Community outraged by alleged coward attack on Melissa Abdoo

A MAN charged over the alleged attack on Mount Isa pub manager Melissa Abdoo has been granted bail, a decision that has outraged the community.

THE man charged over the alleged attack on Mount Isa pub manager Melissa Abdoo has been granted bail, a decision that has outraged the community.

Boy Allan Page, 28, faced Mount Isa Magistrates Court yesterday after allegedly attacking duty manager Melissa Abdoo over the weekend outside Buffs Club in Mount Isa. He is charged with grievous bodily harm.

Page was granted bail on the conditions that he avoid contact with Ms Abdoo, stay away from licensed premises, not drink alcohol, submit to breath testing and undergo drug and alcohol assessment referral.

But Ms Abdoo’s partner Jason Weckert criticised the judge’s decision, telling media outside court that he was disappointed.

“I’m sick in the gut, for them not to pull through and do what they said — it’s one punch — that’s what it should be classed as, it is just cowardly,’’ he told Nine News.

“They’re not doing the law, this ain’t the law. It’s crap. The community will sort it out.”

Melissa Abdoo is recovering in Townsville hospital.

The brutal unprovoked attack on Melissa Abdoo rocked the outback town of Mount Isa, with community leaders across the state condemning the cowardly assault.

None have been hit harder than the tight-knit staff of The Buffs Club, who have been left reeling after a man slammed Ms Abdoo to the ground, leaving her with serious head injuries.

The Buffs Club manager Karen Graham said staff, friends and family had been left “devastated” by the assault on Ms Abdoo.

“The staff is like a family here so it’s hit people hard,” she said. “The focus is just making sure she and her family have everything they need to get through.”

Mount Isa Mayor Tony McGrady said he hoped the man who allegedly attacked Ms Abdoo was appropriately dealt with by the court.

“If this person is found guilty I hope that the magistrate will throw the book at him and use him as an example of what will happen to people who perpetrate this sort of violence on people who are working long hard hours to provide for their family,” Cr McGrady said

“These people are expected to accept this sort of nonsense, and I think it’s about time the judiciary started to set examples of these people who think anything goes,” Cr McGrady said.

“They have a responsibility and a duty to set and show an example of what will happen to people if and when they commit this sort of offence.

“I will be watching with great interest to see how this plays out ... I hope it shows what will happen to these ratbags when they do something like this.”

Boy Allan Page outside Mount Isa Magistrates Court yesterday.

One Punch Can Kill campaigner Paul Stanley knows all too well the pain these attacks can deliver, after his son Matthew died when he was king hit at a party nearly 10 years ago.

Mr Stanley created the Matthew Stanley Foundation to not only campaign against one-punch deaths, but also to educate young people about ways to deal with ­confrontation.

“Everyone is talking about putting people in jail and throwing away the key, that’s certainly a part of it, but my biggest concern is the fact that we aren’t spending more time and effort on education to stop these attacks from happening in the first place,” Mr Stanley said.

“I go around speaking at schools, that’s my job in life now and one that I wouldn’t wish on anybody either.

“I’m now starting to talk more and more in primary schools.

“If we can get to these kids as early as possible, we can change the culture in a couple of generations, to say that violence is rubbish and it’s not ­acceptable.”

Page will next appear in court on February 8.

Originally published as Community outraged by alleged coward attack on Melissa Abdoo