Given the option of time in jail or a chance to be released and complete rehabilitation programs, a Wangaratta man involved in a violent brawl has chosen jail.
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Luke Ferguson, 27, punched another man several times and smashed a glass beer bottle during the fight which broke out on Wangaratta’s Reid Street in the early hours of April 22.
When one man was knocked unconscious, the fight continued.
Police prosecutor Senior Constable Sarah Williamson said Ferguson knew the main aggressor in the fight and said “we are mates, I’m not going to hit you” in an effort to calm him down.
But the fight escalated.
Police charged five men over their involvement.
“All the accused had been drinking excessive amounts of alcohol before the altercation,” Senior Constable Williamson said.
Ferguson was taken to hospital with cuts and grazes to his eye and elbow.
A psychologist’s report states Ferguson had an issue with alcohol-fuelled violence. He appeared in Wangaratta Magistrates Court this week via video link from jail where is is serving another sentence.
Magistrate David Faram proposed deferring the sentence until Ferguson was released, then placing him on a community corrections order.
“I don’t think I can cooperate with a CCO,” Ferguson said.
“I’ve breached them before.”
His mother offered to take him to appointments, but Mr Faram said it was not a negotiation.
He sentenced Ferguson to two months in jail; one month to be concurrent and the other to be served on top of his existing sentence.
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