Jack Maynard pleads guilty to affray, reckless cause injury

A Drysdale mechanic narrowly avoided jail after an attempt at playing vigilante started a brawl at a party.

Jack Maynard.

A Drysdale mechanic said “events were a blur” when he sparked a brawl at a party after trying to play vigilante.

Jack Maynard pleaded guilty in the Geelong Magistrates Court on Thursday to charges of affray and recklessly causing injuries, after the more serious charge of aggravated burglary was dropped.

The 21-year-old narrowly avoided jail.

The court heard Maynard and a group of friends, some of whom had their faces covered, went to an address in Geelong about 1am on December 12, 2021 to confront a man about an interaction he had with a woman known to Maynard.

Police prosecutor Fraser Cameron said things escalated quickly between the two groups and turned physical.

One victim suffered cuts to his hand after he was struck by a beer bottle.

The court heard the victim recognised Maynard as he had seen a photo of him earlier that night.

Mr Cameron said Maynard had travelled into Geelong to pick the woman up from a party just after 9pm that night.

The court heard the woman told Maynard she had allegedly been assaulted by a man in Geelong, who she had planned to meet up with.

Mr Cameron said the man involved in the alleged assault had been cleared of any wrongdoing by officers.

When Maynard was interviewed by police, he said he went to confront the man about the incident with the woman and things escalated from there.

“My mates started jumping in and after that I don’t remember … events were a blur, I don’t remember much of it,” Maynard said.

Maynard’s lawyer Timothy Sullivan said his client overreacted by being there.

“He went there to investigate what the woman told him … it was a stupid thing to do,” Mr Sullivan said.

A number of the victims were present in court and said they had suffered “major anxiety”, “loss of sleep” and felt unsafe when going out at night.

Magistrate Simon Guthrie questioned why Maynard would go to the house in the first place with others.

“The consequences of this offending could have been far worse,” Mr Guthrie said.

“It’s not for you to be a de facto police officer going around to try and resolve issues with others,” he said.

Mr Guthrie convicted and sentenced Maynard to an adjourned undertaking for 18 months and fined him $1000.

Originally published as Jack Maynard pleads guilty to affray, reckless cause injury