Mr Van Styn had been charged with assault occasioning bodily harm after an incident at a Kalbarri hotel in April last year.
Geraldton's Mayor, Shane Gerald Van Styn, has been acquitted of punching a man in the face at a hotel in WA's Midwest.It was alleged he struck a man in the face after both had been drinking for hoursMr Van Styn was charged with assault occasioning bodily harm after an incident at the Kalbarri Motor Hotel in April 2019.
Mr Van Styn had travelled 156 kilometres from Geraldton to Kalbarri to repair an automatic teller machine, and originally planned to travel home in the afternoon but decided to stay the night as he was "enjoying the break". Former bartender Ellise Nicholls, a British backpacker who was drinking with Mr Van Styn after her shift ended, said Mr Manrique was often "very loud" in the pub and would act like he wanted attention.
Prosecutor Simon Freitag said Mr Van Styn should have contacted police if he was concerned by Mr Manrique's behaviour."Van Styn built up in his mind that Mr Manrique was a problem that he needed to personally go and fix.Mr Van Styn told the court he followed Mr Manrique into the smoking area to keep an eye on him and was forced to push him away with one hand as he believed Mr Manrique was going to hit him.
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