Cairns court: Jonathan William Fenwick allegedly fired spear gun at police during suburban lockdown

A man who allegedly caused part of an inner city suburb to be locked down for more than 14 hours on the weekend has made a bid for bail in the Cairns Magistrates Court.

A man who allegedly aimed and fired a spear gun at a police officer during a siege at Bungalow on Friday made a bid for bail in Cairns Magistrates Court on Monday.

Jonathan William Fenwick, 46, was remanded in custody on Saturday and charged with one count of assault occasioning bodily harm and two counts of serious assault police while armed with a dangerous weapon.

Police were called to the property following reports of a disturbance at 10.30am on Friday and an emergency situation was declared just after noon, with boundaries encompassing Little Spence, Buchan, Kidston and Hartley streets.

Cairns police enacted an exclusion zone in Bungalow on March 29, just a day after an exclusion zone brought Edge Hill to a standstill for an unrelated incident. Picture: Supplied

Members of the public were urged to avoid the area and people within the zone were urged to stay inside unless they had to leave, in which case, they should contact police.

Police alleged when they attempted to engage with Mr Fenwick, they were threatened with a spear gun which was fired at officers.

Officers contained the unit and negotiators were called in.

The emergency situation was revoked in the early hours of Saturday morning and Mr Fenwick was subsequently taken into custody and charged.

There were no injuries.

Duty solicitor Daniel Murphy told the court Mr Fenwick was a crane operator and was due to fly to Weipa on April 2 for work on an Archer River project for two months.

Mr Murphy said the father-of-three worked for McConnell Dowell, which is building a 230m long bridge over the Archer River to improve access during the wet season.

He said a condition of bail could be that Mr Fenwick would only return to Cairns for court appearances and that “things are disputed as to exactly what occurred”.

Police were called to the Bungalow St property on Friday morning and Jonathan William Fenwick was arrested and charged in the early hours of Saturday morning. Picture: Supplied

Mr Murphy said while his client did not have an immediate alternative address, he could stay with friends and had funds for accommodation.

He said conditions could include that he did not go to the complainant’s address or approach the complainant.

Mr Murphy submitted that if Mr Fenwick contested the charges he could spend more time in pre-trial or pre-sentence custody than what his ultimate sentence could be.

But police prosecutor Luke Parrish disputed there would be any delay in proceedings with body worn camera footage of the alleged incident already available.

He highlighted relevant criminal history including a suspended sentence.

Mr Parrish said Mr Fenwick faced very serious charges and posed an unacceptable risk to the complainant and the community if allowed bail.

Magistrate Mandy Bowen noted police alleged he fired the spear gun at an officer but it hit and smashed a glass window.

She remanded him in custody until April 22.

Originally published as Cairns court: Jonathan William Fenwick allegedly fired spear gun at police during suburban lockdown