Nila Julius Kaiva pleads not guilty to grievous bodily harm

Moments before a chaotic brawl outside a Qld pub, the alleged attacker was upset over an exchange between girls, one of whom believed she was in an “exclusive” relationship with him. TRIAL LATEST.

Nila Julius Kaiva outside the Kingaroy District Court on Wednesday, July 23, 2025.

A fight outside a South Burnett pub that resulted in the alleged assault and serious injury of three men during a summer night out may have been ignited by the revelation of a love triangle, a court has heard.

Nila Julius Kaiva, 27, was charged with three counts of grievous bodily harm and an alternative charge of unlawful assault after an alleged violent altercation in Kingaroy in December, 2018, that left multiple pub goers with significant head injuries, including a broken cheekbone, fracture to the skull, and multiple jaw fractures.

Mr Kaiva pleaded not guilty to all counts on the first day of the week-long trial, which began on Tuesday, July 22 in Kingaroy District Court.

Nila Julius Kaiva outside the Kingaroy District Court on Wednesday, July 23, 2025.

During his opening statement, crown prosecutor Andrew Anderson asked the jury to “pause and consider the power of the human hand …”.

“We can direct with our hands attention to things … We can pick things up … We can tend to people,” he said.

“But it’s not about just those things. It’s also about the power of the human hand and the harm it can do when wielded violently.”

Mr Anderson alleged the Wooroolin man was responsible for the serious injury of the three complainants, either by inflicting the assaults with his own hands or by “aiding” another person to commit assault.

“The prosecution case is that Nila Julius Kaiva was there and by his acts he is criminally liable for the injuries occasioned to Lucas Gash, Matthew Kassebaum, and Justin Tanks,” he said.

The court heard the “violent events” during which the three men were allegedly attacked happen over “mere minutes” shortly after 1am on December 8, 2018, outside the Commercial Hotel in Kingaroy, during a busy night of Christmas celebrations.

The streets and footpaths were busy, with dozens of people milling about as the pub was in the processing of closing for the night and people were still filing out of the venue.

The crown claimed Mr Kaiva drove away from the pub in his white ute, but instead of going home, he parked around the corner and then came back towards the crowd.

The Commercial Hotel Kingaroy. Photo: Expedia

Mr Kaiva was then allegedly seen by witnesses or captured on CCTV striking the complaints, causing two of the men to fall to the ground and knocking them out.

Multiple angles of camera footage were shown to the jury, during which Mr Anderson pointed out a figure wearing all black which he claimed was Mr Kaiva.

In one video, the man in black could be seen throwing one of the alleged victims to the ground and hitting him after the man appeared to try to tackle him.

Another short clip of mobile phone footage showed a mob of people in heightened states, with some appearing to push and take swings at each other and others being held back or restrained, while at least one person could be seen lying on the ground.

Around 30 people were expected to be called to give evidence during the trial, including the three complaints, multiple doctors and many eyewitnesses.

One witness told the court she was having a “girls' night out” with a female friend who was in a “sort of sexual relationship” with Mr Kaiva.

When they were at the Commercial Hotel, the witness spotted Mr Kaiva talking to another woman and they “seemed very friendly”.

Out of concern for her friend, the witness said she confronted the other woman and asked her what the “situation” was between her and the defendant.

“I just wanted some clarification because it was from my understanding that Nila was exclusively with my friend,” she said.

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The woman reportedly told the witness something she thought her friend needed to hear, and she then brought her friend over and the three women had a conversation.

The woman who was reportedly in a sexual relationship with Mr Kaiva told the court she was unhappy with him after this conversation, and slapped him as he walked past the small group of women and left the pub.

One witness alleged she saw Mr Kaiva with a “very angry (look) in his eyes” a few minutes later outside the pub, with another man reportedly trying to calm him down, saying “it’s okay, brother”, before the defendant allegedly struck him.

“I don’t think that they were arguing or anything,” she said.

“And then Nila just like hits him really hard.

“And this man fell down, like straight up just fell down, and then he hit his head on the gutter, and he was out.”

There had reportedly been no violence or aggression earlier in the evening from Mr Kaiva or any of the friends he was with that night.

Witnesses said it was difficult to keep track of what happened, partly due to the length of time that has passed but also due to the large number of people out of the street at the time.

The case is expected to continue into next week.

Originally published as Nila Julius Kaiva pleads not guilty to grievous bodily harm