Assault trial: Geraldton mayor’s accuser was ‘drunk and picking fights’

A man who accuses Geraldton mayor Shane Van Styn of assaulting him at a Kalbarri hotel was drunk and thrown out of the pub for causing trouble, according to defence lawyer George Giudice. But a medical witness for the prosecution claims the alleged victim, 32-year-old Tahnwa Graham Manrique, suffered injuries consistent with punches. These were two of the more explosive claims in Geraldton Magistrate’s Court yesterday, on day one of Mr Van Styn’s trial for alleged assault occasioning bodily harm. Mr Manrique is accusing the mayor of assaulting him in the smoking room of the Kalbarri Motor Hotel about 8pm on April 6 last year. The court was told there was no CCTV footage of the alleged assault. Mr Manrique gave evidence he was at the bar to play pool and drink beer only, after having spent four hours earlier that day drinking and fishing on the Murchison River. He told the court he was at the hotel with his friend, Martin “Marty” Gobel, who was “confronted” by Mr Van Styn and three other men after sitting in Mr Van Styn’s seat at the bar. “I walked over there and said ‘what’s going on here’,” he said. “The big man, Shane (Van Styn), said ‘that’s my f...... chair’. “As soon as there was a problem we vacated to a new area to play pool.” Prosecutor Simon Freitag alleged that later, just after 8pm, Mr Van Styn followed Mr Manrique into the smoking room and punched him in the mouth. Under cross-examination, defence lawyer George Giudice cast doubt on Mr Manrique’s recollection of the events, saying he had later blown .209 BAC. Mr Giudice said Mr Manrique was more intoxicated than he claimed to be and had been trying to start fights with other patrons in the bar. He read from Mr Manrique’s police interview in which he told police he recalled consuming 12 beers, three pints of beer and one whisky and cola before the incident. “You were very drunk,” Mr Giudice said. Mr Giudice said a number of people had complained of Mr Manrique’s aggressive behaviour that night and said he was “trying to fight men” and “shouting”. In response, Mr Manrique said: “I didn’t do that, I would never.” Mr Giudice indicated the defence would call Kalbarri Motor Hotel former-bar manager Sean Ingram, who would testify he told Mr Manrique to “settle down” before the alleged assault. “There was no punch from Mr Van Styn was there?” Mr Guidice asked the complainant. “Of course there was,” came the response from Mr Manrique. “I was in the smoking area and the punch came out of nowhere.” The court was shown CCTV footage of Mr Van Styn following the alleged victim into the smoking room just after 8pm, with Mr Manrique emerging a minute later and being kicked out of the pub by an off-duty staff member, Ellise Nichols. Mr Giudice showed stills from the footage, between 7.14pm and 7.27pm that he said showed Mr Manrique antagonising Mr Van Styn from across the bar. “I’m not that kind of guy,” Mr Manrique said. “I wouldn’t be there picking fights. All I wanted to do was drink and play pool.” Mr Giudice also called into question Mr Manrique’s identification of Mr Van Styn during a recorded digi board selection. “When you looked at the digi board, you pointed out two people,” Mr Giudice said. “You had trouble identifying the person you said assaulted you. You were drunk.” Tahnwa Manrique responded saying: “I’m not the smartest of people”. Prosecution witness Dr Graeme Findlay, who provided medical attention to Mr Manrique about 9pm that night, told the court his injuries were consistent with two separate punches. He wrote in his notes that evening that Mr Manrique had facial injuries, bruising and his front teeth were loose, but intact. “I had no reason to doubt when he told me it was an altercation at the pub,” he said under cross-examination. “But I’m not going to argue that it couldn’t occur some other way.” Mr Giudice was warned by Magistrate Sandra De Maio against asking Dr Findlay questions about how a high blood alcohol reading may have influenced his behaviour, saying it was out of his “expertise”. “If he was an expert you could probably do that,” she said. “But he’s already admitted his knowledge would be consistent with most other GPs.” Despite a high BAC reading Dr Findlay said the complainant was alert and orientated during the examination. “He had no difficulty giving me his history,” he said. “He knew where he was and was lucid enough to decline care.” The trial before Magistrate De Maio continues.