Drunken Goodna man fined over vile tirade at Hungry Jacks manager

A Goodna man’s drunken and ‘hangry’ tirade at a local fast food worker has landed him before the court.

Paul John Jarrett was sentenced in the Ipswich Magistrates Court today, October 25, 2023

A Goodna man’s late night, drunken and ‘hangry’ tirade at a local Hungry Jack’s manager has landed him before an Ipswich court.

Paul John Jarrett, 49, faced Ipswich Magistrates court on Wednesday to plead guilty to a single count of public nuisance after a drunken desire for Hungry Jack’s resulted in the verbal abuse of the store’s manager that shocked countless witnesses.

The court heard that on October 13, 2023 around 10.20pm, Jarrett arrived at the Hungry Jack’s in Goodna, clearly inebriated, when he discovered that the doors were locked, despite several other patrons being served inside.

The prosecution told the court that the 21-year-old manager of the restaurant had closed early due to staff shortages and wasn’t able to serve any further customers.

Mr Jarret then ‘screamed’ and banged on the windows, and one of the witnesses alleged he was banging so hard it “shook the room”.

One of the patrons left the restaurant and Jarrett slipped in, where the manager asked him to leave.

This prompted an angry verbal tirade, including telling the manager that he would sue her and calling her a “c---”, visibly upsetting and distressing the manager and other patrons.

Police arrived at the scene and the man was arrested and spent a short time in the watch-house.

In his defence, the court heard that Jarrett, in his inebriated state, was angered that there was no sign saying the restaurant was closed and that there were other patrons being served.

He said that the manager had yelled at him to leave the restaurant and that he had “reacted badly” to that request.

Mr Jarrett had a history of similar offending, however it was argued that he was in a significantly different situation at the time of this offending as he now had stable employment and was a valued member of said workplace.

Mr Jarrett was fined $800 and a conviction was recorded.