Eye-gouger left man partially blind in 'sustained and violent' fight

Trent Beaver, 42, has been sentenced to three years and four months in prison in the Wagga District Court after he was convicted on one count of recklessly inflicting grievous bodily harm on a man during a fight at Narrandera in 2022.

A verbal fight spilled over into a physical fight between the victim and Beaver at a residential property in the town.

The court heard punches were thrown by both parties and both men fell to the ground, although the judge was unable to find who was responsible for them falling over.

"It may well have been the inertia of the men moving around that put them to the ground," Judge Gordon Lerve noted.

While the victim was above Beaver on the ground, he felt the man's fingers press into his right eye, causing significant pain.

The court heard a third party was also punching and kicking the victim at that time.

Beaver then moved to his knees and continued to punch the victim to the side of his head with another party kicking him as well before the victim was dragged away by someone else present.

The victim then went down on all fours and covered his head, yelling for Beaver to stop, but he refused, and kept punching the man.

Video tendered to the court showed Beaver "very much had the upper hand" toward the end of the incident and Judge Lerve noted the attack was "relatively sustained and violent".

Following the fight, the victim presented to Narrandera District Hospital with severe pain and swelling in his right eye.

He was then transferred to Wagga Base Hospital where he was diagnosed with a ruptured eyeball and was subsequently transferred to Sydney Eye Hospital.

An assessment of his injuries found he sustained loss of iris and lens and unrepairable retinal detachment in his right eye, while blood also filled both the anterior and posterior chambers of the eye.

As a result of these and other injuries to his eye he was diagnosed with blindness in that eye and that there was "no prospect of regaining vision" in it.

The victim also suffered swelling and bruising to the right side of his face as a result of being kicked to the head.

After video of the incident was provided to police, a warrant was issued and Beaver was arrested and taken into custody on November 8, 2022.

Reflecting on the incident in the Wagga Court in December, Judge Lerve said he was "satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the offender deliberately placed his fingers at the eye of the victim and applied force".

"That force was sufficient to cause the damage that it did," he said.

Judge Lerve acknowledged Beaver has a "number of convictions for violence including for domestic violence assault, assault occasioning bodily harm in company, and stalk intimidate."

In 2016, he was sentenced to a term of imprisonment over an assault with intent to rob causing wounding or grievous bodily harm, while in 2018 he received an intensive corrections order (ICO) for assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Judge Lerve said this record does not entitle him to "any particular leniency".

A short victim impact statement to the court said the victim no longer drives, has been unable to work, has been taking pain killers and suffers embarrassment due to his appearance.

Counsel for the defence said on hearing that statement, he was "mortified that he had caused that injury to the victim" and had "realise[d] that fighting does not help anyone".

Noting other testimony to the same effect, Judge Lerve acknowledged Beaver was "entitled to a finding that he is remorseful".

Further to Beaver's criminal history, the court heard he abused alcohol "quite considerably" while in his early 20s before getting into drugs later in the decade.

Judge Lerve noted the offender was "[drunk] at the time of the offending" and "it seems...also drug affected at the time."

A doctor's report to the court found at the time of the offence Beaver was not "thinking rationally or considering the consequences of his behaviour".

While acknowledging the offender has support and genuinely intends to get a job on his release from jail, Judge Lerve was "not prepared to find on balance that he has good prospects of rehabilitation".

"Much will depend [on] the manner and extent to which the offender engages with the relevant authorities and agencies [on] his release from custody," he said.

Turning to sentencing, Judge Lerve concluded the offending would "exceed what can be served by way of ICO".

The judge raised "particular concerns about community safety given the offender's record particularly for matters of violence".

"The concern for community safety is heightened when the issue of the offending while under the influence of substances is considered," he said.

"I cannot be satisfied that the offender is unlikely to reoffend."

Judge Lerve sentenced Beaver to a jail term of three years and four months backdated to when he was taken into custody on November 8, 2022.

Beaver was given a non-parole period of two years and one month, and will be eligible for parole on December 7 next year.