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Mate 'glassed' over beers

Margo Zlotkowski

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

© The Cairns Post

 

A MAN allegedly sliced open his mate's face with a broken beer bottle after the friend drank his cold beer all day then tried to leave with his own unopened warm carton.

In a Cairns District Court unlawful wounding trial expected to conclude today, witnesses yesterday told of seeing Zachery William Dwyer, 29, thrust or throw a beer bottle at Joel Goode, 30, causing a deep wound that ran from his ear down his entire cheek.

The glassing allegedly happened after the young men started fighting at a birthday party at Mr Dwyer's Kewarra Beach house on February 2, 2008.

It is alleged Mr Goode had brought a 30-can slab of VB beer to the party but drank Mr Dwyer's cold beer because his own were warm.

But the fight started when Mr Goode went to leave the party and took the still unopened carton with him.

Lucas Goode, who called 000 for an ambulance for his brother initially told the operator Joel had "a broken bottle in his chest".

Another friend who had been tending to Joel and knew the main wound was on his face, then got on the phone and gave the correct details, the court heard. In a recording of the 000 call played in court a woman could be heard saying: "he's conscious, he's breathing (but) the whole left side of his face near his ear has actually been ripped off".

The woman then asked for police to come too because the men were still fighting.

Under cross-examination Lucas Goode said he had definitely seen his brother getting injured in the face, with a wound like a "seam" opening up down his cheek, but told the operator he had been stabbed in the chest because that was where most of the blood was.

"I must have been flustered and in shock seeing the blood all over his chest and suggested he had a wound there but he didn't," he said.

"The blood was really red and dark … there was patches of light blood and patches of dark blood and it just looked like it was a stab wound.

"I thought his ear would be minor compared to the chest wound, but it was just blood."

He agreed he had seen a "tug of war" between Mr Dwyer and his brother over the beer.

"Joel had hold of it and Zac's said. "Oi, what are you doing’ and grabbed hold of it," Lucas Goode said.

After scuffling over the beer, he said Mr Dwyer ended up on top of his brother on the ground. He dismissed the suggestion from defence barrister Michael Sumner-Potts that Joel’s face was cut from broken glass that was on the ground.

Another friend told of seeing Joel Goode walking down the driveway with the carton of beer, then loud "yelling and screaming".

He said he had "wrestled" apart Joel Goode and Mr Dwyer, who had been rolling around on the ground, and took a worked-up Mr Dwyer, who was covered in blood, for a walk up the street to cool off. When he got back Joel Goode was being loaded into an ambulance, the friend said.

The trial continues today.

 


Bitter battle: A man allegedly sliced open his mate's face with a broken beer bottle after the friend drank his cold beer all day then tried to leave with his own unopened warm carton.


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