Tam Southam bashing: Ashley Mansfield, Joshua Caulfield, Dion Bridge-Johnson enter pleas

The four men who savagely gang bashed a 47-year-old man, leaving him in a critical condition with brain trauma and broken bones, will soon learn their fate.

Tamrin Southam tragically died on May 9, 2022.

It’s been a long wait for justice for the family of a northern NSW man who was left in a critical condition, suffering from brain trauma as well as rib and shoulder fractures, after a savage gang bashing.

On Wednesday the men who bashed Tamrin ‘Tam’ Southam in 2021 — Ashley Mansfield, Joshua Caulfield, Dion Bridge-Johnson and Daniel Russell — appeared at Coffs Harbour District Court.

Russell and Bridge-Johnson appeared in the courtroom as they had previously been granted bail, while Mansfield and Caulfield appeared via videolink.

One by one all four men entered pleas of guilty to the charge of reckless grievous bodily harm in company.

The brutal bashing of Mr Southam took place on November 28, 2021, after a group of men had been at the Coffs Coast Hotel for drinks.

Daniel Russell leaving Coffs Harbour District Court on April 12, 2023

Dion Bridge-Johnson leaving Coffs Harbour District Court on April 12, 2023

A court previously heard the group left the venue and entered into a verbal altercation with Mr Southam, who was drinking with a woman on a veranda about 3am.

After the group antagonised Mr Southam, calling him a “dog”, he phoned the police and attempted a citizen’s arrest on one of the assailants after his car’s windscreen was smashed.

Ashley Mansfield.

Daniel Russell raised his hand as he left Coffs Harbour District Court on April 12, 2023

Mr Southam followed the man, swung at him from behind and held his knee to the man’s throat as well as dislocated his left arm, a court previously heard.

Soon after, the man announced Mansfield was on the way and others were called to “get down here now”.

The angry mob of Mansfield, Caulfield, Bridge-Johnson and Russell soon arrived, according to court documents.

Mr Southam was tackled by Caulfield and kicked several times by each member of the group, the documents state.

Tamrin Southam tragically died on May 9, 2022.

At one point, someone shouted: “Enough, Ashley, he can’t breathe.”

When emergency services arrived, they found Mr Southam suffering from brain trauma, rib and shoulder fractures and facial contusions, with blood trickling from his ear.

He spent 11 days in intensive care before being released into a hospital rehabilitation facility on December 7, 2021.

He survived the Coffs gang bashing, but died months later at the age of 47, leaving family and friends devastated.

In Coffs Harbour District Court, after the four men all entered their pleas of guilty, their cases were adjourned for a combined sentence hearing in July.