A Gold Coast man who killed another man in a one-punch attack has been sentenced to nine years in jail.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year Alexandar Rasic, 26, pleaded guilty to unlawful striking causing the death of Michael Hayes in June 2023.<\/p>\n
The 39-year-old died in hospital in the days after he was hit in the head outside a Hope Island bar.<\/p>\n
During a sentencing hearing on Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard Mr Hayes had been out drinking with friends when he spotted Rasic, who was known to him, and the pair became involved in a verbal argument.<\/p>\n
The court heard there had previously been animosity between them, which related to a dispute over restoration work that had not been completed on a car Rasic had loaned money to Mr Hayes to carry out.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Rasic punched Mr Hayes outside Destino Wine and Cocktail bar on Hope Island in 2023. (ABC News: Danielle Mahe)<\/p>\n
Rasic’s lawyer, Jeffrey Hunter KC, accepted his client became involved in an altercation “about a matter that wasn’t of any enormous consequence”.<\/p>\n
“My client accused him of avoiding him,” he said.<\/p>\n
Mr Hunter told the court witnesses confirmed Mr Hayes had been intoxicated and approached Rasic first, but stressed it was not a “cowardly punch from behind”.<\/p>\n
“My client delivered that blow whilst they were facing one another,” he said.<\/p>\n
The court heard witnesses described seeing Rasic launch a “full-on hook” to Mr Hayes, before he fell backwards and hit his head on the pavement.<\/p>\n
‘Incalculable’ emotional harm<\/p>\n
Mr Hayes’ father, Ray Hayes, provided a victim impact statement that was read to the court on his behalf.<\/p>\n
He said when Rasic killed his son, it “changed everything” in his life, and “nothing can undo the hurt”.<\/p>\n
“The damage you’ve caused has traumatised my entire being,” he said.<\/p>\n
Mr Hayes said in his statement that he hoped once released, Rasic raised his own children to “do better than what you have done”.<\/p>\n
“I pray you show them that it’s never right to ever touch another human without consent and [with] aggression,” he said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Alexandar Rasic has been sentenced to nine years in prison for the one-punch killing of Michael Hayes in 2023. (AAP: Darren England)<\/p>\n
The court heard Rasic had a short criminal history, which included an assault charge against a police officer in 2017.<\/p>\n
Rasic was abandoned as a child by his mother, and his father was a member of a motorcycle group who died of a medical episode in front of him in 2014, the court heard.<\/p>\n