James Swan, Troy Cusens, Julian Sebastiao: these are the violent attackers of NSW

They are the faces behind the state’s bloody crimes, which left victims injured and battered. Now, the NSW attackers responsible have been named.

These violent attackers were well known in their communities, from a senior police officer to a former bikie gang leader, but their social status didn’t help them get away with violently attacking their victims.

As the offenders below illustrate, the Australian Bureau of Statistics have found over 96 per cent of violent assaults in the past year didn’t involve a weapon.

From a man who cut open his partner’s face to a teenager who bashed a love rival in a pub bathroom, these attackers left their victims bloodied and battered. Not even animals are safe from the wrath of the violent, as one man showed when he alternated between beating his dog and a female passer-by.

These are the violent offenders from around the state.

James William Swan outside Moss Vale Local Court with his some of his colleagues who supported him in court.

James Swan

A senior police officer was found guilty of assaulting a woman so badly she needed to be hospitalised, despite his denial of any wrongdoing.

James William Swan, 42, choked the woman and assaulted her on three occasions between December 2018 and June 2019. During one of the “intoxicated” assaults, Swan broke the woman’s nose so badly she had to be hospitalised and required surgery to repair the damage.

The court heard the Queanbeyan resident tried to blame his violent behaviour on the victim.

“He said it was my fault he became a monster,” the victim said.

“The one person who was supposed to keep the community safe was the person who made my life hell.”

He showed no remorse or regret for his actions, the court heard. However, the magistrate deemed Swan was a “man of good character” who had served the community.

He convicted Swan of three counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and one count of intentionally choking a person without consent. Swan was sentenced to a two-year community corrections order and required to abide by a mental health treatment plan.

Rhiannon Sienkiewicz was sentenced in Moss Vale Court.

Rihannon Sienkiewicz

After finding out a woman had allegedly slept with her boyfriend, a teenager extorted a protection fee from the woman and then bashed her bloody in the bathroom of a Bowral bar.

When Rihannon Sienkiewicz, 19, found out about the alleged tryst at a Year 12 formal in November 2020, she messaged the girl involved and demanded $350 not to take physical revenge. The Colo Vale resident had a mutual friend collect the fee, but still found herself “worked up” about the situation.

It all came to a head when Sienkiewicz saw the woman a month later at a pub in Bowral, and asked to have a chat with her in the bathroom. The court documents reveal she said “I’m still not happy about what happened” before she punched the victim five times in the face.

The woman fell back and hit her head on the floor, where she felt her hair being pulled and more punches hitting her head. Sienkiewicz said the woman “deserved what she got” when a friend tried to help her up from where she lay dazed and bloody on the floor.

Sienkiewicz pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and demanding menaces intending to obtain gain. She was sentenced to a year-long community corrections order, 100 hours of community service, and ordered to repay the $350 to the victim.

Julian Sebastiao (centre) leaves Parramatta Local Court on February 17, 2021 receiving a conviction.

Julian Sebastiao

A woman required hospitalisation for a deep 5cm long cut to her face after her partner threw a whiskey glass at her face in a fit of anger.

Julian Sebastiao, 23, and his partner were lying in bed when he became infuriated by a comment she’d made and leaned on her chest until she couldn’t breathe, a court heard.

When the Parramatta man released the victim after some time, police facts show she threw a TV remote at Sebastiao before he pegged a 10cm tall whiskey glass at her face. Facts state the glass shattered on impact and caused a deep 5cm long cut in her left cheek, a 1.5cm laceration to her left eyebrow and numerous other cuts.

Despite the large amount of blood, the facts state Sebastiao refused to call an ambulance and instead called his mother to come and tend to the victim’s wounds and take her to the hospital.

The victim underwent surgery to sew her eyebrow and cheek together, but the court heard Sebastiao was more concerned with concealing his crime than tending to his wounded partner.

Sebastiao pleaded guilty to common assault and causing grievous bodily harm and was sentenced to a 15-month intensive corrections order and 200 hours community service for the “unacceptable” attack.

Former president of the Mount Druitt Rebels, Troy Cusens. Picture: Facebook

Troy Cusens

After a drug-fuelled bender, a former bikie gang leader broke his girlfriend’s wrist and pushed her down the stairs when he thought she’d stolen his drug stash.

