Chayse Alexander Whetton avoids jail after assaulting 70-year-old security guard at Waikiki Shopping Centre

An 18-year-old man has avoided jail time after punching a ‘defenceless’ security guard at Waikiki Village Shopping Centre, knocking him out and leaving him with a wound that required several staples. The guard had told Chayse Alexander Whetton, 18, that he couldn’t ride his scooter before the cowardly attack. Whetton appeared before Rockingham Magistrates Court on Friday, admitting disorderly behaviour and unlawful assault. Prosecutor Sgt Matt Barker told the court that Whetton had assaulted the 70-year-old security guard. On November 17, 2022, about 8.30pm Whetton had been riding his scooter in the shopping centre when he was approached by the guard. Whetton was told he couldn’t ride his scooter inside the centre. The victim then followed Whetton through the centre and asked him to leave. Whetton left but returned a short time after. The victim again approached Whetton and asked him to leave. Whetton then became verbally abusive, yelling out, “I don’t give a f...”. He then walked out of the shopping centre and the victim followed. Outside, Whetton waved his arms in front of the victim’s face and kept shouting at him. Whetton then punched the victim to the right side of the face, causing him to fall to the ground and lose consciousness. As the victim fell, he hit the back of his head on the window frame of the store entrance. Whetton then rode away on his scooter. The victim sustained a cut to the back of his head, which required seven staples to close, and a small cut inside his mouth. The incident was captured on CCTV. Duty counsel Stacey Byrne said that the facts were accepted and that prior to the incident Whetton had been assaulted on the way to the shopping centre and his emotions had been “heightened”. Ms Byrne said Whetton “started to freak out” when told he couldn’t use his scooter inside the shopping centre. “He didn’t intend to hurt the victim and has been extremely distressed about his actions . . . There are outstanding treatment needs for emotional management that can be addressed,” she said. Magistrate Steven Malley said that he would consider a term of imprisonment due to the seriousness of the assault. “You attacked a defenceless man and rode off,” Mr Malley said. “This is what we read about in the paper every week — someone getting injured or attacked . . . This is your behaviour, he did nothing wrong and didn’t deserve to be punched.” Whetton was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment suspended for nine months, fined $1000 and ordered to pay $137 in court costs.