Video footage of Shellharbour man Leslie Campbell viciously attacking an elderly restaurant owner on a footpath in Albion Park Rail is expected to be aired in court at the 19-year-old's upcoming sentencing hearing.
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Police have revealed the shocking footage, shot by one Campbell's accomplices and later uploaded to social media, shows the victim being punched and kicked as he lays on the ground, while his elderly wife attempts to protect him.
The bashing, while over relatively quickly, left the victim with an acute subdural haemorrhage on the right side of his brain, along with concussion, soreness to the face and jaw and dizziness for days.
Documents tendered to Wollongong Local Court on Wednesday said the victim and his wife were walking home on the evening of February 9 this year when they were approached by Campbell and two other teens, one of whom asked the victim for a cigarette.
The victim said no, but then lit up his own cigarette, prompting Campbell to grab the cigarette from the victim's right hand and throw it on the ground.
Campbell then followed the victim and his wife as they crossed the road.
Moments later, Campbell set upon the elderly man, pushing him over and punching him multiple times in the head and upper body.
Campbell then kicked the victim in the head, before he and the two other teens fled.
Numerous witnesses came to the aid of the victim, who was taken to Shellharbour Hospital for treatment.
Two days later, police received a tip-off that video footage of the incident, shot by one of the younger teens, had been uploaded to social media.
Campbell attended Lake Illawarra Police Station on February 12 after a photo of him was posted on social media. The court documents do not clarify who posted the picture or where it was posted.
Campbell was arrested and charged over the incident, along with a separate matter in which he stole two Tommy Hilfiger t-shirts from Tramps The Store in the Crown Street Mall in Wollongong a week earlier.
Campbell subsequently pleaded guilty to charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm in company and larceny. Prosecutors withdrew a more serious charge of aggravated robbery.
He remains on conditional bail and will front Wollongong District Court on December 10 for a sentencing date to be set.
Read more court and crime stories here.
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