Shocking footage shows moment Jason Rees attacks Wollongong man with axe

In testimony delivered at Wollongong District Court a short time ago, Michael Leiter condemned his attacker, Jason Rees, for his lasting injuries. 

“Every time I close my eyes I see that d-ckhead,” he said.  

“I hope I never see him again but if I do … I’ll jump on his head.”

CCTV footage played to the court showed Rees exchanging gestures and verbal threats with 49-year-old Mr Leiter in the cul-de-sac of a Corrimal Street unit complex the afternoon of March 5 last year. 

Mr Leiter was trailing Rees when Rees produced a tomahawk, walked towards him and swung the weapon down hard, almost taking off three of Mr Leiter’s fingers as he attempted to evade the blow.

The footage shows Rees chasing the injured Mr Leiter and landing another two axe wounds in his back.

On Tuesday, giving evidence in the trial of Rees’ alleged after-the-fact accessory, Tammy Kirk, Mr Leiter said he had been homeless and living in a tent on a Wollongong beach when he met Rees, who would sometimes pay him to act as his driver. 

Read more: Wollongong machete man admits he made three strikes

He said he disliked Rees, who “had been going around using my name and robbing people. He was pretending to be me”. 

He said he was drinking at a friend’s unit the day of the attack, with others present, when Rees’ co-accused, Kirk, came to the door. 

The Crown alleges Kirk attempted to foil police efforts to capture Rees in the aftermath of the attack by falsely claiming she hadn’t seen him. The Crown also claims that, just prior to the attack, Kirk was aware Rees was approaching the unit from a different direction, and that she lowered the defences of those inside by saying, “I’m on my own, can I get a tenner (a reference to cannabis)”. 

The defence contends Rees – who yesterday admitted to the attack after the charge against him was downgraded from attempted murder – let himself into the apartment.

On Tuesday Mr Leiter told the court Rees appeared drug-affected and “just wanted blood” as he entered the unit and produced a pistol. 

He said he noticed the weapon had no magazine and decided to disarm Rees.

“I bent his hand back and threw it [the gun] on the couch and me and him had a scuffle and I think he ordered Tammy to hold [the firearm] … “take that b-tch, hold onto it. He’s a very overpowering man … he’s a bad b-stard. You can see it in his eyes. He put the fear of God in you. 

“I tried to take control of the situation. It was a very, very scary situation that you wouldn’t want to be in” 

“I thought he was going to kill everybody in the place. The way he was, the look in his eyes and the aggressiveness was like the devil himself.” 

“I’ve been in some pretty scary situations but this guy meant business."

 Despite this, Mr Leiter told the court he willingly went outside with Rees because he didn’t want to damage his friend’s unit in their fight, and he felt capable of overpowering him. 

“I led him away, not knowing he had an axe … I didn’t see he had a tomahawk. Unarmed, I would have won, hands down” 

Mr Leiter said he became “petrified” in the moments that followed, as Rees produced the tomahawk and struck. 

“My fingers were hanging down. There was one nearly severed right through,” he said.  

“This finger just kept falling over. It just bent straight back. There was no pain but I was losing consciousness as I was running. 

“I pointed to a car like this – to ring for help – then I bled out up the road. 

“I think I waved down [police] when I was collapsing.” 

He told the court his fingers had been surgically re-attached but he had ongoing numbness in the affected hand. 

He said he suffered constant back pain and had a full-time carer “on the outside” (Mr Leiter has since been imprisoned over an unrelated matter).

He told the court Kirk was apologetic in the aftermath of the attack and he and she had since “had a good cry” over the shared experience. 

He said he was convinced Kirk had no pre-warning of the attack and was cooperating with Rees out of fear. 

“I don’t think Tammy would have done it, knowing what was going to unfold. Tammy wouldn’t do that to me. We’re friends.” 

UPDATE 3.30pm: Kirk’s trial has concluded after she pleaded guilty to a charge of acting as accessory after the fact to a serious indictable offence (wound with intent to cause grievous bodily harm). The charge relates to her harbouring Rees in the aftermath of the attack.  

She was convicted and placed on a 12-month good behaviour bond. 

Judge Andrew Haesler found Kirk not guilty of a second charge, of entering a dwelling with intent to commit a serious indictable offence. 

Rees will return to court July 24, when a date is expected to be fixed for sentence.