Probation after attack on man out with family

A HELIDON man who attacked a man walking with his family on a Toowoomba street during a drunken tirade has been placed on probation to get help with his alcohol issues.

Peter Simon Heike had been drinking since the previous night and had been asked to leave a Centenary Heights residence about 1.30pm on September 15, last year, Toowoomba Magistrates Court heard.

Having been kicked out of the taxi called for him after he became abusive to the cab driver, the 24-year-old was walking on the street when he came upon the complainant man walking with his wife and children.

Noticing the man was drunk, the complainant told his children not to look at him and suddenly Heike had said “Don’t stare at me you f***ing idiot” before admitting he was drunk, police prosecutor Sergeant Al Windsor said.

When the complainant told him he clearly couldn’t handle liquor and that he should go home, Heike approached him, prompting the man to hand his glasses to his wife, fearing he was about to be struck.

Heike than punched the man in the face, leading to a struggle between the two men during which the pair fell to the ground with the complainant sustaining abrasions to his el bow and knee, Sgt Windsor said.

After the complainant got the upper hand in the struggle, Heike had walked off.

He pleaded guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm in a public place while intoxicated.

His solicitor Phil Stainton said his client had an issue with alcohol and submitted a period of probation so he could get help.

His client had started drinking the previous night after he split with his girlfriend and was told that his father had cancer, Mr Stainton said.

Magistrate Damian Carroll placed Heike on nine months probation and ordered he do 40 hours community service.