The "coward punch" is a strike of the fist delivering a knockout blow which can be fatal. It has left people in intensive care with severe brain damage, crippled others and taken countless lives. The government has not taken this situation lightly by enforcing new sentences for Coward Punch offences. New laws founded by statute law enforced by the government applies greater sentences, this being set forth by the New South Wales Government regarding ˜one punch' assaults, with a 20 year maximum sentence who unlawfully assaults another who died directly or indirectly as a result of the assault. If the offender is under the influence of drugs or alcohol a minimum sentence of 8 years and maximum of 25 years applies.
These new laws also increase sentence time on existing maximum sentences by 2 years, these are the most serious cases with a mandatory sentence of 8 years been introduced. Voluntary intoxication has been removed as a mitigating factor when determining sentencing for all offences. The government crackdown also allows for drug and alcohol testing conducted by police on suspected offenders who are believed to have committed an alcohol or drug fuelled offence, this includes assault, reckless grievous bodily harm and unlawful wounding.
As a state wide initiative to reduce drug and alcohol fuelled violence a new definition of public intoxication has been introduced. This mainly for the purposes of new aggravated assaults including the coward punch, with one being intoxicated if their either speech, balance, co-ordination or behaviour is noticeability affected by the consumption of drugs and or alcohol. Also a person will be deemed intoxicated within six hours of the offence return a blood-alcohol reading of 0.15 or higher. The introduction of stricter punishment for drug and alcohol fuelled violence came about due to the steep increase of violent assaults through recent years, many leading to the deaths of young people lost to an ever growing trend the coward punch.