Brayden William Withers, Thomas Eric Albrecht plead guilty to Mama Africa nightclub assaults

A court heard men employed to keep Whitsunday nightclub patrons safe displayed ‘appalling’ behaviour on the job. Find out what sparked their actions.

Two Whitsunday security guards who took their enforcement roles too far have faced court on assault charges.

Brayden William Withers and Thomas Eric Albrecht appeared at Proserpine Magistrates Court this week over separate violent incidents occurring at Airlie Beach nightclub Mama Africa while they were on the job earlier this year.

The court heard Withers, 25, assaulted a 27-year-old bartender on January 25, punching the man in the face and knocking a mobile phone out of his hand in view of CCTV cameras.

Albrecht, 26, pleaded guilty to assaulting a patron on September 4, deliberately pushing the man’s head into a door frame as he ejected him from the club, then telling police he had done it because it had “been a sh*t weekend”.

Defence solicitor Elizabeth Smith said Withers was responding to “the screams of a woman” when he left his position at the door of the club to intervene in an altercation between a man and a woman outside the Airlie Hunger Stop, about 3am.

Ms Smith said Withers accepted his behaviour “went beyond defence”.

The court heard Albrecht had taken a slap to the face on the night of his offence, and his victim was also facing an assault complaint as a result.

Neither Withers nor Albrecht was still working as a security guard, with Withers working in the mining industry and Albrecht unemployed.

Acting Magistrate Rob Turra sentenced Withers to pay a $500 fine and $500 compensation to his victim, telling him his role should have been to “de-escalate things”.

“This is the role you’re in. The expectation is you understand how people behave when they’re intoxicated.

“In this instance, you were the aggressor.

“You left your post, he was defensively putting his hands up, and you belted him.”

Mr Turra made similar comments in sentencing Albrecht, telling him he had breached his “duty of care” to nightclub patrons.

“You’ve certainly got a distinct advantage over the intoxicated patron that you’re ejecting.

“It’s appalling that you chose to smack his head into a doorway.”

Albrecht was fined $500.

No convictions were recorded.