Most people would probably take it as a compliment if they got compared to a super hero.
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Not Joshua Daniel Olsen though.
The Balgownie resident found himself before Wollongong Local Court on Friday charged with assault after taking offence to someone calling him “Clark Kent” during a night out at the Towradgi Beach Hotel in April last year.
While Kent, the alter ego of Superman, was known for his mild manners and easy-going nature, Olsen was anything but when he attacked the man he believed responsible for the innocent comment in the male toilets later that night.
Court documents said Olsen and the victim only met that night through a mutual friend and Olsen began engaging in “banter” with the victim and his group of friends seated at the table.
One of group said to Olsen “hey, Clark Kent”, referencing Olsen’s physical resemblance to the famed character.
The victim later told police he hadn’t made the comment, although Olsen believed he had.
... he was picking on me all night and I just got sick of it. He was insulting me all night and I just got sick of it so I punched him.
Olsen said he became agitated as the group continued to “insult him and the way he looked”, prompting some of his friends to intervene and move him away from the group’s table.
A short time later the victim went to the bathroom and Olsen followed. He pushed the victim in the back as he stood at the urinal, before punching him in the nose when he turned around to defend himself.
They wrestled for a moment until another person came into the bathroom and the victim was able to escape and report the incident to security guards.
When questioned by police that night, Olsen said “he was picking on me all night and I just got sick of it. He was insulting me all night and I just got sick of it so I punched him”.
The victim was left with a fractured nose, two black eyes and burst blood vessel in his left eye.
Olsen was charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm but released on bail.
However, 2½ months later, Olsen again came under police scrutiny when he assaulted a woman and a homeless man in an unprovoked attack in Wollongong’s Crown Street Mall.
Olsen and an unknown man began berating the male victim as he sat on a bench, then pushed him aggressively in the chest and yelled “you’re not worth shit” when he got up to leave.
A short time later Olsen he grabbed the female victim by the back of the neck and pulled her towards him, causing her to stumble towards a glass window.
Witnesses restrained Olsen until police arrived. While in custody, Olsen said “Yeah, I know I did the wrong thing, I’ve just got to wear it now”.
Olsen had been due to contest the charges at a scheduled court hearing on Friday but pleaded guilty to both incidents in a last-minute deal with prosecutors.
Magistrate Mark Douglass chose not to send Olsen to jail, instead placing him on two 18-month community correction orders.