Man pleads guilty to assault with metal rod over smoking

Court reports were ordered on a Pembroke man who struck a neighbour with a metal rod over cigarette smoke.

Alton O’Connor, 31, yesterday pleaded guilty to charges of unlawful assault causing bodily harm and unlawfully damaging a motorcycle in an incident on May 1.

The court heard that at about 11.30pm that day the victim, Sithiresan Narayanan, was smoking cigarettes outside his Pembroke home when O’Connor, who lives in another building on the property, came out cursing and holding a metal rod.

Another party tried to pull Mr Narayanan inside, but was only able to do so after O’Connor struck him three or four times with the rod.

Once the victim was inside and the door shut, O’Connor began to strike a motorcycle belonging to Mr Narayanan with the rod, knocking it to the ground before he returned to his home.

The court heard that Mr Narayanan suffered injuries to his arm, while his motorcycle sustained $800 worth of damage.

O’Connor was arrested and, while he did not make a comment about the attack, he did say that he has issues with cigarette smoke and had spoken to the victim about his smoking on the property several times before the incident.

Senior magistrate Maxanne Anderson ordered a series of pre-sentencing reports on O’Connor and released him on $5,000 bail on the condition that he have no contact with the victim.

The matter is expected to return to the court on July 12.

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