Police are appealing for witnesses to an alleged assault of a man and police officers at Byron Bay yesterday.
About 2.50pm (Wednesday), police were called to an information centre on Jonson Street following reports of hoodlums.
On arrival, police issued a move on direction to a 41-year-old man, who walked into nearby Railway Park.
It’s alleged, at this time, the man was assaulted by a second man.
The 41-year-old returned to police, to report the incident. He was taken to Byron Bay Hospital for treatment to an injured nose and mouth.
Officers attached to Tweed/Byron Local Area Command located a 42-year-old man nearby and attempted to arrest him.
The older man allegedly resisted arrest, assaulting police officers a number of times.
He was taken to Byron Bay Police Station, where he was charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm, two counts of assault police, resist arrest, and affray.
The man has been refused bail, to appear at Tweed Heads Local Court on Monday 21 September 2015.
A senior constable was also taken to Byron Bay Hospital, to be treated for a hand injury.
Police are appealing for any witnesses to the alleged assault at Railway Park to come forward and contact police via Crime Stoppers.
Police are urging anyone with information in relation to these incidents to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or use the Crime Stoppers online reporting page: https://nsw.crimestoppers.com.au
It doesn’t surprise me that Byron now increasingly attracts this violent element and increased trouble… 42 year ‘hoodlums”? Give me a break. Not exactly ‘Schoolies’ letting off steam.
Perhaps it has to do with downtown Byron currently looking like a travelling Circus.
I had not driven thru town via Jonson St. for several months and did so yesterday. I was appalled and totally put off by the signage and shopfronts that have evolved from a once pretty town… and downtown now looks like a slum.
Most notorious is the Discount Pharmacy with its ‘in your face’ screaming signage, along with other terminal eyesores dangling from any available surface with a line of sight.
Byron has become a visual shit-hole and the visual appearance will do nothing to attract a better class of visitors.
Who can we thank for the excessive rents, vulgar environs and nefarious element that now chooses our town as a center for mischief and mayhem?
Dont forget the night owl. Digital signage is disgusting and an eyesore.
There are a lot of good signs in the town but please council…
Put a stop to these disgusting , horrible signs that are destroying the towns once wonderful appeal
Mark OG is right!
The town looks bad enough now to have a Maccas and a KFC…all the other CRAP stores are already there. Is that the plan? Who needs Sportsgirl, Just jeans, that shocking icecream shop from the US Baskin & Robbers and for that matter ANY Multi National. Dont get me started on the rents charged by greedy lords
Byron has lost its uniqueness and is becoming a grubby slum…sadly the artisans that were once there have gone 🙁
I second Mark’s opinion of Byron. I don’t live there but avoid having anything to do with the place.
I’m not ecstatic about the signage either but to single out a couple of businesses and start accusing them of bringing violence to town is a fairly long bow to draw here..You will probably find alcohol to be at the root of the violence..Yes Byron CBD has become woeful for in ya face signage…not sure it equates to the elements of violence that are reported here..in fact the reports of violence are in the lovely little park without any signage whatsoever…possibly by people who cant even read..go figure…maybe we need a Neon sign saying Park flashing on and off..so people feel protected by the corporate entity its become …..maybe not
“You will probably find alcohol to be at the root of the violence”
I would have thought that just like the signage, the multi-national franchises, and the visual shitholedness, alcohol abuse was actually just another symptom of the decline of the Bay and the loss of community. When the Bay was more indicative of the wider Shires values, there was still loads of alcohol, and most people seemed to really enjoy it.
Violence is a social issue, just like drug and alcohol abuse. It’s just easier to blame one on the other than to try and reverse the decline.
I have called the Police to Railway Park 5 or 6 times over the past year. Each time there was a group of mixed indigenous and white drunks at around 4-5pm totally scaring anyone who ventured into the Park with their intoxicated behaviour. Ralph James form Council emailed me he can do nothing (even though it is a Council Park) and the Police are limited in their response due to the wily behaviour of the offenders. They hide theey’re grog and plead ‘homeless’. It renders the Park off-limits to my kids and other visitors. In summer it is every day. Indigenous locals get drunk and fight in the park. Politically uncomfortable but true. Solution? Don’t believe me…come and have a look. They’re there every summer afternoon.