A Werribee man who kicked another man’s head “like a football” in a brutal pub attack last year has been sentenced to 14 months’ jail.
The County Court last week heard that just after 6.30pm on April 19, 2013, as the 48-year-old victim bent over to pick up something from the floor, Joel Diamond, 30, from Werribee, who was on parole at the time, took a “deliberate kick” at his head, connecting with his face and causing him to fall.
While he was still lying on the floor, Diamond’s girlfriend, Sarah Ellis, also kicked the victim’s head.
The court heard Ellis and Diamond’s brother, Rhys, had earlier been involved in both verbal and physical altercations with the victim and been ordered out of the hotel.
Ellis then called Diamond and told him the victim had made derogatory remarks about her, while Rhys told his brother he had a bleeding lip after the earlier dispute. One or both pointed out the victim when Joel Diamond came to the hotel.
All three fled after the attack, but the incident was captured on CCTV.
The victim sustained injuries, including a fractured skull and broken nose, and was placed in an induced coma.
While the victim now has a brain injury, Judge Susan Cohen could not be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that these injuries had been caused by Diamond or the earlier incidents with his brother and Ellis.
She said although it was likely Diamond’s kick contributed to the victim’s brain injury, it was unclear who caused the greater damage. Judge Cohen described Ellis’s role in the attack as more extensive, after punching, or attempting to punch the victim in the face and later kicking him in the head.
Earlier this year, Ellis, who was 19 at the time of the incident, pleaded guilty to recklessly causing serious injury. She was sentenced to two years and six months’ jail, with a minimum of 15 months.
The court heard Joel Diamond had been paranoid at the time due to being stabbed during a home invasion.
Judge Cohen described his actions as “callous”, “brutal” and “cowardly”, and said she was satisfied that Diamond’s purpose for entering the hotel was to “seek some type of retribution [against the victim], whether as payback or to teach him a lesson”.
“You saw the opportunity, or perhaps could not resist the temptation, to treat his head like a football,” she said.
After being found not guilty last month by a jury of recklessly or intentionally causing serious injury, Judge Cohen convicted Diamond of one count of intentionally causing serious injury and sentenced him to 14 months’ jail.
He has already served 10 months in pre-sentence detention and will be put on a community corrections order after his release.
