Police say eshay assault of 68-year-old Bargara man an ‘unfortunate exception’

Police have released new details about the alleged assault of a 68-year-old man by a gang of “delinquent eshays” at a small beachside town. VIDEO.

New details have emerged about the assault of a 68-year-old man by a group of “delinquent eshays” at a Bargara beach, as police insist the attack was not the norm for the tourist town.

It comes after a Bundaberg Facebook forum was flooded with comments on Monday, January 8, after reports and video emerged of an alleged assault by a group of “young delinquent eshays” of the man in front of his wife at Kelly’s Beach in the coastal suburb of Bargara.

Speaking at a press conference about the incident on Friday, Acting Inspector Damien Wells from the Bundaberg police patrol group confirmed that police received reports around 5.50pm on Monday of a group of five youths “carrying on in an unsociable, obscene, threatening manner” at Kellys Beach carpark.

Acting Inspector Damien Wells said the alleged assault was "an unfortunate exception" partly due to an influx of tourists into Bargara over the holiday period.

On arriving at the scene within five minutes, police found a 60-year-old man had intervened in the group’s behaviour following which a confrontation ensued.

Inspector Wells confirmed a 68-year-old Bargara man had received minor injuries through the confrontation.

The Bargara man was given medical treatment at the scene, was “in good spirits and good health” and had no significant long-term injuries, Inspector Wells said.

The man was in contact with police to help them with their investigation into the incident.

Police obtained the details of the five youths at the scene, and received complaints from the public about the alleged assault which are currently under investigation including through interviews by child protection investigation unit detectives.

Responding to reports that the group had caused disturbances in the area prior to Monday’s incident, Inspector Wells said the youths were from the Bargara area and it was “likely” they had been seen in public through the holiday period due to “a little extra bravado” being common at that time.

Monday’s incident was unusual for Bargara, and was representative of a temporary increase in unsociable behaviour related to the influx of tourists over summer, he said.

“I’m just asking that the community accept that what happened here ... is an exceedingly rare event.

“The population of Bargara spikes over the holiday period ... what happened on Monday is unfortunate, but it’s an exception.”

Child Protection Investigation unit detectives are interviewing five Bargara youths understood to have been involved in Monday's confrontation.

Bundaberg police are aiming to prevent and disrupt all crime including juvenile crime through a high visibility strategy, Inspector Wells said.

“If you behave in a manner that puts the public safety at risk, you will be held to account for that, and we will do everything we can to investigate and respond appropriately,” he said.

While he said police “certainly don’t advocate” members of the public putting themselves at risk through intervening in a confrontation, as had been done by the 60-year-old man during Monday’s incident, Inspector Wells denied public reports that the man had been charged.

“What I will say is that these are fluid situations, the police arrived and there was a group of people intermixed with each other,” Inspector Wells said.

“Our first response at that time was to make the scene as safe as possible which involved separating the parties, identifying what’s going on and then gathering information as to what’s actually occurred.

“That sometimes means that we’ve detained people for a period of time while we conducted our initial investigations.”

If you have information for police, contact Policelink by providing information using the online suspicious activity form 24hrs per day at www.police.qld.gov.au/reporting.

Report crime information anonymously via Crime Stoppers. Call 1800 333 000 or report online at www.crimestoppersqld.com.au.

Quote this reference number: QP2400044655

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