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Barrister's son in Darwin punch-up

The son of a prominent Darwin barrister has appeared in the Northern Territory Supreme Court for attacking a bouncer outside a Darwin club.

user iconThe New Lawyer 29 July 2009 The Bar
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THE son of a prominent Darwin barrister has appeared in the Northern Territory Supreme Court for attacking a bouncer outside a Darwin club.

Maxamillian Tippett, son of Jon Tippett QC, pleaded guilty to unlawfully causing serious harm to an acquaintance outside a nightclub, reports NT News. 

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Tippett's lawyer, former director of public prosecutions, Rex Wild QC, said Tippett had penned a letter to the court since he was locked away on remand, saying he regretted his actions. 

"I've seen the impact this has had on our lives - it's much worse than I thought it could be," the letter said.

"I want to say I'm sorry. I must be held accountable for my actions."

Tippett and his friend Tom Foley, both 22, pleaded guilty to launching an attack on a crowd controller at Lost Arc, Hayden Summers, in November; along with another unidentified man, after Summers told the unknown man to leave the area. 

Foley's lawyer, Tom Berkley, told the court Tippett started the attack, and that Foley had been acting out of "misplaced loyalty".

Surveillance footage showed Tippett punch Summers in a reportedly unprovoked attack, which was picked up by Foley and the unknown man. 

The fight spilled on to the street, before Summers was chased back to the club when he tried to escape.

Reports cover the fight in some detail. Tippett, a keen sportsman, punched him in the head, and when he fell to the ground, kicked him. Foley kneed Summers in the stomach three times and swung punches at him, but later tried to push him away from Tippett and hold Tippett back. 

Wild has asked acting Justice Trevor Olsson to consider sending Tippett to a remote NT community with his mother's family on a home detention order. 

Prosecutor Mark Hobart SC, a Sydney barrister brought in by the NT DPP  for Tippett's cases, said actual imprisonment was the only appropriate sentence before the trial began. 

The young men will be sentenced on Friday. Tippett was remanded in custody.


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