November 1, 2012
In Kingaroy Magistrates Court today:
An 18-year-old youth was placed on a 12 months Intensive Correction Order – basically prison in the community – after he pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer during a disturbance at Cherbourg on August 30.
Theo Karl Jesse Fisher also pleaded guilty to unlawful use of a motor vehicle and unlicensed driving, relating to a separate incident.
Police Prosecutor Sgt Wayne Bushell said Fisher had pelted a bottle at police while they were trying to arrest his brother.
A police officer had suffered lacerations and a bruise although it was unsure whether the bottle that had hit him was the one thrown by Fisher or by a co-offender.
“If the bottle had broken, he could have sustained a much more serious injury,” Sgt Bushell said.
He said a female police officer had been “absolutely terrified” during the incident.
Sgt Bushell asked that the court impose a term of imprisonment as an appropriate deterrent.
Solicitor Mark Oliver, for Fisher, said it had been a “spur of the moment decision” by his client with little thought about what might have happened as a consequence of his actions.
Magistrate Mr Mark Bucknall said whether or not the bottle that Fisher had thrown was the one that hit the police office was “of little consequence”.
He said a clear message needed to be sent that notwithstanding the fact that the community where he was living may be disadvantaged, and where there may be elements of dysfunction, Fisher must take personal responsibility for his actions.
Fisher was also fined $300 for driving without a licence.
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A Kingaroy man has been fined $700 and disqualified from driving for six months after police breath-tested him after he reversed his car out from his driveway.
James William Broderick recorded a BAC of 0.132.
Police had been called to the house on another matter.
Broderick pleaded guilty to driving under the influence but told the court he had no intention of going anywhere.
“I was just turning the car around because I wanted to sleep in it because I was locked out of my house,” he told Magistrate Bucknall.
However Broderick admitted that he was aware that it was still considered drink driving.
