Rodney Clements: Ipswich dad jailed after beating acquaintance with metal pole outside City View Hotel

A resident of West Ipswich’s City View Hotel will serve nine months in jail for beating a man with a metal pole, leaving him with open fractures and an injury to the head.

An Ipswich man will be released on parole this year after beating a man with a metal pole and leaving him with “serious” injuries to the head and open fractures to his leg.

Rodney Clements, 39, appeared in Ipswich District Court on Wednesday March 23, where he entered a plea of guilty to one charge of grievous bodily harm.

The court heard the charge was related to an incident on April 5 last year.

Crown prosecutor Amy Stannard told the court Clements was living at City View Hotel in West Ipswich when a man he had previously met visited him while he was intoxicated.

She said the man was understood to have yelled at Clements from outside the building.

The conduct of the man was described as being “provocative”, “abusive”, and “threatening”; as if he was challenging Clements to a fight.

The court heard Clements emerged from the hotel with a metal pole and used it to hit the man in the head and leg. The man suffered a laceration to his head and open fractures to his leg.

The entire incident was captured on CCTV.

Ms Stannard said the man had to undergo surgeries to fix his fractures and a pin was inserted into his leg.

The man’s treating surgeon reportedly said that he would have suffered a permanent disability had he not undergone such treatment.

The City View Hotel at West Ipswich. Picture: File

The prosecution said Clements initially denied his involvement in the assault.

While he did have a criminal history, the court heard there had been about 13 years between his last offence in 2009 and the one before the court on Wednesday.

The more-than-a-decade of good behaviour was said to be directly related to his partner’s positive influence and him ceasing his use of drugs and alcohol.

Clements’ counsel argued the assault should be considered an “isolated incident”.

Judge Dennis Lynch QC said his actions were a “serious example” of grievous bodily harm, although the injuries did not turn out to be life threatening.

Mr Lynch said he had taken Clements’ relevant – albeit dated – violent criminal history, his difficult childhood, and the “poor influence” his family had had on his behaviour into consideration when deciding an appropriate penalty.

He noted that Clements had used drugs since he was in his mid-teens and was encouraged by those around him to engage in violence.

The length of time Clements had managed to stay out of trouble indicated to Mr Lynch, he said, that he was capable of being a useful and contributing member of society.

“I’m sure you understand now that the use of violence to resolve disputes is not acceptable in the community,” Mr Lynch told Clements.

“You might have had reason to be upset or concerned about the behaviour of this complainant but that does not justify your gross over-reaction to his provocative conduct.”

Clements was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment with parole release after nine months.