Bundy man in wrestle with Gympie mayor

A BUNDABERG man has been charged with seven offences in relation to a land rights claim that ended up in a scuffle with the Gympie mayor.

A BUNDABERG man has been charged with seven offences in relation to a land rights claim that ended up in a scuffle with the Gympie mayor.

He was one of a trio that appeared in Gympie Magistrates Court on serious assault charges following a native title claim that "got out of hand" in the Gympie Regional Council's Mary St office Tuesday.

Physical evidence of the protest, which turned violent after the trio allegedly tried to evict the council from its offices, were obvious when the three defendants were led into the court room this afternoon after spending the night in the Gympie watch house.

Gympie man Gary Roy Tomlinson aka Wit-boooka, 50, whose nose was bruised and still covered in blood, stood in the dock beside his Bundaberg cousin, Mervyn Alfred James Tomlinson, 51, whose shirt sleeve was torn and hanging.

Curra woman Diane Patricia Redden-King, 58, sat beside them.

The defendants are each charged with the assault causing bodily harm of Gympie Mayor Mick Curran and two other council employees, the common assault of Gympie Regional Council CEO Bernard Smith, public nuisance and trespass.

The two men, who allegedly resisted arrest, also face charges of obstructing police.

When Magistrate Maxine Baldwin asked if the accused understood the charges, Gary Tomlinson said he did not.

"I don't stand under you. I have my own rules," he said.

Some of these "own rules" seemed to be in play at the council's Mary St office yesterday, according to events recounted in the court by the Gympie police prosecutor which alleged Gary Tomlinson entered the council office, handed staff an eviction notice and demanded to see the mayor.

He is accused of then using a chair to climb over the front counter, shouting and knocking an employee into a television when he pushed past her.

When asked to leave he said "No, I'm the boss here - you will leave," the prosecutor said.

Mrs Redden-King insisted to the court that the trio had not intended to cause any violence, saying she suffered a hit, which she "assumed" was from Cr Curran that was "so hard it broke her tooth."

"A hand came out and it hit me. It was so hard it broke my tooth," she said.

Mrs Redden-King said she had taken a video at the scene, but police said there was no evidence of a video when her phone was seized.

"I went there not planning for violence, but to act in a peaceful means within the law," she told the court.

"They're destroying sacred sites - it's genocide against the Kabi Kabi people."

"'I kept asking Mr Curran to sit down and talk but he seemed hell-bent on trying to throw a punch."

The prosecutor said he had witness statements that negated her assault claims against Cr Curran.

"Well what's this?" Gary Tomlinson said, pointing to his bloodied nose in response.

Mervyn Tomlinson, who admitted to being "just new at this", expressed surprise at how the incident had got out of hand.

"I turned up on the day to hand out pamphlets and thought we were really just going in to talk to the mayor and it got out of hand," he said.

"I'd like to get back to my business in Bundy," he said.

Mrs Baldwin said she had grave concerns for the defendants' bail application because they were not legally represented, but granted Mervyn Tomlinson bail with strict conditions including living and reporting restrictions and no contact with the co-accused.

Mrs Redden-King and Gary Tomlinson, who both expressed concern about not being able to return to their children, had their bail applications adjourned until tomorrow morning to seek legal representation.

"We've been assaulted. The video disappeared mysteriously and we have not been allowed to talk to a lawyer," she said.