Stuart Day of King Island fined for assault on brother

A Tasmanian man punched his brother in the head and hit him with a kelp carting stick after a “long standing family dispute” exploded.

Stuart Day of King Island

A LONG standing family dispute between two kelp carting brothers boiled over on King Island in July landing one in hot water charged with assault.

Stuart Day, of Currie, on Wednesday pleaded guilty to a charge of assault in relation to the fight with his brother Luke.

Magistrate Leanne Topfer was told Stuart Day punched his brother in the back of the head and hit him with a kelp carting stick.

The two brothers were both unloading the kelp they had collected when a verbal fight broke out over a stolen gun.

That escalated to violence which only stopped when a witness intervened.

“I lost my temper because he was lying to me,” Day told the court.

“We are involved in a long standing family dispute. We both cart kelp and it’s a small island but I have been trying to avoid him.”

Day also told the court he was now going to church and trying to change how he reacted when angry.

Magistrate Topfer fined Day $500.