Aaron Domonick Saward: Yamba man sentenced at Maclean Local Court for damaging property, assault
A North Coast artist smacked passing cars with a skateboard and attacked a man checking on his welfare. Here’s what happened in court, where he asked a magistrate to “be kind”.
Grafton
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A northern NSW man who described himself in court as an artist and all-round “coastal guy” swung his skateboard at passing cars and later attacked a man checking on his welfare.
Facing Maclean Local Court for sentencing on Thursday, Yamba man Aaron Domonick Saward, 32, asked Magistrate Juliana Crofts to “be kind to Aaron”.
Saward faced court in boat shoes with no socks, with three quarter pants, a Billabong top and white jacket, pleading guilty to damaging property, common assault, intimidation and behaving in an offensive manner.
Saward swung his skateboard at cars driving along Yamba Rd for “unknown reasons” on the morning of April 4, court documents state.
He hit one car, denting the door, before he ran toward the vehicle “screaming and yelling abuse”.
The woman driving the car accelerated away and when police attended and questioned Saunders all he had to say was: “I’m angry.”
About 2pm on April 24, a man spotted Saward lying on his back on Yamba Rd, stretched out between the road and the footpath.
The man went to check on Saward and asked him: “Are you okay mate?”
Saward “began to throw punches” at the victim, and also “yelled aggressively” at another man riding his bike with his young daughter, the court heard.
Saward represented himself in court and told Ms Crofts he is a “coastal guy” who lives and works as a house painter and artist throughout northern NSW.
Asked to explain why he assaulted the man who checked on him, Saward said he “was getting very tired” and decided to nap on the side of the road.
“(I was sleeping) and this other guy walked up behind me … and he wanted to fight me and I was like ‘yeah okay’,” he said.
“He was more the aggressor and I was basically sitting on the ground.”
Ms Crofts said she understood how Saward could have been confused in the moment.
“(Still), you should not have done that,” she said.
Ms Crofts convicted Saward, fined him $200 and sentenced him to a nine-month conditional release order.
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