Hazell Bros manager Jarrad Rose guilty of racially charged wedding assault at Sandford

A supervisor at one of Tasmania’s biggest construction firms launched a drunken ambush on a well-known real estate agent at a wedding in greater Hobart. What happened in court >

Hazell Bros civil construction supervisor Jarrad Rose, 32. Picture: LinkedIn

A supervisor at one of Tasmania’s biggest construction firms inexplicably launched a drunken, racially charged ambush on a well-known real estate agent after a wedding in greater Hobart.

West Hobart man Jarrad Rose, 32, pleaded guilty in Hobart Magistrates Court on Monday to a charge of common assault, committed in the wake of a wedding at a private residence at Sandford on February 19, 2022.

Rose, who the court heard was a civil construction supervisor at Hazell Bros, was fined $500 with no conviction recorded, becasue he had no criminal history.

The victim was a real estate agent with Launceston-based agency Land Sales Tasmania.

The Mercury has chosen not to name him.

Police prosecutor Andrew Lockley told the court that, after the reception’s conclusion, the complainant and his partner were walking to their vehicle when the defendant, who had also been walking with his partner, “appeared out of nowhere and charged at the complainant while yelling”.

The man was knocked to the ground and rose to abuse the defendant, who responded by calling him a “square-eyed g--k,” the court was told.

Rose charged the man again, the pair falling to ground where a “wrestle ensued,” in which the victim was struck to the face, causing his mouth to bleed, and his clothing ripped.

When Rose subsequently attended Clarence Plains Police Station he made “partial admissions” to the offending, Mr Lockley said.

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Defence lawyer Sheryl Chng said that her client had had a “very difficult week” at work, “didn’t want to be” at the wedding, had lost his mobile phone at the event, and “drunk alcohol to feel better,” leaving him highly intoxicated.

“It doesn’t excuse what happened but explains his behaviour,” Ms Chng said.

“It’s the only night in his life he’s been like that. He can’t get over his behaviour ... and cannot shake how he put his partner into that situation.”

She submitted that Rose also suffered minor injuries during the fracas, including receiving punches to his face.

The court was told Rose moved to Tasmania from his native southeast Queensland in 2020 and would be returning to the mainland for work at the end of the month.

“He’s not likely to repeat the behaviour,” she said.

Magistrate Reg Marron told Rose it was “concerning you were so intoxicated that you picked someone at random you didn’t really know and for a completely unexpected reason attacked him repeatedly”.