Keno bash ends in jail

TWO men who stomped on, kicked and punched a defenceless man because they thought he stole a keno ticket will spend years behind bars.

Anthony Craig Dillon, 49, and Bradley James Fahey, 41, pleaded guilty to committing an unlawful act intended to cause bodily harm following a violent incident in May. The pair was sentenced at the Supreme Court of Tasmania on Wednesday.

Judge Michael Brett told the court the two men were at a social function at the Cygnet Hotel that night and Dillon believed the soon-to-be victim had taken a keno ticket that belonged to him.

“This was apparently sufficient motivation for you to follow him,” Justice Brett said.

CCTV had shown Dillon confront the man as he was walking to his car, subjecting him to a prolonged and brutal beating.

Justice Brett said the man was knocked over with a single punch to the head on to the bonnet of his car, then punched and kicked in the body and head while on the ground. Justice Brett said Fahey joined in. “(The man) lost consciousness after a relatively short time,” he said.

“Despite this, you both continued to assault him, including by stomping on his head numerous times.”

Fahey picked the man up off the ground and kneed him in the head.

The man was struck at least 40 times, with Justice Brett describing the CCTV footage as “chilling” and labelling the attack “unhurried and purposeful”.

“At no stage during this was he able to defend himself,” the judge said.

The victim spent 11 days in hospital, suffering a punctured lung, a fractured face and ribs.

He had lost his sense of smell and required surgery, and had ongoing psychological and physical issues since the incident.

Justice Brett said Dillon had a long criminal history that demonstrated a “disturbing propensity for violence”, including being sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment in 1997 for manslaughter.

“It is telling that your violent offending seems invariably to be linked to the consumption of alcohol and perhaps illicit drugs,” Justice Brett said.

He said Fahey had no prior convictions related to violence, but he said both men had intended “to cause serious injury to the point of grievous bodily harm”.

Justice Brett sentenced Dillon to five years’ imprisonment backdated to May, adding he would be eligible for parole after three years and nine months.

Fahey was jailed for three years backdated to September, and would become eligible for parole after 18 months.