Courtesy bus driver walks free

A CURRUMBIN Creek Tavern courtesy bus driver has avoided jail time after pleading guilty to an attack that left a patron with a bleeding artery.

The defence team for Frederick Ronald Hilton, 57, who yesterday pleaded guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm in the Southport District Court today, claimed he assaulted a customer at the hotel last year because he was trying to protect female staff.

The court heard Hilton, who usually drives the courtesy bus, was helping out collecting glasses on March 3, 2016 when he got into an altercation with a disorderly patron who had been asked to leave.

In CCTV footage played to the court, the 57-year-old can be seen giving the man several uppercut punches and holding him against the wall before he falls over and his glass of beer smashes, cutting his hand.

Defence lawyer Mark Donnelly said outside court the tavern had banned the man who was assaulted and Hilton continued to help out at the venue. Hilton was sentenced to 12 months’ jail suspended for 18 months.