"I can assure you that this act will never happen again," Andrew Junior Apelu Saulo told an ACT court last year after a set of late-night Civic assaults.
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On Friday, as she sentenced the 21-year-old man for an "eerily similar" coward punch attack which again took place in Civic only months later, Chief Justice Lucy McCallum bluntly said: "It did."
The serial attacker will spend at least three years behind bars after previously pleading guilty to a single charge of recklessly inflicting grievous bodily harm.
His victim was knocked unconscious and left with irreparable, lifelong injuries.
As well as receiving a six-year head sentence for the crime, which took place in September last year when he was serving an intensive correction order, Saulo has been ordered to pay $7311.25 in reparations.
The ACT Supreme Court judge acknowledged it was not guaranteed the offender could put up the amount aiming to repay the victim for dental work. But she said it was a necessary recognition of harm done.
The "brutally assaulted" victim also suffered traumatic brain injuries, multiple skull fractures, a dislocated jaw, facial nerve palsy, hearing loss, and loss of taste and smell, among other injuries.
"I am a broken man and my life has changed forever," the father of four said in a victim impact statement previously read to the court.
"I could have died that night and have not stopped thinking of all the countless one-punch attacks that have taken so many lives."
Despite Saulo handing himself into police after a CCTV image of him was circulated, the judge said she had reservations about the depths of his remorse and understanding about the seriousness of his conduct.
Chief Justice McCallum said she could not put any significant weight on character reference letters supporting Saulo which stood in "stark contrast" to his crimes.
The authors of those letters, the judge found, "have not seen the side of the offender that brings him before the court today".
The 'senseless and unprovoked' attack
The assault took place outside Canberra's 88mph nightclub, where Saulo was recorded by CCTV making a beeline for the victim following a disagreement between their two groups and subsequent exclusion.
The offender had already tried to stomp on the victim while inside.
Saulo, flanked by five or six other men, punched the victim without warning on the street, immediately knocking him backwards onto the concrete and causing him to hit his head on the gutter.
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Video footage showed Saulo, who was sober, quickly walking away from the scene.
The victim previously told the court he felt "useless and powerless to provide for my family and others" since being attacked.
"This incident has taken away my joy of life, happiness," he previously said.
That man's wife said: "This nightmare has turned our lives upside down."
While Saulo asked the court to consider sentencing him to an intensive correction order served in the community, Chief Justice McCallum said that would not reflect the seriousness of his crime.
A pre-sentence report author said Saulo enjoyed a positive upbringing and had a strong familial support network, but that association with antisocial peers "remains a concern".
His youth and the interest of rehabilitation were factors in determining his sentence.
Saulo will be eligible for parole in October 2026. His sentence reflects the eight months he has already spend behind bars.
Tim Piccione
Tim is a journalist with the Canberra Times covering the ACT courts. He came to the nation's capital via the Daily Advertiser in Wagga. Contact: tim.piccione@canberratimes.com.au.
Tim is a journalist with the Canberra Times covering the ACT courts. He came to the nation's capital via the Daily Advertiser in Wagga. Contact: tim.piccione@canberratimes.com.au.
