Key Facts
- •Mandip Singh Bhangal pleaded guilty to racially aggravated harassment, putting another in fear of violence.
- •Offending involved repeated abuse and threats towards the Starling family between January and April 2021.
- •Abuse included racial slurs and threats of violence.
- •Bhangal was arrested in January 2021, breached bail conditions, and fled to the US before being sentenced.
- •The Starling family (parents and three children) experienced significant distress and changed their lifestyle due to the harassment.
- •Bhangal received a 30-month prison sentence and a 20-year restraining order.
- •Appeal concerned only the duration of the restraining order.
Legal Principles
The power to make a restraining order derives from section 360 of the Sentencing Act.
Sentencing Act
A restraining order may be for a specified period or until further order (section 359).
Sentencing Act
The test for imposing a restraining order is necessity to protect the victim, with terms proportionate to the harm to be prevented.
Sentencing Act
Section 361 of the Sentencing Act allows for variation of a restraining order if necessary.
Sentencing Act
Outcomes
The 20-year restraining order was quashed.
The court found the 20-year duration excessive, considering the lack of further offending after April 2021 (despite a period in the US), the custodial sentence imposed, and the need to balance protection of the victims with proportionality.
A 10-year restraining order was substituted.
This duration balances the need to protect the Starling children as they grow up with the considerations mentioned above.