{"id":245442,"date":"2025-10-28T03:16:16","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T03:16:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/245442\/"},"modified":"2025-10-28T03:16:16","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T03:16:16","slug":"ex-boxers-gig-assault-confronting-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/245442\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-boxer\u2019s gig assault \u2018confronting\u2019: court"},"content":{"rendered":"

Footage of an ex-boxer\u2019s assault at a Sydney rock gig which left a man knocked out for nine minutes has been described as \u201cconfronting\u201d in court, as the case hits a fresh snag.<\/p>\n

Kerrey James Foley, 37, was \u201cwindmilling\u201d towards a 55-year-old at a rock gig at the Label nightclub in Sydney\u2019s Northern Beaches on March 9 last year when he landed a hit to the older man\u2019s head.<\/p>\n

The man was knocked out for nine minutes and appeared to be unconscious before he hit the ground, a court was previously told.<\/p>\n

The victim spent nine days in hospital following the assault, suffering skull fractures and other significant head injuries including ongoing headache pain, vertigo, dizziness, and hearing loss in his left ear.<\/p>\n

He continues to see a physiotherapist to assist with his imbalance.<\/p>\n

\"Boxer<\/p>\n

Ex-boxer Kerrey James Foley knocked a man out at a rock gig in Sydney. Picture: Adam Yip \/ Manly Daily<\/p>\n

Judge Jane Culver earlier told the court she was struggling to think of a more serious case of assault occasioning actual bodily harm in 20 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe incident has left the victim, even 18 months after the assault, with very bad balance and vertigo,\u201d Judge Culver said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe finds himself searching for words in everyday conversation, and slurring his words at times, which is what he describes a very frustrating experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Foley pleaded guilty to one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.<\/p>\n

In summing up the details of the case on Tuesday, Judge Culver called CCTV footage of the assault, earlier played to the court, as \u201cabsolutely confronting\u201d.<\/p>\n

The footage is expected to be released by the court next month.<\/p>\n

Mr Foley was due to be sentenced at the Darlinghurst courthouse in Sydney\u2019s CBD on Tuesday, however the matter was delayed to determine whether home detention conditions might be suitable if he was sentenced to an Intensive Correction Order (ICO).<\/p>\n

\"COURT<\/p>\n

Kerrey James Foley was due to be sentenced on Tuesday. Picture: NewsWire \/ Nikki Short<\/p>\n

\"COURT<\/p>\n

The sentencing was delayed until next month. Picture: NewsWire \/ Nikki Short<\/p>\n

An ICO is a term of imprisonment served in the community.<\/p>\n

Judge Culver on Tuesday warned him there was still no guarantee he would avoid jail and be given an ICO.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo not (point) to this as some sort of understanding that you will not be going to jail. I just don\u2019t know yet. I need, as a matter of law, to have all the information,\u201d Judge Culver said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere will be a custodial sentence of some sort, that\u2019s the most I can say at this stage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Judge Culver earlier indicated Mr Foley would likely be served a sentence of 22 months imprisonment, which gives rise to the consideration of an ICO.<\/p>\n

\"COURT<\/p>\n

Mr Foley pleaded guilty to one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. Picture: NewsWire \/ John Appleyard<\/p>\n

His bail conditions were varied on Tuesday to place him on house arrest while awaiting sentencing, which was listed for November 21.<\/p>\n

It follows two sentencing adjournments last month.<\/p>\n

Court documents earlier revealed Mr Foley and the 55-year-old, who did not know each other before the night, both appeared intoxicated and embraced and talked multiple times over the course of the night.<\/p>\n

They appeared to be \u201cjostling and dancing\u201d together before the assault, with Mr Foley at one point \u201cwindmilling\u201d his arms and advancing towards the man.<\/p>\n

Judge Culver earlier said there appeared to be a \u201cshift\u201d in the former boxer\u2019s behaviour right before the \u201cpretty skilful punch\u201d, delivered with an \u201cextreme degree of force\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cA professional boxer, even with a traumatic brain injury, would understand the degree of force involved in that movement, particularly where it\u2019s a departure from the earlier conduct of the offender whilst he was adopting a boxing stance,\u201d Judge Culver said.<\/p>\n

\"COURT<\/p>\n

Mr Foley was a professional boxer. Picture: NewsWire \/ Nikki Short<\/p>\n

Judge Culver accepted the Crown\u2019s submission that Mr Foley was not merely dancing when he was spotted on CCTV shadow-boxing in the lead up to the assault, a point earlier rejected by the defence.<\/p>\n

Mr Foley\u2019s lawyer Murugan Thangaraj SC earlier told the court his client was \u201cdeeply upset\u201d and \u201ccursing himself\u201d in the immediate aftermath of the hit, burying his head in his hands and asking himself \u201cf–k f–k f–k, what have I done?\u201d afterwards.<\/p>\n

However Judge Culver said this evidence of remorse was equally consistent with \u201csomeone realising they\u2019ve done something terrible and are in trouble\u201d.<\/p>\n

Judge Culver previously said she could not say beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr Foley had intended to inflict harm despite an intent to make physical contact with the older man.<\/p>\n

The court earlier found, on the balance of probabilities, that Mr Foley has some sort of traumatic brain injury with resultant and declining cognitive impairment, which would be taken into account in sentencing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Footage of an ex-boxer\u2019s assault at a Sydney rock gig which left a man knocked out for nine…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":245443,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[145990,64,63,802,145987,145988,145989,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-245442","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-actual-bodily-harm","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-boxing","12":"tag-james-foley","13":"tag-jane-culver","14":"tag-kerrey-james-foley","15":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245442"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245442\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}