No record for alcohol-fuelled attack on innocent stranger outside Albany nightclub

An Albany man has been granted a spent conviction after he launched an alcohol-fuelled attack on an innocent bystander outside Studio 146. A “heavily intoxicated” Conrad Floyd Marshall was celebrating his 21st birthday in the early hours of March 1, when he pushed past a man who was trying to stop him from approaching his victim, Albany Magistrate’s Court heard last Thursday. Marshall then ran and punched his victim in the face with “considerable force”. Prosecuting Sergeant Alan Dean told the court Marshall left his victim with a laceration above his right eye and a bloodied nose before he was pulled away by nightclub staff and members of the public. The 21-year-old pleaded guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm, with his defence counsel, Graeme Payne, telling the court he did not know his victim and only got to that level of intoxication once a year. Mr Payne said the only explanation his client could offer for his actions was that someone during the night made remarks about Marshall’s recently deceased grandparent. However, Marshall did not know if his victim had made the remarks. Magistrate Raelene Johnston granted Marshall a spent conviction based on his age, early guilty plea, limited criminal record and the impact a recorded violence offence would have on his employment prospects. A spent conviction was opposed by Sgt Dean. Ms Johnston told the 21-year-old to make the most of the “opportunity” of being granted a spent conviction and placed him on a nine-month community-based order. “Don’t throw your future away by engaging in this destructive behaviour,” she said. “You had no right to act in the way you did.”