Thomas Kenyon sentenced over violent street assault on Norlane neighbour

A Norlane father who repeatedly bashed his neighbour over the head with a baseball bat, leaving him in an induced coma for weeks, has learnt his fate.

A Norlane man who violently bashed his neighbour over the head with a baseball bat so severely he was put into an induced coma will spend years behind bars.

Thomas Kenyon, 27, faced Geelong County Court on Tuesday morning after previously pleading guilty to a single charge of intentionally causing serious injury.

The court heard the father of four and his neighbour had been in a long-running feud that culminated in a shocking altercation in front of their Norlane homes on February 15 last year.

Prosecution documents revealed Kenyon’s partner told him the victim’s mother had offered to fight him in a “stab fight” and that he could come over “anytime anywhere” just a day before the altercation.

Kenyon went next door the following morning, breaking a number of fence palings and getting into an argument with the victim’s brother-in-law.

Documents revealed the victim emerged from the home holding a vacuum cleaner pipe, the brother-in-law braced himself with a hunting knife and Kenyon told his partner to get his baseball bat from the home.

Neighbours watched on as the victim’s brother-in-law and Kenyon lunged at each other, but the victim turned and walked back toward the house.

With his back turned, Kenyon approached the victim and hit him twice on the back of the head with the baseball bat.

Neighbours described seeing blood coming from the victim’s ears and hearing the beating from the inside of their own homes.

Judge Amanda Chambers sentenced him to seven years imprisonment, with a non parole period of three years and nine months and 377 days reckoned as time served.

She said Kenyon’s upbringing had him “primed for violence” throughout life.

“Given your history, it’s unsurprising you have a number of prior convictions,” Judge Chambers said.

“You’ve involved yourself in acts of violence and threats on a number of occasions.”

She referred to a psychologist’s report, which said he struggled with behavioural control, and resorted to violence to assert dominance or exact revenge.

The court heard the victim was flown to The Alfred and placed into an induced coma for three weeks, and had since gone deaf in his left ear.

A report tendered to the court said without medical intervention he ““would have died or, at the very least, suffered significant brain injury”.

Referring to an impact statement from the victim’s mother, Judge Chambers said the event had been “life changing” for the whole family.

“They had legitimate fears they would not survive,” she said.

“Her son is not the same. He is deaf in one ear and the whole family is traumatised.”

Judge Chambers said she was “guarded” about Kenyon’s prospects for rehabilitation, but accepted an early guilty plea, evidence of remorse, a job on release and a good support network as signs to be “hopeful” he would not reoffend.

Originally published as Thomas Kenyon sentenced over violent street assault on Norlane neighbour