Vicious park assault
Man found naked with serious head injury
A MAN found barely conscious and naked with a serious head wound in a Cairns park after being bashed could have been there for more than six hours before help arrived.
The 46-year-old is fighting for his life in Townsville Hospital after being found in Harald Falge Park at Manunda about 6.40am on Wednesday.
Far North police Det Acting Insp Jason Smith said it was believed he had been part of a group of up to five people drinking in the park when an argument broke out and he was assaulted.
He appeared to have suffered a “blunt force” injury.
He said detectives were trying to piece together what happened, using CCTV footage and speaking to several of the group who were there.
“Investigations at this stage suggest the group had been drinking at this location for quite some time,” he said.
“We’re not sure when the offender left the scene, but when they did it appears they’ve left this man suffering significant injuries.”
He said it was believed the group had been drinking at the park before midnight.
In a separate incident, a 16year-old boy will appear in court charged with the shocking alleged assault of a woman in the middle of a Cairns North street about 7.45pm on Wednesday.
It is alleged the Tablelands boy followed the 29-year-old woman from a residence after the pair had an argument and attacked her near the corner of McLeod and James streets, stomping on her head several times after she fell.
The woman was treated in Cairns Hospital for non-life threatening injuries.
The boy was charged with assault occasioning bodily harm. Det Acting Insp Smith called for witnesses to both incidents.