Mandurah court: man punches work colleague (58) to the face

A MAN punched his 58-year-old work colleague to the face after they quarrelled over table etiquette and she kicked him in the shin.

Loc Peter Karl Jenkin-Ludbey (27) pleaded guilty to common assault in Mandurah Magistrates Court on Friday.

Jenkin-Ludbey and the victim were at their workplace.

Police prosecutor Mick Fallows said Jenkin-Ludbey was at his workplace and he had his feet on the table. His work colleague asked him to remove them on March 13, 2018 but he disagreed. Instead, the woman pushed his feet off.

Jenkin-Ludbey started getting verbally abusive towards the woman so she left and spoke to a gardening crew assistant and asked them to have a word with Jenkin-Ludbey.

After the gardening crew assistant spoke to Jenkin-Ludbey, he confronted the victim and she kicked him with her foot on the shin.

Jenkin-Ludbey then punched the victim to the face, causing her to fall to the ground.

They were separated and police attended the scene. Jenkin-Ludbey told police the woman kicked him and he was firing back.

Duty lawyer Clare Hays said the victim’s kick to Jenkin-Ludbey’s shin was forceful.

“He hadn’t swung out for no reason,” she said.

Magistrate Anne Longden said she accepts there were elements of provocation but Jenkin-Ludbey did the wrong thing.

Magistrate Longden fined Jenkin-Ludbey $800.