The Fat Frenchman owner Lyndon Wittingslow found guilty of assault on fiancee

The trial for a Sunshine Coast cafe owner and father has come to a close after he was accused of choking his pregnant partner and breaking her nose. Read the jury’s verdict.

A Beerwah cafe owner accused of assaulting his pregnant partner has walked from court despite being found guilty after a six-hour deliberation by jurors.

Lyndon Wittingslow, 54, was found guilty of assault occasioning bodily harm after a jury took just over six hours to reach their verdicts in Maroochydore District Court on August 25, 2022.

Wittingslow was also charged with strangulation and two counts of common assault, but he was found not guilty on each of those counts.

Crown prosecutor Madalyn Olivero said Wittingslow’s fiancee at the time had accused him of cheating after going through his phone and finding messages from 10 women on February 8, 2020, just a few weeks after finding out they were pregnant.

The woman headed to work at Beerwah Dental on February 11 and went next door to ask to speak to Mr Wittingslow at his cafe The Fat Frenchman.

Lyndon Wittingslow from the Empire Organic Cafe in Nambour Photo: Warren Lynam / Sunshine Coast Daily

The pair went out the back into the carpark and an altercation occurred where Wittingslow punched his fiancee in the face causing a broken nose, the court heard.

Ms Olivero said it was an act of violence committed in a public place upon a woman he knew was pregnant.

“She described pain and underwent surgery … she was fearful at the time, she had concerns for her safety,” she told the court.

“He didn’t desist of his own accord … there was no assistance rendered to her after that punch.

“He took this matter to trial which is demonstrative of his lack of remorse.”

A garbage truck driver that witnessed the punch testified in court and said he was working for JJ Richards at the time.

“I saw two people look like they were talking over in the corner and I sort of looked back and saw it was getting a bit more heated, a bit more hectic and then witnessed the guy punch the lady,” he said.

Lyndon Wittingslow.

The court heard it was possible the fiancée had “struck” Wittingslow first but it provided no possible explanation for his reaction.

Defence barrister Mark Dixon said his client had no previous criminal history and was a father to a 14-year-old boy.

Mr Dixon said as a result of the incident, Wittingslow had lost his cafe and wasn’t able to obtain more work in the field of hospitality which he had found “deeply troubling”.

“In every other aspect of his life he is an upstanding member of the community … he is now working as a handyman,” Mr Dixon said.

Judge Glen Cash declared the 23 days Wittingslow had already spent in custody as time served and sentenced him to 12 months’ prison suspended for 12 months.