A FIGHT at a service station which left a young man with a dislocated shoulder was the result of alcohol and provocation, Orange Local Court has heard.
Nineteen-year-old Justin Charles Farr pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm as a result of the incident.
The victim went to the BP Service Station with a friend at 5.30pm on September 30 to fill up their car.
Farr and an unknown man drove into the service station and got out of their car, with Farr yelling at the victim about fighting him.
He took hold of the victim’s shirt and pushed him several times, with the final push causing the victim to fall to the ground and dislocate his right shoulder.
Farr grabbed the victim while he was on the ground to punch and knee him in the head.
The victim required treatment at Orange hospital.
Solicitor Tim Dalla said the victim was known to Farr as a former friend who had turned on him.
“He and his girlfriend were attacked in their car the week before by both the victim and the victim’s brother and some others,” he said.
Mr Dalla said his client understood his actions were inappropriate and had shown his remorse by addressing his alcohol consumption.
“He’s always been in employment. He’s a person who genuinely contributes. Certainly he had a problem with alcohol. That has been addressed,” he said.
Magistrate Terry Lucas told Farr his plea of guilty and efforts at rehabilitation had saved him from jail.
“Some people shouldn’t drink. You appear to be ... one of those sorts of people,” he said.
“This is an unusual type of matter and I accept that you were threatened by this party some time before. You cannot take the law into your own hands.”
Farr was fined $1500.