Young man faces deportation over drunken wine glass throw

Wednesday 03 April 2019

A 22-year-old Romanian man, who threw a wine glass ten metres across a club at a DJ, is one step closer to being deported after he lost a Royal Court appeal against his sentence.

In an unsuccessful bid to avoid deportation, Andrei Cosmin Bunea (22) has lost his fight against his year-long prison sentence for the grave and criminal assault which took place in December last year.

Magistrate Bridget Shaw sentenced Bunea to 12 months in prison for throwing the wine glass, which struck the DJ on his forehead, as well as imposing a two-year exclusion order preventing Bunea from entering licensed premises and making a recommendation that the young man should be deported from the island.

Yesterday, Bunea’s lawyer, Advocate Luke Sette, mounted an appeal against this sentence and the recommendation for deportation, higher up the chain in the Royal Court.

Summarising the case, Advocate Sette told the Court that his client was celebrating Romanian International Day at a private function in the Royal Yacht on 3 December when he made a music request of the DJ.

Pictured: The incident took place at a private function in the Royal Yacht in December of last year.

Advocate Sette explained that Bunea’s “request was refused because the music… was deemed inappropriate for the event".

Later on that evening, the Court heard that the DJ started “shouting across the room and making gestures” at Bunea upon finishing his set. This prompted the 22-year-old to get up from his seat when there was “an exchange of words” and Bunea threw the glass of wine he was holding at the DJ, hitting him on the forehead. 

The Royal Court was told that Bunea had consumed “some two and a half bottles of wine” at the time of the glass throw.

Crown Advocate Baglin, appearing for the Attorney General, then played the CCTV footage of the incident for the Court, explaining that “it’s accepted the glass travelled some ten to 12 metres and hits him on the head".

Pictured: Andrei Cosmic Bunea was originally sentenced in the Magistrate's Court.

Advocate Sette argued that the Magistrate’s sentence of 12 months in custody was “manifestly excessive or wrong in principle”, arguing that she should have rather imposed a community service order given his client’s young age, the fact he is a first-time offender, it was a “spur of the moment” act and that “there was a degree of provocation".

Bunea’s Advocate also emphasised the Probation Service had evaluated the young Romanian national as being “at low risk of reconviction".

Advocate Sette went on to dispute Magistrate Shaw’s logic behind making a recommendation for deportation, dubbing it a “one strike and you’re out” mentality. 

Emphasising his client’s previous clean record, Advocate Sette urged the Court that, although this was “a momentary loss of self-control”, Bunea’s “previous behaviour is not weighed or measured in seconds, days or months but in years or a lifetime up to that point."

In contrast, Crown Advocate Baglin defended the Magistrate’s decision, reminding the Court that she is “a professional Magistrate of considerable standing and experience” and characterising the assault as “a deliberately aimed blow."

Presiding over the Court of Appeal, the Bailiff Sir William Bailhache handed down Jurats Christensen and Dulake’s decision.

Pictured: Jurats Christensen and Dulake heard the appeal and ultimately dismissed it.

Addressing the Court, the Bailiff emphasised that it is not the place of the Royal Court “to tinker with sentences” even if it “may have itself imposed a lower sentence had it been dealing with the matter in the first instance."

Having said this, he explained that the Court did not perceive the Magistrate’s decision to either be “wrong in principle” or “manifestly excessive” and that Magistrate Shaw was perfectly entitled to arrive at the sentence she did in this case. 

Regarding deportation, the Court also found that the Magistrate was right to make this recommendation. Warning that “actions have consequences", the Bailiff concluded that this could be “a lesson” to the young man that will be “useful for the rest of his life."