A CHICKEN nugget thrown in the face of a woman has pulled a man's alcohol use into question, after he "overreacted" and got physical.
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Thomas Tolhurst, 21, of Hogan Avenue, Warilla fronted Bathurst Local Court on August 17, 2023 after he pleaded guilty to a charge of common assault.
After drinking at a pub in Blayney, Tolhurst and a woman went to a friend's home on Sunbright Road in Kelso on April 15, 2023, court documents said.
The victim offered Tolhurst a chicken nugget, before he grabbed it out of her hand, tearing off an acrylic nail, and threw it at her.
After hearing Tolhurst call her names, the woman struck him with a closed fist.
The court heard Tolhurst then grabbed the woman by her shoulders and spun her to the ground.
Tolhurst went to drive away in his white Mitsubishi Outlander, but was stopped by a witness.
Court documents state the woman got into the front passenger seat of the car to try and convince Tolhurst to stay, before he went and grabbed her out of the vehicle.
The pair fought for a short while, before Tolhurst called triple-zero.
He then went and got his car keys from an empty plot of land, where they were thrown by the woman, and drove away.
Police arrived a short time later and found the woman sitting in the gutter.
Officers then called Tolhurst and asked for him to stop into the closest police station on his trip along the Great Western Highway.
But he didn't.
Sentence
Magistrate Elizabeth Ellis began Tolhurst's sentencing in open court by describing the matter as "quite a mess".
Legal Aid solicitor Keith Kuan then told the court there was a degree of provocation from his client's perspective, which Ms Ellis said "wasn't quite right".
"It was the victim who took the first physical steps," Mr Kuan said.
Ms Ellis then questioned whether Tolhurst would be before the court had it not been for his alcohol use.
"I don't know if it was excessive, but it seems you overreacted. It went completely ballistic," Ms Ellis said.
"You need to work out how you're going to handle differences in the future ... because how you reacted this time was not very good."
Tolhurst was placed on a community correction order for 12 months.
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Jay-Anna Sleeman
Reporter for the Western Advocate. First began as a sports journalist with ACM in 2018 before moving on to cover news and court.
Reporter for the Western Advocate. First began as a sports journalist with ACM in 2018 before moving on to cover news and court.
