Mall thugs avoid jail after winning appeal

By Bree Fuller
Updated November 6 2012 - 12:41am, first published August 5 2010 - 11:25am
Mall thugs avoid jail after winning appeal
Mall thugs avoid jail after winning appeal
Mall thugs avoid jail after winning appeal
Mall thugs avoid jail after winning appeal
Rhys Williams (yellow shirt) and Brett Mitchell (black shirt) are seen in a still image taken from CCTV footage of the assault in Crown St Mall earlier this year.
Rhys Williams (yellow shirt) and Brett Mitchell (black shirt) are seen in a still image taken from CCTV footage of the assault in Crown St Mall earlier this year.
Wesley Keeley (above), Brett Mitchell (centre) and Rhys Williams leave court yesterday after successfully appealing their sentences for their involvement in a Crown St Mall attack.
Wesley Keeley (above), Brett Mitchell (centre) and Rhys Williams leave court yesterday after successfully appealing their sentences for their involvement in a Crown St Mall attack.

Two men have avoided jail terms for a sickening attack in Crown St Mall after successfully appealing their sentences in Wollongong District Court yesterday.A third man involved in the incident also had his sentence reduced.Rhys Aaron Williams, 18, Brett Edward Mitchell, 18, and Wesley Richard Keeley, 19 appeared before Judge Paul Conlon to appeal against the severity of sentences handed down by Magistrate Michael Stoddart in Wollongong Local Court.Keeley, Williams and Mitchell had been convicted of affray and sentenced to 250 hours' community service, six months' imprisonment and four months' imprisonment respectively.The trio stood in silence as Judge Conlon condemned them for the violent, unprovoked attack that left four men semi-conscious and in need of hospital treatment."Having viewed the CCTV footage, this is very consistent with the type of cowardly and violent conduct that this court now sees regularly, on a weekly basis, occurring down in that mall ... where innocent parties not looking for confrontation get viciously assaulted," Judge Conlon said.The court heard the teens, and another under-age male, got into a verbal altercation with a group of men in the mall on March 11 after a night out on the town.The verbal exchange quickly escalated to violence, which resulted in one of the victims being punched repeatedly until he fell to the ground.Williams then twice kicked the victim in the head as he lay on the ground, unable to defend himself.As the attack continued, Williams and Mitchell repeatedly punched the victims as they tried to get away.Keeley was not physically involved in the altercation.The teens then left the scene, where they were caught on CCTV footage giving each other congratulatory high-fives and pats on the back.Weighing up the appeal, Judge Conlon noted the three youths were well respected within the community and "not the usual type of offender that comes before the court".The court heard neither Keeley nor Williams had criminal records, and all three had good upbringings. Judge Conlon agreed the youths were generally good people, but warned them how close they had come to ruining their futures."You did your best to almost destroy your lives on that occasion," he said.He subsequently placed Keeley, of Milton, on a nine-month good behaviour bond.Williams, of Falls Creek, was given an eight-month suspended jail sentence and placed on a bond for the same period.Mitchell, of Sanctuary Point, was given a six-month suspended jail sentence and a six-month bond.

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