Three men have been reprimanded for taking "vigilante-style" retribution against two relatives who were involved in pouring boiling water on a young man, leaving him with extensive burns.
Mackay District Court heard that in an act of revenge, two brothers, Nigel Kaine Purcell, 36, and Alandos James Purcell, 34, with their mother's partner Wayne David Emmerson, 47, broke into the victims' North Queensland home in November last year.
The Purcell brothers' younger sibling had earlier suffered burns to 25 per cent of his body when two uncles attacked him with boiling water.
Crown prosecutor Erin Kelly told the court that about 12pm, the Purcell brothers and Emmerson arrived where the two uncles were — the Andergrove house.
The court heard the trio barged past one uncle, who tried to stop them from entering the second victim's bedroom.
Once in the room, the Purcells and Emmerson pulled the second uncle from his bed and dragged him across the floor, where they punched and kicked him.
"It is essentially a vigilante-style attack after the [victims] violently attacked [the defendants'] brother," Ms Kelly said.
The Purcell brothers and Emmerson all pleaded guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm while in company.
Nigel Purcell faced an additional charge related to the uncle who tried to block them from entering the bedroom.
'Awful set of circumstances'
Nigel Purcell's barrister, Kate Juhasz, told the court the attack was not overly premeditated.
Ms Juhasz said the victims had attacked her client's younger brother the night before.
"Mr Purcell was close to his brother. He'd been called to the hospital where his brother was significantly injured, and he stayed there late into the night," she said.
"He was advised by the police that [the uncles] had been involved in taking a flask of hot water to the home of his brother and throwing it over him while he was asleep."
She said the boiling water attack had happened because the uncles had mistakenly thought the younger brother had stolen their phone.
"So it was really an awful set of circumstances to be confronted with," Ms Juhasz said.
Alandos Purcell's barrister, Patrick Wilson, told the court his client had "deep regrets" over his actions and "acknowledges he reacted very badly to an emotional situation".
Emmerson's barrister, Scott McLennan, told the court his client had acted under the "correct belief" that the younger brother would be "scarred for life".
Vigilante action 'must be discouraged'
The court heard the victims had already been convicted of the attack against the younger brother and were now serving sentences in jail.
Judge Anthony Rafter took into consideration the attack on the defendants' brother and noted that he had suffered burns to 25 per cent of his body.
But the judge said it was no excuse to take the law into their own hands.
"Your response was to act in a vigilante manner which must be discouraged," he said.
All three men were sentenced to 18 months jail, wholly suspended for two years.
Convictions were recorded.
