Alleged baseball bat-wielding assailant had perceived an attack on his 'dear' dog

Bail has been refused for a panelbeater accused of attacking a man with a baseball bat, leaving behind a blood-covered scene and what a special magistrate called “a very unattractive injury”.

However, Allan Barry Joseph Boyce’s lawyer said her client denied the allegations against him and he was the one who called the police that night because he believed the complainant had attacked his dog.

It is alleged he and the complainant, who lived in a block of units in Theodore, got into an argument near the latter’s car around 2:20 am on Friday morning (24 February), court documents say.

During the argument, Boyce is alleged to have thrown a green baseball bat at him when in the units, hitting him on the forehead.

The complainant said he made his way back inside, feeling dizzy and heavily concussed. When police arrived, they saw blood splattered over “the entirety of the staircase, the cement footpad and the footpath” leading into his home.

The officers also saw the complainant had a large open wound on his forehead, so made him sit down and called an ambulance.

“It appeared that this male’s skull had been broken and police could observe what appeared to be bone through the wound,” police said.

The officers spoke to Boyce, but he allegedly gave “multiple versions of events, none of which aligned with the other”.

For instance, he allegedly said the complainant had already been “bleeding” when arriving at the units in a vehicle.

However, it is alleged he later claimed he hadn’t seen the complainant in the vehicle and the first time he had seen him with blood was after the complainant attacked his dog.

When the 38-year-old applied for bail in the ACT Magistrates Court on Friday, his Legal Aid lawyer, Ketinia McGowan, said his dog was “very dear to him” and he was worried about what would happen to it if he was remanded in custody.

She said her client had had little contact with the complainant before this alleged incident. They had only exchanged pleasantries when he was out walking his dog.

The court also heard Boyce had a 14-page-long criminal history that included assault, so prosecutor Colin Balog alleged he had a “demonstrated capacity for violence”.

Special Magistrate Sean Richter said he was most concerned about the likelihood of Boyce failing to appear in court if he was released, because he had a history of not answering his bail.

He ultimately refused bail, remanded Boyce in custody and adjourned to 20 March. Boyce, who is from Theodore, didn’t enter a plea to his charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.