Man given 'benefit of the doubt' over Howick Street taxi rank punches

Travis Farrell, of Greville Street, Kelso, was sentenced in Bathurst Local Court on April 17, 2024 after he pleaded guilty to a charge of common assault.

Police documents before the court said the victim and a witness in the matter were catching a taxi on Howick Street in Bathurst at about 3pm on August 28, 2023 when they saw Farrell and a woman.

Just as the taxi was leaving, the victim asked to get out so he could go back into a store.

As he was walking into the entrance of one of the CBD shopping centres, the man turned and saw the woman with Farrell asking where the witness was before she banged on the taxi door.

The victim walked up to the woman and told her to stop before he was asked what he was going to do about it, according to the police documents.

Farrell hit the victim in the back of his head, causing him to fall over, before hitting him several more times as he lay on the ground.

The pair were separated by a bystander and the victim went to hospital before making a report at Bathurst Police Station.

With the victim's statement and CCTV footage from the area, police said they tried to find Farrell to ask about the assault, but he couldn't be found.

A warrant was issued for his arrest.

"IT was all because his girlfriend was in a perceived threat," Farrell's Legal Aid solicitor Lucy Maranga said.

Police prosecutor Sergeant Belinda Cooper questioned how far the assault would have gone had it not been for the bystander who intervened.

"It was not just one punch ... it warrants a conviction, Your Honour," Srgt Cooper said.

While Farrell "got stuck into the victim", Magistrate Elizabeth Ellis afforded him the "benefit of the doubt" and did not record a conviction.

Farrell was placed on a conditional release order without conviction for 18 months.