Teen walks free after glassing

A TEENAGER who glassed another man in the neck at a popular southern Gold Coast park has avoided jail time after his defence barrister argued he would be “targeted” in jail.

Iggy Adin Fletcher, 19, pleaded guilty in the Southport District Court to unlawful wounding of another man on November 12 last year.

The court heard Fletcher threw a bottle near the victim, Dylan Lyon, who was walking home from work past the Pirate Park at Palm Beach.

When Lyon asked Fletcher to stop smashing the glass on the ground, the 19-year-old left the group he was with and asked Lyon “do you want to have a go?” before smashing the end of a bottle and stabbing him in the throat three times.

Lyon, 19, was taken to hospital and required 14 stitches, the court heard.

Defence barrister Jason Buckland said Fletcher was intoxicated on the evening he committed the offence and no longer drinks alcohol.

Mr Buckland told the court Fletcher would be a “target” to other inmates in jail and “there was a risk he would not serve prison well”. Judge Catherine Muir sentenced him to 18 months jail but released him on parole immediately.