Man tried to resist arrest after being kicked out of Coffs pub, court hears

What started as a night out with friends ended in a court date for one very unhappy pub patron.

From throwing drunken insults to resisting his arrest – what started as a night out with friends at the Coffs Hotel ended in a court date for one very unhappy pub patron.

Dad-of-three Christopher Michael Humphreys faced sentencing before Magistrate Ian Rodgers at Coffs Harbour Local Court over the drunken incident this week.

The court heard that the Banora Point man was visiting his hometown of Coffs Harbour in April when he and a group of friends went golfing and had “a few beers” before heading to the local pub.

The group were however asked to leave the venue by staff, and when taken outside it was heard some members of the group got into an altercation with security.

Police were called to the scene, where things continued to get “heated”, it was heard.

The incident took place outside the Coffs Hotel after the patrons were asked to leave, a court heard.

Humphreys’ solicitor told the court that Humphreys, who was uncooperative with police, believed the security guards had been too heavy-handed when they had put his friends to the ground.

The defence said they had viewed body born footage of the incident, which they believed showed that police had asked Humphreys for his ID which was then “deliberately” thrown on the ground rather than handed back to him.

They said this resulted in him swearing at police.

Among the offensive comments, the court heard Humphreys called police “f**king c**ts”.

The man appeared for sentencing in Coffs Harbour Local Court on Monday.

It was heard police attempted to arrest Humphreys, who tried to resist and free himself from their grasp. Despite “tensing his muscles” when he was taken to the ground, Humphreys was arrested and charged with using offensive language in a public place and resist arrest.

The court heard that Humphreys had a criminal history including previous convictions for common assault and public nuisance.

His solicitor however told Magistrate Rodgers that there was more than a ten year gap since his previous convictions, and letters submitted to the court showed the construction project manager was highly regarded by his co-workers.

Magistrate Rodgers took this into account when handing down a sentence, and for using offensive language Humphreys was convicted and fined $120. For the charge of resisting arrest, he was convicted and fined $880.

Coffs Harbour’s licenced venues, which are part of the Coffs Harbour Liquor Accord, have in place an initiative dubbed Barred from One, Barred from All which sees anyone who displays aggression or anti-social behaviour in or near a premises barred from all member premises.

Similar multi-venue barring initiatives are also in place in Bellingen, Grafton and Yamba.