Albany man punches delivery worker in unprovoked attack, trespasses into gym and follows women into changeroom

A 24-year-old man assaulted a worker who was delivering bread to a Mt Barker supermarket in an unprovoked early morning attack. Henry Roy Graham appeared in Albany Magistrates Court last Thursday pleading guilty to a string of offences across Mt Barker and Albany. Graham pleaded guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm, disorderly behaviour in public, trespass and two counts of criminal damage. Police prosecutor Sergeant Alan Dean told the court that about 2am on September 27, a delivery driver was at the rear of his truck delivering bread to the Mt Barker IGA. After a verbal exchange, Graham punched the 58-year-old man to the head, Sgt Dean said. The man fell to the ground in the “violent struggle” before Graham fled the scene. The victim drove himself to hospital with abrasions to his head and arms. About 20 minutes later, Graham was caught on CCTV kicking in the door of a Mt Barker business causing more than $600 worth of damage. Later that morning, about 5:30am, Graham went his mother’s house. His mother left him in a chair on the front verandah due to his high level of intoxication. Sgt Dean said Graham vomited on himself before becoming hostile, urinating in his mother’s home and punching the fly screen door. Before these offences, on August 13, Graham trespassed into the Albany BodyCare Health Club in Centennial Park. Sgt Dean told the court about 6:40pm, Graham broke the lock mechanism on the front door of the gym. He entered the premises and wandered around speaking to people. He was escorted out of the building by gym members, only to return 90 seconds later. Sgt Dean said Graham then followed two women into the female changeroom. He was removed but returned again before staff were notified of his behaviour, Sgt Dean said. Later that evening he abused staff members at the The Bottle-O on North Road after he was refused service. Graham’s lawyer told the court his client’s behaviour was underscored by “binge-drinking”. Magistrate Sandra De Maio said the unprovoked assault was the most serious offence. “You delivered a flurry of blows to the vulnerable part of the body,” she said. “You were lucky there weren’t any major injuries.” Ms De Maio likened Graham’s behaviour to a “tornado going through the town causing trouble”. Graham received a nine-month prison term, conditionally suspended for 12 months. He was also placed on a community-based order for 12 months, ordered to pay back $616 for store damage, and fined a total of $800.