TWO Bridgetown men have received jail terms, with a third man receiving a suspended prison sentence following vicious attacks at a party in Bridgetown last year.
The next night one of the same offenders entered a hotel and assaulted a man by glassing him.
The initial incidents occurred at a private party at the Bridgetown Show Grounds on Friday February 21 2014, after the event was gatecrashed.
The party, which was attended by about 150 people celebrating three birthdays, was a closed event. The offenders arrived uninvited and were quickly asked to leave.
As they left the party, the driver of the offenders’ vehicle spun his car tyres, spraying rocks at some parked cars. After seeing this occur, one of the party goers threw a bottle at the departing car, shattering a window which allegedly injured a person in the departing vehicle.
A short time later the uninvited gatecrashers returned to the party armed with a cricket bat, a wooden pole and a glass bottle. They also sourced additional acquaintances to assist.
The gatecrashers searched the party looking for the person that had allegedly thrown a bottle at their car and commenced assaulting a number of people. Many people received head injuries and others significant bodily damage.
The gatecrashers eventually retreated, damaging a number of guest’s vehicles as they left.
Amongst those injured were a 21 year old male who was knocked unconscious and received a significant head injury, a 21 year old male who received a significant head injury and a 16 year old male who received a minor head injury.
There are believed to be a number of other victims who have so far chosen not to report the assaults to police.
The next night one of the same offenders entered a local hotel and 'glassed' a male patron, who he believed was the person that had thrown the bottle at the car the night before.
The offender was allegedly under the influence of drugs at the time. There was no lead up confrontation and the offender immediately ran away from the hotel following the assault.
The victim fell forward onto the bar with immediate and substantial blood loss. The wound required 12 stitches just above the victim’s eye.
Police investigations into both incidents resulted in a number of charges being laid, which have just finished being dealt with in the Bridgetown and Bunbury Magistrates courts, with the following outcomes:
A 42 year old Bridgetown man pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful wounding and one count of being armed with intent to injure and received a 14 month sentence.
A 22 year old Bridgetown man received a 24 month suspended sentence after pleading guilty to one count of unlawful wounding and one count of being armed with intent to injure.
An 18 year old Bridgetown man was charged with one count of being armed with intent to injure. He failed to appear in court, was found guilty in his absence and received a penalty of $2000.
A 20 year old man from Bridgetown pleaded guilty to one count of being armed with intent to injure and one count of assault occasioning bodily harm and received a two month prison sentence.
The same 20 year old man was charged with one count of unlawful wounding as a result of the assault at the hotel the following night and received a 10 month jail sentence to be served concurrently with his two month sentence.
1st Class Constable Jay Pereira of the Bridgetown Police described the incidents as horrific confrontations that should never have occurred and said that investigations would continue if more information was received.
"There are additional persons of interest from this incident that we are keen to follow up with," Constable Pereira said. “However as witnesses have been unwilling to come forth we have been unable to press further charges.
''This investigation has been ongoing since February 21 2014. So far it has involved approximately 150 potential witnesses and has required police resources spanning over three sub-districts.
"We are very happy to have had successful prosecutions so far and are hoping that more victims and witnesses will come forward so we may further look into this matter and press further charges if required."