One punch leads to jail

Victim sustained brain injury after falling unconscious on street

ALCOHOL and Angus Byron Washington make for a volatile mix which almost culminated in the death of a man on a Toowoomba street.

A drunk Washington had been with a group of people lining up for a taxi outside the Shamrock Hotel in the early hours of July 28 last year when a woman in his group became argumentative with a second group of people.

Washington stepped forward and threw one punch which connected with the jaw of a 51-year-old man who fell unconscious to the ground, Toowoomba District Court heard.

The victim suffered a fractured skull and bleeding on the brain and had to be placed on life support at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane.

Having spent some weeks in hospital including stints in the intensive care unit and the brain injury unit, the victim, fortunately, had made a “remarkable recovery”, prosecutor Ellen Fletcher told the court.

Washington, 46, pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm to the victim.

Ms Fletcher told the court Washington had a concerning six-page criminal history most of which was alcohol and violence related.

He also had 12 convictions for drink-driving including five in the high-range category, she said.

Defence barrister David Jones said his client had no recollection of the incident at all but accepted he had been identified as the perpetrator.

His client had had a problem with alcohol since he was 14, he said.

“He drinks to forget,” Mr Jones submitted, adding that though his client was not one who drank every day but when he did drink he would drink for two to three days straight.

From the court dock, Washington apologised to his victim and the court, saying “I’m sorry, Your Honour”.

Judge Deborah Richards said she accepted the 46-yearold was remorseful but sentenced him to four years in jail to be eligible to apply for release on parole as of January 20, 2021, after having served 16 months.