John William Smith pleads guilty in Warwick court to Killarney Hotel assault

Tensions exploded into violence during a heated confrontation between two men at the popular pub, with a dad of four left staring down the barrel of jail time for his role in the fight.

A man has narrowly dodged time behind bars after violently assaulting another man during a heated altercation at the Killarney Hotel.

John William Smith was a patron at the popular pub on the night of December 29 when he got into an argument with another man near the bar, which was seemingly resolved when the pair shook hands and exchanged words at the bar.

Police prosecutor Andrew Grafton told the Warwick Magistrates Court that tensions flared once again when the other man pushed into Smith while they were shaking hands, lightly making contact with the 35-year-old’s chest and arm.

“(Smith) then strikes the victim hard in the face, causing the victim to fall backwards and strike his head against a pool table,” Sergeant Grafton said.

The victim was left with a cut on the back of his head.

Killarney Cutters Coach John Trindall with 2105 Biggest Heart recipient Shane Mundey. Photo: John Towells / Warwick Daily News

The Warwick court was told Smith had a lengthy criminal history with previous convictions for alcohol-related offending such as failing to leave licensed premises and being drunk and disorderly, and more serious offences including breaking and entering and breaching domestic violence orders.

Defence counsel for the former Warwick man said Smith had now relocated to Western Australia, where he was working seven days a week and using part of his income to support three of his children and their mother in Queensland.

He said Smith had also brought his eldest son out to live and work with him interstate, as he was concerned that he was spending too much time on the streets and risked getting himself into trouble.

Magistrate Virginia Sturgess commended Smith for completing his previous suspended jail sentence without committing another crime, but said his criminal history was “disturbing” and clearly showed a problem with alcohol abuse.

“It seems you have an issue with alcohol and behaving in a socially-acceptable manner when you’ve had too much to drink,” she said.

“If you drink too much and when you drink too much you behave badly, such as committing public nuisance offences or behaving in a violent way, it’s not an excuse that you’re drunk.

“You have to take responsibility for that behaviour.”

Smith pleaded guilty to one count of common assault.

He was sentenced to 12 months’ jail, wholly suspended for two years.