A 'brazen' and unprovoked attack upon a man who had fallen in Lydiard Street, Ballarat, Victoria, where the attacker stomped on his head, has changed the victim's life forever, a court has heard.
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Grant Thomas Kemp, 36, stomped on the man's head before getting a running start to kick him to the head again, with a soccer-style kick, near the Ballarat Railway Station on April 5, 2019.
The 56-year-old victim, who was left lying motionless for about five minutes after the early morning attack, suffered a substantial head injury. He experiences ringing in his ears, headaches, shoulder and neck pain, ongoing anxiety, panic attacks and sleep disturbances.
The victim's daughter told the County Court at Melbourne on Wednesday her father was not the man he was before the attack.
"He is now slow, doddery, confused and anxious. He is not the man he was," she said through a victim impact statement read to the court.
Defence lawyer Eleanor Miller urged the court to be cautious of the victim's self-reporting, relating to the evidence of the victim's ongoing injuries. She said she understood the victim received a mild head injury, to which Judge Mullaly said the doctor needed to give evidence in court to provide the full account of what happened to the victim.
Crown prosecutor Andrew Moore said the defence had accused the victim of exaggerating the victim's head injuries and the prosecution did not want to cross examine the victim, his family or doctor.
"The accused has pleaded guilty to intentionally causing serious injury," Mr Moore said.
"By (Kemp's) plea of guilty, the Crown asserts he is accepting he did intentionally cause serious injury."
"It boils down to a head injury caused by being stomped on and kicked in the head. Not content with the stomp on the head, the accused returns..."
"Not content with the stomp on the head, the accused returns and delivers the football-style kick to the head while he is roughly in the same position." Mr Moore said.
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"This must be regarded as a serious example of this type of offending. The stomping to the head is delivered on the victim when he is in an utterly defenceless position. It was a pretty brazen attack and a serious example of this type of offending, the prosecution would submit."
But Ms Miller told the court in defence there was no weapon used and Kemp acted alone; "It was relatively brief and not a sustained attack. The injuries were not life threatening, no paralysis, broken bones or fractures."
Bystanders called an ambulance after the attack, but by the time paramedics arrives, the victim had left the scene and arrived at the Ballarat Base Hospital by unknown means.
He was treated for concussion and minor lacerations to his face and he was discharged.
He attended the hospital two more times with symptoms, and saw a Bendigo doctor three times between April and August, 2019.
The victim's family then transferred his medical treatment to Melbourne because they wanted better care of him.
Judge Gerard Mullaly will sentence Kemp at a date to be fixed. He has been in custody for 439 days. The maximum penalty for intentionally causing serious injury is 20 years' imprisonment.
Kemp pleaded guilty to intentionally causing serious injury on June 11.