Assault, threats, damage: Warwick’s drunk and disorderly offenders - named
From a man who punched a woman twice in the head to a former security guard who sank his teeth into a patron’s ear, these are the shocking crimes committed on wild nights out and a breakdown of the town’s alcohol-fuelled offending.
Police & Courts
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A night out at the pub with friends is a favourite weekend activity for young and old across Warwick, but a stack of drunk and disorderly offenders recently brought before the courts highlights how the fun can quickly turn violent.
Data from the Queensland Police Service reveals assault rates have increased slightly, with 84 of the 128 incidents reported in the past year occurring within the most recent six months alone.
The Warwick CBD accounts for the vast majority of the 203 assaults recorded in the two years from March 24, 2020, and the town’s pubs and their immediate surrounds have emerged as hot spots for this kind of offending.
The intersection of Victoria and Palmerin Sts, which is home to the Horse and Jockey Hotel Motel, has had 10 assaults reported within that two-year period, and another three have occurred at the approximate location of The Criterion Hotel on Palmerin St near Grafton St.
Seven alleged assaults have also been reported in and around the Fitzroy St police precinct in the same time frame.
A Warwick mother who lives only streets over from popular pub the Malt House claims her family home is just one in the CBD consistently targeted by boozy revellers making their way home.
Enduring their street signs and fence palings ripped out, disruptive noise, and even having people defecate on their property, the frustrated resident is calling for heightened security and police presence.
“My kids get upset and it’s hard to sleep, (and) when there is fighting it can be scary,” she said.
“Wheelie bins were knocked over one night. Police came and said they heard a disturbance from our house - it was the kids getting unsettled and yelling at each other, and it was me yelling out to drunk people to stop pushing the bins over.
“Warwick needs a nightlife and I’m a big fan of young people having a safe place to go out and have fun.
“(But we need) more cameras, more lighting, and more punishments for those who do the wrong thing. And don’t let in patrons who are already too intoxicated.”
It’s these sorts of drunk and disorderly offences that are brought before the Warwick courts each year, from alcohol-fuelled assaults to property destruction and more.
See a list below of Warwick offenders recently sentenced for wild nights out: that have come through the Warwick courts recently.
CONVICTIONS RECORDED
Hayden Shane Alldridge
A Warwick father of five narrowly avoided time behind bars after punching a woman in the head twice in a violent drunken assault at a busy pub.
Warwick Magistrates Court was told that Hayden Shane Alldridge was at the Malt House late on March 7, 2020, when he got into an argument with the victim and her friends, which was sparked by a history of bad blood.
Police prosecutor Steve de Lissa said the 30-year-old refused to leave until he was forcibly removed by security, at which point he took off his shirt and continued to hurl abuse.
The conflict between Alldridge and the other group continued to escalate until he punched the woman twice in the jaw, leaving her with bruising and swelling.
Alldridge pleaded guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm, public nuisance, and failure to leave a licensed premises in relation to the incident, and more than a dozen other unrelated drug and traffic charges.
He was sentenced to 10 months’ jail with immediate release on parole.
Beau James Fogarty
A Warwick father walked free from court after threatening to kill strangers while brandishing a knife in a crowded pub in a violent and meth-fuelled outburst.
Police were called to a disturbance at the Horse and Jockey Hotel Motel on May 29 last year, where they found Beau James Fogarty in the beer garden with a folding Stanley knife in the waistband of his pants.
Police prosecutor Ken Wiggan said the 28-year-old told officers he had been provoked by another patron and armed himself with the blade because he was outnumbered, but it wasn’t long before Fogarty started levelling threats of his own.
Warwick Magistrates Court heard the man began yelling at the other group in the pub, shouting “I’ll kill every single f —king one of the last c —ts” and “if I’m going to get locked up for something, I might as well go to jail for murder”.
Officers searched Fogarty and found 1.7g of ice and two glass pipes in a bumbag around his chest.
Fogarty pleaded guilty to possessing a knife in a public place, unlawful possession of a weapon, possessing dangerous drugs and drug utensils, and breaching a probation order.
He was sentenced to nine months’ jail with immediate release on parole and fined $300.
Shane Anthony White
A night out at a popular Warwick pub turned violent for a man when he tried to punch his friend through a window.
