A 26-year-old man who fought several staff members at a pub, during an incident he claimed to be too intoxicated to fully remember, was fined a total of $1540.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Larry Michael Martin of White Circle, Mudgee, pleaded guilty to three counts of 'Common assault' and one of 'Excluded person re-enter/attempt to re-enter premises'.
At about 5pm on Saturday, November 16, 2019, one of the staff members was walking past the pub's beer garden when they saw Martin with another worker in a headlock.
This man intervened and Martin - who'd earlier been refused service - let go. He walked back into the pub and as he went he grabbed a set of keys that belonged to a third staff member, who followed him to try and get them back.
This third worker took Martin's hat and he pushed him before throwing a punch, but the worker defended himself and along with the others wrestled him to the floor. When the staff member again attempted to retrieve his keys he was punched in the face.
Martin left the premises and the police were called. He told officers he couldn't recall much of the incident, however it was captured on CCTV footage.
In Mudgee Local Court on Wednesday, Magistrate David Day read the facts submitted - and upon hearing about the defendant's level of intoxication - queried, "I wonder how many people drink themselves to sleep? Because I only see the ones who become aggressive and fight."
And continued, "you can't judge everyone by that standard, otherwise you'd end up with a very jaded view of humanity".
His honour concluded, "he was so intoxicated he couldn't get a good swing up - his coordination left him along with his common sense".