South Australian Numbered Acts South Australian Numbered Acts6—Insertion of Part 3 Division 7AA
After section 20 insert:
Division 7AA—Choking etc in a domestic setting
20A—Choking, suffocation or strangulation in a domestic setting
(1) A person who is, or has been, in a relationship with another person and chokes, suffocates or strangles that other person, without that other person’s consent, is guilty of an offence.
Maximum penalty: Imprisonment for 7 years.
(2) However conduct that is justified or excused by law cannot amount to an offence against this section.
(3) Two people will be taken to be "in a relationship" for the purposes of this section if—
(a) they are married to each other; or
(b) they are domestic partners; or
(c) they are in some other form of intimate personal relationship in which their lives are interrelated and the actions of 1 affects the other; or
(d) 1 is the child, stepchild or grandchild, or is under the guardianship, of the other (regardless of age); or
(e) 1 is a child, stepchild or grandchild, or is under the guardianship, of a person who is or was formerly in a relationship with the other under paragraph (a)
, (b)
or (c)
(regardless of age); or
(f) 1 is a child and the other is a person who acts in loco parentis in relation to the child; or
(g) 1 is a child who normally or regularly resides or stays with the other; or
(h) they are brothers or sisters or brother and sister; or
(i) they are otherwise related to each other by or through blood, marriage, a domestic partnership or adoption; or
(j) they are related according to Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander kinship rules or are both members of some other culturally recognised family group; or
(k) 1 is the carer (within the meaning of the Carers Recognition Act 2005
) of the other.
(4) If —
(a) a jury is not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that a charge of an offence against this section has been established; but
(b) the Judge has instructed the jury that it is open to the jury on the evidence to find the defendant guilty of an offence of assault; and
(c) the jury is satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the offence of assault has been established,
the jury may return a verdict that the defendant is not guilty of the offence charged but is guilty of assault.