A West Wollongong man has spent his first night behind bars after being jailed on Tuesday for violently assaulting a neighbour with a piece of wood.
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Dennis Gamiero, 36, left his victim with a three centimetre wound to the back of the head after using the weapon, described in police documents as ‘‘a stick or club’’, to hit him during an argument over a dog.
Port Kembla Local Court heard Gamiero and the victim, who live in the same unit block, had gone to the same high school but were not considered friends.
About 10am on October 6 last year the victim was returning from visiting a friend within the unit block when Gamiero confronted him as he walked down a set of stairs near Gamiero’s flat.
‘‘What’s this shit about my dog?’’ said an agitated Gamiero as he directed verbal abuse at the victim.
The man responded he didn’t know what Gamiero was talking about, and turned to continue walking down the stairs, but not before noticing Gamiero was holding the stick-like object.
Just moments later the victim said he saw Gamiero swing the item towards him, and he immediately felt shooting pain on the back of his head.
He saw Gamiero swing the object again and heard him say ‘‘I will get you, I will smash you’’.
The object missed the victim on the second swing and he managed to flee from Gamiero.
One of his relatives contacted police a short time later.
Gamiero denied assaulting the man when spoken to by officers, but was arrested a few hours later and charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
In court on Tuesday, defence lawyer Angela Melouney said Gamiero came from a disadvantaged background, which included a long history of drug abuse, starting with cannabis at the age of 11.
She said since the assault, Gamiero and the victim had continued living in the same complex without any further incidents, and asked Magistrate David Degnan to consider a suspended prison sentence instead of full-time jail.
However, Magistrate Degnan said such violence displayed by Gamiero could not be tolerated.
‘‘Attacking a person to the head is a very serious action to take,’’ he said.
‘‘The repercussions can be extremely tragic.’’
He sentenced Gamiero to eight months’ jail, with a four month non-parole period.
