'Coke' joke leads to community service for drunken face kick

Tuesday 25 September 2018

A man who admitted to kicking a stranger in the face whilst out drinking in a pub over the weekend has been sentenced to community service.

Jake Doney (24) was convicted of grave and criminal assault in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday after he kicked a man he’d never met in the face and threw several punches at him.

The court heard that Doney approached the victim and his friends asking for “coke”. The victiim jokily replied that if he wanted Coke, he should go to the bar as they have it on tap.

Doney began to walk away from the man, but then turned back and kicked him in the face and neck area before swinging about four punches at him until he had to be pulled off of the victim. The incident was captured on CCTV and Doney was arrested later that evening.

Pictured: Jake Doney was sentenced to community service for kicking a stranger in the face. 

It was heard that Doney had drunk eight pints of beer before the altercation took place. Doney was represented by Advocate Sarah Dale who said that her client admits that “the kick to the head is not acceptable” and he’s “very remorseful”.

Relief Magistrate Sarah Fitz, presiding, addressed Doney before handing down her sentence: “It is totally unacceptable to treat a stranger in a public house in this way”. 

She said that she took his guilty plea and apology into account before deciding to sentence Doney to 90 hours of community service, which is equivalent to three months in custody.