A Thirroul electrician who knocked another man unconscious during a brawl outside Ryan’s Hotel, which was allegedly incited by a slur about sexual orientation, has been ordered to perform community service work as punishment.
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Court documents reveal the victim was rushed to Wollongong Hospital on the evening of April 23 last year and placed in an induced coma due to the serious nature of his injuries.
Doctors who examined the man determined he had fractures to almost every main bone in the right side of his face including his cheekbone, eye socket, nose, maxilla and the roof of his mouth.
He also had significant swelling all over his face and large cuts around his forehead.
Court documents reveal the victim and his attacker, 62-year-old Graeme John Frazer, were sitting in the main bar area when they got into an argument over the victim calling Frazer “gay”.
A waitress told police she overheard the two men talking about fighting each other, prompting her to separate the two.
Both men retreated to different areas of the pub for a short time before joining up at the other bar and continuing the argument.
They were again told to stop by bar staff, however it is alleged the victim continued to make “niggling” comments regarding Frazer’s sexuality.
Both men were subsequently asked to leave the pub just before 9.45pm due to their behaviour towards each other.
The pair headed across the road and began to fight outside the entrance to Samuel’s Restaurant.
Court documents did not detail the extent of the fight, however said the victim ended up lying on the ground unconscious, prompting Frazer to turn him onto his side in the recovery position.
Frazer then went back into the pub. A short time later a passerby alerted the hotel manager to the still unconscious victim.
When asked what had happened, Frazer told the manager “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it” before walking away from the scene.
The victim later told police he had no recollection of the incident or even being at Ryan’s Hotel that evening.
Meantime, Frazer was arrested on May 10 and charged with recklessly causing grievous bodily harm.
He pleaded guilty to the charge in Wollongong Local Court on Tuesday.
Magistrate Robert Walker imposed a sentence of 100 hours of community service work on Frazer.