Stomping over insult

A VIOLENT criminal who stomped on the head of an unconscious man has claimed a culturally disrespectful comment about his late aunt prompted the attack.

The two men had an argument that boiled over into a fight before Arthur James Kennedy pushed the other man down a flight of stairs.

While the man lay unconscious on the concrete at the base of the stairs, Kennedy ploughed his bare foot into his victim’s skull, fracturing his temple region.

The victim was flown to Townsville Hospital in a critical condition and doctors said without medical intervention he would have died.

Kennedy, 47, had been drinking with the victim at a house in Sellheim St, Charters Towers, on September 23 last year when the fight broke out.

Appearing in Townsville District Court last week, Ken- nedy’s defence barrister Clare Grant said the altercation stemmed from an argument about her client’s deceased aunt which caused the indigenous man “cultural offence”.

She said her client was raised in an environment surrounded by alcohol- fuelled violence but was in tune with his culture and fluent in two local indigenous languages.

District Court Chief Judge Kerry O’Brien said Kennedy appeared to be an intelligent man based on his cultural knowledge, work ambitions and well- written apology letter. But he said Kennedy had an appalling history of violence, with six previous convictions.

Kennedy pleaded guilty to one count of grievous bodily harm. Taking into account his 359 days of pre- sentence custody, Kennedy was sentenced to five years’ jail with a parole eligibility date set at September 23, 2019.