A man who urinated on a woman at a Spiderbait gig last year has been convicted and hit with an $800 fine in court this week.
As The Age reports, Joel Ryan Morrison, who originally denied accusations he urinated on Belle Nolan during the concert at 170 Russell last February, admitted to the foul crime in Melbourne's Magistrate Court yesterday.
Morrison reportedly did so in an attempt to be put on the Court's diversion program (which ensures first-time offenders do not receive a criminal record), however magistrate Franz Holzer denied the application.
After pleading guilty to displaying disorderly conduct and behaving in an offensive manner, Morrison was hit with a conviction and a 12-month good behaviour bond on the condition he pay $800 to charity.
The court heard that Morrison drank ten cans of beer before heading to the Spiderbait show and while defence counsel Andrew Halse described his client's actions as "disgusting", he argued that "it does provide some explanation how someone got themselves in this predicament. He was clearly not in the right mind at the time".
Holzer reportedly said of the crime, "The last thing [Nolan] would have expected is for the matter we are talking about. It is vile.
"It's horrible and degrading and deserves the strongest condemnation."
Nolan told the court that the incident left her "traumatised" and "lowered her self-esteem".
"It was a really horrible experience," she said.
"I find it hard to believe someone could get that drunk to do that in a public place.
"I have younger brothers and I'd be appalled if they ever did something like this."
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