Drunken assault in park and on train lands Redland offender 18-month jail sentence

A Redland man on bail for assault has been jailed after a court heard he calmly set down his beer before bashing a 76-year-old from behind in a park over a dog.

The park where the elderly man was bashed. Picture: Google

A 40-year-old Redland man, who calmly set down his bottle of beer before chasing and punching a 76-year-old stranger in a public park while on bail for assaulting another man on a Cleveland line train, has been jailed for 18 months.

Benjamin Roland Ethell appeared via video link before Cleveland Magistrate Deborah Vasta on Thursday, July 17, where he pleaded guilty to a string of offences, including serious assault of a person over 60, assault occasioning bodily harm, public nuisance, stealing, and breaching a probation order.

The court heard the first assault occurred in January on a man on the Cleveland train line, who was left with a bloodied nose after Ethell, while drunk, attacked him without provocation.

Months later, in May, while on bail for the train incident, Ethell assaulted a 76-year-old man in a Cleveland park near The Sands Hotel and the Cleveland Library, after the man had asked him to control his off-leash dog.

The court was shown CCTV footage in which the man and a woman were walking through the park in broad daylight when the encounter occurred.

They started to walk out of the park with their backs to Ethell, who put down a bottle of beer, before rushing at the couple striking the man who then fell to the ground.

Magistrate Vasta described the second attack in the Cleveland Park as “planned and calculated” noting that CCTV footage showed Ethell calmly placing down his beer before hitting the elderly man from behind.

“There was nothing spontaneous about that attack, that was very planned and calculated in an effort to be the top dog,” she said.

“You get drunk and you need to be the top dog – so much so that you attacked a 76-year-old man from behind just to punish him for talking to you about your dog.

“You acted like a gorilla beating on your chest.”

The court heard Ethell had a long history of alcohol abuse, dating back to childhood, and had failed to engage with mental health or rehabilitation services while on previous probation.

Ethell, who pleaded guilty to all charges, was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment for the assault on the elderly man, 12 months for the earlier train assault and related public nuisance charge, three months for stealing, one month for shoplifting and four months for breaching a probation order.

All sentences for imprisonment were ordered to be service concurrently.

Magistrate Vasta also ordered Ethell to pay $1500 in compensation to each victim via SPER, stating the devastating consequences of his actions should not be forgotten.

He will be released on parole on November 19.

Originally published as Drunken assault in park and on train lands Redland offender 18-month jail sentence