A 21-YEAR-OLD Sydney man has pleaded not guilty to the attempted murder of Corkman David Keohane on August 9th, 2008.
The New South Wales (NSW) district court heard yesterday that Mr Keohane (29) was beaten and robbed because he was the only person walking down a street in the beachside suburb of Coogee in the early hours of that morning.
In a police interview played to the jury, the accused man, Thomas Isaako, admitted jogging towards Mr Keohane and hitting him on the side of the head, after which “he just dropped”.
Mr Keohane was later found unconscious in a pool of blood. He was in a coma for seven months before waking up on St Patrick’s Day last year after having been repatriated to Ireland on September 15th, 2008.
Dr Vanessa Sammons, the neurosurgeon registrar who treated him in Sydney, told the court Mr Keohane’s Glasgow Coma Score (which measures the severity of coma cases) had been three, “akin to someone who is deceased”.
“In my first conversation with David’s family, I said he could possibly live, but he would never be the person he was,” she said.
Mr Isaako has pleaded guilty to robbery in company and inflicting grievous bodily harm on Mr Keohane.
In his police interview, Mr Isaako said that after drinking at a local pub, a companion suggested they “roll” someone, which he said meant “bash someone and take their stuff”.
The trial continues.