Alasdair Papalii pleads guilty to assault on elderly man over a car space
A tradie has admitted to delivering a “quick cheek jab” on a senior citizen after a disagreement over a carparking space. The assault left the victim with permanent disabilities.
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A Campbelltown tradie has admitted to striking an elderly man in the face, leaving him fighting for life in hospital following an early morning dispute over parking.
Alasdair Papalii, 26, pleaded guilty to a charge of recklessly inflicting grievous bodily harm at Wollongong Local Court on Wednesday, more than a year after he left a 76-year-old man in hospital with a physical disability.
In documents tendered to the court, it was revealed Papalii, his brother and two other men were on their way to work at a construction site on Hospital Road, Bulli on May 1 when the incident occurred.
The group was struggling to find a park in the area due to the large number of tradespeople at the site, but eventually found one a short distance away.
The group had to move a wheelie bin that was already on the road so they could fit within a space. After the car was parked, Papalii and his mates started walking to the job site while his brother got changed next to the vehicle.
An elderly man walked outside an apartment block by the car and an argument between him and Papalii’s brother began over the moving of the bin.
The dispute “became heated”, prompting Papalii to approach his brother and hit the elderly man in the face.
The impact caused the man to fall to the ground, with a witness describing the attack as a “quick cheek jab”.
Papalii’s brother, who was not involved in the assault, tried to assist the man while a neighbour called for an ambulance. The elderly man was taken to Wollongong Hospital before he was flown to Prince of Wales for emergency surgery.
Court documents revealed that as a consequence of the Papalii’s attack, the man suffered an ischaemic stroke.
Police arrested and charged Papalii the following day, where he admitted to striking the man, saying he “should have just walked away”.
According to court documents, the stroke left the victim with a physical disability with some potential for improvement “but with ongoing disability following rehabilitation”.
Consequently, the victim has suffered “severe psychological effects” directly related to his injury and subsequent disability.
Papalii, who is on bail, will return to the NSW District Court for sentencing at a later date.