Two men fined after Sebastopol punch up

By Evan Schuurman
Updated November 2 2012 - 5:55pm, first published November 2 2011 - 12:19pm
Two men fined after Sebastopol punch up
Two men fined after Sebastopol punch up

AN early morning argument turned violent outside McDonald’s in Sebastopol after three men decided to “sort out their differences”, a court has heard.Shaun Pring, 37, and Daniel Reichelt, 19, both of Sebastopol, appeared in Ballarat Magistrates Court yesterday over the fight, and each pleaded guilty to one count of causing a public nuisance.A third man has also fronted court over the incident.Police prosecutor Sergeant Bob Anderson said that on July 14 last year about 8.30am Pring and his partner had been in the McDonald’s restaurant in Sebastopol when Pring got into a verbal argument with Reichelt and another man.Sergeant Anderson said the three men then decided to go outside to “sort out their differences”.Pring and the other man then started fighting before Reichelt hit Pring in the side of the head.About 12 patrons we’re said to have been at McDonald’s at the time. The punch-up was eventually broken up by Pring’s partner and restaurant staff.For Reichelt, Caroline Plunkett said that in striking Pring, her client was only trying to protect his friend.“It was all that he could think to do, he’s a lot smaller than the other two co-accuseds,” she said.She claimed Pring had initiated the communication by coming over to Reichelt inside the restaurant, before the scene escalated from there.For Pring, Mike Wardell said his client and Reichelt had previously been neighbours and that it wasn’t a happy relationship.He said the fight wasn’t staged but an unfortunate incident that stemmed from a chance meeting.Mr Wardell also said Pring, a father-of-four, had recently suffered after two close family members died.Magistrate Michelle Hodgson eventually decided to fine both men, Reichelt $300 without conviction and Pring $400 with conviction.“You don’t start throwing punches at 8.30am outside McDonald’s,” Ms Hodgson said. “The last thing people want at that time of the morning is to witness a physical fight. It’s quite frightening. It’s a family restaurant, that’s the reality.”

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