Suspended Dragons NRL player Junior Amone has been spared jail as his father was taken into custody over an “appalling” altercation outside the family home.
The 21-year-old was charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm, intimidation and damaging property, while his father, Talatau Amone, 47, faced the same charges and an extra count of entering a building or land to commit an indictable offence.
The elder Amone was jailed for two years and six months with a non-parole period of 12 months after a magistrate found he was the instigator and had an entrenched attitude towards the use of violence.
The sentence was backdated for time already spent in custody before he was bailed, meaning he will be eligible for release in September.
Magistrate Gabriel Fleming found there were special circumstances, reducing the 47-year-old’s non-parole period so he could receive treatment for anger management issues.
Talatau Amone watched on as his son was spared jail, instead receiving a two-year intensive corrections order including 300 hours of community service.
The pair were found guilty on the charges over an altercation at Warrawong in Wollongong’s south, where tradies on a neighbouring property were confronted in November 2022.
Junior Amone climbed on the roof and armed himself with a hammer as his father egged him on following a dispute over where a vehicle was parked.
One tradie fell from the roof and sustained serious injuries.
“This is appalling conduct,” Dr Fleming said.
A vehicle was also damaged and the pair both received $1000 in fines with an order to pay compensation of more than $13,000.
The younger Amone was stood down from all Dragons activities following the guilty verdicts in October.
The five-eighth earlier became subject to the NRL’s “no-fault stand down” policy, suspending players facing charges that carry maximum terms of 11 years or more in prison.
But when his case moved from the district to local court, reducing his maximum possible sentence, the NRL cleared him to return in March.
He played 19 games, scoring one try and assisting seven others as the Dragons narrowly avoided the wooden spoon after only five wins from the 2023 campaign.
The league’s integrity unit has been investigating the Tongan international but no further punishments have been delivered.
