Basher free from jail after 11 days following brutal home attack

A Tasmanian judge has released a man from jail who took part in a violent group bashing after he’d drunk about 20 cans of beer, leaving the victim with a fractured vertebrae.

Fitzpatrick had drunk about 20 cans of beer when he decided to visit the home of a man he believed had threatened his mother.

A MAN who now delivers chickens for a living had “far too much to drink” the day he took part in an attack that left another man with a fractured vertebrae while his partner cowered in terror behind a washing machine.

But after serving just 11 days in prison, 33-year-old Jason Paul Fitzpatrick has walked free from jail with little more than a $1000 fine by way of punishment.

The Supreme Court of Tasmania heard that in August 2017, Fitzpatrick had drunk about 20 cans of beer when he decided to visit the home of a man he believed had threatened his mother and abusively demanded money from her.

The victim answered his front door to a number of men who immediately started bashing him, with glass windows, a wire screen door, crockery and glassware getting smashed in the process.

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Chief Justice Alan Blow said the man was taken to hospital by ambulance, and his terrified partner was found by police hiding behind the washing machine. He said the man suffered not only a fractured vertebrae but also nasal fractures, a badly-split upper lip, a wound across his forehead, cuts, bruises and abrasions.

“It must have been a terrifying experience for him,” the judge said.

He noted Fitzpatrick had a “rough childhood” and was drinking alcohol and injecting drugs by age 13. He also said Fitzpatrick now knew he “should never have visited” the victim and had a full-time job for the first time in his life, driving for a chicken-farming and selling company.

“Before the day in question you had stopped using drugs and reduced your alcohol consumption significantly. You lapsed on the day in question, drank a lot of beer, and also used methylamphetamine,” Chief Justice Blow said.

“You have been clean from drugs ever since, and you are drinking very little … I am not going to send you to prison because of the steps you have taken to change your life.”

Fitzpatrick, who pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary, assault and unlawfully injuring property, was given a nine-month jail sentence, with the unserved balance suspended.

He was also ordered to pay a $1000 fine within 28 days.