Tennyson George jailed for threatening to kill Ascot Hotel owner

A young man who jumped on top of the bar inside a pub and threatened to kill the 75-year-old owner, going on to threatening to cut a female pizza store employee in a night of offending had one goal in mind. But it wasn’t what his victims’ thought.

The Ascot Hotel in Rockhampton is for sale. Picture: realcommercial.com.au

A young man who jumped on top of the bar inside a pub and threatened to kill the 75-year-old owner, going on to threatening to cut a female pizza store employee in a night of offending had one goal in mind, a court has heard.

Tennyson George, 19, was on parole and subject to a probation order when he threatened to kill Ascot Hotel owner of 38 years Will Cordwell, 75, on June 4, 2024, the Rockhampton District Court heard today.

The Ascot Hotel owner Will Cordwell. Picture: Aden Stokes

Judge Jeff Clarke said George loitered around the blue building at 177 Musgrave St, Berserker, in the early evening on that day before entering and acting aggressively towards the publican.

He said the defendant told Mr Cordwell he wanted money before he jumped on the bar and threatened to kill him while armed with a screwdriver.

Judge Clarke said Mr Cordwell argued back with George before he moved to the public bar and tried to jump over the counter there.

The Ascot Hotel in Rockhampton is for sale. Picture: realcommercial.com.au

He said a female employee then chased George out of the venue.

Later that evening, he was captured on CCTV breaking into Fix Factor Mobile and Tablet Repairs in Allenstown where he stole red scalpel and foldable knife.

George then went into Degani Cafe, jumped the counter, searched the store but left empty-handed.

Judge Clarke said he was loitering around some e-bikes belonging to Domino’s at Allenstown when he was approached by a female employer and told he wasn’t allowed to touch them.

Allenstown Square

He said George told her she was ‘talking s***’ and called her ‘a stupid b****’ before pulling out a blue handled scraping tool about 2.5cm long, held it at waist height and pointed at her.

“I’ll cut you, you stupid b****,” George said.

“I’ll f***ng slash you.”

Judge Clarke said he went on to call the victim more derogatory terms before saying “you won’t call the police, you stupid b****. What are they going to do?”.

He said the employee walked back towards the shop and George eventually left.

“Sadly, (George) premeditated some offences so that he would be caught and locked up because he was living on the streets and abusing drugs and alcohol,” Judge Clarke said.

Defence barrister Julie Marsden said her client, who had diagnoses of post-traumatic stress disorder, foetal alcohol syndrome and mild intellectual impairment along with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and anxiety, had been refused support which contributed to his trauma.

She said he had been given marijuana by family when he was eight years old and had been smoking and injecting methamphetamines when he was 15, and also had issues with alcohol and chroming.

Ms Marsden said George was homeless, stressed and intoxicated at the time of this offending.

The court heard he was now receiving NDIS and has a support worker he communicates with regularly who is helping find accommodation for when he is released from custody.

George pleaded guilty to one count each of attempted robbery while armed, threats, enter premise and steal, and enter premise with intent to steal.

Judge Clarke sentenced him to 2.5 years prison, declared 220 days presentence custody as time served with immediate parole eligibility.

Originally published as Tennyson George jailed for threatening to kill Ascot Hotel owner