Tony-John Crompton, 20, was allowed to leave custody after his sentencing. Photo: Albert McKnight.
Over a single night in Dickson, a young drug addict embarked on a violent crime spree where he threatened or slapped restaurant staff, attacked a stranger on the street and repeatedly stabbed a man during a fight.
Tony-John Crompton kicked off his spree by stealing several bottles of lemonade-flavoured alcohol from the BWS store in Dickson on the night of 22 April 2024.
He then walked into the Little Wu Chinese Street Food restaurant where he threatened a staff member with scissors while screaming at her to give him money, until he was scared off by the presence of passers-by.
He went to the nearby Flavours of Jiangnan restaurant before slapping a staff member on the head, then chased down and assaulted a man who had been walking to the gym, including by punching him in the face and repeatedly kicking him when he fell to the ground until a bystander intervened.
He and a friend damaged the doors or the gate of a couple of homes before the two started screaming outside a home on Morphett Street.
When a man came out and told them to leave, Crompton punched him in the face. All three then got into a fight, during which Crompton stabbed the man three times when he was on the ground with a 12 cm knife.
The attackers fled while the man walked back into his home, leaving behind a trail of blood, and told his partner, “I’ve been stabbed”.
Paramedics arrived and treated him for cuts to his abdomen, forearms and above his eye.
Crompton was caught later that night and remained in custody for nearly one year and four months until the ACT Supreme Court sentenced him on Monday (11 August).
The 20-year-old pleaded guilty to single counts of intentional wounding, attempted robbery and minor theft as well as three counts of assault and two counts of damaging property.
He asked to be sentenced to a Drug and Alcohol Treatment Order (DATO), which is a community-based drug rehabilitation sentence.
Justice Verity McWilliam said Crompton’s moral culpability for his crimes was reduced due to his traumatic childhood and his offending was directly attributable to his drug-induced state at the time.
He had become addicted to drugs at a young age and needed a strong program of rehabilitation to address his drug addiction. A DATO was the clear and obvious choice for him, she said.
In a letter to the court, Crompton said he understood his actions were “very bad” and he wished his crime spree had never happened.
He was convicted and sentenced to a total of about two years and five months’ jail, backdated to account for time served, then suspended from Monday for him to complete a 14-month DATO.
This includes attending a residential drug rehabilitation facility.
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