An apprentice tradesman who punched a teenage in the girl in the face during Schoolies celebrations has walked away with just a $600 fine.
Filip Manevski-Radin, 18, avoided a criminal conviction on Tuesday after a South Australian court heard he was too drunk to realise who he was punching during the event in Victor Harbor, 80kms south of Adelaide.
He claimed he didn’t remember the November incident well and was ‘horrified’ to watch footage of him punching the girl in the side of the head, Nine News reported.
Filip Manevski-Radin (pictured) avoided a criminal conviction on Tuesday after he punched a teenage in the girl in the face during Schoolies celebrations in Victor Harbor, 80kms south of Adelaide
Manevski-Radin claimed he didn’t remember the November incident (pictured) well and was ‘horrified’ to watch footage of him punching the girl in the side of the head
His lawyer told the court he was excessively drunk when he stepped into the brawl, which started when another man tried to kiss the victim in front of her boyfriend.
Manevski-Radin then threw a left-handed punch at what he thought was the boyfriend, but turned out to be a female Schoolies-goer, the court heard.
The magistrate read two character references tendered by Manevski-Radin, and accepted his lawyer’s explanation of events.
He added: ‘If you throw a punch in a crowd, you might foresee it could hit somebody other than your intended victim.’
No conviction was recorded and he was ordered to pay court costs and a $600 fine.
Stopping men’s violence against women ambassador Arman Abrahimzadeh was scathing of the soft-touch penalty, saying: ‘I would like to see some referrals to some programs or maybe even doing some community work [in the sentence].
His lawyer told the court he was excessively drunk when he stepped into the brawl, which started when another man tried to kiss the victim in front of her boyfriend
No conviction was recorded and he was ordered to pay court costs and a $600 fine
‘I don’t think he’s going to learn a lesson out of this.’
Manevski-Radin apologised in court in January for punching the girl in an attack which was caught on camera.
In the footage, a man can be seen hitting another reveller while the victim and another man attempt to break up the fight.
Manevski-Radin, wearing a white polo shirt with the collar turned up, can then be seen raising his fists and entering the brawl.
He then unleashes a punch and connects with the unsuspecting girl’s head, sending her rocking backwards and holding her face.