Man jailed for 13 years after fatally punching security guard in ‘explosive’ act of violence
A man who fatally punched a security guard in an ‘unprovoked and unprecedented’ attack has been jailed for more than a decade.
A man who punched and killed a Queensland security guard in a split second of “explosive” violence attempted to blame the guard when confronted by police, a court has been told.
Confronting footage of the moment Benjamin James McCasker threw the punch that hit and killed Charles Lewis was played to Brisbane Supreme Court at McCasker’s sentencing on Friday.
McCasker, dressed in a black shirt, was silent throughout proceedings but cheerfully greeted supporters in the public gallery.
The court was told that McCasker and his group attended the Caboolture Square shopping mall on October 9, 2020, as his partner wanted a nail appointment.
He became agitated and snapped when his partner asked for a drink, smashing a cafe chair into the floor.
In the CCTV footage, Mr Lewis approaches McCasker with his hands in his pocket before the situation escalates.
McCasker punches the guard, causing him to fall “like a sack of potatoes”.
Crown prosecutor Mark Whitbread said Mr Lewis’s head “bounced” when it hit the floor as concerned shoppers surrounded him.
He described the assault as “unprecedented and unexpected” and having devastating consequences for Mr Lewis and his family.
“(It is) massive force in literally a split second on a man who was clearly doing nothing to provoke him,” Mr Whitbread said.
Shoppers crowded around Mr Lewis as a swearing McCasker walked off, the footage played to the court showed.
The security guard was taken to hospital but later died after being on life support.
Justice Peter Davis noted McCasker had lied to police when arrested, telling them Mr Lewis provoked him by saying something adverse to his partner and challenging him to a fight.
“He’s blaming Mr Lewis, that’s the real concern … he makes up all this nonsense about Mr Lewis being in the wrong,” Justice Davis said.
The court was told that after the fatal punch McCasker’s partner said: “Just leave him. He’s f---ing dead. You f---ing killed him, just run.”
The court was told that McCasker did not surrender to police, with his brother turning McCasker in.
He was overheard by another saying: “I’m f---ing pissed bro, I want some more grog. I had drunk a carton already. F--k him (Mr Lewis).”
McCasker pleaded guilty to unlawful striking causing death, but Mr Whitbread said the plea had “slim merit”.
He also pleaded guilty to wilful damage for smashing the cafe chair.
Justice Davis said the assault was a “gratuitous act of violence” and McCasker had indicated little remorse in his attempts to deflect blame from himself.
“Mr Lewis approached you because it was his job to do so … he was a person of authority responding to your misbehaviour,” Justice Davis.
“There was nothing justifying your cowardly attack on him.”
McCasker was sentenced to 13 years in jail and was ordered to serve 80 per cent of his sentence.
Justice Davis took into account McCasker’s difficult upbringing as child and his drug and alcohol problems.
McCasker’s lawyer Peter Richards submitted his client had a clear problem with authority figures and a limited education.
Mr Richards said McCasker had kicked his addiction to the drug ice prior to the offending but had lapsed into binge drinking.