Justin Poulter, Jack Poulter, Chris Gorwell plead guilty over Apollo Bay servo affray

See the moment a trio of Colac concreters launched a “savage” attack on their competitors in a service station affray a magistrate labelled a “confronting display of public violence”.

A trio of Colac concreters unleashed a savage and brutal attack on their competitors in the Apollo Bay service station, a court has heard.

Justin Poulter, 56, his son Jack Poulter, 24, and Chris Gorwell, 27, appeared in Geelong Magistrates Court on Wednesday for sentence by magistrate Gerard Bryant, who – after seeing footage of the incident – described it as “a deeply confronting display of public violence”.

The men had earlier pleaded guilty to affray and, in the case of the elder Poulter, recklessly causing injury.

Justin Poulter had just paid for his fuel at the Apollo Bay service station on July 15 last year, when he exchanged some unknown words with Benjamin Hall, who was waiting in line with Dylan Nowell, before punching Mr Hall in the left side of the face.

Chris Gorwell, Justin Poulter and Jack Poulter leaving Geelong Magistrates Court.

Jack Poulter and Chris Gorwell, who were outside, raced inside and joined in the fracas.

According to court documents, the men were known to each other “through their profession only” – they were all concreters working in the Colac-Otway and Surf Coast regions.

Court documents state Mr Hall sustained fractures to his right eye socket and nose.

Jack Poulter had approached Mr Nowell about a month earlier on June 6, according to a police summary, yelling about Mr Nowell “stealing his work” and attempting to punch him.

The trio’s lawyer, Adrian Paull, noted they had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity, made full admissions to their actions and been found suitable for community corrections orders.

Mr Paull noted the recommendation was for the CCOs to include community work only, due to the men being a “low risk” of reoffending.

“Unless someone says something defamatory or nasty about their concreting business,” Mr Bryant noted.

Mr Paull asked the court “not to reach beyond a CCO”, arguing “the sentence of last resort is not required”.

In sentencing the younger two men, Mr Bryant said they could not have known who started the fight, but their actions were “not in any way reasonable or proportionate”.

“Your actions were a very worrying and troubling display of public violence,” Mr Bryant told the pair, noting it was “not the Wild West”.

“You cannot take matters into your own hands, irrespective of what your competitors have said or done, it’s no excuse.”

Mr Bryant said their actions were gratuitous and “could only be described as brutal or savage”.

Mr Bryant said Justin Poulter had a history of violence and asked him if he would do things differently in hindsight.

“Yes … violence has cost me everything,” Poulter said.

Mr Bryant told Poulter his actions had “embroiled (his) son in a criminal enterprise” and

Mr Bryant referenced the “savagery and brutality of the assaults” he “rained down” on the victim.

“The reality is in the construction business, people are going to say things that upset you … you need to be able to press the pause button,” Mr Bryant told Poulter.

All three were placed on CCOs, with Gorwell ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid community work, Jack Poulter given 120 and Justin Poulter 150 hours, with 30 able to be substituted for an anger management program.

For the charge of recklessly causing injury, Poulter was placed on a bond with conviction, and ordered to pay $5000 to the Apollo Bay CFA, as his way of “saying sorry to that little community”.

Originally published as Justin Poulter, Jack Poulter, Chris Gorwell plead guilty over Apollo Bay servo affray