The court heard Troy Cusens, 43, was still high on cocaine and Xanax from the night before when he accused his girlfriend of taking his drugs on August 20 last year. When she denied the theft, the court heard the former Mt Druitt Rebels president grabbed her wrist, fracturing it, and then threw her down a flight of stairs.

Cusens then grabbed the victim by the throat before demanding she accompany him to buy more drugs. She was later taken to hospital in an ambulance but Cusens did not appear remorseful for his actions.

The magistrate labelled the violent assault a “gross abuse of physical and social power” which “is not to be tolerated.”

Cusens was convicted of two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and sentenced to 14 months in jail.

Ronald Matthew Fuller choked a woman on the floor outside a Hungry Jacks after she tried to stop him from beating his Staffy.

Ronald Fuller

A court heard a woman thought she was going to die when a man attacked her for trying to prevent him from abusing his dog.

The court heard the woman approached Ronald Matthew Fuller, 49, outside the Coffs Harbour Hungry Jacks to intervene when she saw him hitting the staffy. In what the court heard was a “grossly disproportionate response”, Fuller punched the woman, threw her to the ground, and grabbed her by the throat.

The court heard Fuller knelt on the victim’s chest and tightly squeezed her neck in the “terrifying” attack in which she nearly lost consciousness.

When a passer-by interfered, police facts show the Coffs Harbour resident punched the victim again before departing. After pleading guilty to the “impulsive” attack, Fuller was sentenced to 14 months in jail for animal cruelty and intentional choking without permission.

He was also ordered pay more than $7000 to the RSPCA for the care of the staffy and directed not to keep or buy any animal for the next three years.

Paul Ronald Capner stomped on his partner’s face after the couple broke up. Picture: Facebook

Paul Capner

An “out of control” man threw his ex to the ground and stomped on her face during a violent attack outside her home in Goulburn.

Court documents show Paul Ronald Capner, 43, went to his ex’s house on April 17, demanding to see her and threatening to “make a commotion”. When she came outside, documents reveal the Goulburn resident grabbed his ex by the throat and pushed her against the wall, banging her head twice.

The court heard Capner then pushed the victim down the stairs at the rear of the house, slapped her face and punched the side of her head while she cried out. Capner then threw her to the ground and stomped on her face, the court heard.

Throughout the violent attack, police facts show Capner was yelling at the victim and asking why they weren’t together. Days later, he tried to break down the door of the house where the victim was hiding.

Capner pleaded guilty to entering a property without permission, destroying property, and assault. The court heard the violent attacks were Capner not accepting the end of the relationship. He was sentenced to 18 months in jail to give him time to do so.

Stephen James Bell has been jailed for a savage attack which left his former partner with broken bones. Picture: Facebook

Stephen Bell

A butcher left a woman vomiting, covered in blood and suffering several skull fractures after he assaulted her in the middle of a highway.

Court documents state Stephen James Bell, 34, stopped his car in the middle of the highway to attack his partner, who had exited the car to flee. After the Dubbo man got out of the car, police facts show he punched the victim and continued to punch and kick her head and body.

Witnesses told police the victim was vomiting and had an extremely swollen face with blood pouring from her nose. The woman had to be taken to hospital in Sydney to treat the multiple breaks to her skull.

The court heard Bell had been serving a term of imprisonment in the community when he brutally attacked the victim. He was sentenced to 16 months in jail and is eligible for parole this month.

Kurtis McShane knocked a stranger unconscious with an unprovoked one-punch attack in Bowral.

Kurtis McShane

A violent one-punch attack on the main street of Bowral shocked the residents of the normally quiet town.

A court heard Kurtis McShane, 21, blamed drinking “a whole case of Bundy rum” for his unprovoked attack on a stranger on a night out. CCTV footage reveals the whole attack, starting when the Bowral resident calls out to a stranger across the street.

When the stranger stopped to reply, McShane walked up to him and coward punched him in the face. The sickening footage shows the victim falling back and hitting his head on the pavement.

A witness told police the victim was “limp like a ragdoll” and covered in blood. The court heard McShane’s “premeditated” punch deserved a strong punishment.

“The community is sick to death of these kinds of offences,” the prosecutor told the court.

After pleading guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm, McShane was sentenced to a nine month intensive corrections order and directed to participate in anger management and mental health assessment and treatment as directed.