Elgar John Gregory Harrison in court for bashing at Hervey Bay pub
A cultural officer working for the Butchulla Native Title Group launched a violent attack on a random stranger in Hervey Bay, pushing and then repeatedly punching him.
Police & Courts
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A cultural officer with the Butchulla Native Title Group pushed then punched a man at a Hervey Bay hotel in an unprovoked attack.
Elgar John Gregory Harrison pleaded guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm when he faced Hervey Bay Magistrates Court on Thursday.
The court heard Harrison was at the Bay Central Hotel on March 17, 2024, and pushed another man in the back as he was walking into the smoking area of the hotel before punching him in the back of the head.
The victim then turned towards Harrison and he punched the man in the face, causing him to fall into a chair.
The man said: “What did you do that for? I don’t even know you”, the court heard.
Harrison again punched the man in the face, causing him to fall over.
Security came in response to the incident and Harrison left.
The court heard the attack was unprovoked and the two men did not know each other.
The victim suffered a small cut to his lip and jaw as well as pain and discomfort in his jaw for weeks after the assault, it heard.
A cultural report was provided to the court on Harrison’s behalf.
It said he had endured several family tragedies in recent times, including the loss of his mother, and had a background of disadvantage, growing up in Cherbourg, where “Aboriginal people were taken from country and put there”.
Harrison’s legal representative spoke of the “intergenerational trauma” the Cherbourg community had endured.
But he said Harrison had reconnected with the Butchulla people, which his father was part of, and he was a “proud Butchulla man”.
A series of tragedies had led to his resorting to alcohol as a “comfort”, the court heard.
He had lost two siblings to substance abuse and it was something “he is aware he is at risk of succumbing to himself”.
Harrison was now employed as a cultural officer with the Butchulla Native Title Group.
He regretted the offending and was remorseful, the court heard.
Magistrate John Milburn said the violence was gratuitous and there was nothing to suggest the assault had been provoked.
“Please understand Mr Harrison I regard this as a very serious matter,” Mr Milburn said.
“But I accept that you do as well.”
Harrison was placed on 15 months probation and ordered to pay $1000 to the victim.
A conviction was recorded.
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