A 21-year-old Ashmont man has narrowly avoided jail after he committed an unprovoked one-punch attack on Wagga chef and umpire Ryan Dedini.
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Nathan Michael Russell was sentenced to a 12-month intensive correction order on Monday after he pleaded guilty assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Documents tendered to the court revealed Mr Dedini had been enjoying a night out with friends on June 2 when Russell approached him at the intersection of Fitzmaurice and Gurwood streets and punched him in the head.
Mr Dedini fell, smashed his head on the road, and suffered bulged discs in his back and a broken bone in his ear as a result.
In Wagga Local Court, defence solicitor Nico Rump said Russell, a fourth year apprentice welder, was unusually drunk on the night of the offence because it was his 21st birthday and still cannot remember the incident.
“Unfortunately, I’m unable to provide any explanation of why this incident occurred – Mr Russell was significantly intoxicated at the time,” Mr Rump said.
“Certainly, this is a terrible incident for the victim, however, it’s also a terrible incident for Mr Russell, given what was said in the sentencing assessment report by his employer and his family that this was completely out of character.”
However, magistrate Christopher Halburd disagreed with Mr Rump’s submission that the offending was not serious enough to call for a jail sentence.
“I don’t agree with you at all – he belted a bloke for absolutely no reason in the world, and that person has suffered an injury to the bone in their ear and an injury to the vertebrae,” Mr Halburd said.
“Just because you don’t remember doing something doesn’t make it a defence.”
Magistrate Christopher Halburd also added 200 hours of community service onto Russell’s sentence and ordered him to pay $1090.10 to Mr Dedini to cover the cost of his broken glasses and some medical costs.
“It’s a very significant amount, it’s a very significant punishment, and, in my view, it was very serious offending,” he said.
“People need to be able to walk around the streets of the town they live in or visit without getting belted in the head, and, if they are hit, that the court will impose adequate penalties.
“You could’ve killed this person – you’re a big bloke, and the person fell over and hit his head.”
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