Brodie Jake Dewar: Family anger as accused coward‑punch attacker released on bail over death of Tim Picton

A 20-year-old man charged with fatally coward-punching Tim Picton has been released on bail despite strong opposition by the political powerbroker’s family. Brodie Jake Dewar is accused of attacking the Labor strategist outside the Paramount nightclub in Northbridge about 5.30am on December 27. Mr Dewar’s initial charge of grievous bodily harm was upgraded to manslaughter in February after the 36-year-old father-of-one died in hospital on January 19. At his first Supreme Court of WA appearance on Wednesday, Justice Joseph McGrath was told that the Director of Public Prosecutions no longer opposed granting Mr Dewar bail. Prosecutor Justin Whalley acknowledged that Mr Picton’s family ”strongly disagreed” with the State’s position. Mr Whalley said that to oppose bail, the State would have to submit that no condition could be imposed on Mr Dewar to mitigate his risk of offending. “That is not a submission that is accurate,” he said. As two full rows of supporters including his parents watched on, Mr Dewar appeared via videolink from Hakea Prison and fought back tears when Justice Joseph McGrath agreed to grant him bail. Mr Picton was the second man Mr Dewar allegedly knocked out outside a licensed premises in the space of 48 hours. He is accused of attacking a man outside the Kalamunda Hotel on Christmas Eve, filming him as he lay on the ground and posting the clip to Snapchat. “Don’t hit on my younger sister next time, brother. Keep snoring,” he said. Defence lawyer Simon Watters said CCTV of the incident, which the intoxicated complainant did not remember but left him with a “chipped tooth and cut lip”, was “certainly a nasty piece of footage”. “We accept that,” Mr Watters said. Justice McGrath said the State’s case was that Mr Dewar had a tendency to assault people when drunk. Perth Magistrates Court was told in February that two nights later, Mr Dewar was angered by the belief Mr Picton was paying too much attention to his female cousin at the nightclub. It is alleged that as they stood outside on James Street, Mr Dewar extended his right arm to shake Mr Picton’s hand but instead allegedly punched him to the left hand side of his jaw, causing him to strike his head on the pavement. At the time of the punch, Mr Picton was smoking a cigarette and had his other hand in his pocket. The State’s case is that when he was arrested, Mr Dewar told police he was protecting his cousin and knew he “shouldn’t have” but “just punched” Mr Picton. “He just stared at me and it f...ed me up,” the accused allegedly said. Justice McGrath found the risk of Mr Dewar offending could be alleviated by strict conditions, noting his relative youth, full-time work, stable accommodation, lack or prior record and support of his family. Justice McGrath imposed 12 strict conditions including a 7pm to 5am curfew allowing early starts for his roof plumbing and gas fitting apprenticeship, undergoing drugs and alcohol testing, not entering licensed premises, surrendering his passport and not leaving WA. “The death of Mr Picton regrettably shows hitting another person to the head region will lead to losing consciousness, falling to the ground and catastrophic injuries to the person,” Justice McGrath said. He said it was “extremely fortunate” the complainant in the Kalamunda case “walked away”. Mr Dewar is being released from Hakea Prison later on Wednesday. He is charged with act or omissions causing bodily harm over the alleged Kalamunda attack. His family filled multiple rows of the courtroom and refused to speak with media outside court.