Queensland man jailed after ‘vicious’ e-scooter attack
Date: 2024-10-31
Police witnessed the second attack on the victim after he pursued the man who had knocked him unconscious and stolen his e-scooter, court told. Photograph: Kazim Canberk Sezer/Alamy
Police witnessed the second attack on the victim after he pursued the man who had knocked him unconscious and stolen his e-scooter, court told. Photograph: Kazim Canberk Sezer/Alamy
Queensland man jailed after ‘vicious’ e-scooter attack
Man sentenced to more than five years in prison after bashing stranger unconscious during attempted theft of e-scooter
A man who bashed a stranger unconscious during an attempt to steal his e-scooter has been jailed over the attack.
Simon Leslie Phillips, 47, pleaded guilty in Brisbane district court on Thursday to one count each of robbery in company with violence, grievous bodily harm and obstructing police by serious assault.
Crown prosecutor Harriet Malcomson said Phillips had been living in a tent outside a church at Victoria Point south-east of Brisbane when he attacked a man unknown to him at 2pm on 18 December 2023.
“[The victim] was using an e-scooter for transport, not mobility. [Phillips] grabbed him by the neck causing him to fall to the ground and hit his head,” Malcomson said.
She said Phillips and a male co-accused, who is yet to be committed to stand trial, repeatedly kicked and punched the victim while he was on the ground until he lost consciousness.
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Bystanders saw the attack and sought help from a nearby police vehicle, the court heard.
The victim regained consciousness and saw Phillips riding his scooter and went after him.
The court was told when the victim asked for the scooter back, Phillips hit the victim with a plastic tent pole with metal ends and caused him to again fall to the ground and lose consciousness.
Police officers arrived and witnessed the second attack on the victim.
Phillips spat at the officers and instructed his two dogs to attack them, forcing one of the officers to use capsicum gel to defend himself, the court heard.
Malcomson said the victim faced a “life-threatening risk of suffocation” from the injuries Phillips caused to his neck.
She said the situation was made more dangerous by Phillips obstructing police and preventing them from treating the victim.
“This was a protracted, unprovoked, vicious attack on someone simply going about his day,” Malcomson said.
Phillips’ barrister said her client had no criminal record until the age of 34 when a relationship breakdown and family tragedy led to him abusing alcohol and methamphetamine, losing his construction business and becoming homeless.
“He was extremely intoxicated on the day of the offence as he had been drinking with the co-accused all day,” she said.
Phillips’ barrister said her client could be a productive member of society and he had been attending church services and chaplaincy courses while in custody.
Judge Bradley Farr said Phillips had engaged in “cowardly behaviour in the extreme” during an attack on a stranger in public and in broad daylight.
“You acted extraordinarily violent towards [the victim] for no reason whatsoever in order to steal his scooter,” Farr said.
He said the attack had significant adverse effects on the victim, who was left with a broken nose, a face covered in blood and bruising and abrasions to his head.
Phillips was sentenced to five-and-a-half years’ imprisonment with 317 days in custody recognised as time already served.
He will be eligible to apply for parole in February 2026.
