Zac Con Cowell: Brisbane teen guilty of stomping head in brawl

A Brisbane teen has been sentenced for his role in a wild brawl near Treasury Casino involving six people.

A Brisbane teenager, just four days into adulthood and enjoying his first night out on the town, became involved in a wild six-man brawl in which he stomped on a person’s head, a court has heard.

Chandler man Zac Con Cowell, 19, pleaded guilty in Brisbane District Court last week to assault occasioning bodily harm and common assault.

The offences occurred in the early hours of July 5 last year near the Treasury Casino.

Cowell had been invited out by two older men who he knew through a mutual friend, the court heard, and Cowell had “drank to excess”.

At one point in the night, Cowell and his two friends became involved in a verbal altercation with another trio in which “racial slurs” were allegedly directed at a member of Cowell’s party who was indigenous.

A co-offender of Cowell’s struck a member of the opposing party in the face, dislocating his jaw, and then a general melee formed in which Cowell, who was not the prime mover, joined in, helping to bash a man who had become isolated from his two friends.

Chandler man Zac Con Cowell, 19. Picture: Facebook

The groups separated but Cowell, who had lost his wallet, returned to the scene of the fight.

He began punching a man he accused groundlessly of stealing his wallet, before his co-offender returned to push the man over.

Cowell, who had no previous criminal history, then “stomped on his head,” the court was told.

Defence counsel Rick Taylor told the court his client was living with his parents and had low intellectual function.

He said Cowell only drank socially and was attempting to abstain from cannabis, which had been a problem.

Cowell, who had originally been charged with grievous bodily harm, was placed on two years’ probation and ordered to perform 80 hours’ community service.

One of his co-defendants has already been sentenced, receiving two years’ imprisonment for grievous bodily harm.

Another co-defendant is due to be sentenced in early 2022.