Jockey Luke Dillon sentenced for assault in Rockhampton
Once a familiar face on the Qld racing circuit, this jockey’s career took a dark turn with a brutal DV assault. Now, his temper has him in trouble again.
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A Queensland jockey with a violent past has been jailed for an assault he carried out on his former partner while he was on parole.
Luke Richard Raymond Dillon, 35, had a four-page criminal record when he fronted Rockhampton Magistrates Court on July 24 for the assault.
Police prosecutor Kathryn Walker said the victim attended Dillion’s residence about 3am on March 20 and asked him to drive her to the Brunswick Hotel, in Archer St, Rockhampton.
She said Dillon agreed and drove her to an ANZ ATM on Bolsover Street first so she could withdraw cash.
Ms Walker said Dillon got frustrated at how long the victim was taking at the ATM about 3.55am.
She said due to his frustration, the victim walked down the street towards William St and Dillon drove after her around the corner, pulling up and confronting her on the footpath.
Dillon raised both of his hands and grabbed the victim around the upper torso for about 50 seconds.
He then let go of the victim and she walked away in a different direction, and he drove away.
Ms Walker said he was on parole at the time and his parole ends in September.
Dillon had been sentenced in the Rockhampton District Court in March 2023 to 3.5 years prison for acts described by Judge Jeff Clarke as ‘barbaric’, against a partner including biting her cheek, smashing her head against hard objects and choking her.
Defence lawyer Rebecca Harris said the victim in this offending was not the same victim from the District Court sentence.
She said Dillon, who had been a jockey for most of his adult life, had been working in landscape-type employment prior to his parole being revoked over the ATM assault.
Ms Harris said her client claimed he was hugging the victim when he “raised both hands and grabbed her around the upper torso” but it wasn’t consensual, and he accepts that was common assault.
Magistrate Philippa Beckinsale said Dillon had followed the victim when she tried to avoid him “after they had the exchange where he became frustrated”.
“She’s not wanting to interact with him, and he’s grabbed her around the upper torso,” she said.
Dillon pleaded guilty to one count of common assault and was sentenced to a six-month prison term, wholly suspended with an 18-month operational period.
A conviction was recorded.
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Originally published as Jockey Luke Dillon sentenced for assault in Rockhampton
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