Alleged assault victim Tahnwa Manrique says Shane Van Styn told him: ‘That’s my f...... chair’

A man who has accused Shane Van Styn of assault says the Geraldton mayor told him “that’s my f...... chair” before the alleged incident, but the defence contends the alleged victim was drunk and causing trouble. Tahnwa Manrique was the first witness to give evidence in Geraldton Magistrate’s Court today on day one of Mr Van Styn’s trial for alleged assault occasioning bodily harm. By his own account Mr Manrique arrived at the Kalbarri Motor Hotel at 7.30pm on April 6 last year, after spending four hours drinking beers and fishing on the Murchison River. “I went there in the early evening,” he said. “I was there to play pool and drink beer only.” He told the court he was there 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 outside the pub and punched him in the mouth. Cross-examining Mr Manrique, defence lawyer George Giudice contended that he was more intoxicated than he claimed to be and had been trying to start fights with other patrons in the bar. “You were in a very aggressive mood,” Mr Giudice said. “You were out to cause trouble and stir people.” He read from Mr Manrique’s police interview which said he had told police he recalled consuming 12 beers, three pints of beer and one whisky and cola before the incident. “You were very drunk,” he 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. Earlier in the proceedings, in his opening statement, Mr Freitag said the State would contend the incident was a “straightforward assault occasioning bodily harm”. “This is an event where people had been drinking for a number of ours and it got out of hand,” he said. He said Mr Manrique had consumed a lot of alcohol that night. “At some point words were exchanged between them,” he said. “This is captured on CCTV but the assault occurred in the smoking area which is not covered by CCTV.” “Mr Manrique can recall being hit at least once, punched hard in the mouth. “He has a good memory. The prosecution will say this was the assault.” Mr Freitag said Mr Manrique and another independent witness, Ellise Nichols, who was working earlier that day, would be the key witnesses. The State intends to call a forensic expert, Dr Julie Ann Murakami, who will allege two droplets of blood on Mr Van Styn’s shirt from that evening contained Mr Manrique’s DNA, along with Mr Van Styn’s. Mr Van Styn confirmed in court his plea of not guilty. Mr Giudice declined the opportunity to make an opening statement. The trial before Magistrate Sandra De Maio continues.