'I'm going to kill you': Machete man danger to footy kids

A junior footy coach says he feared for his players' lives after a man chased another man onto the field armed with a machete in a drug-fuelled rage. 

A MAN wielding a machete was in a drug-fuelled rage when he chased another man onto a Yeppoon football field while kids were training.

The two men were running directly towards the Yeppoon Swans AFL juniors when the armed Isaac Tyler Fairburn yelled “I’m going to kill you” at the person he was pursuing.

Fearing for the children’s lives, their coach yelled for them to get off the field.

The frightening series of events on the afternoon of June 27 was revealed in Yeppoon Magistrates Court on Thursday, where 29-year-old Fairburn pleaded guilty to going armed in public to cause fear.

Police prosecutor Madison Kurtz said the man being chased had fallen to the ground on the footy field, and Fairburn had stopped and swung the machete above him while continuing to yell “I’m going to kill you”.

The coach ran towards the men, as did other concerned parents, and they tried to talk to Fairburn in an attempt to get him to drop the machete.

Fairburn then laid on top of the man on the ground and eventually dropped the machete.

The man being attacked was able to get away and the coach and parents stayed with Fairburn until police arrived and arrested him.

Ms Kurtz said policed noticed that Fairburn was “heavily affected by some kind of drug” and he later made admissions to smoking ice (crystal methamphetamine).

Police later spoke with the man being chased, who sustained a stomach wound as a result of the altercation, but he would not co-operate or provide any details.

Fairburn represented himself in court and following the prosecution’s submission, Acting Magistrate Mark Morrow asked him: “What was that all about?”

Fairburn responded: “Your honour, I was severely brutalised by the two gentlemen that I was pursuing.

“I had been beaten up prior to the incident and I also had money stolen.

“It was a senseless act - there wasn’t any context or reason behind it.

“I was just acting on instinct, primary instinct really.”

Fairburn tendered references from his drug and alcohol counsellor and psychologist.

He said police investigations into the men who antagonised him were ongoing.

Mr Morrow referenced a number of other going armed to cause to fear legal cases before issuing penalty.

He said Fairburn’s use of a machete was “quite dangerous especially when there were young children seeing that occurring”.

He placed Fairburn on 27 months’ probation with conditions including drug counselling and testing.

Originally published as 'I'm going to kill you': Machete man danger to footy kids