Grabbing a hotel licencee in a bear hug while he was trying to break-up a fight and touching a police officer on Anzac Day resulted in a man being sentenced for assault in Orange Local Court on Wednesday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Police were called to the Metropolitan Hotel after a fight started about 8.50pm on April 25.
The hotel licencee was trying to break up the fight before police arrived when he was grabbed from behind by Blake Draper, 25, of Eloc Place.
CCTV footage showed Draper grabbed the victim in a bear hug and solicitor Joshua Piggott said the resist and police assault were at the lower end of offending.
MAP: The hotel where a man was arrested for assault and resisting arrest ...
Police said Draper was drinking at the hotel with friends when the fight broke out and he told officers he grabbed the licencee because he saw a man going for one of his friends and did not realise who he was or that the victim was doing his job.
According to police, officers arrested “a number of people” for the fight while others hindered their efforts.
When approached by a senior constable to “step back” and leave the area Draper instead repeatedly swore at him and said “get the f*** away from me or I’ll f***ing punch ya,” and “f***ing arrest me then or I’ll punch you”.
When he was placed under arrest, Draper then refused to put his hands behind his back and instead raised his hands over his head, touched his own head then touched the senior constable’s head, leading to a charge of assault police.
He was also charged with resisting arrested for trying to prevent officers from putting his hands behind his back so he could be handcuffed.
Magistrate David Day convicted Draper and gave him an 18-month community release order, which was equivalent to a good behaviour bond, for assaulting the pub licencee.
He gave him a more serious two-year supervised community corrections order for assaulting a police officer and he gave him an 18-month community corrections order for resisting police.
After reviewing the details, Mr Day said Draper had a low risk of re-offending.
DO YOU WANT MORE ORANGE NEWS?
- Receive our free newsletters delivered to your inbox, as well as breaking news alerts. Sign up below ...