Shane Anthony White was with his friends at The Criterion Hotel on Palmerin St at about 7.30pm on July 23 last year, when he and a couple of other members of their party were asked by staff to leave.
Police prosecutor Steve de Lissa told Warwick Magistrates Court the group left through the back entrance and walked around to the front, where White tapped a window to get the attention of one of his friends still inside.
The other man put his ear down to the window, at which point White punched the glass, shattering it and leaving the other man with cuts to his face.
Magistrate Julian Noud told White he was lucky to have avoided what could have been a “very ugly scene”.
White pleaded guilty to wilful damage. He was fined $450 and had also paid $1332 in damages to the hotel prior to his court appearance.
Ricky Grant Johnson
A Warwick man fronted court after a verbal argument quickly escalated into booze-fuelled violence at a busy pub.
Ricky Grant Johnson was having drinks with friends at the Sandy Creek Pub in January, 2020, when he started bickering with another patron from across the bar.
Warwick Magistrates Court heard the altercation escalated to the point the then-36-year-old had to be physically restrained by two friends trying to calm him down.
Police prosecutor Ken Wiggan said Johnson told his friends to let him go, then dodged around them and punched the other man, knocking him to the ground and leaving him with minor injuries.
Johnson pleaded guilty to one count of common assault and was fined $850.
Jacob Samuel Bygroves
Being turned away from a pub on a wild night out sparked a violent rage that landed a Warwick man in court.
Trouble began for Jacob Samuel Bygroves when he was refused entry to the Warwick Hotel on September 18 last year, with the man walking away and instead beginning to follow a group of young adults towards Leslie Park.
Warwick Magistrates Court was told the then-32-year-old was harassing and threatening the group, who repeated asked him to leave them alone.
Bygroves then returned to the Warwick Hotel and again began arguing with on-door staff and making threats before he was eventually taken into police custody.
The Warwick man then continued to resist police when he was taken to the watch-house, refusing to take off his shoes and belt to the point they had to be forcibly removed.
Bygroves pleaded guilty to one count each of obstructing police and public nuisance. He was fined $750.
NO CONVICTION RECORDED
Christopher Robert Dagan
A former Malt House security guard faced court after he tracked down a patron and instigated a brutal fight, eventually biting the other man’s ear.
Christopher Robert Dagan was working at the Warwick pub on January 26, 2020, when he got into a verbal altercation with a man who was drinking with friends.
Police prosecutor Ken Wiggan told Warwick Magistrates Court that comments were made between the men about “sorting it out” after close.
The intoxicated patron left on foot and had made it several streets over near the Palace Hotel when he was approached by the then-20-year-old Dagan and another bouncer.
Sergeant Wiggan said Dagan and his target started “punching on” in a garden bed before wrestling around on the ground, with the pair hitting one another until Dagan sank his teeth into the other man’s ear.
“The complainant then felt blood dripping down the side of his neck and the other bouncer pushed the complainant off Dagan, and the (victim called out, ‘You ear-biting prick’,” he said.
Dagan pleaded guilty to one count of assault occasioning bodily harm. He was fined $1500 and ordered to pay $400 restitution to his victim.
No conviction was recorded.
Colin Angus Chowns
Retribution over a dodgy drug deal ended with two people being bashed at a busy Warwick pub, with one of the victims even being wrongfully targeted.
Colin Angus Chowns and an unnamed co-offender organised to buy marijuana from another two Warwick men in November, 2019, and it was only after the $300 transaction was complete that the pair realised they had been sold bread wrapped in foil instead of drugs.
Warwick Magistrates Court heard the duo went to the Horse and Jockey Hotel Motel, where Chowns was an employee at the time, to confront their dealers over the rip-off.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Wiggan said Chowns’ co-accused tackled a man they thought was one of the supplies outside the pub and punched him the head a number of times, before Chowns realised they had the wrong man and told his friend to stop.
The pair then headed inside and found one of the men actually involved, with Chowns grabbing him by the shirt and swinging him into a nearby pokies machine.
The other man punched their victim in the head and rubbed the bread he had earlier mistaken for marijuana in the man’s face.
Chowns pleaded guilty to two counts of assault occasioning bodily harm and one of possessing a dangerous drug.
He was placed on probation for 18 months and ordered to pay $200 compensation to the first victim.
No conviction was recorded.
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