Shannon Benjamine Smith: Murgon man jailed over shocking drunken behaviour

A Murgon man has been jailed over a bizarre incident that led to police officers drawing their tasers in a tense confrontation.

A man’s decision to get “blind drunk” on a bottle of rum resulted in more than just a horrible hangover – ending in a court date and jail sentence.

Shannon Benjamine Smith’s evening of drinking on April 7 came to a scary ending when he began abusing neighbours and threatening to “slit their throats”

Just after 7.15pm in Murgon, neighbours heard yelling and banging coming from Smith’s property, including Smith yelling “no black c--t’s going to tell me what to do”.

A nearby couple investigated the commotion and found Smith who became confrontational, hurling racial slurs at them.

A small scuffle broke out before Smith returned to his home, with police prosecutor Barry Stevens saying Smith armed himself with what police believed to be a knife and returned to the street.

Smith's lawyer Mark Werner however said the item was a cheesegrater. 

The victims began backing away but Smith continued to follow, yelling, “I’m going to kill you”.

When he heard sirens from approaching police, Smith returned to his property and discarded the item, the court was told.

Police who attended the scene encountered an agitated and belligerent Smith, with officers at one point forced to draw their tasers.

Sergeant Stevens said it took just seven minutes for the officers to calm Smith, which he described as “impressive”.

Smith appeared in Murgon Magistrates Court on May 24, and pleaded guilty to threatening violence and serious obstruct police.

Charges of going armed to cause fear and public nuisance were dismissed, with police offering no evidence.

Lawyer Mark Werner told the court his client was “blind drunk” after consuming a whole bottle of rum that night, which was close to the one year anniversary of his father’s death.

Magistrate Andrew Sinclair described Smith’s behaviour as “appalling”.

“People don’t need to have lights and sirens called because somebody gets crazy on rum and starts threatening people with weapons,” he said.

Smith was sentenced to nine months’ jail, with a parole release date set for July 8.