Drunk thug repeatedly punched man, leaving him blind
A man who tried to step in to stop an argument at a Clayton South house party has been bashed so badly he’s been declared permanently blind in one eye, while his attacker will be free by summer.
Inner South
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A boozed-up brute has bashed an innocent man so badly he will have to have his eyeball removed.
Moorabbin Magistrates’ Court heard Taimekore Tangatapoto, who pleaded guilty to reckless cause injury on Tuesday, had been drinking heavily at his cousin’s Clayton South house party when he got into an argument with his sister’s partner on March 23 last year.
A good Samaritan stepped in, placing his hands on Tangatapoto, 26, to try and calm the situation down.
But Tangatapoto, from Dandenong North, turned on the helper, punching him repeatedly until he fell to the ground.
The onslaught continued while the victim was down, with Tangatapoto raining more punches down on the hapless victim’s face until other partygoers managed to wrestle him away.
The man was left so severely beaten he taken to hospital and had surgery, after which he was declared permanently blind in one eye.
He will now have his eyeball taken out to be replaced by a glass replica.
Tangatapoto was arrested in July, but denied the altercation.
In court Tangatapoto’s defence lawyer said her client had post-traumatic stress disorder from violence inflicted upon him as a child.
She said Tangatapoto had reacted to the victim “unexpectedly” placing his hands upon his back and was extremely remorseful about the “disproportionate” and “irrational” actions he had taken.
She said he had now slowed his alcohol consumption from drinking “a slab” in a session to occasionally having just one or two beers every two weeks.
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Magistrate Jade Bott said the crime was aggravated because Tangatapoto was on a corrections order for another violent incident at the time.
“This offending is inherently serious, it is a protracted assault, with devastating consequences for the victim,” Ms Bott said.
Tangatapoto was jailed for 90 days and must undergo a 12-month drug and alcohol abuse counselling-based community corrections order upon release.