Not guilty in pub case

A MOONAH man who threw a bottle at his local pub after seeing his ex-partner out with several members of his family has been found not guilty of wounding.

Mark James Rutherford was acquitted of one count of wounding over the incident involving Jessica Kate Phillips at the Moonah Hotel and Bar, also known as the Mustard Pot, on December 4, 2015.

The trial before Justice Michael Brett at the Supreme Court in Hobart heard Mr Rutherford arrived at the pub to find his ex-partner (Ms Phillips) with several members of his family on a night out. He became frustrated and threw a glass bottle at the woman when she refused to leave.

Crown Prosecutor Anna Norton said Mr Rutherford and Ms Phillips were previously in a relationship and had two children together.

She said Ms Phillips had been at Mr Rutherford’s mother’s house with his aunty, sister and current girlfriend when Mr Rutherford dropped in and asked for the women to leave the pub by 9.30pm so he could be there on his own.

Ms Norton said he arrived at the pub to find them still there and asked them to leave.

Ms Norton said Mr Rutherford threw a glass bottle which struck Ms Phillips. Ms Phillips was taken to the Royal Hobart Hospital for treatment.

Mr Rutherford’s lawyer Rochelle Mainwaring said her client fully accepted he threw the bottle, but he did not take aim intending to strike Ms Phillips because he thought she had moved.

Ms Mainwaring said the case came down to Mr Ruther- ford’s state of mind when the incident occurred.

“The evidence doesn’t suggest it [the bottle] was thrown intentionally — how could he foresee she would be wounded if in his mind she had gone from the area,” Ms Mainwaring said in her closing statement.

The jury found Mr Rutherford not guilty by majority verdict.