Seth Legge: Port Macquarie man sentenced after Settlers Inn pub fight

A Mid-North Coast boilermaker has narrowly escaped jail time after headbutting a footy rival outside a Port Macquarie pub.

Legge was sentenced at Port Macquarie Courthouse.

A Port Macquarie man is lucky to have escaped time behind bars after an “unprovoked” attack on a former footy rival outside The Settlers Inn.

Seth Legge, 20, who pleaded guilty to affray, reckless wounding and larceny in Port Macquarie Local Court in September, appeared on Wednesday to be sentenced.

An agreed set of facts tendered to the court stated that Legge and some of his mates were asked to leave the pub when staff caught Legge stealing a Vodka Cruiser in September last year.

Around the same time, the victim and two friends were in the pub’s carpark with a carton of Carlton Dry and 10-pack of Cruisers they’d purchased from the nearby bottle shop.

Seth Legge, 20.

An argument erupted between the two groups when Legge’s friend asked them to share the grog.

It soon escalated with Legge headbutting and punching the victim, causing a 3cm laceration near the eye which “bled heavily”, according to the facts.

Legge continued “using unlawful violence”, chasing a friend of the victim when they tried to report the fight to pub security.

Once Legge’s group were ushered away from the premises, the victim and his mates noticed their 10-pack of Cruisers had been stolen.

The victim was taken to hospital where he received four stitches to his eyebrow and was diagnosed with lower lip mucosal abrasion.

The bottle shop at Settlers Inn.

Legge’s lawyer Steve Jensen told the court that the men had once played football against each other and that the young offender had learnt from his mistake.

Mr Jensen said Legge has showed “significant insight”, having steered clear of alcohol ever since the fight and not committed any further offences while he was on bail.

He said the third-year boiler making apprentice “works hard” and his good character was demonstrated by the attendance of multiple supporters in the courtroom gallery.

Mr Jensen said the larceny charge fell towards the lower end of seriousness but conceded there were “other matters of concern and my client doesn’t shy away from that”.

He said Legge had no criminal history and had been deemed a low-risk of reoffending, suggesting community service as an appropriate punishment.

Legge reappeared in Port Macquarie Local Court on November 9.

“In this type of matter (given the ages of those involved and the location) general deterrence is warranted,” Mr Jensen said.

The police prosecutor said the reckless wounding and affray offences sat just below the mid-range level of objective seriousness, noting the attack was “unprovoked” and that Legge’s actions were “aggressive” and “impulsive”.

The prosecutor reminded Magistrate Georgina Darcy that the victim was hospitalised after Legge’s “alcohol-fuelled violence”.

Ms Darcy agreed the stolen Cruiser was a “fairly trivial example of larceny”, but explained imprisonment was an available punishment for the other two “serious offences”.

“The incident itself … did not need to occur,” Ms Darcy said.

She said that such assaults, while this case appeared to have been a “spur of the moment”, were prevalent in the local area.

Ms Darcy said a message must be sent to ensure the community knows “these types of violent offences … will be dealt with appropriately” by the justice system.

She said she had “considered very carefully if a sentence of imprisonment is required”, but ultimately decided – due to Legge’s age and clean record – to let him serve his sentence in the community.

The larceny charge was dismissed and Legge was convicted for the other two offences.

For the affray charge, Legge will serve an 18-month community correction order. For the reckless wounding charge, Legge was sentenced to nine months home detention, with Ms Darcy handing down an Intensive Correction Order (ICO) as well as 100 hours of community service.

Ms Darcy reminded Legge he “won’t come back to this court” if he breaks the rules of his ICO.