Jerome Saffey, 22, was drinking at the pub about 9pm on January 5 when an argument broke out between his group of friends and the victim’s group of friends in the hotel’s car park. 

The victim, who was still inside the pub, saw a physical scuffle begin in the car park between the two groups and came out to intervene, yelling out things like “come on guys”, “break it up”, and “cool it down”. 

That was when Saffey walked straight towards the victim and delivered one punch to his face, causing him to fall backwards and smash the back of his head on the concrete. 

The fight continued around him as he lay unconscious in the car park until other patrons who were not involved stepped in to help him. 

Witnesses later reported to police that the victim was in no way verbally or physically aggressive, and appeared to be the “least intoxicated” of the group of friends. 

He was rushed to Wagga Base Hospital in an ambulance in a confused state with a “reduced level of consciousness”, with hospital staff reporting he was agitated and had no memory of what had just happened.

After a CT scan revealed a “significant brain trauma” involving six different head injuries, he was airlifted to St George Hospital in Sydney and closely monitored in the neurological ward for six days. 

Doctors in Sydney later described his head injuries as “substantial and life threatening”. 

Saffey also sustained some injuries leaving him with swelling in the face, and was arrested by police two days later. 

In Wagga Local Court on Wednesday, Saffey’s lawyers entered a plea of guilty to a single charge of recklessly inflicting grievous bodily harm on his behalf.

Saffey was committed to Wagga District Court for sentencing and will front court again on October 19 to learn his fate. 

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