Christmas. Maybe Not So Merry

The year seems to have slipped away from us, which brings me to the subject of my post today, Christmas.

Now what, you may ask, does Christmas have to do with criminal law? Well more than you may think.

People usually gather at this time of year for social events, whether they be work or domestic related.

At these events, people tend to let their hair down and more often than not alcohol is consumed freely. When alcohol is consumed or drugs taken, people behave differently, do not think as concisely and often make very poor decisions.

A common result is that people will take a punt to drive home after a couple of drinks and find themselves before the courts for a drink driving matter; or an argument fuelled by alcohol may result in bruising, bleeding and subsequent assault charges.

These matters are serious, however, I have also experienced firsthand that festive season celebrations can lead to people facing the most serious of charges.

One of the very first criminal matters I ever acted in related to a young man being charged with manslaughter, no less, arising from an incident at a work Christmas party.

Two young men in their early 20s, who were best mates and had travelled the world together, attended a work Christmas function together.

As the night developed, one of the young men had too much to drink and started to behave anti-socially. He was abusive towards his co-workers and very forward towards some females at the party.

His friend, my client, noticed this going on, pulled his friend aside and told him to “pull his head in”. The friend didn’t like this advice, there was a bit of push and shove between the two, and in the melee, my client struck his friend once to the eye.

The friend fell backwards struck his head, had a bleed in his brain and was dead a matter of hours later. My client was charged with manslaughter.

I remember reading of another work Christmas party in New Zealand with a Hawaiian theme, where a young couple were together in a toilet cubicle. One of the male’s friends, again most likely under the influence of alcohol, thought it would be funny to light the grass skirt the male was wearing at the time, reaching under the cubicle door to do so.

The grass skirt exploded in flames and the male was burnt to death, and his female companion burnt severely, having to endure 8 subsequent plastic surgery operations

Again a manslaughter charge, among others, was laid and the practical joker was convicted and sentenced to two years in gaol.

Families grieving, friends lost, lives ruined. These aren’t supposed to be the results of a night of celebration at the most festive time of the year.

So be careful one and all at this years’ Christmas and New Years celebrations: employers and employees, family and friend alike. Go easy on the alcohol and have a quiet word to those around you who may need a little sage advice.

Hopefully then everyone, will have a very joyous and happy Christmas.