May 21 - Man Jailed For Bar Brawl Glassing
A 49-year-old man who glassed a man over the head after a bar brawl broke out was jailed for one year and eight months at the Supreme Court this morning.
David Kelly, of Peninsular Heights, pleaded guilty to one count of wounding with intent before he went to trial. The incident took place in a bar in the Europort area in February last year.
CCTV footage was played in court which showed an argument break out between the defendant and the complainant, who then pushed the defendant in an aggressive manner. The defendant bit the complainant on his left cheek after they started brawling, and got up and walked off.
Prosecutor James Lennane said that in less than a minute, the defendant returned to the bar and picked up a pint glass that he smashed on the back of the complainant’s head, which resulted in a 1cm wound behind his left ear. Shards of glass also caused superficial cuts to a barmaid’s arm.
Kelly walked home, and soon after police officers arrived at his door and he told them: “I know why you are here.”
Kelly’s lawyer Patrick Canessa told the court this incident started off as an affray, and that at the time of the incident his client was suffering from severe anxiety and stress. Mr Canessa added that a pre-sentence report indicated that Kelly was of previous good character and was not a risk to the public. He requested his client be given a suspended sentence on the basis that he was due to start a new job in Switzerland.
When sentencing, the possibility of a suspended sentence was rejected by the Chief Justice Anthony Dudley.
He said: “I do not remotely seek to minimise the level of culpability, the inherent risk involved in a glassing; an attack from the back and an element of pre-meditation.
“However, to my mind given the nature of the injury sustained by the complainant, the defendant could properly have been charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm rather than a wounding with intent.”
He questioned why the Crown Counsel removed a charge for affray, adding that he could only sentence Kelly on the basis of a guilty plea to a charge of wounding with intent, and added a further aggravating factor was that Kelly had been drinking on that day.
Kelly was handed a custodial sentenced of two years and six months in prison, but this was reduced to one year and eight months for entering a guilty plea, with time served taken into consideration.
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