Grant Treva Gardner: Young dad faces jail over ‘brutal, callous’ Surfers bashing

The man’s victim was left lying unconscious on the ground after the vicious late-night attack. Read full details here.

Grant Treva Gardner, 22, was sentenced for a violent bashing in Surfers Paradise. Picture: Instagram/Grant Gardner

A young dad has narrowly avoided time behind bars for his involvement in a “brutal, callous” bashing in the heart of Surfers Paradise.

Grant Treva Gardner and several friends found their victim lying on the ground near the Cavill Ave tram station just after 2am on May 21.

Southport Magistrates Court was told the 22-year-old repeatedly picked up his victim’s upper body, either dragging him along the ground or suddenly dropping him so his face and torso slammed into the concrete.

Gardner also shoved the victim face-first into a nearby bollard, and returned to his limp figure at the end of the assault so he could throw the man to the ground one last time, the court was told.

The victim did not try to defend himself from the attack.

Grant Treva Gardner, 22, was sentenced for a violent bashing in Surfers Paradise. Picture: Instagram/Grant Gardner

He was found unconscious on the footpath and was given first-aid by passers-by before being transported to Gold Coast University Hospital for further treatment.

The court was told the victim suffered bruising around his eyes and on his scalp, cuts on his face, and experienced tenderness across his chest and abdomen.

It will be alleged two of Gardner’s friends were also involved in the attack.

Both men have been charged over the incident but their matters have not yet been finalised.

The victim had instigated an earlier altercation with one of Gardner’s co-accused and two of his female friends, the court was told.

Footage played to the court showed the two men threw several punches at one another outside Finn McCool’s pub, but neither was able to land any blows.

Defence lawyer Ben Power KC told the court that Gardner was acting on the false information that his victim had struck one of the young women during the earlier scuffle.

He said it was a combination of alcohol, cocaine, and this miscommunication that fuelled his client’s violent conduct, which his clean criminal history showed to be out of character.

Mr Power read Gardner’s letter of apology to his victim aloud, including: “I know no amount of words will ever be enough to make this better, but I am truly sorry for the way I behaved.”

He said the New South Wales man’s offending was also in part driven by the domestic violence he was exposed to as a child.

The court heard Gardner had since completed anger management classes and drug and alcohol counselling, and last month welcomed his first child.

His partner was among the numerous friends and family supporting him in court.

Magistrate Kerry Magee told Gardner that extenuating circumstances could only provide context for, but did not excuse, his role in the “brutal, callous, and sustained” assault.

“You are so fortunate that this victim did not suffer more serious injuries, in which case you would be facing a more serious charge and far more serious consequences than what will be imposed today,” she said.

Gardner pleaded guilty to one count of assault occasioning bodily harm while in company.

He was sentenced to 12 months’ jail, wholly suspended for two years, and was ordered to pay $1500 in compensation to the victim.