Townsville tradie sentenced to 18 months after pub bashing
A Townsville tradie will spend the next four months in jail after he attacked a man at a bar who tried to jump the queue.
On Tuesday, Zachary Robert Paxton faced Townsville District Court where he was sentenced to 18 months for assault occasioning bodily harm.
Paxton was at The Ville Resort and Casino on 21 November, 2020. He was waiting at the front of the line to enter the Quarterdeck bar, when he came to the guard’s defence after an intoxicated man became aggressive when he was told he couldn’t skip the line.
“He proceeded to engage in an extended assault upon a man who was not known to him,” Crown Prosecutor Tom Hancock said.
“It caused serious injuries, had notable impacts on the (victim’s) personal, social and business life.
“The offending only stopped when (the victim) was dropped to the ground and a third party intervened.”
According to Hancock, the argument escalated after the victim made comment about Paxton being uneducated, at which point Paxton punched to man 10-15 times in the face.
The 38-year-old victim was taken to hospital. He suffered multiple facial fractures, cuts to his face, a black eye and required surgery.
Mr Hancock said Paxton’s attack was a “gross over reaction” to a “relatively minor” situation and asked the court to sentence him to time behind bars.
Defence barrister Claire Grant asked for a sentence that would keep the offender out of jail and noted Paxton had borrowed $10,000 to help compensate the victim.
Ms Grant agreed that Paxton’s behaviour was an excessive reaction but said it was not completely unprovoked.
“His actions were completely unreasonable, excessive and unnecessary … and that is a matter Mr Paxton does not shy away from,” she said.
“(The victim) said something like ‘you would know that if you had been educated’ and it was that particularly offensive comment that set Mr Paxton off.
“It was also not simply that comment but also the continuously (disrespectful) behaviour to the security guard.”
Judge John Coker said the violence required a sentence that included time behind bars to serve as public and personal deterrence.
“Quite simply you should have known better,” he said
“(The victim) might have been an annoying intoxicated pest but he did not under any circumstances warrant the punishment and the blows that were struck by you.”
Paxton will be released on parole in September 2022.
Irit Jackson, 5th May 2022
