Geovanni Marius sentenced for grievously injuring train station worker

An Ipswich train station worker nearly lost his eyesight after he was publicly “set upon”, beaten, and forced to barricade himself in a train cabin by a churchgoing footy player.

Geovanni Marius risked deportation when he drunkenly beat a train station worker in a public display of “gratuitous violence” that left the victim with life-altering injuries. Picture: Nicola McNamara

A Logan football player risked deportation when he drunkenly beat a train station worker in a public display of “gratuitous violence” that left the victim with life-altering injuries.

Slacks Creek resident Geovanni Marius, 20, pleaded guilty in Ipswich District Court on February 23, 2023, to one count of grievous bodily harm.

The court heard Marius was at Redbank train station around 5am on February 20 last year with a friend when he assaulted a worker at the station, George Thomas Ward.

Crown prosecutor Hamish McIntyre said Marius’s friend had allegedly attempted to rob a member of the public who was catching a train, but Mr Ward had intervened.

The court heard Mr Ward was assisting the victim of the alleged attempted robbery when Marius woke up from where he was lying on a bench and asked Mr Ward what had happened.

Mr Ward told him police had been called, and that the train Marius had wanted to catch would not be leaving.

Mr McIntyre said Marius then attacked Mr Ward, kicking him in the face.

The court heard Marius, allegedly joined by his friend, continued to kick and punch Mr Ward until he was able to barricade himself into the train guard’s cabin.

Judge Dennis Lynch said the alleged co-offender had challenged Mr Ward to “come out and fight,” but police and ambulance officers soon arrived at the scene and transported Mr Ward to hospital.

Marius was arrested and spent the next 307 days in custody.

Geovanni Marius leaving this Ipswich courthouse on February 23, 2023. Picture: Nicola McNamara

Mr McIntyre said Mr Ward suffered serious injuries as a result of the assault including a fractured nose, which required surgery, and ocular hypertension — which could have caused blindness if left untreated.

“There is a risk he may ultimately lose sight in that eye in any event,” Mr McIntyre said.

Defence barrister Cecelia Bernardin said her client “feels terrible” about the way his offending had impacted Mr Ward.

She said Marius had been intoxicated at the time of the offending, and had “turned to alcohol to deal with his grief” after the recent loss of two grandparents.

Ms Bernardin further noted her clients young age and the fact he had “significant ties” to his community.

She said he had previously played rugby league with the Souths Logan Magpies, was an active member of St Paul’s Catholic Church, and currently worked at a formwork contracting company in Slacks Creek.

Mr Bernardin said Marius had moved to Australia from Papua New Guinea with his entire family at age six, and now risked deportation as a result of his offending.

She asked that his time in custody not be declared time-served, but factored into the sentence, so that Marius would avoid an automatic visa cancellation.

Mr McIntyre emphasised that the need for general deterrence was strong “in particular for young people committing these sort of acts of gratuitous violence”.

“This is clearly a man that is going to need supervision … The fact that deportation is a likely outcome of his actions is really no one’s fault but his.”

Mr McIntyre acknowledged Marius’s young age and minimal criminal history, but said his offending was “very serious offending that will have a permanent impact upon the complainant’s life”.

“This was violence against a man who was not in any way deserving of violence and was an innocent member of the public.”

Judge Lynch told Marius it was “unacceptable that the person going about his duties as part of his employment is set upon by people who are acting like thugs”.

“What you did on that day changed the complainants life for the worse … That sort of conduct requires a significant sentence of imprisonment.”

Judge Lynch said a sentence of at least two and a half years would ordinarily be appropriate, but that he would issue a lower one, taking into account Marius’s time in presentence custody.

Marius was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment, wholly suspended for an operational period of three years.

His 307 days in presentence custody from February 20 to December 23, 2022, were not formally declared time-served, but were taken into account.