Robbery of shoes

A HEAVY metal fan who punched a man in the head to steal his Nike Air Max shoes at a music festival has been given a three-year prison sentence.

Christopher Campion was at the Blacken heavy metal festival in the Gap View Hotel, Alice Springs on March 26 last year, when he walked up to the victim and placed his foot sideby-side to check his shoe size.

The NT Supreme Court heard Campion yelled “Give me those shoes” at the victim before delivering a punch to the left side of his face.

The impact knocked the victim over, causing him to fall backwards and strike his head on a table. Campion, an artist and former tattoo shop worker, then yelled, “So you think you’re a graffiti artist do you, with your Air Max shoes?” at the victim.

The court heard as the victim lay across the table, dazed and confused, Campion took the shoes off his feet.

The victim was in hospital for five days following the attack, suffering soft tissue facial injuries, confusion and symptoms consistent with his existing temporal lobe epilepsy.

Justice Judith Kelly said Campion gave no explanation why he stole the shoes, which were not recovered.

She said the impact of a single punch can be deadly.

“Although the violence accompanying the theft of the shoes consisted of only one punch, it was nevertheless significant actual violence,” she said.

“The victim lost consciousness and spent time in hospital, initially in intensive care.

“There has been a lot of publicity around lately about the dangers of a single punch, which can kill when you punch hard enough to knock someone backwards on to a hard surface – as you did.”

Justice Kelly said Campion and the victim were lucky his fall was cushioned by another punter.

“The evidence in this case is that the victim fell into another person before he hit the table, and that someone else may have at least partially stopped his head from hitting at least the corner of the table, but he was still rendered briefly unconscious and then dazed.”

She ordered Campion’s sentence to be suspended after a year. He was released following the trial for time already served.