The brother of a man accused of causing grievous bodily harm in a pub brawl says he tried to settle the him down in the minutes before the fight.
Kurt Anthony Lowe, 34, of St Helens has pleaded not guilty to causing grievous bodily harm to Jason Vivian Stewart about 1.35am on August 11, 2019.
A Supreme Court jury in Launceston heard that members of the Lowe family were gathered at O' Keefe's hotel on the night.
Aaron Lowe said his younger brother Kurt had come up to him and said: "these guys are saying whatever to me".
"I said 'don't worry about it, it means nothing'," he told the court.
He said two men were staring at his group.
"I went over and spoke to them and offered to buy them a drink and that is when the incident happened," he said.
The jury heard evidence from complainant Jason Stewart on Monday that he walked towards Mr Kurt Lowe with his hand out in a handshaking gesture when he was struck a number of times to the face.
Aaron Lowe said he saw two or three punches from Mr Kurt Lowe and one or two from Mr Stewart.
He said he saw his father in a vulnerable position during the brawl and had tried to help him.
Crowd controller Joshua Law said he heard a crash in the bar area and saw two altercations occurring at once.
"I saw two men beating on another man and an individual trying to protect himself," he said.
He said the two men were standing up leaning over the other man.
"I grabbed onto what I believed to be the aggressor and put a seatbelt hold on him," he said.
He told Crown prosecutor Luke Ogden that the man he grabbed had dark hair.
Mr Paul Lowe said he saw Mr Kurt Lowe and "this fellow" meet and started throwing punches.
He tried to break them up, but was unsuccessful.
Mr Kurt Lowe's father, Stephen Lowe, said he noticed a couple of guys irritating his son, mocking him and annoying him.
He said they were in the bar "looking back at us, jeering, talking and laughing".
Under cross examination by defence counsel Grant Tucker, Mr Stephen Lowe said he heard one of the men say in the outdoor area that he could "take him any time".
The trial before Justice Stephen Estcourt continues on Thursday.
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Nick Clark
I am the Supreme and Magistrates Court reporter for the Examiner for the past 18 months. My journalism career has clicked over 30 years and encompasses four different spells at Tasmanian newspapers.
I am the Supreme and Magistrates Court reporter for the Examiner for the past 18 months. My journalism career has clicked over 30 years and encompasses four different spells at Tasmanian newspapers.
