Barwon Heads man Seth Montano kicked unconscious man in head at troubled CBD bus stop

A Geelong man kicked an unconscious man in the head during a “disgusting” assault at a troubled CBD bus stop.

A Geelong man and a friend viciously kicked a third man in the head after knocking him unconscious at a troubled CBD bus stop.

Seth Montano, from Barwon Heads, pleaded guilty in the Geelong Magistrates’ Court earlier this week to affray at a Moorabool St bus stop near the Little Malop St mall in December 2021.

On a Friday night, the victim was walking along Moorabool St when he noticed Montano and a co-accused man near the bus stop.

There was a verbal argument over a girlfriend and the victim flicked a cigarette at the co-accused man, singeing him between his eyes.

All three men fought and the victim ended up on the ground where the co-accused grabbed his head and smashed it on the pavement.

The victim was kicked four times in the head by Seth Montano and a co-accused man while he lay unconscious at the Moorabool St Bus stop.

With the victim knocked out, Montano and the co-accused man kicked him in the head four times before quickly leaving the area.

Montano also pleaded guilty to criminal damage after graffitiing public toilets at an Ocean Grove beach and on the Frank Ellis Reserve.

Montano’s lawyer, Ryan Robertson, said the cigarette and the injury it caused was the “catalyst for this significant offending”.

Magistrate Franz Holzer rejected this, telling Montano that he “should have kept walking” because it could have led to the victim’s death.

Mr Robertson asked the court to consider placing Montano on an adjourned undertaking, meaning he would have to be of good behaviour for 12 months, but Mr Holzer said it was too “generous”.

“You need to understand that this kind of behaviour is abhorrent. It shouldn’t occur. It’s avoidable. Given your time again, I hope you wouldn’t be drawn into this behaviour,” Mr Holzer said.

“You need to understand the expectations of people (that) to have these sorts of things happening in the Geelong CBD is disgusting and ought not to have occurred.”

Mr Holzer also took aim at a video that was recorded by witnesses during the brutal bus stop assault.

“What’s even more tragic is someone is filming these events. It’s just gobsmacking, people getting their joy recording these things.

“It just defies logic,” Mr Holzer said.

Montano was convicted and placed on a community corrections order that includes 50 hours of unpaid community work.

Originally published as Barwon Heads man Seth Montano kicked unconscious man in head at troubled CBD bus stop