Markelle Louise Cornick, Teniel Skye Williams and Callum John Slattery involved in fight at Victoria Tavern after 21st birthday party
A bar manager, a waitress and a roofer ran out of a bar and into a car park fight between two men which escalated into an all-in brawl. Read what happened in court.
Police & Courts
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A bar manager, a waitress and a roofer ran out of a bar and into a car park fight between two men which escalated into an all-in brawl.
Markelle Louise Cornick, 22, along with Teniel Skye Williams, 21, and Callum John Slattery, 22, all pleaded guilty on March 23 in Rockhampton Magistrates Court to one count each of public nuisance in the vicinity of a licensed premises.
Williams also pleaded guilty to one count of obstruct police.
Police prosecutor Senior Constable Peter Rumford said police were called to a disturbance at the Victoria Tavern at 11.45pm on January 22.
He said there was a large fight in the carpark between people from a 21st birthday party which had taken place at the tavern.
Senior Constable Rumford said CCTV showed the fight started between two men and Cornik ran from the tavern into the carpark where the men were “wrestling on the ground”.
“The defendant ran up to the males and commenced kicking one of them,” he said.
Senior Constable Rumford said CCTV showed Slattery run from the hotel and tackle the male Cornick was kicking and wrestled with the man on the ground, restraining him as Cornick assaulted the man.
He said Cornick kicked the man seven times and stomped him twice wearing high heels, plus punched him four times.
Senior Constable Rumford said when police arrived, Williams was yelling at “a large built male” and appeared unsteady on her feet and was highly agitated.
He said police spoke with Williams to get her version of events as she continued wandering around the car park, showing aggression towards a male.
Senior Constable Rumford said police tried to stop Williams getting at the male, with the petite woman pushing past an officer and yelled “don’t f--ing touch me”.
“The defendant continued to yell obscenities and throw her arms around in an aggressive manner,” he said.
Senior Constable Rumford read out what Williams yelled in the carpark:
“I’ll go to the watch-house c---. I don’t care. It’s my birthday and every f---ing dog wants to make a f---ing scene of it. I’ll get drunk and I’ll go to the watch-house myself c--t.”
He said she was highly agitated, aggressive and yelled obscenities at people in a public area.
Senior Constable Rumford said a male person who was assaulted in the car park had fled before police arrived.
He said Williams left the scene during a commotion but was located by police a short distance away, and continued to be aggressive and disorderly, leading to her arrest.
Senior Constable Rumford said Williams was transported to the watch-house where she resisted being placed in a cell, grabbing a police officer by the hair in the process.
Cornick and Williams had no criminal record, while Slattery had one entry on his record which was not a similar offence.
Defence lawyer Samantha Legrady said Cornick’s employer at the Brunswick Hotel, where she worked as a bar manager, was aware of the charges.
She said Williams, who works as a waitress at the Brunswick Hotel, was the person who held the 21st birthday party and the fight was between her father and her stepfather.
Ms Legrady said Slattery, who works as a roofer for Bartlem Construction Services, was Williams’ partner.
She said Cornick recalled going to the car park and the next thing she remembered was being placed in a police car.
Ms Legrady said Cornick was very intoxicated at the time of the offence.
Magistrate Cameron Press said this was a very serious example of a public nuisance offence and all three defendants were lucky they were not charged with a more serious offence.
He accepted this incident was out of character for Cornick because her employer spoke highly of her in a character reference tendered in court.
“If this is the way you behave when you are intoxicated, you’ve got to do something about your drinking,” Mr Press said.
All three were ordered to carry out 80 hours of community service within 12 months and no convictions were recorded.
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Originally published as Markelle Louise Cornick, Teniel Skye Williams and Callum John Slattery involved in fight at Victoria Tavern after 21st birthday party
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