Shaynna Blaze bashed in assault horror while walking dog

Details from the terrifying assault have been revealed, two years after the TV star was bashed and gagged while walking her dog.

A man has been jailed for 100 days over a terrifying assault on The Block star Shaynna Blaze who was walking her dog when the assailant randomly attacked her from behind.

Mark Christopher Surmon, 40, was found guilty of unlawful assault after he struck the TV star to the back of the head and punched her to the left cheek, causing her to fall face down on her chin.

When she screamed, court documents show Surmon “attempted to quieten her by putting his hand around her face and mouth” during the attack on April 18, 2020.

“He placed pressure on her shoulders to keep her down while this occurred,” Detective Senior Constable John Connor told the County Court.

The high-profile designer had “no opportunity to run” during the “unprovoked attack”, he said.

For the crime that had a “significant and prolonged impact on the victim”, Surmon was convicted and sentenced to 100 days jail in the Magistrates’ Court on April 5 this year.

In a blow, he immediately appealed his sentence in a bid to avoid prison and was bailed that same day.

TV presenter Shaynna Blaze fell over after being struck from behind and punched. Picture: Alex Coppel

But County Court judge Geoffrey Chettle dismissed his appeal earlier this month, sending him to jail for the full 100 days, less 28 days already served.

Blaze, an anti-family violence campaigner through her organisation Voice of Change, said she was “pleased that the judicial process has now been concluded and the perpetrator has been sentenced for his actions”.

“Crimes like this need to stop and punishment and rehabilitation are both important levers for our society,” she said.

Along with his jail term, Surmon was handed a community corrections order with drug and mental health treatment conditions, along with requirements to attend an offender behaviour program.

Documents show that his lawyers argued his diagnosed schizophrenia was being “poorly managed” at the time, but doctors ruled it was “unclear” whether that was linked to the offending.

Blaze said: “I hope he gets the help he needs so this doesn’t happen to anyone else”.

Shaynna Blaze on the set of The Block.

Blaze was forced to give evidence in the Magistrates’ Court after her attacker contested the charge.

She also provided two victim impact statements, which “emphasise the ongoing effects that this offending has had on (her).”

Detective Senior Constable Connor labelled Surmon’s offending as “unacceptable behaviour and the sentence imposed should reflect societies (sic) views on inflicting harm on others, especially women”.

“The victim was walking her dog at the time of the assault. Members of the community ought to have a right to feel safe whilst doing this,” he said.

He labelled the crime as a “serious example of (unlawful assault) … noting that the victim is not known to Mr Surmon and was innocently going about her day prior to the assault”.

The officer argued the community needed to be protected from Surmon because he had “demonstrated that he has a propensity for unprovoked violence and therefore poses a risk to members of the community”.

Appeal documents show Surmon had “numerous prior convictions’’, appearing before the court eight times, including for unlawful assault in 2004.