![Bathurst Courthouse, where Shannon Fernando - aka Morgan - was sentenced for an assault. File picture Bathurst Courthouse, where Shannon Fernando - aka Morgan - was sentenced for an assault. File picture](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/5QSV2wJYJi8ZgVyWibkV7A/b0236f80-5a9b-4841-8f13-327a3998409c.jpg/r116_938_2760_3087_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
BIRTHDAY celebrations took a violent turn at the hands of a drunken 21-year-old man who "belted" a woman after a night of partying.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Shannon Fernando - also known as Shannon Morgan - 21, of Payne Close, Kelso was sentenced to a term of community jail after he pleaded guilty in Bathurst Local Court on May 24, 2023 to:
- Common assault,
- Damaging property, and
- Driving without ever being licensed.
After celebrating his 21st birthday, Fernando and the victim went to her home in Bathurst during the night of March 18, 2023 when an argument began.
"You don't think I'm smart," Fernando said to the victim as he splashed a bottle of a Vodka Cruiser all over her bedroom walls.
Fernando punched the victim's bedroom door and hit the walls, leaving holes, before he threw the Cruiser bottle across the room.
The court heard Fernando then punched the victim in the face and scratched her upper arm.
After he knocked over furniture, Fernando swung open the victim's front door, putting a hole in the plaster board, and left.
The victim called police, who noticed she was still visibly upset when they arrived.
Police went to the victim's home about 9.45am on March 30 to follow up the matter when they noticed Fernando was inside.
He was arrested and taken to Bathurst Police Station after he said he couldn't remember the incident due to how drunk he was.
On a separate occasion, Fernando was driving a red Kia Rio along Pit Straight at Mount Panorama when he was stopped by police about 4.10pm on March 28.
Fernando was asked for his licence before police did checks on the RMS system which showed he had never held a driver's licence in any state or territory of Australia.
Police also noted Fernando had been caught driving on two previous occasions in the six weeks beforehand.
Sentence
Aboriginal Legal Service solicitor Ms Chui told the court in relation to the matters of violence that her client - at the time - had been drinking heavily, which had only escalated the argument with the victim.
After it was noted Fernando was on a community correction order (CCO) at the time of the assault, Ms Chui asked for another CCO before Magistrate C Farnan said that was "clearly" not going to happen.
"He punched a different woman in the face [to get the CCO] ... and here he is eight months later belting another woman. He thinks it's alcohol but I don't," Ms Farnan said.
"He threw things at the wall, he punched the door, left holes then punched her in the face. Clearly it was violent in a circumstance where she should have been safe.
"I've got no doubt drinking alcohol is not something Mr Fernando should do, but not everyone who drinks thinks it's ok to punch [someone] in the face."
Ms Farnan placed Fernando on an intensive correction order for eight months, with the condition he do 60 hours of unpaid community service work.
"He needs to change his attitude towards women if he wants to remain in the community," she said.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content:
- Bookmark www.westernadvocate.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Facebook
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Tiktok