application, you will not be allowed to make another application in that same Court except in very specific circumstances.
Under Section 17 of the Bail Act 2013 (NSW), a bail concern is a 'concern' that if you are granted bail, you will:
- Fail to appear at any future Court proceedings, or
- Commit a serious offence, or
- Endanger the safety of victims, individuals or the community, or
- Interfere with witnesses or evidence
Section 18 of the Bail Act sets out the factors that are taken into account when determining whether any 'bail concerns' exist:
- your background, (ie. criminal history, circumstances and community ties),
- nature and seriousness of the offence,
- strength of the prosecution case,
- whether you have a history of violence,
- whether you have previously committed a serious offence while on bail,
- whether you have a history of compliance or non-compliance with court orders, (eg. previous bail conditions, apprehended violence orders, parole orders or good behaviour bonds),
- any warnings issued to you regarding non-compliance with conditions,
- whether you have any criminal associations,
- the length of time you are likely to spend in custody if bail is refused,
- the likelihood of a custodial sentence being imposed if you are convicted of the offence alleged,
- if you have been convicted of the offence, but not yet sentenced, the likelihood of a custodial sentence being imposed,
- if you have been convicted of the offence and proceedings on an appeal against conviction or sentence are pending before a court, whether the appeal has a reasonably arguable prospect of success,
- any special vulnerability or needs you may have including because of youth, being an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, or having a cognitive or mental health impairment,
- your need to be free to prepare for his or her appearance in court or to obtain legal advice,
- your need to be free for any other lawful reason,
- your conduct towards any victim of the offence, or any family member of a victim, after the offence,
- in the case of a serious offence, the views of any victim of the offence or any family member of a victim, to the extent relevant to a concern that you could, if released from custody, endanger the safety of victims, individuals or the community,
- the bail conditions that could reasonably be imposed to address any bail concerns
- whether you have any associations with a terrorist organisation
- whether you have made statements or carried out activities advocating support for terrorist acts or violent extremism,
- whether you have any associations or affiliation with any persons or groups advocating support for terrorist acts or violent extremism.
If the Court is satisfied that there are any 'bail concerns', then they must then assess whether any bail conditions can be put in place which would mitigate those concerns.
If the Court finds that no bail conditions would mitigate against one or more bail concerns, then they will find that there is an 'unacceptable risk' and will refuse bail.
