OUT OF CONTROL: Man avoids jail after string of assaults

A YOUNG man has escaped time behind bars after attacking people who were trying to help him.

A YOUNG man has escaped time behind bars after attacking people who were trying to help him.

In Bundaberg Magistrates Court Tuesday, Joshua Sean Bayliss pleaded guilty to multiple violent offences including common assault and serious assault of a person over 60.

Police prosecutor Sergeant Dean Burgess described Bayliss’s offending as “a cowardly act”.

The court was told that in October last year, Bayliss assaulted a 68-year-old man and a 59-year-old man after an early-morning disturbance.

The men approached Bayliss to make sure he was OK before he became aggressive towards them and struck one of the men in the face.

On October 27, Bayliss and a group of friends were walking by the Bundaberg Courthouse at 7.45pm when they began assaulting a group of backpackers.

Sgt Burgess told the court Bayliss also urinated against the cell door at the Bundaberg watch-house. Urine ran under the door and into the hallway.

He also spat in his cell when he couldn’t vomit.

Sgt Burgess said the only thing in Bayliss’s favour was his young age.

Bayliss’s lawyer John Dodd told the court his client had very little memory of the night he assaulted the men.

“I showed the pictures of them to him and he didn’t even know who they were,” Mr Dodd said.

“There are five victims because of his behaviour.”

Mr Dodd said his client had a very violent upbringing witnessing his father and uncle both assault people.

He said his client’s father also had him engage in criminal activity from a young age, taking him out to steal to fuel his drug habit.

Mr Dodd said his client wanted to go to rehab and didn’t want to live a life like his father’s.

Magistrate Terry Duroux took into account Bayliss’s early plea of guilty and his “very sad family background”.

However, the magistrate said his offending was “disgraceful”.

“It’s appalling behaviour. Those tourists wanted nothing to do with you,” he said.

“You only stopped because other people became involved.

“You were just out of control.

“Ordinarily, sir, I would have no hesitation in sending you to jail, but because you are a young offender, you get the benefit of parole release today.”

Bayliss was sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment with immediate parole and ordered to serve 40 hours of community service.

He was also fined $500.