A MARTIAL arts exponent who punched a woman in the face so hard she needed reconstructive surgery has been jailed for at least four years.
Stan Churilov, 30, was given a head sentence of eight years, with four years non-parole, by Judge Jennifer English in the District Court at Campbelltown on Monday. He had pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent.
Churilov, standing 195cm tall and weighing 105kg, changed forever the life of a slightly-built 67-year-old woman on the XPT passenger train near Galong on August 18 last year.
The Central Coast woman was reading a book and fanning herself when Churilov – who had been sitting opposite her – suddenly punched her in the face an unknown number of times.
He yelled out: “She tried to electrocute me”.
Earlier court hearings have been told Churilov is proficient in martial arts, has won kick boxing titles and specialises in Muay Thai, which uses elbows, fists and knee strikes.
The court also heard that before the attack, Churilov had stopped taking medication for paranoid schizophrenia.
His Wagga solicitor, David Barron, told Judge English in May that Churilov’s Melbourne home had been destroyed in early 2014 by fire caused by an electrical fault.
Going off medication, combined with trauma associated with the fire, led Churilov to think the woman was generating harmful electricity by fanning herself, Mr Barron said.
Judge English found special circumstances to reduce the non-parole period by more than the statutory amount.
The sentence was backdated to when Churilov went into custody, meaning he will be eligible for parole on August 18, 2018.
