Kane Ollis: East Ballina man sentenced for Ballina BP brawl

A young man involved in a wild fight inside a North Coast service station has been told to stop acting like it’s the ‘wild west’ by a Ballina magistrate.

A young man who played a part in a dramatic Ballina servo brawl after hassling KFC workers has learnt his fate.

East Ballina man Kane Ollis, 20, appeared before Ballina Local Court where he faced sentence for affray, assaulting police and a high range drink-driving.

The court heard Ollis entered the Ballina BP Travel Centre about 8.20pm on January 15 and began verbally harassing KFC staff while waiting in line.

Several people then began telling Ollis off for his “rude and disruptive” behaviour, according to Magistrate Karen Stafford, which caused a fight to break out.

The fight, which occurred in the middle of school holidays, led members of the public to flee the store.

One man who was paying for fuel was shoved and nearly fell while a number of items fell off shelves during the melee, according to agreed court facts.

Magistrate Karen Stafford said the facts showed Ollis was “really out of control”.

“A lot of the families had to leave the service station because it was so disturbing what was going on,” she said.

“It had a great impact on the people who saw it … we know that because police received a lot of calls to go and attend.”

The fight continued into the carpark where one of the men fighting Ollis punched his passenger side car door and injured his finger, the facts state.

Ollis drove off but was stopped by police on River St, 200m east of the Pacific Highway interchange.

Magistrate Stafford noted police found Ollis “highly agitated” and intoxicated when he was pulled over.

He returned a blood alcohol reading of 0.187.

“That just causes a significant risk to yourself...and everyone else at the petrol station,” she said.

“Who knows what catastrophe could have happened if police hadn't eventually pulled you over?”

Court facts state police captured the brawl on CCTV footage and were “appalled” at the disregard for the public.

On April 5, while on bail, Ollis was caught by police drinking and urinating and acting aggressively on River St.

A ‘blood smeared’ Ollis became aggressive toward a police officer responding to the call-out, and once handcuffed, spat phlegm and saliva on the officer’s legs and groin region, court facts state.

Solicitor Alexander Angel-Graham said Ollis was supported in court by his mother, who had seen a change in him since he began the SMART Recovery program.

“(The program) really brought home to him where he may be headed if he doesn't clearly reconcile this issue with alcohol.”

Mr Angel-Graham said Ollis was a hardworking young man who worked up to 50 hours a week on a casual basis.

“When you’re sober you’re quite a valued member of society,” Magistrate Stafford said.

Still she said there was a need to stop offenders from acting “as though it’s the wild west and they can take these matters into their own hands”.

She sentenced Ollis to a 12 month Intensive Corrections Order for the affray charge, with an added condition he cannot drink alcohol during that time and must continue the SMART program.

For the High Range PCA, she sentenced him to a two year Community Corrections Order with 100 hours of community service and a licence disqualification of six months, backdated to January 15.

Ollis will also be placed under an interlock licence for a period of two years.

For the assault police charge, Ollis was sentenced to a two year Community Corrections Order with a 12 month ban on alcohol.