‘Please don’t die daddy’: Father is brutally bashed with a can of cat food

A father had his skull pounded in with a can of cat food while his own children watched on in horror.

Jal Myaker, 20, of Melton, was free on bail when he set upon Greg Szopa in the inner Melbourne suburb of Richmond after he spotted him filming his mate’s car, which was speeding along Garfield Street.

The concerned dad had planned to use the footage to complain to his local council about hoons from nearby commission flats speeding up and down the quiet suburban street.

Jal Myaker, 20, of Melton bashed a man in front of his own children with a can of cat food. The sickening attack was caught on camera by his victim and witnesses who stopped to help

Jal Myaker was bashed in jail while awaiting his County Court of Victoria appearance. He had his eye socket fractured in the prison attack

Jal Myaker was bashed in jail while awaiting his County Court of Victoria appearance. He had his eye socket fractured in the prison attack

Greg Szopa was bashed half to death in front of his children. He has been left permanently scarred by the sickening attack, which he captured on his mobile phone

Greg Szopa was bashed half to death in front of his children. He has been left permanently scarred by the sickening attack, which he captured on his mobile phone

Myaker had been a passenger in the car, which was being driven by a 17-year old lout armed with a knife.

The cries of Mr Szopa’s frantic children can be heard on the terrifying video captured on his phone as the men ruthlessly beat him half to death.

Daily Mail Australia is unable to publish the disturbing footage after being denied access to it by the County Court of Victoria.  

Mr Szopa had been taking the kids for a walk to the supermarket in broad daylight on July 13 last year.

What they witnessed next would scar them for life.

‘Leave my daddy alone,’ one child is heard screaming.

“Are you going to die daddy?’ another whimpers. ‘Please don’t die daddy.’

Witnesses said Myaker attacked with ferocious speed, pounding his victim’s head in with the tin can while his mate slashed at him with a blade.

The attack continued as Mr Szopa cowered for cover on the ground.

He begged for mercy and apologised for filming, but the frenzied attack continued.

When a bystander tried to step in, the 17-year old menaced him with the blade.

Jal Myaker's victims were not able to see him in person after a decision was made to allow him to face his pre-sentence hearing via video link from jail. An influenza outbreak at the Metropolitan Remand Centre has seen inmates placed into lock down

Jal Myaker’s victims were not able to see him in person after a decision was made to allow him to face his pre-sentence hearing via video link from jail. An influenza outbreak at the Metropolitan Remand Centre has seen inmates placed into lock down

So savage was the attack that at one point the tin can burst open, spilling its contents onto the foot path in a vile slurry of blood and cat food.

Another woman who was driving by got her phone out and filmed the incident too before going to Mr Szopa’s aid.

When the thugs finally fled, Mr Szopa was left a bloody wreck, with slashes to his face and upper body.

He spent days in hospital and suffers nerve damage to his face to this day.

CCTV captured of the youths arriving back at their flat later that day showed them beaming with delight.

Myaker had been free to offend after being bailed over drug and weapons offences two months earlier.

He pleaded guilty in the County Court of Victoria to charges of recklessly causing serious injury, conduct endangering life and committing offences while on bail.

He faces up to 15 years in jail over the sickening attack.

When his younger mate faced justice on similar charges in a children’s court, he received just nine months in youth detention.

The court heard Myaker later claimed he had been drinking and using prescription drugs when he committed the attack and couldn’t remember doing it.

The claim was scoffed at by Judge Christopher Ryan, who condemned Myaker for the brutal attack.

‘This was an unprovoked and vicious attack on an innocent man walking down the street with two children in broad daylight,’ he said. 

The Gerfield Street commission flats where Jal Myaker and his mate lived. They took offense to being filmed hooning up the street and got out and bashed the photographer's head in

The Gerfield Street commission flats where Jal Myaker and his mate lived. They took offense to being filmed hooning up the street and got out and bashed the photographer’s head in

Greg Szopa was kicked, beaten and slashed by two cowardly thugs after he filmed them hooning down his street. One of his attackers received just nine months in youth detention

Greg Szopa was kicked, beaten and slashed by two cowardly thugs after he filmed them hooning down his street. One of his attackers received just nine months in youth detention

He described the attack as ‘cowardly’ and among the most serious that he had seen during his 26 years as a prosecutor and judge. 

The judge took a further swipe at Myaker’s apparent joy on returning to his home, where he was captured on CCTV smiling. 

‘He was plainly in the highest of spirits,’ Judge Ryan said. 

The court heard Myaker had come to Australia from Sudan and had amazingly survived being hit by lightening twice within milliseconds in 2015. 

The strikes left him with serious burns and left him suffering from seizures.  

The youth had been studying architecture at RMIT while working as a concreter and a storeman before embarking on the wild attack. 

His barrister said Myaker had not had it easy in prison and he suffered a fractured eye socket during a savage attack in Port Phillip Prison. 

Mr Szopa’s wife Clare Leporati took to the witness box to read out an emotional victim impact statement on his behalf. 

Sadly, Myaker was not able to see it in person after prison authorities refused to bring him to court because of an influenza outbreak at the Metropolitan remand Centre where he is being held. 

Judge Ryan described the situation as ‘nonsensical’ as the video link continued to be cut throughout the proceeding. 

Mrs Leporati told the court her husband remained tormented by the attack and felt he had failed as a father.

She said the incident ‘plagued him’ and that he now felt in constant fear. 

Witnesses to the attack have also been left traumatised by it, with one woman declaring she now felt afraid of Africans. 

Myaker will be sentenced next month.  

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