North Stradbroke Island man Creon Drew Inger assaults mate for calling police over drink drive

A drunk fisherman bogged at Point Lookout has been caught on camera punching a former friend after he called the police about his drunk behaviour.

A North Stradbroke Island man has been given a suspended jail sentence for bashing his fishing buddy for calling the police on him during a bout of drink driving.

Dunwich boilermaker Creon Drew Inger, 43, was supported by his mother at Cleveland Magistrates Court today where he pleaded guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm and stealing.

The court heard Inger had a blood-alcohol reading of 0.144 per cent at around 4pm on October 15 at Point Lookout when a fishing buddy “jokingly” approached him to offer assistance to the man, whose vehicle was bogged.

Noting his mate was intoxicated and driving, the man phoned the police only to have Inger punch him in the face and “forcefully” remove his phone during the call.

The court was told Inger then sat on the man and continued to punch him, raining down “4-5 blows”.

The defendant would throw his mate’s phone into shrubbery from where it would not be recovered.

A police prosecutor said a witness showed video footage of the assault to police, who would find a still bogged Inger with blood splattered on his shorts and shirt.

The court heard Inger had a history of violent offending for which he had previously spent time in jail.

Defence solicitor Stephanie Tsimos clarified that her client and his victim had known one another since their school days but had a falling out.

Inger, the court heard, suspected his victim of interfering with his trailer during a previous incident which had led to a traffic accident.

It was noted in court no such interference had been established by police.

The court heard Inger was remorseful for the ugly incident and had struggled with alcohol abuse for some time.

At his worst the defendant drank “half a carton to a carton” a day, the defence stated.

Ms Tsimos tendered a doctor’s letter to the court and said her client had since stopped drinking.

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Inger was sentenced to two months’ jail, wholly suspended over 12 months and was ordered to pay his victim $500 in restitution.

The defendant was also banned from making contact with his victim unless he is granted written permission to do so.

A conviction was recorded.