Adrian Smith and Scott Pigram faced Dubbo Local Court following brawl at Castlereagh Hotel

Two men involved in a brawl at Castlereagh Hotel earlier this year fronted Dubbo Local Court on Thursday. Here’s what happened.

Two men have been prohibited from drinking alcohol for a year following a wild pub brawl at the Castlereagh Hotel in Dubbo at the start of the year, a court has heard.

Adrian Smith, 34 - a self-employed electrician - and Scott Pigram, 35 - a father of two from Gunnedah - both have a history of violent conduct with Smith previously imprisoned for past offences.

The pair were arrested by Dubbo Police in the early hours of January 19, after officers were alerted to an incident involving a group of friends who attended a funeral the day prior.

According to court documents Smith and Pigram were drinking at Castlereagh Hotel at about 12:55am with four friends, when a verbal dispute occurred, resulting in a beer being thrown by one of the friends.

The drink appeared to “slightly splash” Pigram as he confronted the man and immediately threw punches, striking the head of another of the men.

A bar attendant was forced to intervene, appearing to settle the group, however, Smith began throwing punches at the head of the man who’d already been struck, reigniting the altercation.

After tables and chairs were knocked over and more punches were thrown by Smith and Pigram, the bar attendant once again struggled to break up the group.

Smith and Pigram were later separated, with another member of the group calling the police who arrived shortly after.

Upon arrival, police issued a move on direction to the four friends outside the hotel and arrested Smith and Pigram.

“Police also reviewed the CCTV footage which depicts the excessively violent nature of the accused (Smith) and co-accused (Pigram),” the police facts state.

During the “violent outbursts” from Smith and Pigram, police stated, “the parties they are assaulting do not appear to throw any punches back”.

Supplied Editorial Dubbo Police Station. Picture: Ryan Young

Smith and Pigram were taken to Dubbo Police Station where they were both charged with affray.

Magistrate Gary Wilson described Pigram’s response to being splashed by beer as “a bit of an over-reaction”.

“It was a pretty ugly scene that you both generated from something quite innocuous,” Magistrate Wilson added.

“There were heightened emotions [and] too much alcohol, [it’s just] another pub brawl in this town [which] happens all too often.”

Magistrate Wilson highlighted Dubbo’s history with “a lot of bad outcomes” related to similar acts of violence and said it was “fortunate that none of that seemed to occur”.

While Magistrate Wilson deemed Smith’s actions to be “somewhat limited” in comparison to Pigram, the pair received the same result, declaring the charges of affray were to be lifted.

Smith and Pigram were both placed on a two-year good behaviour bond where they will be subjected to random breath tests and weekly supervision at Dubbo and Gunnedah police stations.