One of three men in the ute, O'Brien got out and immediately began abusing people. When an elderly couple walked by he swore at them and told them to "get off the footpath."
Then, when a woman who was inside cleaning a window in a nearby business yelled that he should stop abusing people and leave the town, O'Brien said: "Shut your mouth you gabby tooth sl**", and "I'll have you."
He then headbutted the window, breaking it.
A man who heard the commotion came out to remonstrate with O'Brien and was also abused. He then ran at the local man and thrust the heel of his left hand into the jaw of his victim before his associates urged him to get into the vehicle and they drove off.
O'Brien told police he recalled headbutting the window but denied the abusive language, saying that he would never talk like that. He also denied the assault but accepted that he might have staggered into the man because of his state of intoxication.
It only cost $110 to repair the window but O'Brien agreed to pay $1000 because the building owner was unable to get it fixed over the long New Year's weekend, and was therefore unable to rent it out for a week.