Sentencing and expulsion in case concerning assault on prison officer

Case no. 121/2018
Judgment delivered on 6 February 2019

The Prosecution Service
vs.
T

T, a now 26-year-old Pakistani national who had resided legally in Denmark for about 23 years, was found guilty of, among other things, having committed violence of a particularly heinous, brutal and dangerous nature when he assaulted a prison officer who was on his way home from work. T had previous convictions and had previously been sentenced to suspended expulsion.

The Supreme Court held, among other things, that the sentence should be fixed at three years and six months on the grounds of the very serious assault on an off-duty prison officer committed by T and accomplices by prior agreement and the fact that T had also been found guilty of serious drug offenses and attempted handling of stolen goods in the form of a large sum of money.

With regard to expulsion, the Supreme Court held that, according to the European Human Rights Convention, regard must be had to whether the expulsion is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, to prevent disorder or crime or to protect the rights or liberties of others. Accordingly, the Supreme Court held that the assault on the prison officer was only committed because of the victim's job as a prison officer, and that there is significant risk that T will continue to commit anti-social crime in Denmark in future. The Supreme Court considered that unconditional expulsion with a permanent entry ban was not in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The High Court had reached a different conclusion.