Bow and arrows, fractured skull: Aurukun man Kerrod Marbendinar, 28, sentenced over clan violence bashing

Two men were flown from the remote cape community of Aurukun by the Royal Flying Doctor Service after clan rivalries erupted into extreme violence after a man threatened a women with a bow and arrow, a court heard as another man was sentenced for his beating.

The Indigenous community of Aurukun on the western coast of The Cape York Peninsula. Picture: Aurukun Shire Council

Two men were flown to hospital from Aurukun after clan rivalries erupted into extreme violence as a man threatened a woman with a bow and arrow, a court has heard.

Kerrod Ian Charles Marbendinar, 28 of Aurukun, pleaded guilty to one charge of grievous bodily harm and one count of assault occasioning bodily harm while armed in company in Cairns District Court on Wednesday.

Crown Prosecutor Shauna Farrelly told the court Marbendinar was only 12 days into a release on parole for another assault when the violence occurred on October 26, 2023.

She said the man had previously been involved in violent rivalry between family groups split between the “top-end and bottom-end” that involved organised street fights.

Ms Farrelly said the offences occurred around 3am and involved two groups fighting each other along family lines with ongoing conflict over the course of the morning.

“The complainant went to a house where people were drinking, he was holding a bow and arrow at one point and it is alleged he pointed that arrow at a woman, which caused her to run away to another address,” she said.

“She said she was further assaulted there.”

Members of the Marbendinar family who lived at the address were woken by the disturbance with one of the family disarming the man with the bow and arrow.

Members of the complainants family then arrived at the address demanding the bow and arrow to be returned before elder members were able to calm the situation down, the court heard.

The Cairns Court House building on Sheridan Street. Picture: Brendan Radke

Another argument broke out with members of both families calling out for a “fair fight” before the complainant threw a brick which hit Kerrod Marbendinar’s brother in the head, knocking him to the ground.

Marbendinar and others then chased down the complainant armed with weapons including, scissors, metal poles, hammers, and a shifter.

“He was hit in the head but kept running, until he was surrounded by the group,” Ms Farrelly said.

“The result of the attack was a skull laceration, a partial skull fracture, a rib fracture and a penetrating left chest injury.

“The chest injury, if not treated, would have had an effect on his lung function, respiratory failure or death.

“The skull injury would have likely have caused severe infection.”

The man was driven to the local clinic by police after they arrived where he and the man struck by the brick were then flown to hospital.

Defence counsel Aaron Dunkerton said Marbendinar accepted he was on parole at the time of the offence.

He said he was a party to the offending but not a principal offender.

Judge Joshua Trevino KC said there was bad behaviour from both sides.

“It is a story well known in this courtroom, the conflict that bubbles up between different family groups and you have been convicted previously on previous offences,” he said.

“You attacked this man in a cowardly way, he was outnumbered, you surrounded him, and you caused very serious injuries.”

Judge Trevino accepted there was “very provocative behaviour” that precipitated his involvement in the violence.

Marbendinar was sentenced to four years imprisonment and was given a parole eligibility date of the day of sentence having 341 days declared as pre-sentence custody.

Originally published as Bow and arrows, fractured skull: Aurukun man Kerrod Marbendinar, 28, sentenced over clan violence bashing