Barry Bloomfield jailed for Queen Street Mall king hit

A bashing victim suffered multiple skull fractures, a broken ear canal and bleeding on the brain after a brutal attack in an iconic mall. Now a Rockhampton magistrate has sentenced the assailant.

A man (not pictured) suffered bleeding on the brain after being assaulted the Queen Street mall. Generic file image. Picture: Christopher Chan

A Rockhampton magistrate has told a court he does not agree with the theory behind why a charge would be downgraded for an assault where a man’s skull was fractured, there was bleeding on the brain and a broken ear canal.

Central region’s Chief Magistrate Cameron Press was sentencing Barry Bloomfield for a spate of offences including possessing drugs and utensil in a Rockhampton unit, unlawful use of a car stolen from Park Avenue and a serious assault of a man who tried to stop a couple arguing in Queen Street Mall, Brisbane, in the early hours of a morning.

Bloomfield, 23, pleaded guilty on February 17 in the Rockhampton Magistrates Court to 14 charges including assault occasioning bodily harm and public nuisance, possessing 0.5g of marijuana, being in car stolen from Park Avenue, being in a physical fight at City Centre Plaza and causing $2100 damage to a Fortitude Valley shopping centre glass door by smashing it with a piece of timber.

Police prosecutor Clancy Fox said the victim, 29, was walking down the Queen Street Mall in Brisbane at 3.30am on April 2, 2022, when they walked past a man and a woman “screaming at each other” and they attempted to intervene.

He said Bloomfield approached the victim and punched him in the jaw, causing him to fall backwards and hit his head on the pavement.

Mr Fox said the victim’s injuries included multiple skull fractures, a broken ear canal and bleeding on the brain.

Bloomfield was tracked down using footage from closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras to an area near the Supreme and District courthouse on Roma Street.

The court heard Bloomfield was originally charged with grievous bodily harm, of which the maximum penalty is 14 years compared to the assault occasioning bodily harm, which is seven years in the district court and three years in the magistrates court.

Mr Fox said another case showed intervention to treat a brain injury or the injury sustained would cause long-term or permanent impairment was what was used to determine if it met the criteria for a grievous bodily harm charge

Defence lawyer Lachlan Robertson said the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions downgraded the charge from grievous bodily harm to assault occasioning bodily harm because the medical documents included in the brief of evidence, about the victim’s long-term impact, stated there was no medical evidence yet to determine if that would be the situation for Bloomfield’s victim.

Mr Press said he understood that determining criteria, but “I think it might be a bit wrong”.

“You have completely overreacted,” he said to Bloomfield.

“And you have virtually nearly killed this person.”

Mr Robertson said Bloomfield was abusing drugs to cope with the stress of being homeless and separated from his family at the time.

Mr Press sentenced Bloomfield to 2.5 years in prison.

He declared 276 days pre-sentence custody as time already served and set parole release for March 17.

Originally published as Barry Bloomfield jailed for Queen Street Mall king hit