The tequila made me do it, sobbing attacker tells court

A good Samaritan was left with a titanium plate in his skull after an assault at a train station north of Brisbane, a court was told today.

Brisbane labourer Peter Cameron Williams sobbed as a Brisbane District Court judge ordered him to serve six months behind bars for the robbery and violent assault of a 21-year-old commuter who had offered to help Williams contact his mother at Lawnton train station in November 2008.

The court was told Williams, then 19, was drunk on half a bottle of tequila and two cartons of beer when he sat on his mobile phone and broke it.

Needing to tell his mother he would not be home that night, Williams asked Bruce Fernandez, who was waiting for a city-bound train, if he could borrow his mobile phone to make a call.

Mr Fernandez agreed and gave Williams his phone, but Williams handed the handset back, saying he could not work out how to use it, crown prosecutor Belinda Merrin said.

Mr Fernandez then began typing a text message to William's mother on his behalf, but Williams snatched the phone and punched him in the head up to eight times while screaming "Let go of the phone you c--- or I'll f---ing kill you".

Williams then fled the station with the phone.

Mr Fernandez was taken to hospital, where he later had surgery to insert a titanium plate to repair a fractured right eye socket.

He still suffers from double vision and numbness in the eye area, Ms Merrin said.

After viewing the train station's CCTV footage, police were able to identify two other men Williams had been with on the station platform.

Those men, when approached by detectives, identified Williams and revealed his address.

In an interview with officers, Williams admitted the offence, saying he had not taken medication to treat his attention deficit disorder and revealed he had been extremely drunk on the night and had taken his anger out on Mr Fernandez.

"It's from drinking tequila," he told police. "I will never drink tequila again."

Williams, who two weeks ago applied to join the Australian Army, pleaded guilty in court today to robbery with violence and grievous bodily harm.

Judge Terence Martin SC said despite Williams having no criminal history, his violent behaviour warranted time in jail.

"This was an alcohol-fuelled episode of violence in a public place at night," he said.

"It involved persistent violence towards the complainant who was not only entirely innocent but was prepared to - and was - assisting you."

He sentenced Williams to two years and 10 months' jail, ordering he be released on parole after serving six months behind bars.

Issued by Brisbane Times 15th Janaury 2010
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/the-tequila-made-me-do-it-sobbing-attacker-tells-court-20100115-mbow.html