Surry Hills man Simon Anthony Lyth sentenced after assaulting police, strangers in Sydney
A Surry Hills man who assaulted two strangers and multiple cops, threatening to “cut” up one police officer, has been sentenced to jail.
Police & Courts
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An “openly racist and sexist” man who assaulted and threatened multiple police officers and two strangers in Sydney has been sentenced.
Surry Hills resident Simon Anthony Lyth, 41, faced Downing Centre Local Court on Wednesday where he was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment after pleading guilty to multiple charges including assaulting police and a frontline emergency worker.
The other chargers included two counts of assault, resisting arrest, shoplifting and breaching a conditional release order.
Documents tendered to the court state Lyth’s assaults occurred across November 11 and 12 2024, with the first assault happening in Redfern on November 11.
The Surry Hills local followed a man along James St and asked him for money.
The stranger told him he “had no cash”, however Lyth continued to follow him and threatened the man, saying “if I punch you, will you give me the money?”.
Lyth punched him in the shoulder multiple times before the stranger fled into a nearby Coles.
Lyth then punched the man in the face and continued to physically assault him inside the supermarket.
Eventually he ran off and several Coles staff members helped the victim.
Later that day, Lyth assaulted another complete stranger near the Chalmers St exit at Central Station.
He punched and knee struck the man multiple times to his head, face and ribs, and threw him to the ground.
Nearby witnesses intervened and Lyth bolted from the area, with an ambulance taking the victim to a hospital.
At 5.35pm, Lyth stole multiple items from the Woolworths Metro on Elizabeth St such as chocolate bars, tuna, coffee and two grooming sets.
He was caught by an off-duty officer and was detained by police outside.
He tried to kick one of the officers and later headbutted another in the face.
Documents state Lyth was “argumentative (and) combative” and described him as a “openly racist and sexist” man who threatened police when he was arrested.
He also tried to urinate on one officer, spitting on him and yelling “I’m going to cut you up”.
“I’m going to smash you when I get out … I’ll be waiting for you when you finish work, you’ll be hung and slit like a dog. If I ever see you out in the street, I’ll run you over,” Lyth continued, according to police documents.
In court on Wednesday, Lyth’s lawyer told the court drug use and mental health were “a major factor to his offending”.
“He has expressed remorse to me on what happened that day …(and) his friend possibly spiked him with more meth than he would have used,” his lawyer said.
However, magistrate Ian Guy found it concerning Lyth’s “random acts of violence to people he had no connection with”.
“An innocent member of the community walking along and then being attacked,” Mr Guy said.
“His record is very unlawful, it’s a very crowded one. Particularly of violence toward police officers.”
Lyth was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment and will be released for parole on April 10.
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