Maitland Jeffries sentenced to eight-month order for punching a man he accused of hitting his son

A father who attacked another man whom he believed had hit his son in Newman has been placed on an eight-month suspended prison order. Maitland Jeffries appeared before the Karratha Magistrates Court on March 1, and was sentenced for the assault and two separate unrelated charges: no authority to drive, and driving under the influence. The court heard about 5pm on April 30 in Newman, Jeffries accused the victim of hitting his son. He then punched the victim in the face, causing a 2cm long laceration on his eyebrow, which required five stitches. Police prosecutor Sgt Leonie James said the victim was known to Jeffries. The court was told on March 20 Jeffries, who was already the subject of a lifetime disqualification on his licence, was pulled over by South Hedland police and returned a blood alcohol reading of 0.171. Jeffries’ lawyer Micah Kickett said he had made efforts to engage with counselling and was willing to engage with programs. Magistrate Gavin MacLean said despite Jeffries having served jail time for similar incidents in the past, he had to take into account his performance while on the pre-sentence order. “You got through the pre-sentence order OK. I’m not going to reward you with prison,” he said. “Circumstances seem to be different this time. The fight was between you and another male.” Jeffries was sentenced to an eight-month suspended imprisonment order.