Derrick MacThomas
April 7th, 2011, 11:37 PM
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/amateur-boxer-jailed-for-punching-blind-man-in-head-as-he-went-to-help-a-woman-in-distress/story-e6freon6-1226035993662
Amateur boxer jailed for punching blind man in head as he went to help a woman in distress
Tony Keim From: The Courier-Mail April 08, 2011 1:05PM
A TEENAGE amateur boxer has been jailed for five years for a "brutal, sickening and protracted" attack on a blind man who rushed to the aid a distressed woman in a Brisbane inner-city public toilet block.
The Brisbane District Court was told Samoan national Kevin Paisa, then aged 18, savagely punched disabled man Glenn Trapnell, 41, in a Brisbane City Council public toliet block in an Albert Street section of Brisbane's Queen Street Mall about 4.30pm on July 28, 2009.
The court was told Paisa attacked Mr Trapnell so viciously that his jaw sustained serious fractures - forever robbing the vision impaired man of one his most prized pursuits, that of playing the harmonica.
Prosecutor Caroline Marco said Paisa, after knocking Mr Trapnell unconscious, then attacked the blind man's carer, Nathan Reith, 30.
She said Paisa punched Mr Reith in the head three times and then stole $60 from the unconscious man as he lay in the toliet block alongside his friend Mr Trapnell.
Paisa, now aged 20, pleaded guilty on February 1 to one count each of assaulting Mr Trapnell and causing him grievous bodily and Mr Reith and causing him bodily harm and stealing.
Paisa today pleaded guilty to one count of going armed so as to cause fear by waving about a machete and menacing students at Mabel Park State High School, at Slacks Creek on Brisbane's southern outskirts, on February 18, 2009.
Judge Wally Tutt sentenced Paisa, who has been in presentence custody for more than 19-months, for five years, but ordered he be suspended after 20-months.
The sentence imposed means Paisa will be released from jail in about three weeks.
Barrister Kim Bryson, for Paisa, said that because of the fact her client was a Samoan national and did not hold Australian citizenship he was almost guaranteed of being deported upon his release from jail.
"(Paisa) is not an Australian citizen," she said.
Judge Tutt said he hoped immigration authorities were made aware of Paisa's case and subsequent convictions and resulted in his immediate deportation back to Samoa.
Ms Marco, during sentencing submissions, said after the attack Paisa gave police a "self-serving" account of what happened and claimed the had acted out of self-defence.
She said Paisa falsely claimed he did not know Mr Trapnell was blind until after the attack, but that Mr Reith had told him that after the first blow was thrown.
The court was told Paisa admitted to police he was an amateur boxer.
Judge Tutt, in sentencing Paisa, described the acts on Mr Trapnell and his carer as "callous, cowardly and violent."
"Your actions are on of the serious examples of (of this type) ... (and) a more despicable act is hard to imagine."
Amateur boxer jailed for punching blind man in head as he went to help a woman in distress
Tony Keim From: The Courier-Mail April 08, 2011 1:05PM
A TEENAGE amateur boxer has been jailed for five years for a "brutal, sickening and protracted" attack on a blind man who rushed to the aid a distressed woman in a Brisbane inner-city public toilet block.
The Brisbane District Court was told Samoan national Kevin Paisa, then aged 18, savagely punched disabled man Glenn Trapnell, 41, in a Brisbane City Council public toliet block in an Albert Street section of Brisbane's Queen Street Mall about 4.30pm on July 28, 2009.
The court was told Paisa attacked Mr Trapnell so viciously that his jaw sustained serious fractures - forever robbing the vision impaired man of one his most prized pursuits, that of playing the harmonica.
Prosecutor Caroline Marco said Paisa, after knocking Mr Trapnell unconscious, then attacked the blind man's carer, Nathan Reith, 30.
She said Paisa punched Mr Reith in the head three times and then stole $60 from the unconscious man as he lay in the toliet block alongside his friend Mr Trapnell.
Paisa, now aged 20, pleaded guilty on February 1 to one count each of assaulting Mr Trapnell and causing him grievous bodily and Mr Reith and causing him bodily harm and stealing.
Paisa today pleaded guilty to one count of going armed so as to cause fear by waving about a machete and menacing students at Mabel Park State High School, at Slacks Creek on Brisbane's southern outskirts, on February 18, 2009.
Judge Wally Tutt sentenced Paisa, who has been in presentence custody for more than 19-months, for five years, but ordered he be suspended after 20-months.
The sentence imposed means Paisa will be released from jail in about three weeks.
Barrister Kim Bryson, for Paisa, said that because of the fact her client was a Samoan national and did not hold Australian citizenship he was almost guaranteed of being deported upon his release from jail.
"(Paisa) is not an Australian citizen," she said.
Judge Tutt said he hoped immigration authorities were made aware of Paisa's case and subsequent convictions and resulted in his immediate deportation back to Samoa.
Ms Marco, during sentencing submissions, said after the attack Paisa gave police a "self-serving" account of what happened and claimed the had acted out of self-defence.
She said Paisa falsely claimed he did not know Mr Trapnell was blind until after the attack, but that Mr Reith had told him that after the first blow was thrown.
The court was told Paisa admitted to police he was an amateur boxer.
Judge Tutt, in sentencing Paisa, described the acts on Mr Trapnell and his carer as "callous, cowardly and violent."
"Your actions are on of the serious examples of (of this type) ... (and) a more despicable act is hard to imagine."