Young barmaid ‘distraught and in tears’ after having her clothes ripped off at Yeppoon venue

A man who runs a roofing business in regional Queensland came to the rescue of a young barmaid who had her clothes ripped off but he found himself in trouble with the law as a result.

Stewart Gregory Warren Brayshaw.

The boss of a Central Queensland roofing business has faced court after he tried to help a young barmaid who was “distraught and in tears” after her clothes were ripped off.

Stewart Gregory Warren Brayshaw, 53, pleaded guilty in Yeppoon Magistrates Court on October 27 to drink-driving.

Police prosecutor Sergeant Darrell Dalton said on August 27 at 2.20am, police intercepted Brayshaw driving on Appleton Drive, Yeppoon.

He subsequently returned a blood alcohol reading of .135.

The court heard Brayshaw had no similar offending in the past five years and solicitor Cam Schroder explained the background to his client’s offending in the early hours of August 27.

Mr Schroder said Brayshaw’s criminal history and traffic history were both “quite dreadful”.

“He has had relationship problems and he turned to alcohol to mask his pain,” Mr Schroder said.

“He has got a practice of handing his keys into the bar staff at the hotel so he won’t drive.

“On this particular night (of the offending), clothing from a young barmaid got ripped off by someone, and she was without clothes to the top half of her body.

“(She was) completely distraught and in tears and my client said to the barman ‘give me my keys’ and offered to drive her home, which she accepted.

“She was in the car at the time my client was pulled over.”

Mr Schroder said Brayshaw ran a roofing business which had four employees.

“They (employees) are knockabout people and without him (Brayshaw), there’s just no jobs for those four and they would be unemployed,” Mr Schroder said.

Before handing down penalty, Magistrate Grace Kahlert told Brayshaw he was “not a little bit drunk” on the night he drove, rather “well and truly intoxicated.”

“Your traffic history is bad - it is some four pages long,” Ms Kahlert said.

“And you have... one, two, three, four previous drink-drivings and also some unlicensed driving and disqualified driving, but most of that is prior to 2010.

“Your criminal history is also not good.”

Ms Kahlert fined Brayshaw $800 and disqualified him from driving for five months.

Originally published as Young barmaid ‘distraught and in tears’ after having her clothes ripped off at Yeppoon venue