Being called a "c--ksucker" was all it took for a man to knock another to the ground and repeatedly stomp on the unconscious victim's head at a party on New Year's Eve.
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Later that same night, the same assailant was involved in a riot involving about 50 people in Glenroi.
Video of the first incident was played in Orange Local Court on Wednesday and depicted a man lying on the ground unconscious while a large man repeatedly stomped on his head.
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Women screamed in the footage while the victim lay sprawled on the floor unable to defend himself.
Luke Pitt, also known as Luke Morgan pleaded guilty to the assault occasioning actual bodily harm in company and affray for the events which took place after midnight on January 1 this year.
The 32-year-old from Kurim Avenue was on bail when he appeared in Orange Local Court with a large group of supporters for his sentencing hearing on Wednesday.
Victim injured
Magistrate David Day had already seen the footage but watched it again when it was played in court and said Pitt went berserk after "simply being called a c--ksucker".
"This is one of the more serious assault occasioning [actual bodily harm] I've seen," Mr Day said.
"Kicks to the head can result in death or permanent brain damage."
In this case, the victim, whose head was stomped on by Pitt and a 38-year-old co-offender, suffered bruising and swelling to his face, lacerations to his eyes and forehead, a perforated left ear drum and soreness to his left cheek and jaw.
Kick's to the head can result in death or permanent brain damage.
- Magistrate David Day
According to a report provided to the court, the second man also stomped on the victim's head and kicked his head hard enough for it to bounce off a brick wall.
The report also touched on Pitt's background saying he had a history of violent offences, including multiple convictions for assault occasioning actual bodily harm as recent as August 2022.
The 43-year-old victim, Pitt and the co-offender were all present at a party of about 80 to 100 people at Glenroi on New Year's Eve.
First offence at party
According to the police report, about 1.30am Pitt rode a motorbike into the garage of the address. The victim was also inside the garage helping a woman look for her lost phone.
However, when Pitt walked through the garage towards the backyard he brushed against the victim who turned and called him a "c--ksucker".
Pitt immediately punched the victim to the back of his head causing him to lose consciousness and fall to the ground.
He then used his right foot to stomp on the victim's head three times while the victim was unconscious. The woman then lay across the victim's his body to stop the attack but Pitt picked her up by the back of her shirt and hair and threw her across the garage floor and she began to scream for help.
He continued to stomp on the victim's head at least five more times before another female entered the garage and tried to hold Pitt back but he pushed back into her face causing pain to her left cheek and forcing her backwards.
Second offender steps in
When the second female asked Pitt why he was assaulting the man, Pitt said, "he called me a c--ksucker".
The second female said "look at what you're doing to him, all this over one word."
The co-accused man then entered the garage and when told the victim had called Pitt the slur he also stomped on the victim's head three times while the victim was still unconscious.
The co-accused then picked up the victim's head using the hood of his jumper and kicked him in the head once causing the victim's head to bounce off the brick wall behind him.
It's a cowardly vicious assault upon a person who cannot fight back.
- Magistrate David Day
Another woman also entered the garage, pushed Pitt away from the victim who began to regain consciousness and said "it's over, just leave it bro".
The accused repeated what he'd been called and said "I bash him" and slapped one hand hard against his other in a smacking motion. He then bent down and pointed at the victim and said "don't call me c--ksucker big fella".
An unidentified male then ran into the garage and attacked Pitt causing him to fall to the ground. According to the police, this prompted a large brawl between at least 10 people in the backyard of the house.
Pitt and co-accused then left the party and walked up Kurim Avenue and police arrived shortly afterwards.
New Year's Eve brawl
Pitt was also involved in another brawl involving about 50 people at the intersection of Kurim Avenue and Maroo Road between about 2.30am and 2.50am.
During that incident a number of glass bottles were thrown at police while they attempted to break up multiple physical fights and make arrests.
About 2.42am Pitt was captured on police body worn video in the middle of the road removing his shirt and physically fighting with an unknown male. Police deployed OC spray towards both parties who immediately separated.
About 2.53am he was again captured on police body worn video walking on the footpath and road repeatedly yelling "I'll smash you and ... up. l'll f--k your mother", he called another man a "c--ksucker" followed by more homophobic slurs.
Plea to stay out of jail
Solicitor Taras Maksymczuk argued for a community based custodial sentence saying Pitt/Morgan had financial and caring responsibilities to his family and he also had mental and physical health issues that require regular monitoring as well as sleep apnoea, for which he requires a machine to sleep every night.
"It would be difficult to get that machine in custody," Mr Maksymczuk said.
"There's no doubt looking at the video that the assault is a serious offence.
"Mr Morgan accepts that he shouldn't have reacted the way he did. The offending would be unlikely to be repeated."
Police prosecutor Sergeant Chris Brien opted not to put forward a verbal argument instead allowing the confronting video to speak for itself.
Magistrate weighs in
Mr Day disagreed with Mr Maksymczuk about giving Pitt an intensive correction order saying it was a "savage assault".
"It's a cowardly vicious assault upon a person who cannot fight back," Mr Day said.
"I imagine the victim would have felt that everybody was surrounding him."
The assault and affray put Pitt in breach of an 18-month conditional release order he had been given for an assault occasioning actual bodily harm when he went to that victim's house on August 7, 2022. The two men got into an argument and Pitt assaulted the resident.
Mr Day resentenced Pitt for the breach of the order and included it as part of a full-time jail sentence that also covers the assault and affray.
The sentence
Mr Day sentenced Pitt to three years and tree months full time jail with an 18-month non-parole order.
He made findings of special circumstances taking into account Pitt's health deficits and financial responsibilities.
Pitt was later released from custody on bail after launching a severity appeal that is to be heard in the district court.
The supporters who accompanied Pitt to court for his sentencing also saw the video as it was played in court but they were critical of the result as Pitt was led to the cells.
"You've got the wrong person, he's out selling drugs, pounds of drugs," one of the supporters said on his way out of the courtroom.
"Come on, wake up."
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