Former security guard pleads guilty to knocking out ‘eshay’ outside Monsoons

A former security guard who knocked out a ‘drunk as a skunk’ self-proclaimed ‘eshay’ outside Monsoons after he invited him to put him to sleep will be assessed for home detention.

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A FORMER security guard who knocked out a “drunk as a skunk” self-proclaimed “eshay” outside Monsoons after he invited him to put him to sleep will be assessed for home detention.

Clinton Moore pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court to causing serious harm to the other man after a night out on Darwin’s nightclub strip on August 8 last year.

Crown prosecutor Collette Dixon said the victim was “highly intoxicated” when he approached Moore and “was heard to say words to the effect of ‘I’m an eshay’” at about 1am.

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“The defendant said to the victim ‘Big eshay with your f***ing “I’ll wear my sunglasses at night” shit’,” she said.

Moore then said “Walk that way before I make you f***ing sleep” to which the other man replied “Put me to sleep then c***” before Moore presented his cheek to the victim and pointed at his jaw.

The “eshay” grabbed Moore by the throat and pushed him backwards and Moore again presented his chin, inviting the man to “Give me one, give me one”.

The victim staggered backwards and Moore threw a single punch at him that rendered him unconscious, causing him to fall to the ground and break his ankle.

The court heard Moore then went back to Monsoons and kept drinking but police identified him from CCTV footage and he handed himself in on August 12.

Monsoon nightclub on Mitchell St.

Ms Dixon said he told officers the other man had called him names and was “egging him on to fight” and that he had thought he was about to take a swing at him.

“The defendant then stated from the footage he realised the victim didn’t step back (to throw a punch) and he’s disgusted with himself,” she said.

When questioned by Justice Jenny Blokland about the meaning of the term “eshay” Ms Dixon explained it “seems to be some subculture slang for some sort of criminal activity”.

“Interestingly the victim has no criminal history so it’s just drunken yobbo talk,” she said.

Ms Dixon said while the “drunk as a skunk” victim’s actions weren’t “squeaky clean”, a higher standard should be expected from the “far more sober” former security guard.

In reply, defence lawyer Matt Hubber said consent and provocation were both mitigating factors in Moore’s offending, saying his client was “the reasonable person in the room up until the end”.

Mr Hubber said his client had “reacted badly” to the victim’s “reprehensible” behaviour.

“The complainant’s screaming profanities, he’s clearly consenting to a fight, inviting a fight, ‘Come on, hit me’, words to that effect, he’s a completely willing participant in the incident,” he said.

“Given the consent issue it’s unlikely my client would have been charged with anything more than fight in a public place, because the consent is given. The consent is verbal and it’s direct, unfortunately for my client you can’t (legally) consent to serious harm and here we are.”

Moore returns to court for sentencing on May 11.

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