No excuse for punches
DESPITE having no criminal history and described as "not an aggressive person”, a Kirwan man has been hit with a suspended jail sentence after punching a man in the face.
Luke John Waters, 27, plead guilty in Proserpine Magistrates Court on Monday to assault occasioning bodily harm.
Police prosecutor Bernhard Berger said it occurred around 1.20am on January 4 on Airlie Beach main street when a man sitting in his car across from McDonalds told police he had been punched twice through the window. He had a bloody nose and mouth.
Police stopped Waters nearby and saw he had bloody knuckles and bloodshot eyes. He said the man had been driving dangerously and "nearly ran into them”.
Defence solicitor David Fitzgerald, of Macrossan and Amiet, said it was strongly out of character and that after almost being hit by the car, an argument ensued and Waters "took it unfortunately too far”.
In sentencing magistrate Simon Young said "street thuggery like this, especially while drunk, usually attracts a period of imprisonment”.
He was sentenced to six months' jail, wholly suspended for two years and ordered to complete 60 hours of community service.
