Judd Pearce: Meadow Mews drunk taken down twice after meltdown

A young Tasmanian dad was blind drunk when he assaulted a shopping centre security guard, was taken to ground, fled, then returned only to be taken down a second time by police.

Kings Meadows man Judd Romeo Pearce, 25. Picture: Alex Treacy

A young Tasmanian dad was so drunk he couldn’t remember his offending when he assaulted a shopping centre security guard, was taken to ground, fled, then returned to the mall only to be taken down a second time by Tasmania Police officers.

Kings Meadows man Judd Romeo Pearce, 25, a father of two young children, pleaded guilty in Launceston Magistrates Court on Friday to four charges.

They included common assault, assaulting and resisting a police officer, and refusing to state his name and address.

All offences occurred after 6.40pm on August 12 this year outside the Meadow Mews Plaza Shopping Centre on Hobart Rd.

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The court heard a Thomas Paul Security guard witnessed Pearce enter the centre via an emergency exit, so he accosted the defendant to tell him he needed to use the main entrance.

In response, Pearce told the guard, “I don’t go much on security guards,” and pushed his face into the guard’s face before applying force, so that the guard’s body was trapped against a wall.

The guard took Pearce to ground, to which he responded by trying to “punch and kick” the guard, before he was escorted from the centre and police were called.

The court heard that as police were taking their statement from the guard, Pearce returned to try and confront him a second time.

When police attempted to arrest Pearce, he “sprinted” away but was caught in a nearby alleyway, where he violently resisted arrest by thrashing about and locking his hands under his stomach after being taken to ground a second time.

Pearce then assaulted a constable by grabbing onto the officer’s thumb while being placed in the divvy fan, squeezing so tightly the officer warned, “Any further and you’ll break it”.

He was detained for a period due to his level of intoxication, the court heard.

It was submitted on Pearce’s behalf that he lived with his father and two children. He was in receipt of a disability support pension due to a brain injury acquired at age 11 and is engaged with the NDIS.

He had no recollection of the offending, but accepted he behaved “inappropriately”.

Pearce was convicted and fined a total of $300, having to also pay court costs and levies of $131.40.