Man sentenced to five years’ jail over Gold Coast one punch assault

A young father-of-two who left another man with brain injuries after a one-punch attack on the Gold Coast has been sentenced to five years jail, but will be free much sooner.

A father-of-two who left a young man with “really tragic” brain injuries after a one-punch attack during a wild street brawl on the Gold Coast has been sentenced to five years’ jail – but will be free in 18 months.

Zac Longfield was celebrating his 21st birthday on the Glitter Strip in November 2019 when he was seriously assaulted, leaving him in a nine-week coma with injuries including brain damage, a fractured spine and facial fractures.

Palemi Ahloo, a 21-year-old father of two, pleaded guilty in Southport District Court on Tuesday to grievous bodily harm and affray over the incident.

The court heard Mr Longfield and Ahloo were part of two groups of young people who became involved in a booze-fuelled early morning brawl at Broadbeach.

Zac Longfield recovers at Gold Coast University Hospital in the wake of the one-punch attack. Photo: GoFundMe

Mr Longfield, who was being chased, grabbed a tree branch and hit one of Ahloo’s friends in the face. One of Mr Longfield’s female friends was also hit in the face with a bottle.

Mr Longfield was then punched in the head by Ahloo and fell to the ground, striking his head suffering what Judge William Everson described as “very serious brain damage”.

Reading from a lengthy victim impact statement, Judge Everson said Mr Longfield told how he had effectively lost his life and began “a fight like no other to stay alive” and start again.

Mr Longfield had been “stripped of every shred of dignity” as he lay in a nappy having to be cleaned and changed by nurses and re-learn the basics of living.

“There are no winners out of this, it’s just awful,” the judge said.

“He (Ahloo) is a young man who’s done something, really really stupid and violent that’s had tragic consequences.”

Zac Longfield was celebrating his 21st birthday when the incident happened. Picture: Go Fund Me

Judge Everson said Mr Longfield wanted Ahloo to realise that “one punch cannot only kill but it can take someone’s life forever”.

“He rightly points out that you (Ahloo) are the lucky one even though you are going to jail, because he hasn’t suffered the way he has,” the judge told Ahloo.

The judge noted that Ahloo, who had no criminal history, had written a letter of apology to Mr Longfield and shown genuine remorse.

He sentenced Ahloo to five years’ jail but ordered the sentence be suspended after 18 months.

Originally published as Man sentenced to five years’ jail over Gold Coast one punch assault