A judge has expressed dismay at the involvement of Civic nightspot Mooseheads in "an uncommon number" of crimes, following a "senseless" one-punch attack that left a man with a broken jaw.
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The assailant, 31-year-old American man Nimilote Utumoengalu Maafu, escaped time behind bars when he was sentenced in the ACT Supreme Court on Tuesday to a community-based jail term of 18 months.
The sentencing judge, Justice Michael Elkaim, seemed thoroughly perplexed that the same venue could be a part of so many offences.
"This is yet another case in which Mooseheads is involved," the judge said.
"An uncommon number of cases come before the courts in which Mooseheads has featured.
"Extraordinarily, crimes seem to be committed on the way to Mooseheads, at Mooseheads, or having left Mooseheads. I do not know why this is so."
Justice Elkaim said this particular offence had occurred outside the nightclub about 2am on February 16 last year.
The victim had been waiting in the entry queue when Maafu, "for no apparent reason", punched him in the face.
"Presumably well-versed in events of this type, a member of the security staff at Mooseheads shepherded [the victim] from the scene and provided first aid," Justice Elkaim said.
"[The security guard] also contacted the police."
Subsequent examinations at Canberra Hospital revealed that the victim had suffered a fractured jaw, which required surgery.
The man also needed to have two teeth extracted as a result of the attack.
He said in a victim impact statement: "[Maafu] does not realise the effects of his actions on other people. I hugely struggled for a long time after what he had done to me and it affected every aspect of my life."
When Maafu was questioned by police, he said he vaguely recalled having spoken to the victim before the assault. He could not, however, explain the reason for the attack.
Justice Elkaim therefore came to the conclusion that "this was yet another one-punch attack characterised by alcohol, senselessness and stupidity".
Maafu pleaded guilty in August this year to a charge of recklessly inflicting grievous bodily harm.
At his sentencing on Tuesday, Justice Elkaim said Maafu was born in the US and left school after completing Year 9 during what was "not an easy childhood".
The court heard Maafu moved to Australia in 2009 and had only a minor criminal record before the Mooseheads incident.
Justice Elkaim said this, Maafu's youth and an "apparently genuine indication of remorse" had worked in the 31-year-old's favour when his lawyer Todd Trotter asked for him to be sentenced to an intensive correction order.
The judge ultimately agreed to impose such an order, which is a jail sentence served in the community, saying they had previously been deemed appropriate in similar matters.
As well as sentencing Maafu to an 18-month intensive correction order, Justice Elkaim ordered the man to complete 240 hours of community service within the next year.
Mooseheads has featured in a number of Supreme Court cases this year, and Justice Elkaim has previously noted its involvement in what he then called "an inordinate number of offences in the ACT".
The same judge awarded a former John XXIII College student more than $420,000 in August after the woman was raped in an alleyway near Mooseheads following a "pub golf" event that had ended at the venue.
He also sentenced one-punch attacker Shaun Anthony Lacey in September to an intensive correction order for an assault that happened on the offender's way to Mooseheads.
And in a case presided over by a different judge, three men were jailed last month for raping a woman shortly after meeting her at the popular nightspot.
Mooseheads did not respond when offered opportunities on Wednesday to address Justice Elkaim's comments.
