Gracemere man Caleb Kyle O’Donohue jailed for assaulting sister’s partner

A brother said he thought he was doing the right thing – sticking up for his sister – when he got into a fight with her partner over allegations the partner had been domestically violent towards her, a court heard.

He thought he was doing the right thing – sticking up for his sister – when he got into a consensual fight with her partner over allegations the partner had been domestically violent towards her, a court heard.

But it ended up with Caleb Kyle O’Donohue, 27, in Rockhampton District Court and his sister’s partner suffering fractures to his cheekbone, eye socket and top of his jaw.

O’Donohue, who had originally been charged with grievous bodily harm which was changed to an assault occasioning bodily harm in company, approached the victim with his father, Sean O’Donohue, who accused the victim of “being a woman basher”, Crown prosecutor Ryan Minuti said.

“(This) caused the complainant to respond and invite them to fight,” he said.

Mr Minuti said eventually there was a consensual fight between the victim and Caleb O’Donohue in Berserker on March 18, 2023, with a number of punches thrown and the victim tripping over a gutter and falling over.

He said while the victim was on the ground, the defendant’s sister and father encouraged him to continue attacking the victim by telling him to “kick him in the head”.

Judge Jeff Clarke said Caleb O’Donohue kicked the victim in the head three times while the victim was in the process of getting up off the ground.

The defendant was before the court to be sentenced for the kicks to the head which were not part of the consensual part of the fight.

The court heard Sean O’Donohue was sentenced in Rockhampton Magistrates Court to 18 months prison released after serving 270 days presentence custody for being a party to the offence.

Caleb O’Donohue pleaded guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm in company on June 12.

Defence barrister Maree Willey said her client, a father-of-four, told her the offending was “very stupid” and “he regrets it”.

She said the defendant has realised his family “call upon him with they want something from him” and since this incident, he has distanced himself from them and has “next to no contact with his father who’s now living somewhere in Mount Morgan”.

Ms Willey said her client, who had worked at meatworks, was now in a stable relationship and works for his partner’s parents at Blackwater when he is not living and working in Gracemere.

Judge Clarke sentenced Caleb O’Donohue to 18-months prison, suspended after 36 days prison, declared 36 days presentence custody and set an operational period of two years.

A conviction was recorded.