Tayarrah Morris: Tourist ‘left for dead’ in Christmas Eve Monsoons bashing
WARNING GRAPHIC: CCTV released of bashing which left a tourist bleeding, naked and unconscious in Darwin’s party district.
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CONFRONTING footage of a Christmas Eve street brawl captured the viciousness of a six-on-one bashing which left a tourist naked, unconscious and bleeding on the kerb.
Tayarrah Gay Morris, 26, appeared in the Supreme Court on Tuesday over her role in the attack in the early hours of Christmas Eve, 2020.
The Palmerston Magpies Women’s Premier League player pleaded guilty to recklessly endangering serious harm. Morris was the last of the six brawlers to make a guilty plea.
The court heard the group turned their night out into a brutal street brawl, chasing down the 28-year-old stranger after being kicked out of Monsoons, on Mitchell St.
Morris wiped away tears as CCTV footage of the bashing was played to the court.
The 28-year-old tourist was repeatedly hit, with stomps to the head and stomach, punches, kicks and slaps dolled out by the group until he was unconscious on the road.
The CCTV footage showed Morris standing over the man and repeatedly slapping him to the face and punching him to the stomach.
While he was curled up in the foetal position, the young footballer ran up and kicked him in the back.
The six-on-one brawl was briefly broken up when a bystander swung a large wooden stick at the group, before being chased off.
Morris began to push her boyfriend, Maea Tongamoa, away from the unconscious tourist after he continued to stomp down on his body.
The tourist was dragged along the road to the kerb, where Tongamoa stood over his motionless body and choked him before a final punch.
Morris tried to move him away and pushed him aside when he attempted a running kick at the tourist’s head.
As a final indignity, Ashleigh Epiha, pulled off the 28-year-old’s shorts and underwear, leaving him naked and bleeding in the street.
Crown prosecutor Timothy Wrathall said the 28-year-old was “left for dead” by his attackers, with bystanders putting him in the recovery position and calling triple-0.
He was taken to Royal Darwin Hospital, and suffered a mild brain injury as a result.
Mr Wrathall said the bashing was “unprovoked and unwarranted”.
“There are no circumstances that could explain that level of gratuitous violence,” he said.
Justice Judith Kelly said the footage of the “prolonged” and “vicious” attack was confronting.
Defence barrister Peter Bellach said Morris “lived with the shame” of the attack and still felt the consequences 18 months on.
Mr Bellach said while she participated in the bashing, she also pushed back her fellow attackers.
“Things got to a point where she actively resisted and then tried to stop a number of the others from continuing,” he said.
Morris’s bail was extended until her sentencing hearing on Wednesday August 3.
The court heard Karl Gruber was sentenced to three years suspended after one year and Tongamoa to four years with two years non-parole, and Duol Gile-Lul to two years and ten months suspended after six months — all for unlawfully causing serious harm.
The court heard Ashleigh Epiha was given a two month suspended sentence and Kian Wise was handed a seven months sentence suspended after 48 days after both pleading guilty to aggravated assault.
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Originally published as Tayarrah Morris: Tourist ‘left for dead’ in Christmas Eve Monsoons bashing
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