Rudy Mitchell-Herden fails attempt to wipe criminal record clean of conviction

A Brisbane man involved in a brutal group bashing of his sister’s boyfriend has attempted to have his criminal record wiped clean of a conviction.

Salisbury man Rudy Jed Mitchell-Herden, 24. Picture: Facebook

A Brisbane man has failed in his attempt to wipe his criminal record clean of a conviction after he was involved in a violent group attack on his sister’s boyfriend on Christmas Day 2019.

Rudy Jed Mitchell-Herden, then 22, of Salisbury was at home with four of his friends – Conor Tisdell, Conah Morrissey-Harvey, Jarrad Fairbanks, and Brock Stitt – when he heard his sister and her boyfriend arguing in her bedroom.

Tisdell, who also heard the arguing, entered the bedroom and confronted the boyfriend. He punched him in the face, causing him to fall to the ground with an injured jaw.

The group of friends proceeded to drag the victim from the room and throw him out the front door while Stitt kicked and punched him.

The Court of Appeal heard Mitchell-Herden was “no passive player” in the process.

“He was physically involved in the group dragging of the defenceless complainant, who suffered a variety of adverse consequences from these events,” Judge James Henry told the court.

Stitt’s actions were said to have left the victim with a cut above his eyebrow that required stitches.

The Court of Appeal heard Mitchell-Herden was “no passive player” in the incident.

Mitchell-Herden pleaded guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm in company and was sentenced by Judge Vicki Loury in the District Court to 12 months’ probation.

Ms Loury also ordered he pay $1500 compensation and recorded a conviction on the grounds that doing so would have no or little effect on Mitchell-Herden’s economic or social wellbeing as he worked in construction building new homes.

Mitchell-Herden’s co-offenders also pleaded guilty to the crime and received sentences consisting of either a fine or probation and $1500 compensation.

Stitt and Morrissey-Harvey had no conviction recorded while Fairbanks had a conviction recorded.

Tisdell, who committed a separate offence and had spent 30 days in presentence custody, received 18 months’ probation, 100 hours community service, and a $4000 compensation order with no conviction recorded.

Mitchell-Herden applied for leave to appeal his sentence and have no conviction recorded, with his counsel arguing the penalty applied by Ms Loury was manifestly excessive.

Mr Henry noted Mitchell-Herden had a criminal history – which began at age 19 with drug-related offences including possession of drugs and utensils or pipes – while some of his co-offenders had no or a very limited criminal history.

There were also large differences between the offenders’ ages and employment at the time of sentencing.

Mr Henry concluded Ms Loury did not err in her original judgment and there was “no substance” to any of Mitchell-Herden’s proposed grounds of appeal. The application was refused.