Community sentence for violence

Justices: Endresen, Matheson, Bergsjø, Falch, Østensen Berglund

The penalty for violation of section 273 of the Penal Code was 75 hours of community service. The convicted person, a 22-year-old woman, had hit her friend in the head with a liquor bottle during a fight at a private party. The injury was at the lower end of the application for section 273 of the Penal Code. Due to the aggravated party's provocation, the Supreme Court took as its starting point a penalty of 90 days of imprisonment. The convicted person was young, previously unpunished and in a stable, yet fragile, life situation. The use of a community sentence was justified by the need to maintain her stable life situation and the risk of destroying it by an immediate prison sentence. These circumstances were regarded as outweighing the consideration of general deterrence. The absence of a rehabilitation situation did not prevent the use of a community sentence.