Prosecutors have successfully appealed against the sentence of a man who fractured his elderly mother's wrist and then turned up in the backyard with a revving chainsaw and a 3m fishing hook.
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Tomislav Neven Pavicic, 32, pushed his then 60-year-old mother to the ground during a violent domestic argument at their Ngunnawal home in April 2010, breaking her wrist. The pair had been estranged and Zora Pavicic had punched her son in the nose during the argument.
The next day, Mrs Pavicic was having tea with a friend, Graeme Mason, and his four children when her son stormed into the backyard brandishing a chainsaw.
Pavicic shouted to Mr Mason, ''You f---ing Australian c---, come out here, I am going to cut you, like this.''
Mr Mason was forced to jam the back door shut as Pavicic tried to come into the house with the chainsaw before picking up the fishing hook and waving it around.
In the ACT Magistrates Court earlier this year, Pavicic was found guilty of common assault and assault occasioning actual bodily harm and was fined $2500.
But the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions appealed against the sentence in the Supreme Court, arguing it was manifestly inadequate.
Yesterday, Justice John Burns upheld the appeal, saying Pavicic was not entitled to any leniency because he had pleaded not-guilty and had a criminal history that included assault, damaging property, and breaching protection orders.
Justice Burns noted that Magistrate Grant Lalor had made very brief, inconsistent sentencing remarks. He said Pavicic should have been punished with jail rather than fines.
''The sentence was manifestly inadequate and a term of imprisonment should have been imposed,'' Justice Burns wrote. He set aside the fines and resentenced Pavicic to a total of seven months' jail, fully suspended, and an 18-month good-behaviour order.