You want to go outside?

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A misunderstanding over the offer of a table “outside” has almost landed a man in jail – after construing the interaction as an invitation for a fight.

The Court Whisperer’s spies tell us the 31-year-old man narrowly escaped a stint in the tin after pleading guilty in the Pine Rivers Magistrates Court last week to a charge of assault causing bodily harm.

The magistrate was told the man had been visiting the Sunshine Coast in October and attempted to obtain a table for dinner for his family and friends. Apparently all of the tables inside of the eatery were full, but the duty manager noticed some tables outside were vacant and offered it to the man and his party of diners, saying: “Do you want to go outside?”

Alas, the man allegedly mistook the manager’s offer of a table “outside” in the beer garden as an invitation to “go outside and fight”. Long story short, fisticuffs ensued, with old mate finding himself $2000 out of pocket in fines and restitution, and a promise from the presiding magistrate that, should he return for “something like this again you are going to jail”.