Moroni Ngaitahu Mac-Ray Tetai and Jireh Te Onewa Taiaroa face court over Airlie Beach taxi bashing

A failed request for a nightclub photo left a 23-year-old man so upset he stopped traffic to confront the man he held responsible. Now two men have lost privileges to enter the town centre.

Airlie Beach cook Moroni Ngaitahu Mac-Ray Tetai pleaded guilty to public nuisance for the June 23, 2021 incident. Picture: Facebook

Two Whitsunday men bashed an acquaintance unconscious over a broken mobile phone then left the scene and continued their night out drinking.

Moroni Ngaitahu Mac-Ray Tetai and Jireh Te Onewa Taiaroa stopped traffic in Airlie Beach to punch a man travelling in a taxi until he passed out, then hung around at a nearby bar until police caught up with them.

Proserpine Magistrates Court heard the two men “chased [the victim] down” after he allegedly damaged Tetai’s mobile phone at Hush Bar in the early hours of the morning on June 23.

Police identified the two offenders using CCTV footage and tracked them down at Paddy’s Shenanigans later that morning, where they admitted they had done the wrong thing because they were upset about the phone.

Their victim, who was known to the men but not considered a friend, declined to press assault charges, despite injuries bad enough to send him to hospital.

The two offenders faced court on Monday pleading guilty to one count of public nuisance each.

Tetai said he was upset about the damage to his phone when he punched a man three times in the face. Picture: Facebook

Tetai told the court the incident occurred after he handed his mobile phone over to the victim asking him to take a photo of him and his friends, but instead of doing so, the man “went missing” with the phone.

Tetai, 23, said he and Taiaroa, 21, had later found the phone “smashed inside a toilet” and went after the man to confront him about it.

Tetai told the court he had punched the man in the head twice with his right fist and once with his left fist, and had left the scene knowing the man was unconscious.

“I had my phone in my pocket, and I was asking him if he knew where my phone was to see if he would lie to me, and yeah, he said he didn’t know,” Tetai said.

“I was sort of just questioning him ... like asking him if he smashed my phone and if he’d seen it, but he kept denying it.

“So I pulled out my phone and that’s when he admitted to smashing my phone and that's when I attacked him.”

Police prosecutor Sergeant Emma Myors said the incident had temporarily blocked a lane of Shute Harbour Road, a busy thoroughfare, and left bystanders “visibly distressed”.

The police call out to the taxi had been a “Code 1” job – “the most critical and urgent code communications can detail to police”, Sgt Myors said.

Magistrate James Morton described Tetai’s use of violence as “gratuitous” and remanded him and his co-accused in custody overnight with the warning that they could expect substantial sentences on their return to court in the morning, despite both being first-time offenders.

“You can expect a term of imprisonment,” Mr Morton said.

“You’ve punched a man for very little to no reason.

“You knew he was unconscious when you left him there.”

Both men appeared via videolink at Bowen Magistrates Court on Tuesday, August 10, where Mr Morton said he hoped they had used their time in custody to reflect on their “dog act”.

He sentenced each man to pay a $300 fine, plus $250 compensation to the victim.

He did not record convictions, but banned the two men from the Airlie Beach Safe Night Precinct for 12 months.

“Next time you want to go throwing your fists around, remember one punch can kill,” Mr Morton said.