Kane O’Meley not guilty of biting an ear off in wild Northlakes Tavern brawl

SHOCKING video of a wild brawl at Northlakes Tavern in the NSW Central Coast was not enough to convince a jury that a man was guilty of biting another man’s ear off.

• O’Meley extradited from Darwin for alleged ear bite
• Alleged ear biter’s `propensity for violence”

THERE was no doubt Kane O’Meley was involved in a wild brawl which police described at the time as “20 minutes of madness” at Northlakes Tavern.

There was no doubt Rhys Greig had almost half his ear bitten off during what a court would hear was a “mess of violence”.

But ultimately a jury of seven women and five men could not be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt it was 27-year-old O’Meley who bit off Mr Greig’s ear.

Kane O'Meley being extradited back to Sydney after being accused of biting off part of a man's ear in a pub fight on the Central Coast. He was arrested in Darwin.

O’Meley, of Cessnock, was yesterday found not guilty of wounding Mr Greig with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm after a three-day trial in Gosford District Court.

O’Meley had already pleaded guilty to wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, reckless wounding, assault and assault occasioning actual bodily harm for his part in the wild brawl which started over an off-the-cuff comment between two other men.

But he pleaded not guilty to the biting charge after the wild “fracas” at the Charmhaven pub on November 12, 2016.

O'Meley at Darwin Airport during his extradition. Picture: Elise Derwin

The court heard a fight broke out about 10.30pm and Mr Greig went to the aid of his mate’s father who was being assaulted when he was punched in the back of the head.

In his evidence Mr Greig told the court the blow knocked him to the ground and he curled up in a foetal position as up to four or five men began reigning kicks and blows on him.

He said he did not see who bit him as he tried to break free but recalled the moment he felt teeth “latched onto my ear”.

“I was trying to intervene, I suppose I got in the way,” he told the court.

CCTV footage showing O’Meley (black shirt, bald head to the right side of the group) landing a punch on one of his victims in the wild fight.

The jury heard Mr Greig had a 6cm-long, 1cm wide portion of his right ear — slightly less than half — bitten off.

Detective Senior Constable David Kerrsmith said the piece of ear was later found but it could not be reattached.

Instead it was sent for DNA analysis but it only showed the victim’s profile.

The Crown prosecutor said while the jury would not hear from any witness who actually saw O’Meley bite Mr Greig’s ear, he asked them to consider the “elements” of the case as a whole and what led up to the alleged biting.

O’Meley winds up after victim Rhys Greig is knocked to the ground.

The Crown’s case relied largely on about three minutes of CCTV footage — obtained exclusively by the Express Advocate — from three different cameras, which had been edited down from nearly two hours of footage captured on multiple cameras of the 20-minute long brawl.

The Crown prosecutor told the jury no one depicted in the footage came in “close proximity” to the right side of Mr Greig’s head or had an opportunity to bite the ear other than the accused.

The Crown case was O’Meley, being held back here by a man in a white T-shirt, was the only one close enough to Mr Greig to bite his ear as he was being attacked on the ground.

In his opening address O’Meley’s barrister Scott Fraser said it “won’t be an issue” that Mr Greig’s ear was bitten but asked the jury to consider “alternative explanations” that it could have been someone else who bit him.

He asked them to consider what the CCTV, which he described as a “mess of violence”, truly established.

Another camera angle shows a man pulling O’Meley off the victim.

“When you see it you may see it as a horrendous brawl,” he said.

“You will be shocked by what your fellow citizens have done.”

He said the “critical issue” was whether they could be satisfied it was in fact O’Meley who bit Mr Greig when the identity of the offender was in question.

He said the footage was a “moving feast” of heads and people and failed to establish anything beyond reasonable doubt.

In the end it took the jury just a few hours of deliberation to agree.

Bizarrely O’Meley was seen using his T-shirt to cover and wipe his mouth just moments after the alleged bite.

O’Meley had flown to Darwin after the brawl and was later arrested and extradited on November 29.

He has been remanded in custody ever since.

He will be sentenced in Newcastle District Court on October 26 on the other four charges.

Chad Gregory, Jarrod Jacobs, Beau Stangle and his cousin Nathan O’Meley, pleaded guilty to their respective roles in the chaos that ensued and were given suspended sentences or community services orders.

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