The shocking video shows how the violence incident unfolded. Photo / Supplied
The shocking video shows how the violence incident unfolded. Photo / Supplied
A Sydney construction worker is in court over the killing of a Brazilian man who died from a fatal blow to the head received during a brawl over a stolen chip on the Gold Coast.
Ricky Lefoe is facing trial in Brisbane Supreme Court, charged with manslaughter over the alleged fatal punch at Surfers Paradise on September 30, 2019.
The Crown alleges Lefoe knocked 29-year-old Ivan Susin unconscious during a brawl outside a kebab shop on Orchid Ave.
Lefoe has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter.
Several witnesses on Monday told the court they’d seen a group of men fighting, before one man fell to the ground.
In CCTV, which was played before the court on Monday, a group of men is involved in the alleged fight outside the kebab shop.
Jonathan Lodge, who was sitting on the bench nearby the kebab shop and knew Susin, told the court on Monday how another man had approached him and another friend.
The court heard this man, known as Shaun Simpson, had allegedly stolen a chip from Lodge’s friend and then walked away before allegedly returning to the bench and punching Lodge in the head.
“He punched me and he swung his left fist and then dragged me off the bench,” Lodge said.
“I tried to defend myself like anyone would.”
Yousef Majed Salameh Abu Meizer says he was serving Ivan Susin at the kebab shop when the fight allegedly broke out. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Tertius Pickard
The CCTV footage shown to the court shows the fight break out and Susin approaching to assist his friend Lodge.
Lefoe also allegedly became involved in the fight at this stage before punching Susin to the ground, as shown in the CCTV footage.
Kebab shop worker Yousef Majed Salameh Abu Meizer told the court on Monday he had been serving Susin at the takeaway shop when the fight broke out.
“I had a customer in front of me, after the fight started he went to the fight and got punched and went to the floor,” he said.
Witness Daniel Gill told the court he’d been on the Gold Coast to play in the Uni Games tournament and had been out the night of the alleged fight.
Gill said he was sitting nearby when he saw two people get into an “altercation” and could hear “raised voices”.
“It was a bit of a scuffle – both stood up and exchanged some punches. From there, a third person ran in, tried to throw a haymaker punch and missed.
“He [the third person] then got hit in the head, which knocked him out and he went straight to the ground.”
Gill said he believed the fight had broken out after a “bloke had stolen food and initiated the fight”.
He told the court he didn’t know what type of food was allegedly stolen, but did recall seeing a takeaway container on the bench where the men had been sitting before the fight broke out.
Another witness, Keesha Martinuzzo, told the court she also remembered seeing the fight get “progressively worse” as she was standing nearby with friends.
“I’m not sure how the fight started, but as we were approaching, there was a few punches, so we stepped away,” Martinuzzo said.
“Lots of punches were being thrown [between]) a whole lot of people.
“I couldn’t make out who was punching who and there was a lot of people involved in the group.
