Man clocks child in the face, lands in Kingaroy Court

A SOUTH Burnett man appeared before Kingaroy Court, charged with assaulting his 14-year-old stepbrother after catching the youth damaging his car.

A 21-year-old man faced Kingaroy Court after assaulting his 14-year-old step brother, causing his nose to bleed. File photo.

A MAN said painful pressure on an old 'crush' injury caused him to lose control and punch his 14-year-old stepbrother in the face, a court heard.

The 21-year-old pleaded guilty to one count of assault occasioning bodily harm before Kingaroy Magistrates Court this week.
According to police prosecutor Sergeant Pepe Gangemi, at 11.40pm on October 2, 2020, the defendant heard noises coming from his shed. On investigation he found his 14-year-old stepbrother damaging his car.

"The victim had arrived on his bicycle and gone into the defendants shed. He had no reason to be there," Sgt Gangemi said.

"The grabbed him by the back of the shirt, dragged him out of the shed. While the young person was trying to get out of his grasp, the defendants hand got caught in the shirt."

The defendant punched the victim twice in the face, causing the child to suffer a bloody nose as a result.

Defence lawyer Jay Rose said the defendant had only intended to drag the youth out of the garage, pulling him by his shirt.

"Unfortunately, it did lead to a situation where it became impossible to remove him from the garage and there's been a tussle," she said.

The victims shirt became entangled on the defendant's arm, activating an old work injury where the defendants wrist had been crushed, causing him to suffer a pinched nerve.

Ms Rose said while the victim is a child, he and the defendant are of similar size.

While the defendant's criminal history is minimal, he faced the court once before for going armed to cause fear, Ms Rose told the court. This was in relation to the defendant playing with a gel blaster outside his home, which prompted concerned neighbours to call the police.

Taking the defendants early plea of guilty and cooperation with police into account, Magistrate Barry Barrett fined the defendant $500, which was referred to SPER.

Convictions were not recorded.

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