Wanderers player Warrick Williams believed he was being racially abused when he got into fight that broke man’s jaw, court hears
A Wanderers player believed he was being racially abused when he broke a man’s jaw during a physical altercation outside a kebab shop on Darwin’s party strip, a court has heard.
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- Wanderers player Warwick Williams pleads guilty to breaking the jaw of a man outside a kebab shop
- Footy player Warwick Williams granted bail after allegedly breaking man’s jaw during night out
A WANDERERS football player believed he was being racially abused when he broke a man’s jaw during a physical altercation outside a kebab shop on Darwin’s party strip, a court has heard.
Warrick Williams, 27, appeared in the NT Supreme Court in July on a charge of serious harm, in relation to the incident that occurred outside Mitchell St’s Istanbul Kebab in the early hours of Monday, October 5.
During the incident, which was captured on CCTV, Williams headbutted the other man before punching him in the face several times, breaking his jaw.
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Williams has previously pleaded guilty to the offence, however his lawyer Sally Ozolins said her client would be disputing some of the submitted facts on the basis the victim had provoked him during the altercation by making “disparaging” comments about Aboriginal people having a tendency to litter.
“The victim did provide a statutory declaration to police following the incident, and indicated in that statement that his memory was a bit shaky because he had been consuming alcohol, but he may have said something about Aboriginal people in the area,” she said.
“On my instructions, your Honour, the comments were far more disparaging and included words to the effect of, ‘you f***ing black c***s’ and words of that nature, which we say were highly provocative.
“What we say is that the words and the tone used, in conjunction with what can be seen quite clearly on CCTV footage, creates a scenario where there was provocation, which provides your Honour with some context and some significant surrounding circumstances which had a particular effect on our client.”
Ms Ozolins also sought to have Williams’ 10pm curfew extended in three instances to allow him to play night-time matches in Katherine with the Big Rivers Football League and return to Darwin in time, however, Justice Barr ultimately struck the curfew from Williams’ bail conditions altogether.
Williams is due to return to court for a contested facts hearing on August 5.
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