Grilling from boss prompts Brendan Ronald Frank to attack friend he had blamed

A Kuluin man was angry that he was made to look bad in front of his employer when he pulled his friend from a car and punched him in the face, a court has heard.

A dispute over a power bill snowballed until Brendan Ronald Frank snapped and assaulted his friend, who was sitting in a car outside a Kuluin address on February 25. Picture: Laura Pettigrew

A Kuluin man was angry that he was made to look bad in front of his employer when he pulled his friend from a car and punched him in the face, a court has heard.

A dispute over a power bill snowballed until Brendan Ronald Frank snapped and assaulted his friend, who was sitting in a car outside a Kuluin address on February 25.

“He grabbed hold of the victim’s arm, pulling him from the car, punching him once to the mouth area,” police prosecutor Stuart Lydford said.

Maroochydore Magistrates Court heard the victim suffered swelling and bleeding as a result of a split upper lip.

Sergeant Lydford said Frank had organised for the victim to live at a property where he worked as a handyman.

He said Frank became frustrated when his friend failed to pay a power bill and decided to remove a fuse, leaving him without power.

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The court heard the victim complained about the lack of power to Frank’s boss.

Sergeant Lydford said Frank’s boss had just “grilled” him about removing the fuse when he attacked the victim.

Frank pleaded guilty in Maroochydore Magistrates Court on Friday to one count of assault occasioning bodily harm.

Duty lawyer Jason Todman said Frank was embarrassed after the confrontation with his boss and felt “let down” by his friend.

“He was concerned it was making him look bad to an employer he well respected,” he said.

Mr Todman said Frank lost a week’s pay because of the incident and suggested a suspended prison sentence as an appropriate sentence.

He said Frank, who had no similar offences on his history, was happy to pay $500 compensation to the victim.

Magistrate Maxine Baldwin reminded Frank “one punch can kill” and said he seemed to have an anger management problem.

Ms Baldwin said Frank could end up in prison if he didn’t deal with his anger.

“If you’ve got an anger problem you have to work out how to deal with that because when you act impulsively you just give over the keys to a cell,” she said.

She sentenced Frank to a nine-month probation order so he could address his anger issues.

She said the sentence was a result of his early plea of guilty.

He was also ordered to pay $500 in compensation to the victim.

Originally published as Grilling from boss prompts Brendan Ronald Frank to attack friend he had blamed