Matthew Funch-Thomsen: Chatswood brawler convicted of affray

A petty verbal argument over vaping versus smoking sparked a savage brawl at a Sydney train station in which a former private school boy and aspiring security expert brutally assaulted multiple men.

A former private school boy and aspiring security expert kicked, slapped and punched multiple men in a savage melee at a northern Sydney train station following a petty war of words over vaping versus smoking.

Matthew Funch-Thomsen, 25, was charged with affray after he and his mates kicked off at several men who were unable to give them a lighter – because they were vapers.

A court heard Funch-Thomsen and his friends and co-accused Oskar Rodgers, Oliver Pappas and Ryan O’Linn were at Chatswood transport interchange at 1.15am on January 31 when they asked a group of four men aged 19 to 21 for a lighter.

“One of the victims explained they vape and did not have a lighter, (and) the accused people made comments about the victims being weak for vaping,” agreed police facts state.

“One of the victims yelled ‘enjoy your lung cancer’.”

Matthew Funch-Thomsen.

The childish back and forth subsequently erupted into an all-in brawl, which was captured in vivid detail on CCTV cameras at the transport interchange.

Agreed police facts tendered to Hornsby Local Court on December 8 reveal Funch-Thomsen kicked two men in the back as they attempted to de-escalate the conflict, while Pappas forcefully grabbed another man’s phone out of his hands.

Funch-Thomsen then grabbed the man whose phone had been snatched and slapped him across the face, before continuing to punch three of the men and kick them in the back again.

When a male bystander eventually tried to intervene for the victim’s protection, Funch-Thomsen turned on him too.

“The accused and co-accused pulled him to the ground and punched him to the head several times,” agreed police facts continued.

Matthew Funch-Thomsen.

Funch-Thomsen and his friends continued to push and punch multiple victims before finally retreating, high-fiving each other as they departed.

The Barker College old boy pleaded guilty to the charge and his barrister Peter Gow asked Magistrate Robyn Denes to consider sparing him a conviction in the matter due to his then-untreated issues with alcohol.

“He’s essentially turned his life around, he enrolled in the MERIT (court-ordered addiction treatment) program,” Mr Gow told the court.

“It has afforded him a path, to use the vernacular, to the straight and narrow.”

The court further heard a conviction would impede Funch-Thomsen’s ability to pursue a career in security after completing a relevant bachelor’s degree at Macquarie University.

However, Ms Denes said the matter was “very serious” and a conviction had to be recorded.

“It was your group that instigated the violence, there was a whole lot of bravado, and dare I say, a sense of superiority,” Ms Denes told Funch-Thomsen.

“You chased them down, you and your friends – you were the main antagonist, you assaulted various people along the way, even others who tried to intervene.”

Matthew Funch-Thomsen with his lawyer (left) and mother at Hornsby Local Court.

Ms Denes convicted Funch-Thomsen and sentenced him to a 12-month community corrections order requiring him to be of good behaviour.

“You went to uni, you had a very good education – that’s a level of privilege not everyone has,” Ms Denes told Funch-Thomsen.

“You had the ability to make better choices and some people don’t have that option – some people are behind the eight ball from the start.”

Rodgers, Pappas and O’Linn were also convicted of affray at an earlier time and sentenced to community corrections orders.

A fourth co-accused named Sorren Rahab-Mol was also charged with affray and remains before the courts.