Karl Bruhn fined for punching man at Winter Valley house party

A self-employed tradie started off as the life of the party at a gathering in Ballarat before he lost his cool and attacked several partygoers.

Karl Bruhn faced Ballarat Magistrates' Court on July 13, 2023 on a charge of unlawful assault. Photo: Facebook

A Ballarat tradie who “lost his cool” at a party punched a man’s head and twisted a woman’s arm behind her back before running away.

Karl Bruhn, a self-employed tiler, appeared in Ballarat Magistrates’ Court on Thursday charged with one count of unlawful assault.

The court heard on April 1, 2023, Bruhn entered a house at Winter Valley where a party was being held.

He appeared in the lounge having entered through an unlocked rear door and greeted everybody present by shaking their hands.

But one man held out his hand and Bruhn refused to shake it.

As the man turned away, Bruhn punched him to the right side of his head, causing him to fall to the floor.

Other people tried to pull Bruhn away, and in the process he grabbed a woman and twisted her arm behind her back.

Again party-goers intervened and Bruhn ran out the front door.

Police spoke with people at the address and later received a signed statement from one sober witness, as all other parties were said to have been heavily affected by alcohol.

Bruhn was later arrested at Sebastopol.

He said he had “lost his cool” and felt as though his victim was “imposing himself” on him, causing him to feel “threatened”.

The court heard Bruhn had been seriously injured in a car accident five years ago and turned to alcohol to manage the pain.

“And it hasn’t been good to him,” Magistrate Simon Zebrowski said.

Bruhn pleaded guilty.

Given at a previous hearing Bruhn received a community correction order and was fined on charges related to the same incident, Mr Zebrowski fined him a further $300.