Jessie Lawrance Walker pleads guilty to Airlie Beach public nuisance

A Mackay man has been banned from an Airlie Beach bar for 12 months after sending a stranger to hospital for intervening in an argument with his sister-in-law.

A Mackay man has been banned from an Airlie Beach bar for 12 months after a fight that rendered a man unconscious.

Jessie Lawrance Walker, 27, punched a stranger who confronted him about his “aggressive” behaviour towards a woman at Magnums on August 21, causing the man to fall backwards, hit his head on a wooden balcony beam and lose consciousness for several minutes.

Proserpine Magistrates Court heard the man was hospitalised with significant bleeding from his mouth, bruising and swelling to his face and no memory of the incident, which occurred about 9.40pm.

Despite needing four stitches for a large gash to his lip and cheek, the man did not make an assault complaint, so police instead charged Walker with public nuisance after finding him “attempting to hide” on the Airlie Beach foreshore later that night.

Walker’s solicitor Antoinette Morton told the court that before the incident, the man had told Walker “You need to f--- off. You’re nothing that a bullet wouldn’t fix”, and that after the incident Walker was “set to” by members of the man’s group and “also was the victim of an assault” but did not wish to press charges.

Jessie Lawrance Walker pleaded guilty to committing public nuisance near a licensed premises.

Ms Morton said the man had “misinterpreted” a verbal altercation between Walker and his sister-in-law and “sought to physically and verbally insert himself into that event”.

She said Walker had been in custody since August 31 as his parole for unrelated matters had been suspended following the incident.

Walker was jailed in 2019 for four-and-a-half years for trafficking ice and escaping lawful custody - the latter because he was scared his girlfriend would break up with him.

He only became eligible to apply for parole in November 2020.

Magistrate James Morton acknowledged there was “nothing worse than somebody putting their nose in your business” but said Walker was lucky he was not facing a more serious charge.

Taking into account Walker’s criminal history, Mr Morton sentenced him to one month’s jail, wholly suspended for 12 months, and banned him from Magnums for 12 months.

“People fall over, hit their head and that’s the end of their life and you’re forever wondering – was it all worth it?” Mr Morton said.

“You’re very lucky he hasn’t been seriously hurt … You’d be waiting for a manslaughter indictment in the supreme court.”