Meat & Eat manager fined for hitting employee with steak

Sunday 09 June 2024

A former restaurant manager who hit a member of staff in the face with a steak – and then resisted arrest – has been fined £1,600.

Shane Jude Kennedy (52), who worked at Meat & Eat in Liberty Wharf, was angry that the staff member was cooking himself steaks during meal breaks, the Magistrate's Court heard.

Legal adviser Francis Burak, prosecuting, explained: “He had a verbal altercation with the staff member that became physical.

"He went to the kitchen area and picked up a steak. He then hit him with it.”

The steak was not frozen, and the employee suffered a headache but no serious injuries.

The court heard that when the police arrived to arrest Kennedy for assault he struggled with them.

Six officers were needed to restrain and handcuff him.

He admitted assault and resisting arrest.

Advocate Mike Preston, defending, said that at the time of the incidents, on 22 August last year, Kennedy was facing several problems.

He said: “His marriage had just come to an end in June.

“The restaurant had done well until Covid happened, and he was working all hours to try to make it work.

"The business was failing and he was in arrears with his mortgage.”

He added: “He has no previous convictions for violence. He is something of a gentle giant.”

Assistant Magistrate Adam Clarke said the assault was of “a low category” and fined Kennedy £1,000.

He was also fined him an additional £600 for resisting an arrest.