One punch man lands a punter to the floor and himself in court

A grumpy grandpa punched a bar patron after a heated conversation at a Mill Park pub turned violent.

Shane McClintock punched a man he knew in The Plough Hotel and fractured his jaw

A businessman lost a property maintenance contract for a hotel where he punched a man he knew and broke his jaw after a tense conversation turned violent.

A jury rejected Shane McClintock’s argument of self defence and found him guilty on one charge of recklessly causing injury.

The 65-year-old grandfather was sentenced by the County Court on Friday to a two-year Community Corrections Order— owing in part to a largely unblemished adult life.

He punched 46-year-old Scott Roberts in the Plough Hotel on Mill Park on June 19, 2021 and scans a day later at the Austin Hospital revealed the latter suffered a fractured jaw that required surgery.

Judge Amanda Chambers said both men had known each other for five years and arrived at the hotel bar separately.

CCTV footage showed McClintock walked towards the door to leave, then stepped back to briefly speak to Roberts.

McClintock told police Roberts was arguing about him picking on the latter’s father and was spitting on him and poking him. Roberts said he had no memory of the incident.

Things got heated between two men at the Plough Hotel before it turned violent.

Judge Chambers said McClintock stood close to Roberts with both hands in his pockets while the victim was seen gesticulating with both hands and touching his arm.

The footage showed McClintock remove his hands from the pockets while Roberts poked him in the chest or arm area.

McClintock immediately swung his right arm and punched him to the left side of his jaw. As Roberts fell down, his head hit the bar stool beside him.

The next thing he remembered was being assisted up the floor. Following the attack, McClintock sent a text message to Roberts and said he was sorry as he did not mean to hit him so hard.

He continued with the text message by saying “You were spitting on me”.

“Consistent with the jury’s verdict, you must have been aware that your punching him to the jaw would probably injure him and in doing so without any lawful justification or excuse,” Judge Chambers said.

She said assaults involving punching attacks in or around pubs were all too prevalent in the community and must be denounced.