Barman spared conviction over expandable baton

A 52-year-old man walked away with a conditional discharge after Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner said convicting him of having an offensive weapon could affect his livelihood.

Joseph Weller, a bartender at Casey’s Bar on Queen Street, admitted possessing an expandable baton on the night of March 19 this year and swinging at another man with it.

Prosecutor Garrett Byrne told Mr. Warner that on the night in question, Weller and a man were involved in an argument and Weller attempted to hit him with the baton. However, the man was able to overpower Weller and take the baton from him. The intended victim then took it to the Hamilton Police Station.

When he addressed Mr. Warner, Weller admitted he’d had a lapse in judgment by having the weapon, but said he was not thinking as his life had been threatened earlier that evening by another man.

Mr. Warner granted Weller a conditional discharge and ordered that he retake Training for Intervention Procedures (TIPS) training and told him he believed that if he recorded a criminal conviction against him, it could impact his employment.