Daniel Gordon was told to leave the vicinity of The Area Hotel. Photo: Oliver Jacques.
A Yenda man has been handed convictions but will avoid jail time after pleading guilty to assaulting a police officer outside The Area Hotel and also engaging in offensive behaviour on a different day at the Griffith Leagues Club.
Daniel Gordon, 34, was placed on a good behaviour bond for 12 months and received four fines totalling $2950 at Griffith Local Court on Wednesday (7 May).
According to the agreed facts in court documents, Gordan was walking to The Area Hotel from the Gemini in the early hours of Sunday 24 November 2024. Police saw him while he was swaying, unsteady on his feet and yelling at passersby.
A constable told him to be clear of the vicinity of The Area Hotel by at least 50 metres. He moved 10 metres away, then walked back towards the pub, defying police instructions.
While Gordon was standing on the Banna Avenue road, police again told him to leave. A constable pushed him back with minimum force, causing him to fall backwards and dislodge the hat from his head. Gordon claimed to have hit his head.
While he was laying on the footpath, a constable asked him for identification, but he refused to show him. He then used his right foot to kick the officer in the left ankle, causing a small amount of pain.
Police then handcuffed him, placed him under arrest and took him to the police station, where he continued to be uncooperative. He stripped off all his clothes and threatened to kill himself. He also punched himself in the eye and was taken to Griffith Base Hospital for treatment.
The court was told Gordon also clashed with police on Australia Day 2025, when he was told to leave the Griffith Leagues Club due to being intoxicated. After being evicted, he put a hat on and tried to re-enter the premises. A table of patrons watching him were amused by this attempt to re-enter, angering Gordon, who approached them and used an open palm to swipe towards a female patron.
A man at the table then got up and confronted Gordon, leading to a scuffle between the trio in which no punches were thrown. A security guard evicted him from the club but he again moved toward a patron. The police were called and he was arrested and charged with offensive behaviour in a public place and re-entering a premises as an excluded person.
In court, his lawyer Olivia Harris argued his assault on the constable outside The Area Hotel only caused a “small amount of damage to the officer’s foot”.
She said he was working to address his alcohol consumption. Ms Harris told the court that Gordon’s mother had a brain aneurism in February 2025 from which she nearly died, and this sent the message that he needed to change his ways.
Ms Harris said Gordon had a job in which he worked six to seven days a week, telling the magistrate that he would rather have his financial penalty increased than have to do community service.
The Yenda man pleaded guilty to the charges of assaulting police and continuing intoxicated behaviour after a move-on direction outside The Area Hotel in November 2024. He also pleaded guilty to behaving in an offensive manner in a public place and re-entering a premises as an excluded person at the Leagues Club on Australia Day.
For each of these four offences, Magistrate Pauline Wright fined him $800, $1100, $500 and $550 respectively.
What hubris, from a man who gets elected by a few wealthy rural and town business bigwigs and… View