Fali Vaegaau sentenced after slashing man with machete at housewarming party on Brierley Crescent, Plumpton

A young man was supposed to be celebrating his new home with mates when a drunk stranger slashed his face with a machete, leaving him with permanent vision issues. The assailant has now been sentenced.

Fali Vaegaau slashed this 25-year-old man's face with a machete last September.

Shocking photos have revealed the horror of a western Sydney housewarming attack, in which a gatecrashing stranger slashed the host’s face with a machete.

The images were tendered to Parramatta District Court last week during sentence proceedings for Fali Vaegaau — who will spend at least another three years behind bars — after the violence erupted at a Plumpton home on September 9 last year.

Vaegaau’s girlfriend at the time was at the Saturday night gathering of about 15 but he did not know the 25-year-old victim, who had invited several of his workmates to the party on Brierley Cres.

The court heard Vaegaau entered the gathering via a side gate at 11.15pm, stood next to the victim and asked him “what are you staring at?” while the man spoke to someone on the phone.

Vaegaau – a single father – then grabbed the man’s collar while his girlfriend tried to get in between the pair.

The victim has been left with long-term visual problems.

Fuelled by alcohol, Vaegaau swung a machete using his right hand and hit the victim in the head, causing him to bleed from the forehead.

The court previously heard the motive for the horrific incident was not clear because the unemployed Vaegaau was too drunk to recall it, but it could have been related to his girlfriend’s presence at the party.

The victim was rushed to Westmead Hospital and left with a 15cm gash to his face, “large scalp” internal bleeding and a fracture to his forehead.

Fact sheets tendered to the court reveal the victim required surgery and suffered permanent vision problems.

“The victim’s vision has been permanently affected by the injury and the victim feels ongoing numbness in his face and forehead,’’ the facts state.

“Further surgery may be required to address the long-term damage caused by (Vaegaau).’’

Judge Sophia Beckett said there were “very nasty” stitches to the victim’s face.

Some images of the victim’s bloodied face were too confronting to publish.

Half an hour after the attack, police arrested Vaegaau at his home on nearby Don Mills Ave, Hebersham.

He had a red mark, which police believed to be blood, on his hand.

In September this year, the 30-year-old pleaded guilty to a charge of wounding a person with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Vaegaau was last week convicted and sentenced to six years and three months in prison, backdated to start on the date of his arrest in September 2023.

He will become eligible for parole on December 8, 2027.