Keri Tunuku Tera Ngere: Man faces jail time in Dalby District Court over vicious one-punch attack

NAMED: A man who punched another man so hard in a booze-fuelled brawl that his victim was left with serious head injuries and needed to have his jaw wired shut for almost two months has been sentenced in Dalby court.

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A man who punched another man so hard during an alcohol-fuelled brawl that his victim was left with serious head injuries and needed to have his jaw wired shut for months has narrowly avoided time behind bars.

Dalby District Court was told Keri Tunuku Tera Ngere entered the Lotus River Chinese Smorgasboard restaurant on July 2, 2020, while under the influence of alcohol.

Another man was dining at the restaurant with two friends after they’d enjoyed drinks at the Criterion Hotel.

Crown prosecutor Victoria Adams said one of the other man’s friends was coughing and sneezing loudly, which prompted Ngere to voice his concerns for other diners given the Covid outbreak at the time.

“ (Ngere) asked him to go outside to sneeze and cough, (but) he didn’t and continued,” Ms Adams said.

She said the 26-year-old asked the restaurant owner if the group had been “giving her trouble” or she needed help, to which she nodded ‘yes’, and Ngere then said to the man, “There’s kids in here, have some respect”.

The court heard the victim’s friend told Ngere to “f —k off” and then challenged him to a fight outside, with Ngere accepting and following the other man outside.

Ms Adams said the other man’s wife shoved Ngere several times and then approached him again, with the victim stepping in to pull her away.

She said Ngere misinterpreted his advance as the man stepping forward to hit him and swung out in what he believed was self-defence, punching the man on the right side of his face so hard that he was knocked to the ground unconscious.

The victim was transported to Dalby Hospital before being taken to Toowoomba for further treatment.

The Dalby court was told the FIFO worker suffered serious injuries to his eye socket, cheekbones, and teeth that required his jaw to be wired shut, leaving him unable to eat solid foods or work for six weeks.

Ngere went to the police station the day after the violent assault and made full admissions to the offending.

Defence barrister Angus Edwards said the New Zealand-born man truly believed his victim was going to hit him in the heat of the moment.

“It’s perhaps obvious that my client didn’t go out looking for trouble. He acted in a way he thought to protect himself,” he said.

Mr Edwards told the court that Ngere was not yet an Australian citizen and feared deportation as a result of his offending, which would jeopardise the life he had made for himself in the Brisbane area.

“He has work here and prospects, his fiancee lives here and they want to start a family,” he said.

Judge Vicki Loury acknowledged Ngere’s fears about the other man’s apparent symptoms of illness, given the community was only three months into the Covid pandemic and there were young children seated in the restaurant at the time.

She also commended his efforts to save $10,000 to pay to the victim as compensation for his medical procedures and as a sign of remorse.

“When you punch somebody who themselves are intoxicated, you risk causing very serious injury, including death,” Judge Loury said.

“I note you’re a sizeable man, which explains why (the store owner) might ask for help from you.”

Ngere pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful grievous bodily harm in a public place while under the influence of a substance.

He was sentenced to 18 months’ jail, wholly suspended for two years.

Ngere was also ordered to pay the full amount of compensation to the victim and complete 40 hours of unpaid community service.