Thug jailed for bash attack on pensioner
A MELBOURNE thug was yesterday jailed for four years over an Apollo Bay cowardpunch attack that left a pensioner 30 years his senior with brain damage.
Leonard Betrayhani knocked grandfather Steve Morrow out with the brutal blow outside the Great Ocean Road Brewhouse on August 6, 2016, and has shown no remorse since, the County Court heard.
A jury earlier this year found Betrayhani, now 39, guilty of recklessly causing Mr Morrow’s serious injuries.
Sentencing judge Frances Hogan said Betrayhani’s punch forced the unsuspecting Mr Morrow to fall backwards and hit the footpath, causing a “fracture at the back of the head where the skull meets the neck”, and for days it was feared he would die.
“It was a cowardly king hit that gave him no time to protect himself,” Judge Hogan said. while not legally justified, pale beside the dire plight of your victim, Mr Morrow.”
Judge Hogan noted the lifechanging consequences for Mr Morrow and his family.
Surgeons were forced to remove parts of the victim‘s skull, which were stored in a freezer while his brain recovered from swelling.
She said the permanent damage to his brain had caused him memory loss and affected his ability to carry out everyday tasks.
The court heard Betrayhani had a violent past, including multiple assault convictions.
Having already spent 78 days behind bars, he was sentenced to a four-year term, with potential release on parole after three years.