A sentence of two and a half years' imprisonment for grievous bodily harm involving a single punch causing loss of teeth is not manifestly excessive where the assault was unprovoked, committed by an uninvited intruder in the complainant's home, against an older non-threatening person, and the offender had a substantial prior history of violent offences. The case confirms that Dodd (CA 241 of 1998) remains the principal sentencing guide for grievous bodily harm, and that more serious sentences than in Dodd are warranted where the offender has significant prior convictions for violence and the offence involves intrusion into the complainant's home.
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