A man who threatened a teenage girl and bashed a man on a Newcastle bus, in a random tirade over an apparent missing bag, has pleaded guilty.
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A bus travelling along Glebe Road at Hamilton South stopped for Matthew Finnie, 43, after the driver saw him chasing it just after 1pm on February 3.
"Who's got me bag? Where the f*** is my money?" Finney demanded of a passenger at the front of the bus before he set his sights on a 16-year-old girl sitting towards the back.
According to a statement of agreed facts, he called her an abusive name and asked her repeatedly if she had his money, while trying to open her bag.
The frightened girl said "no" multiple times and pushed him away by the shoulder as the driver stopped the bus and told Finnie to get off.
But Finnie then turned his attention to a man sitting on one of the seats nearby who was telling him that no-one on the bus had his money and he had climbed aboard without a bag.
Court documents detail how Finnie then punched the man dozens of times in the head and to the body, kneed him repeatedly while holding him in a headlock, and rammed his head into a metal pole.
All through the attack, Finnie continued to demand the man give his bag back.
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After the assault, Finnie got off the bus and vomited on the grass before he returned and tried to 'tap on' before he briefly fell asleep on the vehicle's floor. He then got off the bus a final time.
Finnie, the man he bashed and the teenage girl were all unknown to each other, the agreed facts said.
Police found Finnie lying in a nearby carpark.
He told police he had taken a cocktail of drugs including ice, Valium and Lyrica over the previous couple of days. He briefly fell asleep while officers were speaking with him.
Finnie was charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm and intimidation - he pleaded guilty to both counts in Newcastle Local Court on Wednesday.
The victim of the bashing was treated at the Mater Hospital for minor injuries to his face and body.
Finnie remains in custody and will face Newcastle District Court to get a sentence date on December 7.
