Kieran Vowles: assault, public masturbation lands Brunswick Heads man in court

A NSW north coast man who punched an elderly man and was also busted masturbating in the middle of a busy highway has been savaged by a magistrate who sarcastically called him a “real man”.

A NSW north coast man has narrowly avoided jail after punching an elderly man in a drunken incident only weeks after he was caught masturbating on the median strip of a busy highway.

Kieran Vowles, 23, was charged with assault causing actual bodily harm after he punched his grandmother’s 81-year-old partner in the eye at Brunswick Heads on February 14 – then dobbed himself into police.

Weeks earlier on December 27 last year, police also charged Vowles with exposing himself in a public place after officers caught him masturbating in the middle of Minjungbal Dr in Tweed Heads South.

Documents tendered to Byron Bay Local Court reveal the punch occurred after an argument over a stove.

“The accused stood about one foot away from the victim and punched the victim with a closed right fist, connecting with the victim's left eye and cheekbone,” agreed police facts state.

“Hospital staff stated the victim sustained bruising, swelling and a nasal bone fracture to his left eye.”

Magistrate Jeff Linden made a withering assessment of Vowles’ crimes after the Brunswick Heads man pleaded guilty to both offences.

Kieran Vowles at Byron Bay Local Court.

“It takes a real man to punch an 81-year-old man, it shocks me to see something like that,” Mr Linden said as he pored over images of the injured man.

“You’ve heard my view on how weak you are in regards to assaulting an old man.”

The magistrate was equally unimpressed by the facts in Vowles’ first matter, in which he was seen by hordes of motorists outside the Tweed City Mall with his pants around his ankles masturbating while standing on the median strip in the middle of Minjungbal Dr.

“The accused then bent forward and exposed his buttocks to passing traffic in an act colloquially referred to as a ‘brown eye’,” agreed police facts state.

“A (passing police officer) was able to see the accused expose his penis – he did this by lowering his shorts to near his knees – and he was then seen to thrust his pelvis and penis in a back and forward motion in what could be described as a provocative simulated sex act.”

His solicitor told the court alcohol abuse had been a factor in all his offending.

“He should never drink alcohol again, he’s lucky someone didn’t give him a flogging, dropping his pants in the middle of the road,” Mr Linden said.

“Does he have a job or does he just go about exposing himself to members of the public and traffic on the highway?”

Mr Linden sentenced Vowles to an 18-month intensive corrections order for the assault to give him an opportunity to treat his alcohol issues in the community, along with supervision by Community Corrections and 100 hours’ community service.

He was fined $600 for his median strip masturbation.

Originally published as Kieran Vowles: assault, public masturbation lands Brunswick Heads man in court