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Fisherman nets $7000 fine | Gladstone Crime | Robberies, Assaults and Convictions in Gladstone
Fisherman nets $7000 fine
RAMMING a fishing boat in Port Alma after a fight with the owner cost a fisherman almost $7000 in court this week.
Rockhampton commercial fisherman John Cecil Harris, 45, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to one count of operating a vehicle unsafely, which is an offence under the Transport Operations Marine Safety act.
The court heard Harris had been setting fishing nets at Port Alma on February 24, 2008, when another fisherman had breached the '100-metre rule'- a guideline which fishermen used to ensure fishing nets were not damaged by other boats.
Defence solicitor Doug Winning told the court his client and the offending fisherman had a mutual dislike of each other.
“The other man is seen as a bit of a maverick - the men do not like each other,” Mr Winning told the court.
After shouting at the man when he breached the 100-metre rule and subsequently being ignored, an infuriated Harris guided him away from his nets.
He then chased the man in his boat, the court heard.
“He chastised the man for his infringement, and was told to ' (expletive) off'.
“The complainant picked up an iron bar and starting waving it at my client and his deckhand,” Mr Winning said.
Mr Winning said his client felt threatened and feared the man would throw the bar, he said.
Harris then did a circle in his 4.9m boat before ramming into the other man's 6m vessel, causing damage to the gunnel, the court heard.
Magistrate Damian Carroll told Harris he could not “take the law into his own hands”.
“This type of behaviour is unacceptable to the courts,” he told Harris.
However he accepted that Harris had been acting in retaliation, and that he had since acknowledged his actions were wrong.
He fined Harris $2750 and ordered he pay the complainant $4000 for damage and the cost of re-licensing the boat after repairs.
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