Wakeley rioter Talal Khalil El Khoury sentenced after striking police officer
A father who punched a police officer in the torso after driving to a riot where Assyrian Orthodox Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was stabbed at a southwest Sydney church was “only there for violence”, a court heard.
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A father who punched a police officer in the torso after driving to a riot where Assyrian Orthodox Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was stabbed at a southwest Sydney church was “only there for violence”, a court heard.
‘Tony’ Talal Khalil El Khoury pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer and rioting at Fairfield Local Court on Wednesday following his arrest a week after violent scenes erupted outside Christ the Good Shepherd church in Wakeley on April 15.
El Khoury, who joined 2000 rioters where multiple police were injured, appeared via audio visual link from Long Bay Hospital wearing prison greens as four supporters, including his wife, gathered in the courtroom.
Several attendees including Father Isaac Royel – a senior parish priest who was ordained in 2016 – were also injured inside the church on the night and paramedics were forced to hide inside the building.
Agreed facts state El Khoury started yelling in the direction of uniformed police when he “stepped forward and struck police protective equipment” held by the officer which caused him to “take a step backwards”.
He continued to interact with the officer before another unrelated male offender involved in the riot diverted the officer’s attention away which exposed the side of his body to El Khoury.
“As this has happened he has moved forward, striking out with his right hand, this time striking the victim’s left side of his torso and appearing to try and grab hold of the victims arm,” the facts state.
The officer deployed capsicum spray to “prevent further assaults and violent behaviour”.
El Khoury’s lawyer Ian Lloyd, told the court his client – who works as a demolition excavator – had lived an “unblemished life” before the incident which he claimed was on the “lower end of seriousness”.
Magistrate Stuart Devine asked Mr Lloyd whether it was an “impulsive decision” for El Khoury to drive to the scene despite “not having any ties” to the Good Shepherd church and instead attending a church in Mount Druitt.
Mr Lloyd argued his client “deliberately drove” after he heard about the riots from the media and was “offended by the behaviour”.
The police prosecutor argued that a custodial sentence in the community “would be suitable within range” and the 52-year-old should be “held accountable for his actions”.
“It was an incident where a number of properties and police were injured,” he said.
“While the facts don’t indicate if police were injured by this offender’s actions, if your honour took a holistic approach as to why he was there, he was only there for violence and to cause a riot.”
Magistrate Stuart Devine said El Khoury could only be sentenced for “his part in the incident” and wouldn’t be sentenced “for that conduct by other persons”.
“It is behaviour moderately repugnant and entirely inconsistent with civilised society,” Mr Devine said.
“He (El Khoury) accepted responsibility for offences and acknowledged behaviour was illegal and was influenced by his emotions and the emotions of the crowd at the time.”
El Khoury was sentenced to a nine month intensive corrective order for the charge of riot and sentenced to a six month intensive corrective order for the charge of assaulting a police officer.
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