Geelong man Joshua Burns punched nightclub punter, assaulted housemate

The thud of a woman hitting a wall alerted her boyfriend to an over-the-top attack a housemate.

A Geelong man who punched another punter in a random attack outside St James nightclub told police the victim had been threatening his mate.

Joshua Burns was smoking a cigarette across the road from the Geelong nightclub in March last year when he saw two men become involved in a physical altercation with crowd control staff at the front of the nightclub.

The Geelong Magistrates’ Court heard that Burns saw one of the men was pinned against a wall.

Unprovoked, he walked over and punched the man twice in the head with a closed fist.

Burns told officers the victim had been “threatening my mate” and he “saw an opportunity to stop him and that’s why I hit him”.

Joshua Burns was fined for assaulting his female roommate after she woke him up. Picture: Facebook.

He pleaded guilty to the unlawful assault at the Geelong Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.

Burns also pleaded guilty to the earlier assault of his housemate and her boyfriend.

The court heard in September 2020, Burns was woken up by the sounds of his female housemate and her boyfriend arguing about the house keys, causing Burns to become “angry, swearing and threatening”.

Burns grabbed the woman and pushed her into the hallway wall.

The thud of the woman hitting the wall and falling onto the ground alerted her boyfriend in the next room.

The other man became angry when he saw his partner had fallen, prompting Burns to push him and threaten him with a raised fist.

Burns told them it was, “disrespectful how loud you are”.

He later told police the assault on his housemate was “unintentional” because she was caught in the middle of a “push and shove”.

Magistrate Franz Holzer convicted and fined Burns after accepting the accused man had spent the last 18 months addressing his drug use and anger issues.

“I want to emphasise the importance of (the rehabilitation) continuing. Both victims, in a different place and at a different time, might have ended up in different circumstances with you facing different charges.

“Both offences were avoidable. You have got to be more controlled in terms of how you interact with people in the community,” Mr Holzer said.

Originally published as Geelong man Joshua Burns punched nightclub punter, assaulted housemate