Luke Daniel James Fuller-Genders back in court for stealing after fracturing elderly Laidley man’s arm with bat

A Western Downs man who attacked a 77-year-old man with a baseball bat during a Laidley street brawl was back before the courts for stealing.

GUILTY: Luke Daniel James Fuller-Genders pleaded guilty to breaching his suspended sentence at the Dalby District Court on August 19, 2021. Pic: Gen Kennedy

The screams of a woman alerted Luke Daniel James Fuller-Genders to a street fight unfolding outside his Laidley home.

SMALL TOWN: Laidley is a rural town in the Lockyer Valley Region south of Toowoomba. Pic: Supplied

The then 25-year-old set his sights on his 77-year-old neighbour and the man’s 55-year-old son who was fighting with the woman over a ball that hit the pensioner’s car.

The Dalby District Court heard the violence escalated when Fuller-Genders grabbed a baseball bat and crushed the elderly man’s arm, turning the weapon on the man’s son when he ran to the aid of his dad.

Fuller-Genders was placed on two years’ probation in 2019 for the assault causing grievous bodily harm, although he committed another crime during its operational period sending him packing to court.

Crown Prosecutor Matthew Le Grand said Fuller-Genders breached the three-year operational period when he was caught stealing one to two litres of fuel from a Western Downs service station with his mate after their car broke down.

GUILTY: Luke Daniel James Fuller-Genders pleaded guilty to breaching his suspended sentence at the Dalby District Court on August 19, 2021. Pic: Gen Kennedy

Since the street brawl, Fuller-Genders told the court he’d been staying out of trouble and had been keeping busy with a new small business venture in lawn maintenance.

Judge Alexander Horneman-Wren SC warned Fuller-Genders any offending no matter how minor put him in peril.

However, Judge Horneman-Wren said it would be unjust to activate Fuller-Genders’ suspended sentence for a minor crime.

Fuller-Genders pleaded guilty to breaching his suspended sentence and was sentenced to the rising of the court, where he was “remanded in custody” at the back of the court until court adjourned.

Originally published as Luke Daniel James Fuller-Genders back in court for stealing after fracturing elderly Laidley man’s arm with bat