Hervey Bay’s Wyatt William Rees pleads guilty to threatening violence

A woman and her child were forced to hide in their bathroom as a visitor to their complex fired an arrow through their door in a drunken rage.

Shooting an arrow at a woman while in a drunken stupor almost landed a Hervey Bay man with no criminal history behind bars.

Wyatt William Rees, 23, pleaded guilty in Maryborough District Court to threatening violence and wilful damage.

The court heard Rees was drinking with a group of people at an apartment complex and was joined by a woman who lived in one of the units.

At one, point Rees gave the woman a cigarette.

At the end of the night, a “grossly intoxicated” Rees who had been drinking home-brew beer, realised he couldn’t find his tobacco or phone.

The woman was inside her unit when Rees approached the glass sliding door and yelled “where are my cigarettes and phone?”

When the woman went to the door, she saw Rees was holding a compound bow which was aimed at her.

“You don’t want to f**king have them,” Rees said to the victim

The court heard the woman ran “in fear for her life” when she saw the bow.

Rees then shot an arrow through the screen and glass doors.

The woman hid in the bathroom with her 12-year-old daughter.

It was clear both were terrified, the court was told.

When the woman emerged, Rees was still there, as was another man.

The woman called out to the other man, telling him “he’s just f**king shot a bow through my house”.

When police arrived, Rees initially lied to the officers, telling them the bow went off accidentally, the court heard.

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Defence lawyer Travis George said he had explained to Rees that he was in real danger of going to jail for shooting the weapon.

He said his client worked at the family business and was educated to a Year 12 level.

After school he travelled but Rees had never had difficulty finding work, in seasonal jobs or working behind the bar, Mr George said.

“He always been someone who’s been able to go and get work,” he said.

Mr George said the offending was an aberration connected to the “gross consumption of alcohol”.

He also said it had been a wake up call for Rees and he was remorseful.

Judge Michael Byrne said Rees was fortunate not to be facing more serious charges and that the woman wasn’t physically harmed, although both she and her daughter were emotionally harmed by the incident.

Rees was sentenced to 12 months in jail, wholly suspended with an operational period of 18 months.

“You have evaded jail by the skin of your teeth today,” Judge Byrne told Rees.

Rees was also ordered to pay $579 in restitution for the damage to the doors.