Orchid Ave Surfers Paradise ‘attack’: ‘Bounced like a basketball’

A man has spoken of the sickening moment his friend’s head bounced off the pavement – “like a basketball” - after an alleged Surfers Paradise one-punch attack. Police have made an arrest.

A man has spoken of the sickening moment he claims his friend’s head bounce off the pavement – “like a basketball” - after a brutal alleged one-punch attack in Surfers Paradise.

James Allard, 29, and three friends – two men and a woman – had left the Cocktails nightclub at Orchid Ave shortly after 1am on Saturday morning.

One of the two men, aged 29, was allegedly coward punched and remains unconscious in a serious condition in Gold Coast University Hospital. Police said it was not yet known whether he would make a full recovery.

A 26-year-old Southport man sustained minor injuries.

Southport detectives late on Sunday charged a 20-year-old Wamuran man with grievous bodily harm (GBH).

The Wamuran man was arrested and released on police bail to appear in the Southport Magistrates Court on November 1 charged with one count each of GBH and common assault.

Another 20-year-old Wamuran man was issued with a Notice to Appear in the Southport Magistrates Court on one count of stealing in relation to the alleged theft of a mobile phone. A third man was interviewed by police and released without charge

Mr Allard alleged of the attack on his mate: “His head bounced like a basketball off the pavement. I’ve just seen blood everywhere at that point.

“I was in shock. I stood there for about three to four seconds thinking, ‘what am I seeing, is this real? Did this just happen?’.

“I’ve seen my friend Zak, he got punched, and then my friend Jarrad, he got punched so hard that he got knocked out and when his head hit the ground it was like a basketball bouncing, it was that hard,” he alleged to the Bulletin. “I heard the skull crack and then there was just blood everywhere.”

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Cocktails nightclub on Orchid Ave in Surfers Paradise. Photograph: Russell Shakespeare.

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Police said it would be alleged that two men were assaulted in an alleyway off Orchid Avenue.

“A serious assault occurred at Surfers Paradise at 1.15 am on Saturday. It was in the Asian Alleyway and it involved a group of three males assaulting two other males,” Chief Superintendent Rhys Wildman said.

“Unfortunately one of those males has been transported to Gold Coast University Hospital in a serious condition and has been reported to have received skull fractures. He is still unconscious at this point in time.

“We will proceed with interviews once he regains consciousness. It is too early to tell if he won’t make a full recovery.

“The other male was transported to Gold Coast University Hospital with minor injuries. He was treated and released. We have since spoken to the witnesses.”

Chief Superintendent Rhys Wildman. Picture: Nigel Hallett

Mr Allard said the alleged assault happened near a ramen shop on Orchid Ave as the group of friends made their way through a laneway towards the Cavill Ave tram stop.

The quartet had split into two groups of two, with Mr Allard walking behind the two men attacked.

He said the incident had left him badly shaken.

“The group that apparently did the assault were there as well at Cocktails and they were told to leave,” Mr Allard said.

“We’ve run into them (outside)

“I feel very unsettled, I don’t know how to comprehend everything at once right now.

“I just remember being on the phone at that point and turning around the corner and seeing my friend get hit and then seeing Jarrad, his head just bounced,” Mr Allard alleged.

“The sound of the crack to the skull, that’s what got me.”

Mr Allard said the injured man’s friends were devastated and praying for his recovery.

“I’m praying,” he said. “I was talking with his ex partner and we both broke down and my friend Celine, she’s just so upset as well. We’re all very upset.

“It makes you sick, it honestly puts a sick feeling in you and you just don’t know what to do. It’s a very helpless feeling.”

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Originally published as Orchid Ave Surfers Paradise ‘attack’: ‘Bounced like a basketball’