Disfigured and heartbroken grandfather watched as ‘cowardly’ attackers sentenced to prison

The disfigured and heartbroken 57-year-old victim of a “brutal and cowardly” attack at the hands of three men armed with an axe and bat watched on as two of the men were sentenced.

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DISFIGURED and heartbroken that his granddaughter now finds him scary to look at, the 57-year-old victim of a brutal assault watched as two of his “cowardly” attackers were sentenced in the Supreme Court in Launceston on Wednesday.

Steven Anthony Dunne, 27, and Paul Lance Broad, 28, pleaded guilty to wounding Phillip Adams in the driveway of his Young Town home before midnight on June 17 last year.

The court heard the attack was motivated by bad blood between Dunne and the victim’s son, who were school friends but fell out over a woman.

Dunne’s lawyer Evan Hughes said the former friends had a mutual practice of performing burnouts in front of each other’s homes.

Justice Brett said on the night of the attack, Dunne, Broad and a third unidentified man were highly intoxicated and decided to seek “retribution” on the complainant’s son for a burnout they blamed him for.

Mistakenly believing the man still lived at his parental home, which Dunne had visited in his school years, they drove to the address.

The incident that followed was largely captured on a CCTV camera at Mr Adams property and was played in court.

Dunne began spinning the car’s wheels outside the home creating smoke and noise while unidentified man struck the back of Mr Adams’ car several times with a large axe.

Launceston Supreme Court.

As he returned to the car, Mr Adams and his wife ran out of the home and Mr Adams struck the back of Dunne’s car with a small bat.

Justice Brett said the incident then escalated and “resulted in a serious crime”.

Broad attacked Mr Adams in his driveway while the third man hit Mr Adams’ car and truck with the axe.

Dunne then arrived in the driveway, took the axe and struck Mr Adams in the legs with it several times as he wrestled with Broad.

Mr Adams fell to the ground and Dunne struck him to the abdomen with the log splitter at least two more times, then struck him to the head, face, legs again and back of the head.

Justice Brett said the victim believed the men were trying to kill him and would succeed.

“He remembers the log splitter coming for his face and then having to spit out teeth,” Justice Brett said.

Mr Adams was left with a fractured vertebrae, broken shoulder, broken and avulsed teeth and lacerations to his head, gums, lower abdomen and ribs.

His victim impact statement was read in court on August 13.

It said his granddaughter had told him he looks scary now without his teeth, which were all his own and had been well cared for.

“It breaks my heart,” it said.

Justice Brett said the attack was “brutal, cowardly and sustained” and “could easily have been far worse”.

Both men were found equally culpable of the wounding and were sentenced to two years and six months imprisonment, however Dunne’s sentence was discounted to two years as he indicated he would give evidence against the third man involved, who is yet to face trial.

Broad’s sentence was backdated to his arrest on June 19 and he will be eligible for parole after serving 18 months.

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