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Man jailed after appeal over pilot punch

Cheryl GoodenoughAAP
A man who punched a pilot, breaking his jaw in three places, will serve eight months in jail.
Camera IconA man who punched a pilot, breaking his jaw in three places, will serve eight months in jail.

A man who punched an airline captain, breaking his jaw in three places and giving him vertigo, will serve eight months in jail after Queensland's attorney-general appealed his sentence.

Luke Daniel Chitty was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in jail after pleading guilty to one count of grievous bodily harm in August last year.

He was immediately released on parole.

But the attorney-general lodged an appeal arguing the sentence was "manifestly inadequate" because Chitty did not serve actual imprisonment.

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The 27-year-old and the airline captain got into an altercation while they were getting take-aways in McDonald's on August 6, 2019 after both had been drinking at separate venues in Cairns.

CCTV inside McDonald's shows the men exchanging brief glances before a verbal confrontation, Queensland Appeal Court Justice David Boddice said.

The footage shows Chitty opening the door then taking two steps back and punching the stranger in the face.

"The complainant fell to the ground, striking the back of his head," Justice Boddice added.

"He lay motionless."

Chitty left with a friend, making no effort to help the man.

Justice Boddice said Chitty gave a version of events that "was entirely inconsistent with the CCTV footage".

The injured man had no memory of the incident but his jaw was broken in three places, needing surgery and repair to his teeth.

He complained of vestibular dysfunction, headaches and vertigo, affecting his career as a professional airline captain.

Justice Boddice said the sentencing judge had regard to Chitty's age, mental health and prospects of rehabilitation, but the "conduct involved a forceful punch without warning in a public place, with catastrophic consequences".

"A consideration of the sentencing remarks as a whole supports a conclusion that the imposition of a sentence, which did not require the respondent to serve actual custody, did not have proper regard for the true nature of the respondent's serious offending and its consequences," he said in his published reasons.

Chitty's sentence remained at two-and-a-half years in jail, but his parole date will be fixed at September 19.

Justice Boddice said serving eight months of the sentence took into account Chitty's relative youth, personal circumstances and guilty plea.

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