AN ACCOUNTANT at John Hunter Hospital who punched a female police officer in the eye after he was refused entry to a strip club in Kings Cross has narrowly avoided a jail term in Newcastle Local Court.
Kane Brannan Dodd, now 34, of Lakelands, has no memory of the night out in Sydney celebrating the birth of his first child with friends and had to be shown footage of him striking the female officer in the face about 1.15am on December 21 last year.
Dodd, who was represented by solicitor Ashleigh Myers, had been out drinking with friends in Kings Cross and was refused entry to strip club Showgirls about midnight.
He waited around for 45 minutes outside before again attempting to enter the club and wrestling with a security guard.
Police were called and Dodd - who was still being belligerent and argumentative - was issued an infringement notice for remaining in the vicinity of a licensed premises and ordered to move on.
He walked away, but then came back to where police were outside the club and began yelling and swearing. Police tried to walk him away from the club but he turned and punched the female officer in the face, leaving her with a black eye.
He was then arrested.
"There is no excuse for this," Magistrate Robert Stone said in court on Wednesday.
"Not only is he assaulting a police officer in a public street in Kings Cross, but he is a young male affected by alcohol... antagonising police and being belligerent.
"The only thing that saves him from going to jail is the injury was not worse and the fact that he has no prior criminal record.
"If you had damaged her eye or broken her jaw I would have had no problem sleeping tonight after sending you to jail. "You would have gone to jail for two or three years."
Dodd, who pleaded guilty to assaulting police in execution of duty and causing actual bodily harm, was sentenced to a 10-month intensive corrections order, which has a condition that he complete 100 hours of community service.
