Trevor Wayne Cowey to be sentenced for racist attack at Modbury oval at Ridgehaven

A father and son went to play cricket at their local park – but a violent and racist former rodeo rider turned their joyful love for the sport into a nightmare.

Trevor Cowey will be sentenced for a racist attack on an Indian family at Modbury oval.

An Indian man and his son – like so many before them – took heed of sunny weather in October last year and headed to the cricket nets at Modbury oval.

But it would turn into a nightmare inflicted by racist former rodeo rider Trevor Wayne Cowey who would proceed to assault both of them, breaking the son’s nose, and changing their lives forever.

Fifty-eight-year-old Cowey would later plead guilty at the 11th hour, 13 months later, to two counts of assault after more charges of threatening physical harm on the grounds of race, spitting and disorderly behaviour were withdrawn.

Cowey, the court heard, was excessively drunk at the time, after drinking heavily at the Modbury Sports and Community Club.

He had also been battling with what medical professionals believe will eventually be a diagnosis of CTE suffered due to hard years of work as a stockman, rodeo rider and – in his later life – a bouncer.

Trevor Wayne Cowey will be sentenced for a racially-fuelled attack on an Indian family. Picture: File

The father and his son, whose names are suppressed to protect their identity to shield them from ridicule in their home country, on Thursday told the Elizabeth Magistrates Court their lives had been changed immeasurably by Cowey’s attack.

“I could never have imagined someone spitting in my face because I am dark in skin and born in another part of the world,” the father’s victim impact statement read.

“I have faced racism in India, but me and my family got attacked by some ghost of racism even in Australia, which is considered the most multicultural country in the world.

“I am still trying to come out of this shock, but it leaves me in tears and sears on my soul.”

The court heard the man’s roots in India had been cut, and his reputation lost, in the fallout of a perception he was unable to protect his family.

The son’s statement described how he had been left with nightmares and would shake in his sleep as he directed a criticism squarely at Cowey.

“It takes a village to raise a child, but (Cowey) forgot this part,” he wrote.

The Modbury Sports and Community Club, where the attack occurred. Picture: Google

Prosecutor Benjamin Sturm told the court the attack was unprovoked, and was solely based on the father and son’s race.

On that “fateful” day, the son had come to the defence of his father, only to receive a broken nose and ongoing trauma.

The viciousness of the attack, Mr Sturm told Magistrate Brian Nitschke, should prompt nothing less than a term of imprisonment.

Years earlier, Cowey had lived a travelling life as a stockman and rodeo rider, making his way around the country, spending time in the Northern Territory, Queensland and South Australia.

But back in Adelaide in the mid-90s, he would be convicted of rape and two other assaults.

Carrie Demertzis, for Cowey, told the court Cowey eventually was told he had an acquired brain injury – likely CTE – sustained from repeated head knocks and concussions while riding in the rodeo.

Ms Demertzis said, by October, Cowey had been out of work for years and was living in his car and drinking heavily to deal with a life he loathed.

She said since the attack his “life has significantly changed” and the offending was a “product of his lifestyle”.

She asked Mr Nitschke to suspend any sentence he would receive.

Cowey will be sentenced later this month.