Rodney Stewart Craig fights man in Andergrove carpark over shopping trolley

A tussle in a Mackay shopping centre carpark landed a man in court, but the magistrate thought it was the other man’s behaviour that was ‘reprehensible’.

A tussle between two grown men erupted in an Andergrove shopping centre car park when a trolley got in the way of a parking spot.

Rodney Stewart Craig was caring for his elderly father during the time the altercation happened about 1pm on April 5.

The court heard Craig had seen another man leaving a trolley in a disabled parking spot, an act which frustrated Craig who had been having difficulty accessing parking for his father who had a permit.

Craig then pushed the trolley behind the man’s car and left it there.

Rodney Stewart Craig pleaded guilty in Mackay Magistrates Court on October 25 to public nuisance.

The man retaliated, pushing the trolley back to the disability parking spot again.

Craig came back to the trolley, wheeling it back to the rear of the man’s car for a second time.

The court heard the pair began swearing loudly at each other before a physical “tussle” broke out.

Other shoppers in the area were forced to intervene, breaking up the two men before police arrived.

Craig pleaded guilty in Mackay Magistrates Court on October 25 to public nuisance.

‘At the end of the day we have two mature men fighting over a shopping trolley’.

Craig’s lawyer Adam Harvey said the whole ordeal was embarrassing for his client.

“At the end of the day we have two mature men fighting over a shopping trolley,” Mr Harvey said.

But Magistrate Bronwyn Hartigan said she understood Craig’s frustration calling the behaviour of the man leaving the trolley in the disabled parking spot “reprehensible”.

“Not to condone your behaviour but it is easy to see why you became incensed,” Ms Hartigan said.

Craig was given a $300 good behaviour bond.

No conviction was recorded.