Father of young man accused of attacking cops speaks outside court

A father of one of the men accused of brutally attacking two off-duty police officers has spoken outside court.

The father of a young man, who is one of three accused of brutally attacking off-duty police officers in Sydney’s inner west, says “there’s two sides to every story”.

Finley Goodwin, 22, is one of three men accused of attacking two off-duty police officers last Wednesday night on Enmore Rd in Newtown.

The two off-duty officers were allegedly assaulted, with one of them knocked to the ground and repeatedly punched and kicked to the head.

Mr Goodwin was arrested in Enmore on Tuesday night and charged with cause grievous bodily harm to person with intent and assault occasioning actual bodily harm in company of others.

He appeared via AVL at Newtown Local Court on Wednesday sporting a grey hoodie.

He was supported in court by his father, who shook his head as mobile phone footage of the alleged attack was played in court.

The footage, taken on a mobile phone, from the night of the alleged attack appeared to show four men arguing in the middle of the busy road.

Finley Goodwin’s father shook his head as mobile phone footage of the alleged attack was played in court. Picture: NewsWire / Nikki Short

It is then alleged that Mr Goodwin’s co-accused, Koby Weaver, 20, was shown in the footage stomping on the head of one of the off-duty police officers.

Mr Goodwin’s Legal Aid solicitor told the court that while the nature of the offending was “nasty”, he argued that his client was not an “instigator nor an aggressor”, which he believes was made clear in the footage.

“While his actions are not acceptable … they appear to be far less serious than that of his co-accused,” he said.

However, magistrate Alexander Mijovich noted that Mr Goodwin had been involved in some “extremely serious offending”.

“At this stage a custodial sentence (if he is found guilty) is likely,” he said.

Mr Goodwin's bail application was refused and he will be remanded in custody until his next court date in March.

Meanwhile, Mr Goodwin's father told reporters outside court: “There’s two sides to every story … I don’t want to get involved. But I hope they (the officers) get better.”

Mr Weaver and the other accused, Danai Deneiderhavsei, 18, were arrested last Thursday.

Danai Deneiderhavsei was arrested last Thursday. Picture: Supplied

Mr Weaver was charged with cause grievous bodily harm to person with intent and assault occasioning actual bodily harm iPol company of others.

Mr Deneiderhavsei was charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm in company of others (two counts) and larceny.

The two men were refused bail and have been remanded in custody until their next court date on Thursday.

It’s alleged the two off-duty police officers, both men aged 25, were walking along Enmore Rd in Newtown when they approached the three accused men who were arguing.

The two off-duty officers were allegedly assaulted, with one knocked unconscious on the roadway, with an off-duty nurse then performing CPR before paramedics arrived and transported him to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in a serious but stable condition.

The second 25-year-old man suffered facial injuries and was also taken to the same hospital.

They have both since been released.

Originally published as Father of young man accused of attacking cops speaks outside court