Hannah Briggs

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Charge:	Failure to ensure school attendence
Sentence:	"AUS$2,010 fine"
Years Imprisoned:
Year Crime:	2012
Year Convicted:	2013
Year Cleared:	2014
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Australia
County or Region of Crime:	Tasmania
City of Crime:	Devonport
Result:	Judicially Exonerated
Summary of Case:	"Geoff Alexander Tabain and Hannah Briggs were wrongly convicted on August 2, 2013 of failing to ensure their son Alan Tabain (Bn. April 29, 2002) attended the Nixon Street Primary School in Devenport, Tasmania, Australia each day between February 15, 2012 and July 31, 2012 as required by the principal. During that period of time Alan had his 11th birthday. The couple initially pled not guilty, but changed their pleas to guilty and after the Magistrate convicted them they were each sentenced to pay a fine of AUS$2,010. The school had sent Alan's parents a letter stating he must attend "unless he is prevented from attending because of sickness." After their convictions Tabain and Briggs appealed on the grounds their sentence was "manifestly excessive" and the trial Magistrate should have directed pleas of not guilty because they had they viable defense that their son Alan was sick as required for his non-attendence. They argued they had the defense that their son had a number of illnesses, and the school's conditions were not adequate for his medical conditions, that included potentially life-threatening anaphylaxis. Their appeal explained Alan is morbidly allergic to a number of substances including dairy products, sesame, peanut and some tree nuts, and for several years his parents had been in a conflict with the school about the the adequacy of its' emergency regime for the delivery of adrenalin to their son, and the impact of the school's environment on anaphylaxis sufferers. On February 5, 2014 the Supreme Court in Burnie, Tasmania granted their appeal and ordered withdrawl of their guilty pleas and overturned their convictions. The Court ruled "it was well arguable that s10(1)(a)(i) [reasons for non-attendence] had application to Alan's circumstances." As a result of their prosecution Tabain and Briggs enrolled their son in an online school."
Conviction Caused By:
Innocence Proved By:	"On February 5, 2014 the Supreme Court in Burnie, Tasmania granted their appeal and ordered withdrawl of their guilty pleas and overturned their convictions. The Court ruled "it was well arguable that s10(1)(a)(i) [reasons for non-attendence] had application to Alan's circumstances.""
Defendant Aided By:
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Was Perpetrator Identified?
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Sex:	Female
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Information Source 1:	Tabain v Director of Public Prosecutions [2014] TASSC 5
Information Location 1:	http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/tas/TASSC/2014/5.html
Information Source 2:	"Court quashes parents' truancy conviction for keeping son with allergies from school, By Staff Writers, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, February 6, 2014"
Information Location 2:	http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-02-06/court-quashes-parents27-truancy-conviction-for-keeping-son-fro/5242072
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Hannah Briggs

Charge:

Failure to ensure school attendence

Sentence:

"AUS$2,010 fine"

Years Imprisoned:

Year Crime:

2012

Year Convicted:

2013

Year Cleared:

2014

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Australia

County or Region of Crime:

Tasmania

City of Crime:

Devonport

Result:

Judicially Exonerated

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Innocence Proved By:

"On February 5, 2014 the Supreme Court in Burnie, Tasmania granted their appeal and ordered withdrawl of their guilty pleas and overturned their convictions. The Court ruled "it was well arguable that s10(1)(a)(i) [reasons for non-attendence] had application to Alan's circumstances.""

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

Age When Released:

Sex:

Female

Skin/Ethnicity:

Information Source 1:

Tabain v Director of Public Prosecutions [2014] TASSC 5

Information Location 1:

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/tas/TASSC/2014/5.html

Information Source 2:

"Court quashes parents' truancy conviction for keeping son with allergies from school, By Staff Writers, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, February 6, 2014"

Information Location 2:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-02-06/court-quashes-parents27-truancy-conviction-for-keeping-son-fro/5242072

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Book About Case:

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

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