Footy thug Dominic Walker abandons appeal over jail term
A jailed footy thug who launched a brutal attack outside the MCG, which saw his victims stomped and punched on the ground, has abandoned his appeal after a judge warned he could face more time behind bars.
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The jailed son of a prominent Melbourne barrister has abandoned his appeal over the brutal bashing of two AFL fans near the MCG.
Dominic Walker, 28, was sentenced to 12 months jail over a vicious attack on two men following the Richmond v Hawthorn final in September 2018.
He sought to appeal the sentence at the County Court of Victoria today.
But lawyers acting on behalf of Mr Walker abandoned the appeal after Judge Michael Tinney warned he might impose a larger sentence.
The 12-month jail term was handed down in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court last October.
Judge Tinney said it was a “significant win having the matter dealt with in the magistrates court” when describing the seriousness of the assault.
Mr Walker was taken from the dock, back to holding cells, after the appeal was abandoned.
His younger brother, Sam Walker, is also appealing his six-month jail term over the attack.
He was freed on bail last October after successfully launching an appeal hours after his sentence was made.
The brothers, sons of Tim Walker QC, were supported in court by their mother, brother, relatives and friends.
Tim Walker was absent from court.
A third co-accused, Benjamin Fitt, 28, is serving a four month jail term over the attack.
He did not appeal the sentence.
On Monday, the court heard Dominic battled with anxiety and sleeplessness prior to the assault.
He mixed alcohol and diazepam, a prescription sleeping medication, to deal with his issues, in addition to counselling.
His health improved in March 2018 after he scored his dream job working in rural agriculture in Guatemala.
The court heard he relapsed while overseas and began “drinking himself to sleep”.
His contract was cut short due to a lack of funding, and he returned home to Melbourne the same day of the MCG attack.
The court heard Dominic didn’t sleep on the plane but was determined to go out with his brother.
Prior to the match, Dominic was warned by his dad that his brother, Sam, had recently expressed suicidal thoughts.
It was on route to the match that his brother told him: “The last two weeks I can not stop thinking about killing myself.”
The court heard Dominic had vowed to himself to “drink with as much intensity as required to obliterate the words from my mind”.
This was despite his family earlier asking him to “keep an eye on Sam” and to come home straight after the game.
CCTV capturing him stumbling and falling over within the MCG grounds.
Judge Tinney said it was clear Dominic was a “person of great promise and superior intellect and had opportunities in life that others don’t get” but “still headed in that direction.”
Graphic footage captured the moment the trio mobbed David Raeside, 61, and Len Tricarico, 45, near the Pullman Hotel on Wellington Parade just after midnight on September 7, 2018, following the Richmond-Hawthorn match.
Mr Raeside was knocked to the ground and as he lay unconscious in the gutter, he copped blow after blow to the head by one of his attackers.
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He sustained a brain haemorrhage and facial fractures while Mr Tricarico was diagnosed with a left wrist fracture and post-traumatic stress disorder.
During the assault, one of the men was heard yelling: “I’m going to f..king kill you. You’re going to be dead.”
In October, each of the men were sentenced to undergo a two-year community corrections order and drug and alcohol treatment once they are released from prison.
The trio were also banned from entering licensed premises for the year following their release.
The appeal of Sam Walker’s sentence will continue on Tuesday.