Iutin Tetabo sentenced for group attack on woman in Kingaroy Memorial Park

A judge told a Kingaroy teenager she was lucky she wasn’t facing a murder charge over a brutal attack, which left her victim with a head injury that saw her drifting in and out of consciousness.

A judge told a Kingaroy teenager she’s lucky her actions didn't result in a murder conviction after she pulled a young woman to the ground by her hair and punched her, leaving the 20 year old drifting in and out of consciousness.

Iutin Tetabo, 18, was with three friends at Memorial Park on the night of January 25 when they came across a man and woman they’d had previous tensions with.

As an argument started between the two groups, Tetabo dragged the woman to the ground by her hair, punched her and kicked her in the head.

She was left with bruising and swelling to her head, a cut to her face and emotional trauma, which she outlined in her victim impact statement.

The savage attack has made her fearful to go out in public, she said.

By the time the victim was taken to hospital she was losing consciousness and required a CAT scan.

“If there had been a bleed to the brain, that (victim) could have died and you’d be on a murder charge, for which the only sentence is life imprisonment,” Judge David Kent said.

“That's how risky this kind of behaviour is.”

The male victim was attacked by Tetabo’s co-offenders, who have already been sentenced in the Children’s Court.

Defence lawyer Jessica Horne said her client suffered from schizophrenia and a mental and behavioural disorder linked to marijuana use, which Judge Kent added can tragically be “like a bullet to the brain” for some.

Ms Horne said Tetabo was also intoxicated at the time of the offending.

Judge Kent placed the 18-year-old on probation for two years.

He said she was also fortunate she was an Australian citizen, since her country of origin Kiribati was tragically sinking due to climate change.

“If you weren't (an Australian citizen) and you were in prison, it might be an interesting constitutional exercise to see if the Australian Government thought that you could be deported to a country that’s underwater,” Judge Kent said.

No conviction was recorded.