UNHOLY TRINITY
Jaw broken in beach gang’s attack on couple
TRINITY Beach residents have drawn a line in the sand against a gang of drunken youths who left their neighbours bloodied and broken.
Jason Morgan, 45, was in hospital getting a metal plate screwed into his broken jaw yesterday while neighbours gathered to voice their fury at Saturday night’s drama.
Residents say wild parties on the beach have become almost a weekly fixture.
Mr Morgan was allegedly kicked, stomped and hit in the head with planks and stakes of wood after confronting a large group of youths who wandered into Coastline Pde from the beach on Saturday night.
His wife Georgina shielded his body on the ground and was beaten over the back until the gang of about 10 attackers and a larger group of about 50 teenagers left.
She sported cuts, bruises and a broken finger yesterday.
“As they’ve come through from the beach, they picked up building materials, rocks, blocks of concrete (from a nearby building site),” Mrs Morgan said.
“That’s how two of our cars have been damaged in the past few weeks, from them throwing things as they’re coming out through the beach.”
Neighbour Martyn Hughes, a former police officer of 20 years in the UK and New Zealand, arrived in the aftermath.
“It was witnessed by their very young children,” he said.
“One of them actually heard the commotion and came out on the street, but they still continued like a pack of animals.”
Bluewater Bar and Grill also made reports to police after youths kicked and punched a courtesy bus and tried to stop cars in the middle of the road.
Smithfield Police officer-incharge Senior Sergeant Ed Lukin said a number of witnesses had been interviewed over the past two days but the parties responsible for the assault had not been identified.
He said police were investigating reports Mr Morgan had confronted the youths while brandishing garden shears.
“I would implore anyone who lives in that area to call early and call often,” he said.
“When we are allocating resources to an issue, we look at calls to service. “The earlier the better.” Snr Sgt Lukin said officers had also made contact with the contractor whose construction site had been used as a link from the street to the beach.
Division 9 Cairns Regional Councillor Brett Olds said residents of the northern beaches were fed up with youth crime.
“They feel like the lawmakers, the people who have the ability to help them, are letting them down,” he said.