Thug who killed doctor first person jailed under Victoria’s one-punch laws
A Box Hill heart surgeon’s killer has been jailed under the state’s one-punch laws, as the respected doctor’s wife slammed the thug’s “total lack of remorse”.
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A thug who killed a respected heart surgeon at a Melbourne hospital has become the first Victorian sentenced under one-punch laws, as his heartbroken wife slammed the killer outside court today.
Joseph Esmaili was sentenced this morning to 10 years and six months’ jail following the death of Patrick Pritzwald-Stegmann at Box Hill hospital in May 2017.
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The 41-year-old doctor fell backwards and smashed his head on the ground so hard, the tiled floor cracked.
The court heard Esmaili, who had pleaded not guilty, “repeatedly and adamantly” blamed his victim for what happened throughout the Supreme Court trial, arguing he had acted in self-defence after the doctor attempted to escort him from the hospital.
Patrick’s heartbroken wife, Christine Baumberg, slammed her husband’s killer for his “total lack of responsibility and remorse”.
“Throughout the trial he tried to blame everyone but himself for Patrick’s death,” she said.
Ms Baumberg said her husband was a talented doctor, but “first and foremost a loving husband and father’.
“Patrick was brutally and fatally assaulted protecting Box Hill hospital patients, visitors and colleagues,
“He should have been safe at work,” Ms Baumberg said.
Ms Baumberg has called on the state government to provide safer working environment for all hospital staff and to properly enforce non-smoking laws at hospitals.
In handing down her sentence, Justice Elizabeth Hollingworth said Esmaili had acted without warning when he struck the father-of-two in the head with such force it knocked him unconscious.
“You still have someway to go before you accept full responsibility for your actions that day,” Justice Hollingworth said.
Justice Hollingworth said the tragic and untimely death of the talented surgeon had impacted not only his family, but patients, colleagues and the wider medical community.
The court heard Esmaili was on bail at the time and had been convicted for more than 40 offences in the year before the attack.
Today’s sentence marks the first time the one-punch legislation, which carries a 10-year minimum jail term, has been used since coming into affect almost five years ago.
The coward punch laws were introduced in 2014 in a bid to curb a spate of fatal one punch attacks but despite a string of high profile cases in recent years, they had never been used.
VICTIMS’ FAMILIES WELCOME SENTENCE
The families of coward punch victims have welcomed a Supreme Court sentence which saw the targeted one-punch law used for the first time in Victoria.
But they say more needs to be done to strengthen the ambiguous legislation which saw their loved ones’ killers escape tough sentencing.
It was a bittersweet result for the family of Patrick Cronin who was killed by a single blow to the head while trying to break up a pub fight in 2016.
His killer Andrew Lee avoided the minimum mandatory sentence after he pleaded guilty to a single count of manslaughter.
In 2017 former Attorney-General Martin Pakula said the government would work with the DPP to establish whether that law should be amended to broaden the circumstances in which prosecutors could seek to apply the statutory minimum.
Patrick’s dad Matt Cronin said he was pleased to see the minimum mandatory applied, but said urgent legislative reform was still needed to fix vague law.
“It’s still terrible legislation,” Mr Cronin said.
“The laws don’t always work. They failed us, and they failed Pat,” he said.
“The worry that I’ve got now is that the government won’t review the laws and they’ll shelve any chance of reforming the laws to simplify them,” he said.
Outside court, the mother of one-punch victim David Cassai cried tears of relief that the legislation she fought so hard to introduce had finally been used.
Caterina Politi said she was “so proud of what they had achieved” in campaigning the state government for change after the death of her son from a single, fatal blow in 2012.
“We worked so hard to get justice for the doctor, justice for David and all the victims of violence who have lost their lives and never really been acknowledged in the courts,” Ms Politi said.
“Hopefully this is the start to many more changes to the justice system because we deserve it.
“Those who are not here to speak deserve it.”
Ms Politi’s son David was fatally punched by a vicious thug on New Year’s Eve in 2012. His killer was jailed for a minimum of six years.
But she said the laws still had a long way to go and pushed for a more simplistic “death by assault” charge.
“To have to prove these points is excruciating.” she said.
In 2017, the mandatory term sought against Richard Vincec, then 26, who fatally struck Jaiden Walker, 22, for refusing to shake his hand outside CBD’s Cherry Bar failed during prosecution.
He was sentenced to eight years but able to apply for parole after five, despite manslaughter carrying a maximum term of 20 years.
Ms Politi said sentencing was just one part of addressing the culture of one-punch violence.
“Hopefully we can get the message out there to keep your fists down and walk away.”