Rugby league player Tully Barritt defies pub banning order
A magistrate has blasted a young rugby league player and given him a jail warning after his latest incident at a Central Queensland pub.
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Talented rugby league player Tully Jon Barritt lost his spot with the Central Queensland Capras after a night of drunken violence where he punched a hotel security guard in the face numerous times.
For that incident, a magistrate in March this year fined then 20-year-old Barritt $1642, ordered he perform 115 hours of unpaid community service, and imposed a banning order which prohibited him from going to The Strand Hotel at Yeppoon for 12 months.
Fast forward to last Thursday (September 28) and Barritt, now 21, was back in Yeppoon Magistrates Court and in front of the same magistrate, Cameron Press, for his latest blunder.
There he pleaded guilty to contravening a banning order after police found he had defied it by gaining entry to The Strand Hotel on the night of August 25.
The prosecution said about 11.26pm, Barritt got into the hotel via a rear fire exit door.
The court heard that this door was not used as an entry point for patrons and was only for emergencies including fire.
The prosecution said a person who knew Barritt had opened the door from the inside, allowing him to enter the venue.
“This has set off an alarm for management ...” the prosecutor said.
Police investigated and Barritt was subsequently charged.
“When asked if he had ever entered The Strand in that way in the past, he said no,” the prosecutor told the court.
Representing himself in court, Barritt told Mr Press that on the night he had a “lapse of judgment”.
“Had me footy presentations that night, probably had a bit too much to drink,” Barritt said.
Mr Press then told Barritt: “It was a very stupid thing to do because you can go to jail for this.
“The court ordered you not to go there, Sir.
“There’s probably nothing more, I suppose, stricter, in our society than a court order.
“So if the court orders you to do something, Sir, the court expects it to be done.
“And as I’ve indicated, I can impose a fine, but I can also look at a term of imprisonment, and in deed the order sets out that you can go to prison for up to a year if you defy the order.”
Mr Press continued: “And in deed, if you come back before this court... defying this order again, there is a real risk that you could receive a term of imprisonment.
“Do you understand that?”
Barritt replied: “Yes, Your Honour.”
Barritt, who is doing a carpentry apprenticeship, was fined $800 and Mr Press did not record a conviction.
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Originally published as Rugby league player Tully Barritt defies pub banning order