Phillip Hurst: Grafton man sentenced for assault at the Post Office Hotel

A Clarence Valley man terrorised his family after downing a carton of beer and brandishing a kitchen knife, which he then wielded as he knocked on the doors of their rooms.

Generic picture of an arrest​

A Clarence man who was a carton of beer deep and armed with a knife terrorised his family before he was promptly knocked out by his stepson.

Grafton man Phillip Hurst, 51, appeared via audiovisual link to be sentenced for his violent outburst at Grafton Local Court on Monday.

Despite claiming to not remember most of the incident, the 51-year-old man entered pleas of guilty to contravening an apprehended domestic violence order (ADVO), common assault, using a knife with the intent to commit an indictable offence and intimidation.

Documents tendered to court lay out how Hurst’s terrifying outburst went down, with police noting he is “a frequent domestic violence offender”, a “chronic alcoholic” and had been “embroiled” in an ongoing dispute with his adult stepson over their living arrangements.

At the time of the offending – on January 29 – Hurst was living with members of his family in different units at Grafton’s Post Office Hotel on Victoria St.

Grafton’s Post Office Hotel. Picture: Adam Hourigan.

After spending the day downing an entire carton of beer, Hurst entered the shared kitchen area where his wife was cooking.

“During this time (Hurst) became irate, yelling and swearing at (his wife) … she exited the hotel and waited outside to avoid him,” police facts state.

But as his wife waited outside, matters only got worse when, just before 9pm, Hurst grabbed “a large kitchen knife”, a court heard.

“(Brandishing the knife) Hurst entered the hallway of the hotel and began knocking on doors and swearing,” court documents state.

“Both the victim (Hurst’s stepson) and (a roommate) were located inside unit three at this time.

“The victim exited his room and observed Hurst to be about a metre away from him wielding a knife in his left hand.”

Hurst’s stepson then said: “Phil what are you doing with the knife?”, a court heard.

Hurst “rambled incoherently” and “stepped towards” the victim with the knife raised.

His stepson punched Hurst in the face to avoid being attacked.

This caused Hurst to briefly lose consciousness, as the victim rolled his stepfather over into the recovery position.

But Hurst was soon back on his feet.

“(He) regained consciousness and got to his feet, and again attempted to attack the victim,” police facts state.

Once again, the victim punched him in self-defence, causing Hurst to fall backwards and lose consciousness.

When police arrived, they first transported Hurst to Grafton Base Hospital – before arresting him – as they noticed blood coming from his left ear, a five centimetre cut on the rear of his head and lump on his temple.

Hurst was sentenced at Grafton Local Court.

In court, defence lawyer Gregory Coombes said his client had “virtually no memory of the incident itself”.

He added, even though his client has a history of alcohol and domestic violence-related offences, this was the first instance a weapon was involved.

Mr Coombs also said his client had an ill wife and a job offer lined up in a local concreting business.

Magistrate Juliana Crofts told the court she considered the charges to be serious, and noted Hurst had spent over four months on remand after the offences.

She also noted, after being knocked out by the victim, Mr Hurst seemed to have a limited memory of his offences.

“(Hurst told police) ‘fist fighting is fair, but the use of a weapon is pretty weak’,” Ms Crofts said.

Hurst, who was on a community correction order for a previous offence, had that order revoked and was sentenced to a fresh 12-month community correction order for breaching his ADVO.

For the other offences, Ms Crofts sentenced Hurst to nine months’ imprisonment, to be served in the community by means of an intensive correction order.