Albury man avoids conviction, partly because he's beginning to address 'issues'

Richard Funston told Cody Greg Whittaker that "potentially" his actions could have resulted in "a much more serious assault".

Whittaker and a mate became aggressive towards security when told to leave the Zed Bar on June 20 about 2.20am.

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The situation quickly escalated, with both men having to be forcibly removed.

They tried to push Whittaker out the door, police said, "however he has refused to leave, requiring security to take hold of the accused and walk him out the door".

"Once outside, the accused has approached a security guard and grabbed him around the collarbone using his left hand."

A woman in the pub, who did not know Whittaker, stepped in between them to stop him.

Whittaker, Albury Local Court has heard, walked over to where his friend was being handled by other security.

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He walked straight into them, striking one in the chest with his shoulder, then stood over one of them before being pushed away.

"The accused has done this again before pushing the security guard with force to the chest," police said.

Defence lawyer Gorjan Nikolovski said Whittaker employed 25 people in his business and that if convicted, he could become ineligible for public sector contracts.

"This is an isolated incident; there's been nothing further, there's been no breach of bail."

Whittaker, 30, of Olive Street, pleaded guilty to common assault and excluded person fail to leave premises when required.

Mr Funston said it was unacceptable that licensed premises had to put up with people "giving others a hard time" because they have been asked to leave when "they have had too much to drink".

But Mr Funston said he was willing to give Whittaker credit for seeking-out appropriate counselling.

"And for that I'm prepared to give you one last chance and not impose a conviction," he said, in handing down an 18-month conditional release order.

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