Jail for jawbreaker

Man gets three years for assault, robbery

TENSIONS between the father and stepfather of a Yarrabah child ended with a broken jaw after a funeral, a court heard.

The child’s father, 23, used the family gathering in February last year to blame Glen Gibson for blocking visitation to his son.

Gibson, 23 – the boy’s stepfather – objected to his objection and told those within earshot “I’m gonna bash that motherf***er.”

Gibson broke the man’s jaw with a king hit from behind.

“There was some tension between my client and the complainant,” defending barrister Mike Dalton told Cairns District Court. “He thought the complainant had been a delinquent father.”

Mr Dalton said Gibson did not mean to break his jaw.

“The grievous bodily harm was an emotional reaction to something he had been told,” Mr Dalton said.

“He was angry for being blamed for something that was not his fault.”

The court heard Gibson – a cattle ringer – had been unemployed since 2015, when he started to smoke ice.

In 2017 he was injecting the drug at least once a week and by June this year was in the grip of the drug.

On a night that month he followed a woman on a bicycle to an ATM on Mulgrave Rd, where he watched her withdraw $400.

He demanded she give him the money and when refused, he wrestled her to the ground and snatched her backpack which contained the cash.

“He had consumed ice earlier and was under the drug’s effect when he committed the robbery,” Mr Dalton said.

“He thought she had drugs or money.”

Mr Dalton told the court his client “needed the hammer of parole” to keep him in line. “If he reoffends he returns to custody,” Mr Dalton said.

Gibson pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm and robbery with violence.

Judge Fantin described the funeral assault as “an unprovoked surprise attack on an unarmed man”.

She said the injured man needed screws and metal plates to repair the two fractures that Gibson inflicted.

The court heard his female victim was scared to go out at night after the robbery.

Judge Fantin jailed Gibson for three years including six months time served, with a parole release date of June 12 next year.