Gorokan bashing: Man sentenced in Gosford District Court
IT STARTED as a night out with three mates last year, but has ended with one of them suffering permanent head injuries and one now serving years in jail.
Central Coast
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A DRUNKEN night with three mates has ruined the lives of two men, with one suffering lifelong injuries and the other in jail for the next four years.
Maxwell Crimmins, of Gorokan, was sentenced to six years jail, with a non-parole period of four years, in the Gosford District Court last week.
The 24-year-old pleaded guilty to recklessly assaulting his housemate Nathan Joyce on May 28, 2017, causing grievous bodily harm which left Mr Joyce with traumatic brain injuries.
Police facts stated that Crimmins and Joyce had known each since high school and would often wrestle when they were drunk, however they would never throw a punch at the face.
On the night of the assault, the men went to a party in Lisarow with their other housemate Rowan Ritchens. They were kicked out of the party after Crimmins and Mr Joyce became “really drunk” and Crimmins was aggressive with fellow partygoers.
They were moved on by police after being caught wrestling near Lisarow High School, and when a friend offered to drive them home Crimmins was heard saying “let’s go back there and bash every c*** at the party”.
Mr Joyce’s sister ended up driving them home to Gorokan and overheard her brother say that Crimmins had cost him his relationship with his girlfriend Ashleigh Robinson after his behaviour at the party.
Crimmins was heard saying, “I could take you both on. I’ll show you how tough I am.”
At 12.20am, Crimmins called Triple 0 and said, “Please, please me and my friend have had an argument. He’s unconscious as f***. I knocked him out”.
The housemates ended up driving Mr Joyce, 24, to the Wyong Hospital and when police arrived, they saw Crimmins with blood stains on his pants, upper body as well as cuts to his hands.
The men told police they were inside the Wallarah Rd house and came out to find Mr Joyce lying in blood, and a guy was running down the road.
In June 2017, police obtained warrants for the men’s mobile phone service and a listening device at the home.
In a conversation captured on the home listening device, Ritchens was heard saying to Crimmins, “As long as we are in agreement that we are sticking to that story, yeah? That’s all that matters.”
The following day he said, “If they look up the calls from that night, I was on the phone to Liarna when you started punching on. That would be huge.”
Crimmins was arrested on August 15, 2017 at his workplace in Scone.
Mr Joyce had neurosurgery, and was “incompletely disoriented” for six weeks. He also had cranioplasty to repair a skull defect and has a right side hearing problem which may never heal. He has returned to work.
Crimmins will be eligible for parole on October 17, 2022.