By Perry Duffin
A court has watched sickening footage of three men attacking two off-duty police in Sydney’s inner west, with the sickening sound of one officer’s skull being stomped into the road reverberating through the courtroom.
The “significant force” used gave a magistrate no option but to keep one of the accused behind bars, leaving the young man and his mother in tears.
Koby Weaver (right) allegedly stomped a police officer’s skull with such “significant force” it audibly reverberated off a road way in video played in Downing Centre Local Court.
Koby Weaver, 20, was out in Newtown on Wednesday night with two friends, Danai Deneiderhavsein and a third young man.
Deneiderhavsein allegedly ran into an Oportos on Enmore Road and stole an Uber Eats delivery which was awaiting pick up, before fleeing with his friends, according to a police fact sheet tendered in court on Friday.
About ten minutes later police say CCTV picked up the trio getting into a fight with two off-duty police who were also out in the popular night spot.
One officer was captured trying to swat Deneiderhavsein’s hand out of his face and throwing a punch in self-defence, according to the police.
Paramedics provide care at the scene for the off-duty police officer.Credit: OnScene Bondi
The officer fell to the ground in the fight and Deneiderhavsein allegedly stomped on his head, but the officer managed to shield his face with his arms.
The fight drifted onto Enmore Road where a second off-duty officer was allegedly attacked and ended up on the ground in front of a stopped white car.
Police prosecutor Liam Edwards on Friday showed the Downing Centre Local Court footage of the fight filmed from a nearby balcony.
The footage allegedly shows Weaver pulling people out of the melee before storming in and stomping on the head of the second officer, as he lay on the ground.
The sound from the officer’s skull hitting the road was audible over the sound of beeping cars, screaming onlookers and shouting brawlers.
“Weaver stood over the top of him and, with extreme force, stomped on (the second officer’s) head causing it to reverberate off the concrete, which caused him to lose consciousness,” the fact sheet reads.
The footage showed the second officer not moving on the road as Weaver and his friends left the scene.
A nurse from Royal Prince Alfred Hospital rushed to help the second officer and began CPR when she noticed his breathing become irregular, according to the police facts.
Shocked onlookers at the scene of the alleged assault on Enmore Road.Credit: OnScene Bondi
The officer was rushed to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in a critical condition with brain swelling and broken eye sockets, which has since been downgraded serious but stable.
Police picked up Weaver and Deneiderhavsein at their Mascot home. Deneiderhavsein did not ask the courts for bail on Friday.
The third young man has yet to be located by police and has not been charged, the police prosecutor told the court.
Weaver, who is charged with causing grievous bodily harm with intent, asked Magistrate Jennifer Atkinson to release him on bail so he could live with his mother in the city’s northern beaches.
He was wearing a torn white shirt on the video link in to court.
Edwards told the court Weaver’s “life-threatening” attack on the officer was so brutal, and so public, it showed he was a risk of further crimes.
“The force of stomp on [the officer’s] head so significant that, on the footage itself, it produces and audible impact heard from a mobile phone on a balcony some distance away,” Edwards said.
“That’s how significant that stomp was.”
Weaver’s legal aid lawyer, Matthew Wade, told the court it was an “unfortunate one strike” and Weaver had an otherwise clear criminal record, aside from one drug matter which is before the courts.
Wade said Weaver was a troubled young man, who works as a screen printer in Marrickville, and could be trusted on bail.
But Magistrate Atkinson shook her head, saying: “There’s always a first offence.”
“It’s not what people deserve, a stomp with that force,” she said.
“That’s not what everyone does, that stomp was very significant force.”
Weaver broke down in tears over the video link when the magistrate refused him bail. His mother put her head in her hands and began crying in the court.
Weaver will remain in custody until March 20, when he is next due before the court.
Deneiderhavsein, 18, is charged with two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm in company and larceny. He will remain in custody until at least January 30, when he may also ask for bail.
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