Vicious brawl in a lift sees man jailed for three years after he repeatedly punched two strangers because one of them wouldn’t give him his food
- CCTV footage captured a brawl which erupted in a Sydney hotel lift
- The video shows Paul Lipano punch and throw food over the two victims
- Lipano was sentenced to three years in jail for assault and affray
A violent thug started a brawl in a lift because a total stranger wouldn’t hand over his fast food.
Paul Lipano was captured on CCTV viciously attacking two strangers in the lift of a Sydney hotel in June.
The onslaught lasted two minutes as the lift travelled 14 flights at the Meriton Suites on Kent Street.
Lipano and his five friends, including his brother Frank Togia, were in the hotel lift just before 3am on June 30 when the two victims entered.
A simple request by Togia for some of the food they were carrying was behind the bloody assault by Togia and Lipano, according to the Daily Telegraph.
Togia begins by pushing one man against the wall while Lipano throws a punch and then continues to beat the two men standing in the corner.
After two-minutes of this, the doors open and Lipano’s friends drag him out of the lift, but he runs back in and continues to throw punches, before hurling the food at the two victims.
When it all seems to be over Lipano enters the lift for a third time and throws one last punch.
The two victims are then seen comforting each other as the takeaway food lies scattered around the lift floor.
CCTV footage shows Lipano attacking the two victims while his friends try and hold him back in the lift of Sydney’s Meriton Suites
The assault continued when police arrived to arrest the men, according to the Daily Telegraph.
When officers tried to subdue Lipano he kicked out at the arresting officers, yelling ‘f*** the police, f*** the system’ according to facts tendered during court proceedings.
At the Central Local Court on Tuesday Lipano was jailed for instigating the brawl and subsequent attack on the arresting officers.
The two men were unable to escape from the lift of Sydney’s Meriton Suites when the unprovoked attack began
In handing down the sentence it was argued the accused had struggled with substance use since the age of 15, and was affected by ice, cannabis and alcohol at the time, reports the Daily Telegraph.
Lipano pleaded guilty to charges of affray, two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and resisting an officer in the line of duty.
He’s been sentenced to three years behind bars, with a non-parole period of 19 months.
The non-parole period was reduced because of drug issues, anger issues, and low intelligence.