by Cam Lucadou-Wells
A truckie who severely bashed a male that he accused of sexually assaulting his partner has been jailed.
The accused was found guilty by a Victorian County Court jury of intentionally causing serious injury and handling stolen goods.
His then-partner had lured the victim to a Dandenong hotel on 29 April 2017 – having told the accused that she was assaulted by the male a week earlier.
As the pair later walked towards the male’s home, the accused emerged to “teach him a lesson”, sentencing judge Peter Lauritsen said on 29 August.
In a “swift and brutal” attack, he struck the male’s head from behind with a piece of timber.
He then repeatedly struck the felled victim, who lost consciousness and suffered multiple fractures to the skull, leg, forearm and hand as well as bleeding on the brain.
The victim was taken to ICU, stayed in hospital for a week and had a metal plate inserted in his arm. He didn’t provide an impact statement to the court.
On the night, the phone was stolen by the ex-partner and handed to the accused.
Since then, he has maintained that he acted in defence of his partner and himself.
At the time, he had no prior convictions.
Born in India, the accused had fled to Australia with a brother and sister to escape his violent, alcoholic father.
In 2017, he’d fallen asleep behind the wheel and crashed his truck into a tree.
Since then he’d suffered a suspected brain injury and evident cognitive decline. His reading ability had worsened to the level of a 10-year-old, his IQ dropping to the 55-63 range.
A psychologist assessed the decline could be due to the crash, meth abuse and anxiety.
Judge Lauritsen rated his rehabilitation prospects as “good” as he made “slow” and “hopeful” progress in counselling.
In 2021, he’d re-married, with his wife now pregnant with their second child. They also had two children from her previous relationship.
Currently on a bridging visa, he had applied for a partner visa to stay with his wife and family. If deported due to a jail term of more than 12 months, he’d be barred from returning to Australia.
The trial’s “extraordinarily long” delay was a mitigating factor – which fueled his anxiety.
However, the delay was further lengthened by the accused attempting to coerce the victim to change his evidence.
It led to an eight-month delay while he was convicted for perverting the course of justice.
Judge Lauritsen jailed the man for up to two years, with a 14-month non-parole period.
