Samuel Arthur Taratoa stood by as his friend coward punched one man and repeatedly punched another before stomping on him

A young Charleville man stood by and watched on as his friend coward punched a man and bashed another, with one victim almost never walking again.

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A young Charleville man who stood by and watched his friend launch a vicious, unprovoked attack on two unsuspecting victims had a significant history of violence and alcohol abuse, a Charleville court heard.

The Charleville District Court heard Samuel Arthur Taratoa watched on as his friend, Jake Allan Smith coward punched one man and repeatedly punched another before they fell to the ground, with one victim almost never walking again due to severe injuries.

The two victims, aged 39 and 51 at the time, had stopped in Charleville for a night and had left a pub after watching a game of football, when Smith, 22-years-old at the time, and Taratoa launched their assault from behind.

Judge Michael Burnett said when one of the victims was on the ground, Smith stomped upon him, causing serious, life changing injuries to his leg.

“(The man) has required a number of surgical events,” His Honour said.

“ … one of the most significant things he notes is that this is likely to adversely affect his employment.

“For a man of 52 years of age, probably now about 54, this sort of injury can be devastating in terms of lifestyle. People at that age are planning other things in their lives.

“They have had their children and they are looking to do more pleasurable things and there is no doubt that this injury will have impacted him in the way in which he says and his broader family in the way in which he explains it did, particularly given the need for his wife to assist him.”

Taratoa’s “thoughtless behaviour” caused misery for another individual forever, Judge Burnett said.

While the 39-year-old escaped with lesser injuries, he suffered anxiety from the event.

The court heard Taratoa, now aged 22, had a concerning criminal history littered with violence related offences.

“The fact that you stand by and watch somebody beat somebody else up … all suggests to me that you are not necessarily attune to the community’s expectations of how people should behave,” he said.

The judge noted it was concerning that the attack took place while the young man was on probation, with officers referring him to Lifeline’s Safe Connections program due to his high levels of alcohol abuse and violence.

A probation officer ultimately submitted the young man’s compliance was mixed, with him initially engaging with intervention services then disconnecting due to working long hours.

His Honour said it was positive that he was working and appreciated how difficult it could be to find employment in regional towns.

“It speaks very much to your prospects of rehabilitation that you have largely been employed since leaving school and indeed I am told you have a prospect of a job to start tomorrow, assuming that you are released today,” he said.

In future, he told Taratoa that it was simply intolerable in any community that people set upon strangers for whatever reason.

“It does not matter whether you think you have been provoked by some comment or an awkward look …,” he said.

“It is entirely inappropriate just to set upon them in the way in which Mr Smith did and for you to acquiesce in that behaviour by standing by and watching it happen.”

In court on February 24, Taratoa was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment for grievous bodily harm and assault occasioning bodily harm in company with an immediate parole release date.