Dylan Burston: Single dad given suspended jail term for Country Club Casino bashing

A Tasmanian man has been sentenced for a prolonged, savage assault in the smokers’ area of a casino, breaking his victim’s nose and causing ongoing damage. His history of violence revealed.

Prospect Vale's Country Club Tasmania. Picture: Alex Treacy

A single father from Tasmania’s North with a “propensity to throw [his] weight around” has been given a suspended jail term for a brutal, prolonged bashing in a casino smokers’ area that left his victim with a broken nose and ongoing damage.

Rocherlea man Dylan John Burston, 38, a single father-of-three, pleaded guilty in Launceston Magistrates Court on Thursday to a charge of common assault, committed at the Country Club Casino on May 22 last year.

Magistrate Simon Brown sentenced him to a four months’ imprisonment, wholly suspended for two years.

Rocherlea man Dylan John Burston, 38. Picture: Facebook

The court was told Burston, a reclusive man with few friends, was at the casino with his brother and brother’s friends when he became involved in an “altercation” with a patron in the bathroom.

Later on, in the smokers’ area, Burston came across the man again, at which point he began punching the man repeatedly, the court heard.

The pair went to the ground, where Burston continued the flurry of blows, resisting horrified onlookers who tried to separate the pair.

The assault only ceased once security became involved.

Burston’s victim sustained a fractured nose and a facial laceration. He required treatment at the Launceston General Hospital, receiving multiple stitches.

The victim requires “ongoing treatment,” the court was told.

The current offence was the third time Burston had been before the courts on charges of common assault.

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He was sentenced in 2008 and again in 2018, receiving a good-behaviour bond and fine, respectively. No convictions were recorded on either occasion.

Defence lawyer Michael Larcombe told the court his client previously worked as a farmhand, vineyard worker, and storeman, but was currently unemployed due to a “degenerative nerve condition” for which he will go under the knife on December 15 and re-enter the workforce.

Mr Larcombe said his client “largely sticks to himself” and has “few friends,” the night of the offending representing a “rare” social outing.

“He’s gone back to sticking to himself,” Mr Larcombe said.

He said his client was “extremely remorseful” and had simply wanted to enjoy a night out.

Mr Brown took a dim view of the offending.

“[The assault was] unprovoked in any real sense, it occurred in a public place, and it was no doubt concerning and distressing for those who witnessed it,” he said.

Mr Brown said Burston’s history of violence was concerning.

“You have something of a propensity to throw your weight around,” he said.

The suspended sentence would serve as a reminder “not to lash out and start thumping people”.