ATTACK GUILTY PLEA

DELAY IN SENTENCING MAN WHO HIT EX-AFL PLAYER

A king-hit attack last year on former AFL football player Paul Brown inadvertently revealed he had a dangerous brain tumour.

Mohammad Al Wahame, 19, yesterday faced Shepparton County Court on four charges in relation to an attack on the former Geelong player last October.

He pleaded guilty to all charges, including breaking bail and failing to appear in court previously.

The court heard Wahame attacked Mr Brown, causing him significant brain injury and he had not yet been able to return to work.

Prosecutor Michael Roper said Wahame’s attack was not premeditated and although it was a single hit, it had caused ongoing injuries to Mr Brown that he continued to struggle with.

Mr Roper said Mr Brown did not know the defendant, but had walked past him and his then girlfriend while they were having an argument at a kebab shop at about 9.15 pm on the night of the assault.

‘‘She was not happy with him arguing in public and intended to leave without him,’’ Mr Roper said.

‘‘She described Mr Wahame as being angry.’’

The defendant then accused Mr Brown of looking at him and shouted ‘‘Why are you looking at me? Do you want to fight?’’

Wahame then struck Mr Brown, causing him to fall backwards and hit his head on the road where he remained motionless.

Mr Brown was taken to Goulburn Valley Health in Shepparton before he was transferred to The Alfred hospital in Melbourne due to the severity of his injuries, including bleeding on the brain.

During his long recovery, a CT scan revealed a potentially dangerous tumour that had not been discovered.

Mr Brown later had surgery on the tumour.

Judge Lance Pilgrim said the discovery may have been the only positive thing to come from the devastating attack.

‘‘It’s fortunate that this extra difficulty became known,’’ Mr Pilgrim said.

A victim impact statement from Mr Brown that was read in court revealed he has suffered mood changes, anxiety, blurred vision and other problems since the incident.

‘‘If the phrase ‘time heals all wounds’ applies to everyone, I only hope it applies to me,’’ his statement read.

Public defendant Raphael de Vietri said Wahame felt regret for the attack, but said his client was not beyond redemption.

‘‘While it was a serious and unprovoked attack, it was fleeting in nature, it was reactionary rather than premeditated,’’ Mr de Vietri said.

He said his client had difficulty in adapting to Australia since he emigrated with his family from Lebanon aged 10.

He had had difficulty fitting in at school, and after he was expelled from a Shepparton school he began using cannabis and methamphetamine.

Mr de Vietri said a relationship he formed with a non-Muslim girl before the attack had alienated him from his parents.

‘‘It was this isolation from his support network prior to the offence which led him to rely on drug use,’’ he said.

He asked the judge to consider imposing the three-year sentence at a youth justice centre, as Wahame was struggling to cope in the adult Port Phillip Prison.

‘‘He’s the youngest person in his unit, he’s been on guard and watching his back for the entire seven months,’’ he said.

Judge Lance Pilgrim said he could not sentence Wahame to a youth justice centre without an assessment, and delayed sentencing to the County Court in Melbourne next Friday.