Four in court after clash in street
FOUR members of the same family have appeared in court in relation to an ugly incident involving two groups of people in the United Ingham petrol station and adjacent Rotary Park.
May Diana, 43, Kales Siwala, 20, and Tianah-lee, 18, all with the surname Idai, appeared in the Ingham Magistrates Court on Thursday charged with public nuisance in relation to the highly public altercation in Ingham in the early hours of Saturday, October 24.
The cases were adjourned to November 26, December 10 and January 14 respectively.
Don Mark Charles Idai, 46, also appeared and pleaded guilty to charges of committing a public nuisance and contravening a direction or requirement of police.
Police prosecutor Senior Sergeant Felicity Nalder, outlining the facts of the public nuisance offence, said Ingham Police were called to a disturbance at the United Service Station in Herbert Street, the Bruce Highway, at 2.35am.
“Police located a large number of people gathered outside the address and other people across the street (in Rotary Park).”
She said a woman at the service station who identified herself as May Idai, the defendant’s sister, told police that while she was inside the premises buying cigarettes a man had punched her in the face.
Sergeant Nalder said it was at this time that “May and several members of her family” walked across the road to the rival group.
“Police then identified the defendant (Don) walking towards that group of people … and was heard saying ‘I will smash you c----, I’m going to smash you a---hole.”
Senior Sergeant Nalder said an agitated Don Idai rejected police requests to let them handle the incident, continuing to threaten and provoke a male from the rival group into starting a fight.
Defence lawyer Lorelei Billing said her client had been unemployed since 2005, had no children and received about $600 a fortnight from government benefit payments.
“He has been looking for work although that is difficult given his criminal history.”
She said her client had been in the Ingham Magistrates Court in September for a similar offence, urging a fine be imposed.
Acting Magistrate Scott Luxton told Idai to grow up.
“You have been around long enough, you have a seven-page criminal history, you’ve got numerous entries for offences of this type, one would have hoped that at your age … you would have realised that there was nothing to be gained by your behaviour.”
Idai was convicted and fined a total of $600.