COURT TOLD OF SPHINX DUEL

TWO Geelong rivals accused of battling each other with a taser and hunting knife in a dinnertime duel at The Sphinx Hotel at the weekend are in jail.

Keiran Rochow and Jye Buck took their ongoing feud to the pokies room floor of the North Geelong venue at 6pm Saturday, Geelong Magistrates Court heard.

Both men both fronted court yesterday facing charges from the public fracas, with Rochow failing in his bid for bail.

Police prosecutor Senior Constable Siobhan Daly said he was playing pokies at The Sphinx when he saw his rival Buck, started an argument with him, produced a black taser and chased him.

But the court was told Buck produced his own weapon — a hunting knife — and the pair faced off, advancing at each other in a public duel witnessed by patrons and staff.

Rochow suffered a cut to his right forearm, and drove himself to University Hospital Geelong, where he had 10 stitches and was later arrested by police, while Buck was apprehended at the hotel.

Sen-Constable Daly said police located Rochow’s car near the hospital, and found the taser in it, along with a quantity of the drug GHB and $661 cash.

Later, at the Geelong Police Station, the man was found to have 6.7g of crystal substance in three clear plastic bags in his underpants.

Police allege the substance was the drug ice, with Magistrate Cynthia Toose noting that the amount was more than double the quantity needed to sustain a trafficking charge.

However, Rochow allegedly told police the methylamphet- amine was for personal use, saying he spent $100 a day on the drug.

Rochow’s mother fronted court in support of his bail application, saying he had always followed court orders, had a stable address with her in Hamlyn Heights and had previously done locksmithing work with his broker in Melbourne.

The court heard the man wanted to follow a court-ordered program to help him address his drug issues.

“There’s no point locking him up. That doesn’t help,” the mother said.

But Ms Toose found there was no compelling reason to give bail, and the risk of him committing further offences and endangering others was too great.

She noted he had 19 pages of prior court matters, mostly for drugs and weapons matters, including appearances earlier this year and a conviction last year.

Buck appeared in court briefly yesterday but did not apply for bail.

Both men face a raft of charges, including counts of affray, assault, drugs and weapons charges.

They were both ordered to return to court on June 28.