A MAN had consumed 18 cans of premixed alcohol before helping commit a brutal bashing which left the victim with an acquired brain injury and post-traumatic epilepsy, a court has heard.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Paul Andrew Arthars, 38, and Corey John Plater, 41, carried out the attack on Michael Green in Wendouree on October 4, 2008.
Yesterday Arthars’ defence made a plea on his behalf in the County Court in Ballarat, where the Crown submitted that both men be jailed for up to 11-and-a-half years each.
Judge Liz Gaynor adjourned sentencing to June 20, saying the seriousness of the assault required extra consideration.
“Five minutes of madness and the damage they’ve done to this man,” she said.
“They are so lucky they’re not facing murder charges.”
According to the prosecution summary, Mr Green had been at a work break-up before he was seen on the corner of Norman Street and Wattle Avenue about 12.30am on the night in question.
He was calling out for Plater and his wife Louise and banging a shovel on the ground.
Mr Green then returned home where a neighbour saw Plater entering Mr Green’s front yard carrying a martial arts bow stick, which had a thick, shovel-like handle.
Arthars and three others were allegedly hiding behind a fence.
As Plater approached, the group allegedly jumped out and started pushing and shoving Mr Green, then punching and kicking him once he’d fallen to the ground.
Both Plater and Arthars then used the bow stick, delivering blows which sandwiched Mr Green’s head between the weapon and concrete.
Mr Green was knocked unconscious and the group ran from the scene.
Mr Green, a father-of-five, was airlifted to the Royal Melbourne Hospital with multiple fractures and brain injuries.
He required multiple surgeries and had to have part of his skull removed to relieve pressure on his brain.
Arthars’ defence lawyer Michael McGrath said his client was extremely intoxicated when the assault occurred, and had consumed about 18 mixed Jim Beam cans.
“He had been to a party in the local area, came home and was very, very drunk,” he said.
Arthars then got a call from Plater and made a “misguided” decision to attend, Mr McGrath said.
“His intention wasn’t to cause terrible injury.
“It really was a period of madness ... for a person who really has no history of violence before the court.”
Crown prosecutor Timothy Hoare submitted that both men should serve up to 11-and-a-half years in prison, with a minimum non-parole period of between six and nine-and-a-half years.
Both men pleaded guilty to intentionally causing serious injury.
Defence lawyer Chris Pearson made a plea on Plater’s behalf last week.
