Every dog has its day: How a Brisbane man and his poodle struck a blow for justice
Holding his toy poodle cross Lucy above his head, a 60-year-old man kicked out at a dog as it kept jumping up to bite his smaller pooch.
In response, Roland Patrick Meldrum âking hitâ the man from behind before kicking him so hard that he broke the prone 60-year-oldâs arm.
Meldrum, 27, was on Thursday jailed for his âextreme over-reactionâ to the man kicking his dog at Victoria Point southeast of Brisbane more than a year ago.
A week before Christmas in 2021, the 60-year-old was finishing an early evening walk on the beach with Lucy when he saw a dog running towards them.
The dog â which was âfour times biggerâ than Lucy â wasnât on a leash as required by local council regulations.
The man lifted up Lucy and repeatedly kicked out at the dog which kept jumping up to âhave a goâ at his canine, Brisbane District Court was told.
âYour response was to run up to him and effectively king hit him behind his right ear,â Judge Jeffrey Clarke told Meldrum on Thursday.
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The âsignificantly smallerâ 60-year-old fell to the ground and had to protect his head as Meldrum started kicking him.
Meldrum only stopped his âsustained, cowardly attackâ when someone intervened but yelled at the man before leaving with his dog.
X-rays later revealed the man had suffered a fractured arm in the attack and required surgery to insert a plate with seven screws.
He also suffered headaches and vision issues.
The man had to spend time off work during the two months it took for the arm to heal and still suffers ongoing pain.
Defence barrister Michael Copley said Meldrum was unaware of the severity of the manâs injury at the time, and was embarrassed and ashamed about what happened.
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Meldrum has since written a letter of apology and undergone anger management counselling, he said.
Mr Copley told the court at the time Meldrum had lost hold of the leash before his dog jumped on the man, saying it âwasnât roaming around unrestrainedâ.
Meldrum had a disadvantaged childhood which had been exposed to violence and had âfound refugeâ in playing with animals, he said.
Meldrum got the dog to cope with anxiety after a relationship break-up and they had become close, the court was told.
He had no criminal history.
Meldrum pleaded guilty to charges including grievous bodily harm and serious assault of a person over 60.
He was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in jail, to be suspended after serving three months.
Meldrum was also ordered to pay $5000 compensation.
âHe reacted incredibly poorly and did act out in a disgustingly violent manner,â Judge Clarke said.
âThis sort of unrestrained, horrible violence simply doesnât belong in a civilised community.â
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