By JOLENE OGLE
TWO local men were sentenced to jail at Noosa Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, with one of them to spend at least a month behind bars.
Local apprentice Zachary James Howson, 18, was sentenced to six months’ jail for a sickening alcohol-fuelled attack on a man in a nightclub.
The court heard Howson punched a man in the face twice during an argument in the men’s bathroom of a popular nightclub on Hastings Street on 13 March this year, leaving the victim with a split lip requiring stiches and damage to his teeth.
Howson’s defence lawyer said his client believed he was defending his friend who he mistakenly thought had been pushed over by the victim, but Police Prosecutor Sergeant Melissa Campbell said it was an “unprovoked attack on someone who simply wanted to use the toilet”.
Howson was supported in court by his mother, who covered her eyes when the CCTV footage of the attack was shown in court.
He was ordered to pay $2000 restitution to the victim and was sentenced to six months’ jail with immediate parole and faces a 12-month ban from the licensed Hastings Street venue.
Driver jailed
GRANT William Eaton, 27, pleaded guilty to failing to stop his car at a random breath test (RBT) site on 14 November last year, plus one count of dangerous driving and one count of driving while disqualified.
The court heard Eaton pulled in to the RBT before speeding away and driving across a solid white line and into the path of two oncoming cars.
No-one was injured in the incident, but Sgt Campbell described Eaton’s traffic history as “atrocious” with three previous drink driving charges that “show he is a danger to road users”.
When Eaton was arrested for failing to stop and for dangerous driving, he had previously been disqualified from driving for a drink driving offence on 22 October last year, when he drove with a blood alcohol content of .150 per cent.
Eaton was sentenced to six months’ jail with a parole date of 10 June 2015 and disqualified from driving for 15 months for the dangerous driving offence.
He was also sentenced to three months’ jail to be served concurrently and a further four months’ driving suspension for the disqualified driving offence.
Eaton was also fined $750 for failing to stop.
