Joel Spittles, Jesse Wilcox feud: guilty plea over Dee Why assault
The latest chapter in a long-running suburban feud spilled over into a Sunday morning brawl at Dee Why shops. But the attacker has escaped conviction after a magistrate deemed he was ‘provoked’.
Manly
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A man who pleaded guilty to a serious assault charge has been let off with a warning after a Magistrate said the victim provoked him by continually filming him with a mobile phone.
Manly Local Court did not record a conviction against Joel Ilia Spittles after he admitted hitting another man in the head in an argument over a historic road rage incident.
Magistrate Michelle Goodwin agreed with Mr Spittles, 30, a truck delivery driver from Dee Why, that he repeatedly warned the victim, Jesse Wilcox, to “get that camera out of my face” during a public confrontation on a Sunday morning in July.
Ms Goodwin said the accused could keep his “good name” because there was “some provocation” and placed him on a 15-month conditional release order to be of good behaviour. No conviction was recorded.
He had pleaded guilty to one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
She was also told that Mr Spittles has suffered a traumtic brain injury in a car accident in 2008 and he sometimes struggled managing his emotions.
The court was told that the men had clashed in the past after Mr Wilcox had allegedly kicked Mr Spittles’ car.
Some time later, at 10.50am on July 19, Mr Wilcox was taking on his phone at the entrance to a Coles supermarket in Dee Why when Mr Spittles walked by and noticed him smiling.
A facts sheet tendered to court said that Mr Spittles asked: “Do you remember kicking my car? Now back off.”
Police said Mr Wilcox started filming Mr Spittles with a mobile phone and said: “What did you say about your car, man? You seem really angry, are you alright?”
Mr Spittles then said: “Can you stop following me? Get out of my face, man. Get out of my face, go.”
The fact sheet said Mr Wilcox then asked: “What did you come up to me for?”
Mr Spittles reacted by saying: “If you don’t get out of my face in a second I’m going to knock the glasses off your face. I’m asking you to leave. Get that camera out of my face.”
He then hit Mr Wilcox “with an open hand” on his neck and shoulder.
Both men then started walking towards the Dee Why police station.
The facts sheet said Mr Wilcox allegedly hit Mr Spittles in the back of the head and kicked him on the arm.
Mr Wilcox has pleaded not guilty to a charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. He will be back in Manly Local Court on October 29.
At the police station Mr Wilcox asked for an ambulance for treatment to a scratch to the right side of his scalp, which was inflamed and swollen. He was taken to Northern Beaches Hospital.
Ms Goodwin told Mr Spittles that while he was not convicted, if he breached his conditional release order, he would be back before that court to answer the assault charge.