Peter William Howard in district court on assault and burglary charges

A former Beaurepaires assistant manager has found himself in court over his part in a terrifying onslaught.

Peter William Howard.

The victim of a vicious burning attack in Bundaberg, has found himself in court over a separate violent incident in which he and two other offenders unleashed a terrifying onslaught on another man.

The District Court at Bundaberg heard Peter William Howard was the victim of an attack in Bundaberg in September, where another man doused him with petrol and set him alight.

The incident, allegedly triggered by a fight over a puppy, led to Howard suffering extensive painful burns for which he has been receiving skin grafts.

While Howard’s alleged attacker awaits his day in court however, it was Howard himself who fronted court over a separate incident on Tuesday.

He pleaded guilty to one count of wilful destruction, one count of burglary with breaking while armed and one count of assault occasioning bodily harm while armed.

The court heard the terrifying details of the night of July 8, 2020, where Howard, along with co-offenders Jacob Caruana and Braydon John Robert Hugh Adams, drove to the home of the victim who they knew.

The Crown Prosecutor stated that Howard drove the car before he and Adams entered the victim’s home and demanded he sell drugs or else they’d “f--- him up”.

The victim told the men to “f--- off”, but they returned at 6.24pm.

This time, Howard and Caruana stayed in the car while Adams, armed with a baseball bat, smashed the victim’s front door and four windows before leaving and telling the other men he should have tied the victim up with cable ties the police would later find inside the vehicle.

The terrifying onslaught didn’t end there.

At 9pm, the men drove back with Howard once again behind the wheel.

Braydon John Robert Hugh Adams was involved in the attack and sentenced separately.

Adams kicked down a board the victim had placed against the previously smashed door and hit the victim in the head and shoulders with the bat.

The victim landed a punch, his dog also bit his attacker and then the victim armed himself with a piece of wood containing a bolt.

Fleeing the victim’s home with the victim and his dog in pursuit, Adams got back in the car with Howard and Caruana.

The court heard Howard drove off at speed, causing the victim to have to jump onto the footpath to avoid being hit by the car.

The ordeal left the victim with a deep gash to the head which needed stitches.

Barrister Callan Cassidy said his client, aged 36, had a good employment history and had spent some time as a tyre fitter at Beaurepaires before working his way up to an assistant manager role.

He has since worked in various mining jobs.

In arguing Howard’s case, Cassidy stated his client, a father of one, had suffered depression and anxiety and was also left with nightmares and flashbacks to an alleged burning attack on September 17 this year.

“A former associate saw him on the street, threw petrol on him and lit him on fire,” Mr Cassidy said.

“He sustained 21 total burns to his body.

“He instructs … there’d been disagreement over a puppy, of all things.”

The court heard Howard had spent three weeks in intensive care and still attends physiotherapy sessions and skin graft checks.

In sentencing, Judge Katherine McGinness said “the facts of this offence are really quite serious”.

Howard, who pleaded guilty to all three charges, received a head sentence of three years and two months, with immediate parole.

Adams was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment in December, 2020, with parole eligibility after serving seven months.

Caruana was previously sentenced to 18 months’ prison with immediate parole.

Originally published as Peter William Howard in district court on assault and burglary charges