Hip hop star in attack

SATURDAY, MARCH 23, 2019 themercury.com.au SUBSCRIPTIONS 1300 696 397 TASMANIAN hip hop star and comedian Andrew Nathan Greeley has been remanded in custody after pleading guilty to causing grievous bodily harm.

The Supreme Court in Hobart yesterday heard Greeley, 30, of North Hobart, punched another man to the face a number of times while they were outside the Republic Bar in the early hours of November 18, 2016.

The court heard the victim’s jaw was broken in two places and he subsequently developed a life-threatening infection and was in a coma for 19 days.

“I had to learn to walk and use my body again after a 19day coma,” the man said in his victim impact statement, which Crown prosecutor Jane Ansell read to the court.

Ms Ansell said Greeley was introduced to a Cairns man who was in Tasmania on a working holiday.

“The [Cairns man] had a marker pen in his pocket and turned away to write, ‘form one planet’ on a brick,” Crown prosecutor Jane Ansell said.

“The accused took exception to this and started arguing.”

Ms Ansell said Greeley punched the man a number of times.

Greeley’s lawyer Pip Monk said many venues in Hobart were reluctant to put on hip hop shows because patrons often vandalised or marked graffiti at venues and Greeley had worked hard with venues to get support for hip hop shows.

Ms Monk said Greeley’s teenage years were disrupted and included a period where he was homeless and “literally lived on the streets” in between couch surfing.

She said Greeley had worked hard for the past 15 years in the hip hop industry, was a respected hip hop artist and promoter, and ran his own record label.

“Mr Greeley is remorseful for his actions on this night,” Ms Monk said. She said he recognised alcohol was a factor in the assault and had since reduced his alcohol consumption “significantly”.

She said her client had helped disengaged youths in Tasmania and other states.

Chief Justice Alan Blow remanded Greeley in custody until April 3 when it is expected he will be sentenced.