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A security guard who was ejecting an intoxicated patron from a pub has been charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm after police determined that his actions were disproportionate.

Albury man Deng Chol was thrown on his head by an allegedly overzealous security guard at the Beer Deluxe pub.

The incident was captured on video by startled onlookers and released to the media.

The security guard in question has since been suspended from his job, while Mr Chol was also charged by police.

What Happened?

Deng Chol says he’s lucky not to have a broken neck – or worse – after a security guard threw him to the ground headfirst outside a Beer DeLuxe pub in NSW.

Mr Chol, aged 37, was at the Beer DeLuxe pub in Albury on Saturday, 24 April 2021 celebrating a friend’s birthday.

He admits that he was intoxicated and his friend was causing trouble for other patrons and staff.

Eventually, his friend was kicked out of the licensed premises due to his behaviour. However, Chol was also asked to leave despite claiming to have done nothing wrong.

“I kept asking, ‘what have I done? What have I done? I didn’t touch nobody, I didn’t punch nobody,” Chol said.

He continued arguing with the security guards outside the venue and questioning them about what he had done to warrant being ejected.

It is at this stage that he says he was assaulted by security guards.

Dong told media outlets, “Then they pick me up, hold my arm, and throw me on the ground, on my back. Then they were holding me on the ground on my back.”

And he says it did not stop there.

“Next minute, they picked me up from the ground and throw me again.”

He suffered gruesome cuts to his head and a chipped tooth.

Assault Occasioning Actual Bodily Harm Charges Laid

Chol said the guards were acting beyond their powers.

“They didn’t deserve to be throwing me like that…You can’t pick people up and throw them like that.”

And it seems police agree with Mr Chol.

On Monday, 26 April 2021 police arrested the 31-year-old Beer DeLuxe staff member performing security duty at the hotel.

He was formally charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm and is due to face Albury Local Court on 17 May 2021.

However, it was not all good news for Chol as he was also arrested for failing to move on from the premises. Police issued him with an infringement notice for intoxicated behaviour.

After he was thrown to the ground, police

“Beer Deluxe operates a zero-tolerance policy towards violence, threatening or aggressive behaviour at our venue and have launched our own internal investigation into the incident,” management said in a statement on Tuesday.

The staff member has been stood down pending the investigation.

“I hope there will be changes,” Chol said.

“No-one deserves to be treated like that, that’s all I can say.”

Assault Occasioning Actual Bodily Harm

Section 59 of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) defines Assault Occasioning Actual Bodily Harm (AOABH) as intentionally or recklessly causing another person to apprehend immediate and unlawful violence and Actual Bodily Harm results.

Actual bodily harm is an injury which was not merely transient. This may include bruising and cuts. It would not extend to a person feeling fear or panic. However, a severe psychological injury may amount to actual bodily harm.

Assault Occasioning Actual Bodily Harm is a more serious charge than common assault. As such, it is possible to have an Assault Occasioning Actual Bodily Harm charge downgraded to common assault. This will involve your lawyer sending Police ‘representations’. If you would like to know whether your Assault Occasioning Actual Bodily Harm charge can be downgraded, contact us now.

You can beat an Assault Occasioning Actual Bodily Harm charge in two ways. Firstly, Police must prove beyond reasonable doubt that:

1. You assaulted the victim

2. That assault caused the victim to suffer ‘actual bodily harm.

Secondly, there are defences to assault that can be used to have you found ‘not guilty’.

1. Self-defence: You were defending yourself or another person

2. Accident: You did not intend to commit any assault. You also did not know that an injury could result from your actions.

3. Causation: The prosecution cannot prove you caused actual bodily harm.

4. Identification: The prosecution cannot prove that you committed the offence.

5. Consent: The alleged victim consented to your actions.

6. Duress: You were forced to commit the assault.

7. Necessity: Your actions were necessary in the circumstances

Looking at 2,187 cases in the Local Court over the last 5 years, that statistics show how difficult it is to avoid a conviction. Less than 10% of sentences resulted in no conviction for Assault occasioning actual bodily harm. The remaining offenders all received convictions and almost 40% of offenders were sentenced to some form of imprisonment. Almost 20% of offenders were sentenced to full-time imprisonment.

It is plain to see that avoid a conviction is very difficult for this offence. Twice as many people are sentenced to jail than receive a Section 10 dismissal. As such, if you wish to avoid a conviction, you should speak to one of our specialist criminal defence solicitors for assault occasioning actual bodily harm charges.

Assault Occasioning Actual Bodily Harm is a very common charge in a domestic violence context. Police and the Courts have specific procedures when dealing with domestic violence matters. For example, if you are pleading not guilty, your case will be listed for Hearing even if you have not received a brief of evidence from the Police.