Docker Michael Johnson appears in court over assault charges

Fremantle Docker player Michael Johnson is awaiting the outcome of his trial for assault occasioning bodily harm. The footballer player was charged after an altercation in a Leederville Kebab shop in November 2016.

A Perth court heard that Johnson allegedly struck 24 year old Bunbury school teacher Tim Bowen and attempted to strike his friend Peter Mitinoski.

The court was told that Johnson, 32, entered the kebab shop in the early hours of the morning being loud and a nuisance. The AFL player then dropped his pants while waiting in the queue.

Johnson’s behaviour was filmed by Bowen, using the phone app Snapchat. Bowen, and his friends had been having a night out at nearby Niche bar.

Their filming caught the attention of Johnson’s wife Dayna who repeatedly demanded they remove the footage they had recorded. She also allegedly verbally abused Bowen and his two friends calling them “gay”.

Johnson’s wife allegedly snatched Bowen’s phone and left the shop. The school teacher told the court that he and his friends followed the woman out of the store after she took his phone.

Bowen was allegedly assaulted by Johnson outside of the shop. The footballer has denied the assault and his lawyer Richard Utting said that from his perspective Johnson saw his wife “exiting the shop being attacked by two men”.

“That’s what he sees and he acts in the defence of his wife,” Utting said.

OIP Staff