One punch victim Jake Brooke left brain damaged while his attacker walks free

Jake Brook was hit in the face so severely it left him brain damaged. But despite the vicious incident, Dallas Kahl, who had drunk 15 cans of rum, is free to walk the streets.

The word that let attacker walk

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SIX years ago, army trainee Jake Brook was hit in the face on New Year’s Day in a one-punch attack that left him so severely brain ­damaged he has the mind of a three-year-old and requires around-the-clock care.

And yet, because politicians meddled with the law governing assault, his attacker is free to walk the streets.

The District Court was told that Jake, now 25, was punched after he stopped his car after a bottle was thrown at it at about 2am.

The court heard that the man who threw the punch, Dallas Kahl, 32, had drunk 15 “rum cans” and three “Corona and Jack Daniels” in about seven hours.

He was convicted by a jury of ­“recklessly inflicting grievous bodily injury” and sentenced to five years’ jail with a ­­non-parole period of three years. He claimed he acted in self-defence.

The judge had instructed the jury that under the law as it stood, the prosecution had to prove that Mr Kahl realised his punch might cause “some form of bodily ­injury’’.

Two days after the verdict, the Court of Criminal Appeal handed down a judgment in a ­similar case and found that the prosecution had to go one step further and prove that the defendant realised his actions might cause “really serious injury” not just “some injury”.

In trying to modernise the law in 2007, politicians had removed the antiquated term “maliciously” from the offence of “maliciously causing grievous bodily harm’’.

Jake at Royal North Shore Hospital with his father in 2010 / Picture: Lindsay Moller

The definition of “maliciously” had not required an intention of the offender to cause any particular injury, merely an “intent to injure”.

Mr Kahl’s conviction was subsequently overturned on appeal and he was acquitted at a retrial ­conducted under the tougher law as interpreted by the appeal court.

The cases prompted a review of the law in 2012, when then attorney general Greg Smith told parliament that removing the term “maliciously” had never been meant to water down the offence.

He said the appeal court’s decision had created a “significant gap” in the prosecution of offences involving physical harm particularly recklessly causing grievous bodily harm which he said was commonly used in single punch attacks.

The law was reverted back to what it had meant before 2007.

Meanwhile Jake Brook remains partially blind and paralysed.

Jake Brook with his mother Liz, sister Emma-Lee and father Aaron / Picture: Lindsay Moller

SICKENING BLOW FOR MUSIC STAR

EXCLUSIVE Taylor Auerbach

THE Potbelleez frontman Jonny ‘‘Sonic’’ Murphy was the victim of a sickening coward punch on the Gold Coast on Friday night.

The attack has left the Irish-Australian pop star fuming about alcohol-related ­violence in parts of the country, as the NSW government promises to continue successful lockout laws in inner Sydney.

Murphy took to Instagram and Facebook after the punch, calling for violence to stop, and posting a photo of his battered face and hands. “King hit … at least hit me from the front you absolute cowards,” he wrote.

“The crazy violence must stop. It’s ruining people’s lives.”

He has since deleted the ­social media posts.

It was earlier believed ­Murphy, who was still in hospital last night, was assaulted in Newtown, which has seen a roughly 20 per cent increase in drunken violence since lockout laws moved from Kings Cross — but Murphy’s manager said it “took place on the Gold Coast over the weekend”.

Potbelleez frontman Jonny ‘‘Sonic’’ Murphy was the victim of a sickening coward punch on the Gold Coast on Friday night.