Two brothers, who visited Inverell in 2017, have been convicted of a violent hotel brawl.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
One 25-year-old man was jailed while his younger brother was ordered to complete community service.
Both appeared in Armidale District Court on Friday on indictments relating to violent assaults at Inverell's Empire Hotel in October 2017.
Both offenders had conducted violent attacks resulting in different degrees of serious physical injuries on a number of victims.
READ MORE:
The Tweed Heads man, 25 was charged with reckless indifference causing grievous bodily harm, reckless wounding,and assault occasioning actual bodily harm in company.
The younger brother, from Queensland, is 22 and he was charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm and assault occasioning actual bodily harm in company.
The court heard the brothers had travelled to Inverell to visit friends and family.
Judge Jeffrey McLennan asked both offenders, one via audio link and the other sitting in the dock, to sit quietly while he read through his sentencing decision.
The summary of facts included that the younger brother had initially tried to placate his brother and stop the violence but failing to do so he engaged in acts of violence.
The incident began with the older brother, believing that a member of the local motorcycle club was "staring at him".
"Unprovoked mayhem," described the brothers actions, Judge McLennan said.
The brothers engaged in an initial act of violence, that was recorded on CCTV. The aggression continued, with moving beyond the smoking area, further inside the hotel which involved ongoing malicious attacks.
The older brother was seen on CCTV moving his next victim, as he is punching him, so that he can access the area of the victim's neck which resulted in a gash that caused that victim to have a tracheotomy in hospital and being placed in an induced coma for one week.
He went on to punch another victim who received two gashes: one to his back and another to their facial area.
Victims were described as bleeding profusely, one having his wind pipe compromised, critically ill with serious fractures and as Justice McLennan continued it was "macho thuggery".
Documents submitted detailed that that brothers, while growing up, both witnessed a level of 'brutality that was extreme.' They left home at an early age because of ongoing domestic violence incidents.
A serious set of assault offences maximised injury.It was fortunate that there was no loss of life.
Fast medical attention and no weapon involved in the attack saved the victims life.
The offences were described as "brief but ferocious" by Justice McLennan.
He said the older brother does not exhibit the possibility of a successful rehabilitation at this point in his life. If he perceived someone has issue with him it will result in an "angry outburst", he said.
Documents submitted to the court stated that he had a chronic mistrust about his safety and that exposure to violence from his father and step father meant a reliance on drugs has not resulted in not learning any social skills.
Judge McLennan sentenced the older offender to five and half years in jail with a non parole period of three years and six months. He can apply for parole in May 2021.
Justice McLennan sentenced the younger brother with an intensive correctional order with which to comply, including a direction for, drug and alcohol supervision, an anger management course and 100 hours of community service.
A failure to comply, would result in a sentence of three years incarceration with a non parole period of 15 months
Justice Jeffrey McLennan described the younger brother, as having a lot to offer the community and having a good chance of rehabilitation.
