Chatswood bouncer Taom Aata pleads guilty to assaulting security guard on Sydney’s north shore
When an off-duty security guard was asked to leave a pub due to his drunken state, he turned on his fellow bouncer and punched him and kicked him on the ground.
Hornsby
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A bouncer who worked at bars and nightclubs across Sydney said he was ashamed after kicking and punching a fellow security guard in a frightening attack at a north shore establishment.
Hawaiian-born Taom Aata, 26, of Chatswood pleaded guilty at Hornsby Local Court on Wednesday to common assault following an altercation outside the Orchard Hotel in Chatswood on December 11, 2022.
About 9pm, Aata was asked to leave by the bar’s security owing to his intoxication, but once outside launched into a verbal argument with a security guard before shoving the man and attempting to punch him.
Aata then launched a left-handed punch at the guard’s head which knocked him to the ground, agreed facts reveal.
As he lay on the floor, the 26-year-old kicked the victim’s back. When he tried to rise, he unleashed another punch knocking him down once more.
The victim then got up and retreated back into the venue as Aata came towards him.
At the time, police were only a short distance away and were alerted to the incident by a passer-by.
The entire incident was captured on the bar’s CCTV.
Aata’s lawyer told Hornsby Local Court the 26-year-old had recognised he had a drinking problem and had been going through a divorce at the time, and argued it wasn’t a severe assault.
Magistrate Robyn Denes hit back at that assessment.
“Are you serious?” Ms Denes said. “I'm dealing here with a gratuitous act of violence committed in a public place.”
Aata’s lawyer further told the court the former criminology student was at risk of jeopardising his future work prospects should he receive a conviction, and had come to the court without a criminal record.
Magistrate Denes told Aata the offence was “too serious” to not attract a conviction.
Aata was convicted and fined $1500.
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