By Chris Barrett
Rugby league personality Paul Kent is being treated in hospital for a suspected collapsed lung and as many as five broken ribs after a street fight in Sydney’s inner west on Saturday night.
Kent, the Fox Sports NRL 360 co-host and Daily Telegraph columnist, has been stood down by his employer News Corp while it reviews his involvement in the melee.
Paul Kent is held back before shaping up to a man outside Three Weeds Rozelle.Credit: X
A 35-year-old man has been charged with affray over the incident with Kent, vision of which was captured on a phone camera and posted on social media.
The man was subsequently left with a head injury after a bystander intervened.
On Tuesday, it emerged that Kent had also been badly hurt and admitted to hospital after the altercation.
Kent’s lawyer, George Elias, told this masthead that he was undergoing tests in hospital to determine whether he had sustained a collapsed lung after he was flung into a roadside tree by the man he squared up against.
Kent also has four or five broken ribs, he said.
“He’s been in hospital since after the incident,” Elias said. “I’m just concerned about his health and wellbeing.”
On Tuesday, the 35-year-old man’s high-profile lawyer, Chris Murphy, said he expected Kent, 54, would also be charged by police over the brawl, which occurred outside the venue Three Weeds Rozelle. Police were continuing to investigate.
“I believe my client was the subject of violence from two other men and this was occasioned to him while he was retreating from Paul Kent,” Murphy said.
“A group walked past [the venue] and Paul Kent accused him of saying something. It just didn’t happen. My client didn’t know who Kent was until someone said, ‘C’mon Paul, back off Kenty’ and tried to restrain Kent. But he broke away from them and came at my client.”
The 35-year-old who clashed with Kent sustained an injury to the back of his head when he was tackled to the ground by a third man.
Murphy said the man he is representing had acted in totally reasonable self-defence.
“Under attack, it is perfectly legal to try and shed your attacker wrestling and grappling with you and trying to get away from them,” he said. “Kent shaped up to strike then pursued [the man] across the street as he backed away.”
Kent had been drinking at the Sackville Hotel, a 10-minute walk away on Rozelle’s main strip Darling Street. He lives close by in Lilyfield.
Vision of the scuffle appears to show Kent accusing the man of saying something derogatory towards him as he walked past, before calling him a “doghead” and then taking his watch off and brushing off attempts to hold him back.
It then appears that Kent shapes up to the man, cocks his fist and charges at him, before being tossed head first by the man into the base of a tree on the other side of the street. Footage shows the 35-year-old then being tackled onto the footpath by another man, who had initially tried to restrain Kent. The man suffered an injury to the back of his head, for which he has sought medical attention. A photograph of the man shows a large lump at the back of his head, which he alleges remains swollen and has caused him to be unable to sleep and have dizzy spells. He also alleges he sustained cuts to his back.
Murphy said his client does not drink and had been about to travel home after having a meal at Totti’s Italian restaurant, which is in Three Weeds.
“He was out for dinner with his wife and another couple at Totti’s restaurant. They had a reservation, they paid for their meal and were leaving. He was on the step with the other couple waiting for his wife to come down the stairs,” he said.
“He was approached by Kent and retreated.
“If this matter ends up in a courtroom, Mr Kent will be subject to very close cross-examination.”
Kent was contacted for comment.
One of Sydney’s most well-known defence lawyers, Murphy also has a long history of acting for rugby league players in criminal and football matters, from the late Immortal Johnny Raper to Hazem El Masri and members of the Burgess family.
He said the man he was representing over the brawl with Kent had presented himself to police before being charged but had not given a statement. His wife and the couple they were out with had also not been interviewed.
Kent was replaced in his NRL 360 co-hosting chair on Monday night by former England international James Graham.
“Paul Kent is not with us tonight. Paul has been stood down from Fox Sports while an investigation takes place into an incident over the weekend,” said fellow host Braith Anasta in a statement opening the program.
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