Rick Danger Summerfield pleads guilty to common assault against 12yo child at Mackay boat ramp

The reason why a grown man shoved a boy into the water at a popular boat ramp has been detailed as magistrate labelled it ‘dangerous’ conduct.

A child is believed to have been assaulted by a man in the water near the boat ramp at River St in the Mackay CBD on September 24, 2024. Picture: Fergus Gregg

A man who assaulted a 12-year-old boy at a popular boat ramp over bait fishing has avoided jail and a conviction as the charges against him were downgraded.

But Magistrate Bronwyn Hartigan rejected any suggestion of an absolute discharge for the 54 year old, stating the conduct was too serious.

Rick Danger Summerfield had come across the 12 year old who had been fishing at the River St boat ramp, when he took issue with how the child was fishing and pushed him into the water.

Harvey Legal solicitor Laura Santin said her client had seen the boy using a cast net to reel in hundreds of bait fish “and he was just throwing them to the side, the fish were dying”.

Mackay Magistrates Court heard Summerfield had approached the child about 8am one morning in September, 2024 and told him to stop, leading to a confrontation.

“My client did push the child and the child did fall into the water,” Ms Santin said, adding the child was able to get out of the water before police arrived.

Rick Danger Summerfield pleaded guilty to common assault after he pushed a 12-year-old boy into the water at the River St boat ramp. Photo: Fergus Gregg

The court heard the child was shaken but there were not visible injuries.

Summerfield, who has no criminal history, was highly education and had a good employment history, was initially charged with assault causing bodily harm, wilful damage and breaching bail - all of which were dropped and replaced with a single count of common assault to which he pleaded guilty.

Ms Hartigan labelled it a “dangerous form” of common assault.

“Pushing someone can lead to them hitting their head, people can drown in a foot of water,” Ms Hartigan said.

“It is a very serious matter to push someone into the water.”

Summerfield tried to blame an underlying, ongoing medical issue for his conduct but Ms Hartigan said she did not think there was any causal connection between the two.

Ms Santin submitted for an absolute discharge in relation to penalty, but Ms Hartigan dismissed the push.

“I was actually considering jail,” Ms Hartigan said.

“He’s snapped and pushed a 12-year-old child into the water for bait fishing.

“Even if the fish were dying, who cares, he’s acted in a way that’s dangerous for the community.”
Ms Hartigan further said it was too serious for a good behaviour bond.

The court also heard Summerfield claimed he hadn’t been aware it was a child because his face had been covered.

Ms Hartigan accepted the offending was out of character for Summerfield, that he did have an underlying medical issue at the time, that he was remorseful and this was unlikely to be repeated behaviour.

Summerfield was ordered to complete 240 hours unpaid community service within 12 months and a conviction was not recorded.