A WEST Australian man who was drunk and had taken ecstasy when he kicked another nightclub patron in the head, fracturing his skull, has been jailed for four-and-a-half years.
Cody Nathan Lee Bennell, the brother of WA Football League rising star Michael Bennell, attacked Matthew Skeet outside an Albany nightclub in the early hours of July 28 last year.
The District Court of WA heard during sentencing on Thursday that “words were exchanged” when Mr Skeet and his friend walked past Bennell and his larger group of companions.
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READ NOWBennell’s cousin instigated the aggression and was confronting others for no reason, the court heard.
When violence erupted, Bennell kicked the victim, causing him to fall to the ground and hit his head on the road.
Mr Skeet suffered bleeding on the brain and continues to endure headaches, jaw soreness, and a distorted sense of smell and taste.
Defence counsel Gavin MacLean said 23-year-old Bennell became involved in the fight “to support his cousin”.
“It’s certainly not excusable,” Mr MacLean said.
Prosecutor Sarah Jessup said the attack was entirely unprovoked, noting Bennell had a disorderly behaviour conviction for shouting obscenities and trying to fight someone outside the same nightclub in 2013.
He committed the attack last year while on a suspended sentence for assaulting his girlfriend in a jealous rage over almost two hours in 2014.
Judge Michael Bowden activated Bennell’s six-month sentence for that offence and imposed a four-year jail term for inflicting grievous bodily harm on Mr Skeet.
“The public are entitled to expect that the courts are going to provide meaningful penalty for these sort of acts of horrific violence,” Judge Bowden said.
The judge heard Bennell’s brother, who supported him in court, plans to use his Wirrpanda Foundation contacts to help his sibling improve his life when he gets out of jail.
Bennell will be eligible for parole after serving half of his sentence.
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