Leigh Melray: Aluminium worker’s drunken assault on woman

A Tasmanian man who is a team leader at an aluminium smelter faces possible demotion or even termination after being convicted of a violent assault on a woman where she alleges he threatened to kill her, a court has heard.

A Tasmanian man who is a team leader at an aluminium smelter faces possible demotion or even termination after being convicted of a violent assault on a woman where she alleges he threatened to kill her, a court has heard.

Ravenswood man Leigh Edward Melray, 53, who Launceston Magistrates Court heard on Thursday is a team leader at an aluminium smelter in Tasmania’s northeast, where he has worked for more than 15 years, pleaded guilty to charges including common assault.

The court heard the assault occurred at an address in Beauty Point on November 17 last year and was fuelled by alcohol.

The prosecution told the court that the woman claimed in a statement made to police that Melray flew into a rage and her by the throat while she was sitting in a chair, pushed her to the ground and told her, “I’m going to f****** kill you”.

According to the woman’s statement, she claims she then “fought back”, grabbing Melray’s shirt before he “eventually let go”.

It was submitted on Melray’s behalf that a conviction could result in demotion or even termination from his role and have a “detrimental effect” on his future employment.

His employer provided a character reference for Melray in which they spoke “very highly of him”.

Breaking News Breaking News Ravenswood man Leigh Edward Melray, 53. Picture: Facebook

The court was told Melray was ordinarily of “very good character” and the assault came at the end of two years of descent into overindulging in alcohol, an issue he had since addressed.

Magistrate Sharon Cure told the court she didn’t believe, on the strength of the character reference provided by Melray’s employer, that he would lose his job.

“I do accept it’s out of character,” she said.

She convicted Melray and fined him $1000.