Former junior Broncos player Lachlan Taylor Jukes’ ‘disgusting’ bar attack
A former junior Brisbane Broncos player and tennis hitting partner of Bernard Tomic has faced court after unleashing a ‘disgusting’ attack on a man in a Surfers Paradise bar.
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A former Brisbane Broncos junior and tennis hitting partner of Bernard Tomic has avoided jail after unleashing a “disgusting” attack on a man in a Surfers Paradise bar.
Lachlan Taylor Jukes, 31, pleaded guilty to one charge of assault occasioning bodily harm in Southport Magistrates Court on Monday.
Jukes was with a group of friends at Waxy’s Irish Pub in September 2020 when one of his associates got into a verbal argument with the victim.
A short time later, the male victim went to shake hands with one of Jukes’ associates.
The associate hit the victim’s extended hand away and pushed him, causing him to stumble backwards, prosecutor Gavin Reece said.
Jukes then put the victim in a chokehold before raining several blows to his face, with the violence spilling into another room in the bar, the court was told.
CCTV footage of the assault was played in court.
The victim suffered a deep, three inch cut to his face and swelling.
A picture of his injury was shown in court.
The victim reported the incident to police and a warrant was later issued for Jukes’ arrest. The 31-year-old’s defence barrister Timothy Fitzpatrick said there was a delay in the case coming before the court because his client moved to Victoria a few months after the assault.
He said Jukes was not aware of the warrant until he later returned to the Gold Coast. Mr Fitzpatrick said his client grew up on the Gold Coast, attended The Southport School and All Saints Anglican College.
“He was quite an accomplished footballer – he was a junior member of the (Brisbane) Broncos,” he said.
“He was a tennis player who played tennis with Bernard Tomic.”
Mr Fitzpatrick said injury robbed Jukes of a “bright future”.
“Unfortunately, and this is a common problem in sport nowadays, he suffered numerous head injuries to such an extent that he could no longer play football,” the barrister said.
“Head injuries do cause violence, they change personalities and it takes a lot of work to address it.”
Mr Fitzpatrick said his client had sought help for this and had become a “family man” with his partner and her two children since the assault.
Magistrate Pamela Dowse described the injuries Jukes inflicted on his victim as “nasty” and “horrible”.
“The video (played to the court), to me, is very upsetting. People want to go out – they don’t have to have their heads punched in,” she said.
“It’s disgusting – I’m horrified.”
Magistrate Dowse took into account the 31-year-old’s personal circumstances, age and criminal history when she handed down the sentence.
“I was going to impose a period of imprisonment, but things have improved for you and you seem to have grown up,” she said.
Jukes was fined $5000, of which $2500 was to be paid as restitution to the victim.
No conviction was recorded.
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Originally published as Former junior Broncos player Lachlan Taylor Jukes’ ‘disgusting’ bar attack
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