Bouncer Nikos Karagiannis avoids jail for kneeing man in head outside Southbank club

A bouncer has rushed in and kneed a restrained man in the head during a brutal attack at a once popular Southbank nightclub.

A bouncer viciously kneed a man in the face as he was being held down by two other security guards in a completely “unprovoked and cowardly assault”.

Nikos Karagiannis, 49, was sentenced to 150 hours’ community work on a 30-month year corrections order at the County Court on November 24, having pleaded guilty to recklessly causing serious injury.

Karagiannis was not even involved in managing the drunk man when he savagely attacked him outside defunct Southbank nightclub Xe54 after 3am on November 5, 2018, the court heard.

Karagiannis left his post at the door of a nightclub to approach the man who was being held down on the footpath by two other bouncers, having been thrown to the ground.

Karagiannis then kneed the man in the face, rendering him unconscious, before kneeing him in the face again.

The attack took place in front of patrons of the City Rd nightclub which closed down at the beginning of this year.

He then went back to his post and wiped the victim’s blood from his knee.

The victim was put in the recovery position until he was taken by ambulance to The Alfred.

He was left with a fractured nose and a tongue laceration that caused arterial bleeding and swelling, blocking his airways.

He had to be put in an induced coma to prevent him dying, then developed pneumonia, and suffered concussion for up to eight days.

The court heard it could only be determined that the fractured nose and concussion were definitely caused by Karagiannis, with the victim having also been assaulted by the other security staff.

Karagiannis’ lawyer said the assault came while his client was stressed, suffering poor mental health and his daughter was unwell.

A psychologist told the court the incident was believed to be an acute stress reaction.

Judge Paul Lacava said the attack was entirely unjustified and could only be described as “an unprovoked and cowardly assault”.

“You had no need to involve yourself in actions being taken against the victim,” he said.

The court heard Karagiannis, who grew up in Altona, had worked in the security industry since he was 20 and had never had any other issues in his work.

Karagiannis lost his job following the incident and began running a small window tinting business from home.

The court heard he was “disgusted” with himself over the crime and references, including from a police officer, said the act was out of character.

Judge Lacava said he accepted Karagiannis had a nonviolent disposition generally, and that while the offence would normally amount to jail, a corrections order could serve the purpose in this case.