Butcher Gerard James Brady found guilty of one-punch assault at Mona Vale
A man charged with punching another man outside a northern beaches pub and leaving him with a fractured skull has been found guilty.
Manly
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A man charged with punching another man outside a pub and leaving him with a fractured skull has been found guilty of a serious assault.
Gerard James Brady, 25, a butcher of Narrabeen, had told Manly Local Court he struck the victim in the face in self defence.
Brady had pleaded not guilty to charges of recklessly inflicting grievous bodily harm and cause actual bodily harm after striking Michael Gibb outside The Park House Food & Liquor pub in Mona Vale on October 27.
As well as a fractured skull, Mr Gibb, 29, a plumber from Warriewood, suffered bleeding on the brain and had to undergo speech therapy. He also suffered severe headaches and his hearing was affected after hitting the back of his head on the ground.
Mr Gibb has been out celebrating a friend’s birthday.
Mr Brady, who had drank about 10 beers that day and had been to the races at Randwick, told the court that he was trying to help his brother-in law who was involved in a fight with a friend of Mr Gibb after an altercation had occurred moments earlier in the pub’s beer garden.
He said he punched Mr Gibb because he felt threatened and that he was going to be assaulted after someone grabbed his arm from behind.
“I couldn’t see who it was. I turned around and threw a punch in self defence.”
CCTV footage played in court showed Mr Gibb reeling back and striking his head on pavers.
Mr Brady also told Magistrate Michelle Goodwin that he had been the victim of what he described as a “coward punch” in 2016 that had left him with a number of broken facial bones.
He said the 2016 assault was playing on his mind when he was involved in the incident at the Park House on October 27.
Mr Gibb told the court that he was standing about 5 metres away from where two men were fighting outside the pub.
“That was one of the last things I remember,” he said.
Magistrate Goodwin found that the “roundhouse” punch was an “extremely disproportionate response” by Brady to the actions of Mr Gibb.
“All Mr Gibb did was approach (Brady),” Ms Goodwin said.
Brady, who is on conditional bail, will be sentenced in Manly Local Court on May 2.
Outside court Mr Gibb said he was happy with the verdict and now wanted to get on with his life, including returning to full-time work soon.
“No one wants to go for a night out and have it end like that,” he said.
“I hope it never happens to anyone else.”
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