Man yelled ‘It’s the f-----g police mate’ before assault

A LONG-STANDING business rivalry in Crows Nest that boiled over late last year has cost one man a $1000 fine.

Toowoomba Magistrates Court was yesterday told how the years-long conflict beSergeant tween two business owners escalated from words to actual violence in December 2017.

Michael John Sharpe pleaded guilty to common assault after he punched and verbally abused a neighbouring businessman over his disagreement with a friend of his.

Police prosecutor Acting Julia Wheaton told the court Sharpe jumped in his vehicle after being told the other man and the complainant had got into an altercation.

Upon his arrival, after the victim asked who arrived in the car, the 55-year-old replied “It’s the f-----g police mate” before punching him three times in the face.

“Over the next seven minutes he continued to assault him while restraining him on the ground and said ‘how far away are police before I kill him’ and ‘I’ll get the boys to get rid of him if he dies’,” Acting Sergeant Wheaton said.

The police’s key piece of evidence in the matter was a recording made by the victim of the entire incident while it played out.

Police said the male could be heard screaming and stating that he could not breathe during the ordeal.

Sharpe’s solicitor John Davis told the court his client was a preferred civil engineering contractor for numerous regional councils in Queensland and that a recorded conviction would impact his business of four employees.

Acting Magistrate Roger Stark fined Sharpe $1000 and ordered no conviction be recorded.