A Kiama Downs father and his two sons have been found guilty of brandishing fence palings and intimidating a group of young birthday party revellers during a "chaotic" night on a suburban street.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Murray Poole and his sons Max and Jarrad learnt their fate when they appeared in Wollongong Local Court on Thursday after two days of hearing in December and May.
The men were each charged with affray, damaging property and being armed with intent to commit the serious indictable offence of intimidation while Max Poole was also charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
The court heard the Pooles' neighbours of 20 years were having an 18th birthday party on October 20, 2018 at their Kiama Downs home.
A confrontation began earlier in the night when the Pooles got annoyed that their cars might be damaged by the birthday boy's friends, However the dispute was resolved without incident.
About 10pm, police alleged the Pooles confronted the partygoers before Max Poole entered the front yard and assaulted one of the men. It was alleged an all-in brawl started and the fight spilled out onto the road, where fence palings were ripped off and brandished by the Pooles.
The Pooles denied they were the aggressors and rather were acting in self defence.
Murray and Max Poole told the court they, along with Jarrad, got out of the car after arriving home to the congested street and as they walked to their home Max was struck in the head with a thrown object.
Max told the court he went to confront one of the partygoers but then he was punched and attacked before his father and brother had to go inside the front yard to pull him out.
Max said he got separated from his family and was again assaulted down the street while his father and brother, armed with the fence palings, tried to get past the group of young men to get to him before police were called.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Ben Bragger alleged the Pooles were not acting in self defence as they could have retreated home at any point and they were the only ones armed with the fence palings.
However defence solicitor claimed the men were trying to defend themselves and fend off the group of agitated and intoxicated young men, noting the scene was aggressive and chaotic.
Magistrate Susan McGowan said there were some inconsistencies in the version Murray and Max gave, however believed their version of the melee, finding they acted in self-defence.
"It is clear based on the evidence... that Murray and Jarrad Poole reasonably believed they had to enter the property to rescue their son and brother," she said, adding the men only used their fists and not weapons at that point.
Magistrate McGowan went on to find Max not guilty of the assault due to inconsistencies in the alleged victim's version of events.
When assessing the other two charges, she primarily relied on phone footage taken at the scene.
Murray Poole claimed he and Jarrad were each holding a paling as seven people walked towards them as they were trying to get to Max, who had previously admitted to ripping off fence palings.
Murray was heard saying "we are coming back" in an aggressive tone on the phone footage.
The defence lawyer claimed partygoers had picked up or used the palings to attack the Pooles however Magistrate McGowan said there was no evidence to suggest the revellers were armed, adding "not one of the people in view are holding a fence paling".
Magistrate McGowan said Murray and Jarrad could be seen holding the palings in the footage and walking towards the partygoers banging the weapons on the ground.
"They could have retreated and they did not do that," she said. "Nobody was surrounding them. A retreat was possible."
The men were found guilty of being armed with intent to intimidate and damaging property.
They will be sentenced at a later date.
The Illawarra Mercury news app is now officially live on both iOS and Android devices. It is available for download in the Apple Store and Google Play.
Sign up to our newsletters
