A man has been found guilty of an assault in a residential street at Dubbo that left the victim with cheekbone fractures and a gash to his face.
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Lachlan Chilcott-Noonan fronted Dubbo Local Court on two charges arising from an incident on the night of February 6 in Trelanvean Street. The 22-year-old denied the charges against him.
He was found guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm after hearing, but magistrate Gary Wilson found him not guilty of the more serious charge of reckless grievous bodily harm.
“I do not consider the injuries inflicted constitute grievous bodily harm,” Mr Wilson said on Thursday.
I do not consider the injuries inflicted constitute grievous bodily harm.
- Magistrate Gary Wilson
“I find the accused did assault [the victim].
“I do not consider that grievous bodily harm was inflicted on the victim. Nor do I consider the one or possibly two punches was reckless.”
Statements by police and photos of the scene were tendered as evidence. The prosecution also called the victim, the accused and the accused’s mother Michelle Chilcott to give evidence.
Taking the stand, the victim conceded he had consumed a significant amount of alcohol during a visit to the house and that he had had an argument with his then-partner about 8pm.
He had left, but returned to the house because he had left his phone there.
Under cross-examination, the victim said that at no time did he hit the accused, and that he was the only person who had been hit.
An expert certificate was tendered from the specialist emergency physician who attended the victim at Dubbo Hospital. The court heard CT scans showed the victim had three fractures to his cheekbone, a laceration and multiple abrasions.
Ms Chilcott had given evidence the victim had ‘barged’ through the front door, and after she had called for help, her son had pushed the victim outside.
The first of two versions provided by the defence was the victim’s injuries could have been sustained elsewhere.
Mr Wilson said he did not accept the submission, particularly with the “blood spattering on the wall” of the house and the blood in the front door and patio area seen in evidence. The alternative submission by the defence was that Chilcott-Noonan had acted in self-defence.
The magistrate said the court accepted the victim’s evidence that he did not enter the premises when he returned.
Mr Wilson said he also accepted the victim’s evidence that Chilcott-Noonan had come from the side of the house and hit the victim one or more times.
The magistrate found Ms Chilcott, the mother of the accused, was “not a credible witness”. The court also found the actions taken by the accused were not in self-defence.
Mr Wilson ordered a pre-sentence report and adjourned the matter for sentence on September 27.