Trio faces court for alleged attack on US marines in Palmerston restaurant

THREE brothers have faced court for allegedly attacking a group of US marines in a Palmerston restaurant on Boxing Day

THREE brothers have faced court for allegedly attacking a group of US marines in a Palmerston restaurant on Boxing Day last year, with one of the co-accused getting off without jail time.

Ashton Davey, 24, Jeffrey Ahwon, 23, and Jordan Scott, 30, appeared in Darwin Local Court on Monday, each facing charges of disorderly behaviour in public and engaging in violent conduct.

Davey pleaded guilty to both charges and was slapped with a two-month suspended jail sentence and a 12-month good behaviour bond.

Ahwon and Scott are yet to plead but the court was told they are expected to also plead guilty when they return to court later this month.

The trio are alleged to have approached a group of four US marines as they walked into the Guzman y Gomez restaurant in the Bakewell Shopping Centre about 8.15pm on December 26.

The men allegedly made a number of racist comments towards the marines before becoming physically aggressive towards them.

It is alleged two of the marines were subsequently assaulted.

The marines tried to de-escalate the situation before a bystander, who the court heard happened to be a former corrections officer at Don Dale, stepped in and escorted the trio outside.

They fled towards Chung Wah Tce, where they were found and arrested a short time later.

The court heard a number of people inside the restaurant left out of fear during the alleged assault.

Davey’s lawyer, Micah Kickett, told the court his client was related to Kumanjayi Walker, the young man who was shot by police officer Zachary Rolfe in Yuemdumu last year, and that fuelled the unprovoked attack on the marines.

“We say this still doesn’t justify the offending,” Mr Kickett said.

“My client is incredibly embarrassed and ashamed of what occurred on this evening.”

He said the trio were also intoxicated and that part-way through the attack Davey began trying to pull the others away from the marines.

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Prosecutor Lajita Allan-Agnew described the attack as “repugnant”.

“It is unprovoked against a victim who is not known to them,” she said.

“What’s repugnant is that it’s racially motivated.”