Tourist bashing - local man charged



Friday 14 October 2011

Tourist bashing - local man charged

A 32 year-old Port Douglas man has been charged with assault and occasioning bodily harm after allegedly attacking a tourist who had been selling sandwiches from a late night stall near Coles Supermarket in Macrossan Street.

Matias Riesco, from Chile, is recovering from a number of injuries after being confronted at 1am on Saturday 1 October.

Mr Riesco described his injuries to The Newsport earlier this week which included a fractured nose, black eye and swollen face, damaged elbow, and bruising to his neck.

He said he was surprised by the ferocity of the attacker which he described as "violent and no mercy at all."

Mr Riesco had allegedly been the target of ongoing harassment from a group of males before, and in the days after the attack, who had apparently taken umbrage at his entrepreneurial food stall.

The charged man will appear in Mossman Court on 19 October.

Port Douglas Police Officer-in-Charge, Sergeant Damian Meadows, warned of the possible consequences of fighting saying that head trauma can easily result in death.

He described the noise of a head hitting a concrete pavement as "something that stays with you." 

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